Dear Scott,
I am glad to have the update on where things stand with CIMMYT trials. The
contrast between how Nepali (and Malagasy) farmers respond to SRI and how
farmers pick up SRI in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is almost making an
anthropologist out of me (first I have to become a proper agronomist,
though). I attach my trip report from visits to AP and TN last January, so
you can see how SRI is being received elsewhere in the subcontinent, and
also a letter to NATURE by the director of Extension for AP, Dr. A.
Satyanarayana, in response to a NATURE feature article on 'the SRI
controversy,' giving the bitter-enders their say as well. I'll attach my
response to John Sheehy et al. The Sunsari-Morang data are some of the
most systematic that we have on SRI.

I am glad that you are keeping interest in this. It continues to move. I
could send you reports from Philippines and China too. In Cambodia, they
expect 50,000 farmers to be using SRI this year, up from almost 10,000 last
year, and 28 in the year 2000. All the best,
Norman

PS: I figured the submergence tolerance issue would be relevant for places
like Nepal, where farmers have to content with monsoon rains. Still, I also
expect that motivated farmers will find some solutions or mitigations for
this once they get their heads 'into' SRI.