Scientists for rice intensification
Wednesday, December 21,2005

KATHMANDU: Scientists and farmers across the country shared their experiences about rice intensification at a programme here in the capital today. The programme organised by the ICIMOD was zeroed in on technology for growing rice popularly known as 'system of rice intensification(SRI)'. The workshop will also discuss the future of an outreach strategy for SRI and further research to maximize the benefits of technology.

SRI is an economic agricultural practice in rice production that requires less input, but yields as much if not more. Under th sytem 8-12 days young rice lead seelings are transplanted at wider spacing than the traditional method(generally 25cmx25cm or even wider), applying only a small amount of water while preparing the field for transplanting. The system does not need continuous flooding except during the flowering stages. When the land start cracking, it is irrigated just enough to moisten the soil. Alternate dry and moist conditions improve soil aeration and thus hellp the plants to grow vigourously. Weed control is an essential part of this agricultural tehcnology and contributes to improve yields, according to a press statement issued by the ICIMOD. In testing and promoting SRI as a better option for rice production, ICIMOD's People and Resources Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds (PARDYP) project in Nepal supported a trainers' training programme using the farmer field school approach.

PARDYP-Nepal provided a trainers' training for 15 lead farmers from the Jhinkhu Khola watershed. Then, lead farmers ran the farmer's field schools in 15 villages for about 100 farmers. In each field school, the group of farmers implemented, observed and studied the result of rice growing through SRI . On Farmers' Day on December 3, all groups from the farmers' field school presented the implementation procedures and results through flip charts and photograph displays, songs, reports and poems.

ICIMOD's PARDYP project has organised the one day workshop to share these sucessess with wider groups of farmers. The workshop will be held at ICIMOD's Headquarters Office in Khumaltar. The system of rice intensification (SRI) was developed by Fr Henri de Laulanie in the 1980s and first tested in Madagaskar, Its popularity as a technology is spreading widely in rice growing countries of the world, the press statement says.
THE RISING NEPAL |

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            Mr. Andreas Jenny                                    
                Technical Advisor               
                SAGOAL - Tackling Poverty, Changing Lives 
                                                  
      mail:    P.O. Box 1230, Kathmandu, Nepal         
    office:    Deva Phulbari Chowk, Nepalgunj, Banke Dist.
       fon:    081 526615  fax:  +977 (0)81 521597
     eMail:    mailto:ajenny@...
 web (priv):    http://www.beeandy.de/
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