System of Rice Intensification (SRI) with Intercropping

Tavseef Mairaj ShahInstitute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection

Hamburg University of Technology

Food Sovereignty

World Soil Situation

Water Scarcity (Soil-Water-Food Nexus)

Climate Smart, Resource Efficient Agriculture.

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Focus Areas

More calories, less nutrients.

Future climatic conditions are projected to be

worse than ever before.

Smallholders feed at least 70 % of the world

population.

Food Sovereignty

Smallholders: 1 -10 hectare.

More than 500 million smallholder farms worldwide.

Livelihood of more than 2 billion people depends on

small-scale agriculture.

Smallholder agriculture

More than 90% of all farms are smallholder farms but they make up

just 25% percent of the total agricultural land.

Large scale monoculture farming decreases the soil quality in the

long run.

Between 1960-90: 1/3rd of productive soil irreversibly degraded.

Soil Situation

Agriculture makes up to 70% of the world’s total water

consumption.

3000-5000 litres of water per Kg of rice.

With the current ‘Agribusiness Model’ the consumption is

expected to increase by 30% by 2030.

Water scarcity is already visible in South Asia; groundwater is

either receding or becoming too polluted to be used.

Water Scarcity

A strategy that is not just climate-neutral but also contributes to

improvement of the environment.

In view of resource scarcity, a more efficient agro-ecological

strategy.

Food sovereignty: Food security through local and independent

smallholder farms.

What do we need?

Achieving better yields from the same land area while reducing

impacts on environment (climate).

Agro-ecological practices like alternate wetting and dryign, reduced

tillage improve water and soil conservation.

The current paradigm of high input yielding high output is not

indispensable.

Sustainable Intensification

A set of ‘radical’ practices in rice cultivation introduced in

1983 by Henri de Laulanie in Madagascar.

Less is more: Higher yields with lesser resources.

Hailed by many as the ‘most meaningful agricultural

development of the last 50 years’.

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Seedlings are transplanted at a younger age—7 to 10 days,

transplanted with wider spacing, no flooding of the field.

Better yields with lesser or no impact on the climate.

It is important because rice is the staple food for at least half the world

population.

http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/

What is SRI?

Higher yields, less CH4 emissions. Mitigation and Adaptation.

Global Warming Potential decreases by at least 20-30 %.

Improvement of soil quality, water retention capacity.

Improved resistance to extreme weather events.

Reported SRI Benefits

SRI in Kashmir.SRI Experiment

SRI with Intercropping.SRI Experiments

SRI with Intercropping.Results

My Online Interactive Lecture on SRI on www.ruvival.de

Online Lecture

Bibliography

Thank you!