1. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) - “Less can Produce more” Dr. A. SATYANARAYANA Director of Extension Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University Rajendranagar, Hyderabad

2. Modern Agriculture  Overly Genocentric  Productivity gains were possible with increased use of inputs – Fertilizers, Pesticides, Water etc. They are now giving Diminishing returns Creating environmental hazards, health risks Rising costs of production

3.  More productive in terms of - Land, Labour, Water, Capital, Energy, inputs  More environmentally benign  More robust in the face of climate change  More socially beneficial - reducing poverty, greater food security 21 st Century Agriculture needs to be

4. Biological power and Eco-agriculture should be basic foundations for soil health  Micro organisms and other soil biota as creators and maintainers of soil fertility  Greater attention to plants roots

5. The basic idea of SRI Rice plants do best when their - roots can grow large because the plants are transplanted carefully at wider spacing and grown on soil that is kept well aerated with abundant and diverse soil microorganisms

6. The contribution of soil microbial activity need to be taken more seriously The microbial flora causes a large number of biochemical changes in the soil that largely determine the fertility of soil (De Datta, 1981)

7. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) – a way out

8. SRI offers increased factor productivity of  Land  Labour  Water

9.  Rice is the most important food crop of India  Rice has been identified as Growth Engine under vision 2020 of Andhra Pradesh  The area and production of rice is coming down in recent years due to lack of sufficient water in irrigation systems  SRI has the potential to meet the challenge by virtue of its capacity to double or even triple the productivity and less water requirement

10. SRI was first developed in Madaskar during 1980’s Not known outside Madagaskar until 1997 Its potential is under testing in China, Indonesia, Combodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India In A.P, SRI is experimented all the 22 districts with encouraging results Over 1,00,000 farmers are experimenting with this system world wide at present Few thousands of acres are under SRI in the very second season in AP

11. SRI Technology uses Less external inputs Less seed (2 kg/ac) Fewer plants per unit area (25 x 25 cm) Less chemical fertilizer More organic manures Less pesticides

12. SRI is initially labour intensive -Needs 50% more man days for transplanting and weeding -Mobilises labour to work for profit -It offers an alternative to resource poor, who puts in their family labour -Once skills are learnt and implements are used, the labour costs will be lesser than the present day Rice cultivation

13. SRI encourages rice plant to grow healthy with  Large root volume  Profuse and strong tillers  Non-lodging  Big panicle  More and well filled spikelets and higher grain weight  Resists insects Because it allows Rice to grow naturally

14. Root growth  Root growth can be massive in response to SRI practices  3 hills under conventional method required 28 kg of force to be pulled up  Single SRI rice plants required 53 kg for uprooting

16. Tillering is greatly increased 30 tillers per plant are fairly easy to achieve 50 tillers per plant are quite attainable With really good use of SRI, individual plants can have 100 fertile tillers or even more Because no set back due to early transplanting and no die back of roots Maximum tillering occurs concurrently with panicle initiation With SRI positive correlation is found between the number of panicles per plant and number of grains per panicle

22. Rice plant  Everybody believe that Rice is an aquatic plant and grows best in standing water  Rice is not an aquatic plant, it can survive in water but does not thrive under hypoxic conditions  Rice plants spends lot of its energy to develop air pockets (aerenchyma tissue) in its roots under continuous inundation  70% of Rice root tips get degenerated by flowering period  Under SRI paddy fields are not flooded but keep the soil moist during vegetative phase  SRI requires only about half as much water as normally applied in irrigated rice

23. Conventional system with more water

24. Intermittent wetting and drying and Aeration

25. SIX MECHANISMS AND PROCESSES FOR SRI 1.EARLY TRANSPLANTING seedlings 8-12 days old, when plant has only two small leaves,before fourth phyllochron 2. CAREFUL TRANSPLANTING Minimize trauma in transplanting Remove plant from nursery with the seed, soil and roots carefully and place it in the field without plunging too deep into soil  More tillering potential  More root growth potential  More tillering potential

29. After 12 days in nursery the plant height is 7.7 inches (18.8cm) Length of main root is 5 inches (12.7 cm) 4 leaves 8 small roots

34. Diagram of possible stalks of a rice shoot stalks grow following a regular cycle (phyllochron)

35. Contd.. 3.WIDE SPACING plant single seedlings, not in clumps, and in a square pattern, not rows, 25cm x 25cm or wider 4. WEEDING AND AERATION needed because no standing water; use simple mechanical “rotating hoe” that churns up soil; 2 weedings required, with 4 recommended before panicle initiation; first weeding 10 days after transplanting  More root growth potential  More root growth, due to reduced weed competition, and aeration of soil, giving roots more oxygen and N due to increased microbial activity we left in soil; can add 1+tons per weeding? Each additional weeding after two rounds results in increased productivity up to 2 t/ha/weeding

37. Contd.. 5.WATER MANAGEMENT regular water applications to keep soil moist but not saturated, with intermittent dryings,alternating aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions 6.COMPOST/FYM applied instead of or in addition to chemical fertilizer; 10 tons/ha;  More root growth because avoids root degeneration able to acquire more and more varied nutrients from the soil  More plant growth because of better soil health and structure, and more balanced nutrient supply

39. Green Manure crop (Sunhemp)

40. Crop residues

42. Nursery Management  Seed rate 2 kg/ac  Nursery area 1 cent/ac  Select healthy seed  Pre-sprouted seeds are sown on raised nursery bed  Prepare nursery bed like garden crops  Apply a layer of fine manure  Spread sprouted seed sparcely  Cover with another layer of manure  Mulch with paddy straw  Water carefully  Banana leaf sheath may be used for easy lifting and transport of seedlings

44. Main field preparation Land preparation is not different from regular irrigated rice cultivation Levelling should be done carefully so that water can be applied very evenly At every 3 m distance form a canal to facilitate drainage With the help of a marker draw lines both way at 25 x 25 cm apart and transplant at the intersection

45. PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI IN COASTAL AREA YIELD( Kg/ha)

46. PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI IN TELANGANA AREA YIELD( Kg/ha)

47. PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI IN RAYALASEEMA YIELD( Kg/ha)

48. PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI REPORTED BY DOA YIELD( Kg/ha)

49. Performance of SRI in AP- Kharif 2003 No. of trials Yield results > 10 t/ha Range of results Yield advantage (kg/ha) AP State134333.2-16.21869 Rayalaseema1067.8-15.54731 Telangana40104.2-16.22504 Coastal84173.2-14.31145

50. Performance of SRI in AP- Kharif 2003 (Trials organized by State DOA) No. of trials - 69 Average SRI yield (t/ha)- 8.36 Control (t/ha)- 4.89 State average productivity (t/ha)- 3.87 10 t/ha 5 districts averaged over 10 t/ha

51. Report on SRI Cultivation Name of the Farmer: Mr.A.Jayasurya Reddy Address: Tarimala Village, Singanamala Mandal Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh Season: Rainy season 2003 Area under SRI: 0.2 ha Variety: BPT 5204 S.No.ParameterFarmers methodSRI 1.No. of productive tillers/m2503706 2No. of grains/panicle87152 3Length of panicle (cm)15.514.2 41000 grain weight (g)13.314.4 5Chaffy grain (%)19.23.2 6Grain yield (kg/ha)585013297 7Straw yield (kg/ha)711012600 8Duration(days)150140

52. Report on SRI Cultivation Name of the Farmer: Mr.K.Venka Subba Reddy Address: Konidedu Village, Panyam Mandal Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh Season: Rainy season 2003 Area under SRI: 840 m 2 Variety: BPT 5204 S.No.ParameterFarmers methodSRI 1.Date of sowing22-6-200319-7-2003 2Date of Transplanting31-7-200328-7-2003 3Date of harvesting10-12-2003 4Productive tillers/m 2 5101040 5Panicle length (cm)17.220.2 6No. of grains/panicle105202 71000 grain weight(g)18.821.1 8Grain yield kg/ha562515774 9Cost of cultivation (Rs/ha)1625018000

53. Report on SRI Cultivation Name of the Farmer: Mr.Rakesh Address: EdulapalliVillage, Kotturu Mandal Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh Variety: BPT 5204 Area under SRI: 0.8 ha S.No.ParameterFarmers methodSRI (*) 1.Date of sowing6-6-20037-7-2003 2Date of Transplanting28-6-200317-7-2003 3Date of harvesting6-11-20035-12-2003 4No. of productive tillers/hill2040 5Length of the panicle (cm)1420 6No. of grains/panicle150210 7Grain yield t/ha4.78.9 (*) Only organic manures were applied

54. Report on SRI Cultivation National Seed Project, ANGRAU, Hyderabad Variety: BPT 5204 Area under SRI: 0.2 ha S.No.ParameterFarmers methodSRI 1.Age of seedling at transplanting3010 2Days to 50% flowering114108 3No. of productive tillers/hill 1028 4Panicle length (cm)21.421.0 5No. of grains per panicle162166 61000 grain weight (g)14.4 7Yield t/ha5.77.1 SRI crop matured 10 days earlier

55. Report on SRI Cultivation Name of the Farmer: Mr.T.Sambi Reddy Address: Bhadirajupalem Village, ThotlavallurMandal Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh Area under SRI: 0.2 ha Variety: BPT 5204 S.No.ParameterFarmers methodSRI 1.Date of sowing20-7-2003 2Date of Transplanting17-8-20031-8-2003 3Date of harvesting13-12-2003 4No. of productive tillers/hill1342 5Length of the panicle(cm)2230 6No. of grains/panicle254357 7Grain yield (kg/ha)803612576 8Cost of cultivation per ha15,00017,500

56. SRI is counter - Intuitive Less can produce more Younger seedlings becomes larger and more productive Fewer plants/hill and per m 2 give more yield Less water can give greater yield

57. SRI utilizes Biological Power Rice root system grown under SRI i.e., aerated soil do not degenerate, are much larger and function better Soils that are aerated and well supplied with organic matter can support longer and diverse populations of soil micro organisms, which inturn mobilizes nutrients to the plant Phytohormones produced by bacteria and fungi living in soils and roots promote root growth and the health of the plants Root exudates provide food to microorganisms Application of fertilizers and other agro chemicals has inhibiting effect on soil biota

58. Benefits of SRI 1. Higher yields – Both grain and straw 2. Reduced duration (by 10 days) 3. Lesser chemical inputs 4. Less water requirement 5. Less chaffy grain % 6. Grain weight increased without change in grain size 7. Higher head rice recovery 8. Withstood cyclonic gales 9. Cold tolerance 10. Soil health improves through biological activity

59. Future needs  Research to produce different models for different situations  To promote SRI by way of making information available  To organise a few demonstrations with farmers participation

60. Swarna under SRI