Grow more with less: A project to adapt, valid and promotion SRI in the Americas as a response to climate change
A consortium of partners including the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (IDIAF), the Dominican Council of Agricultural and Forestry Research (CONIAF), the National Federation of Rice Producers (FEDEARROZ-FNA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), are executing a project to validate the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Dominican Republic and Colombia with financial support from the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO).
SRI is an innovation practiced by 9.5 million producers on over 3.4 million hectares in over 50 countries. Instead of a predetermined technological package, SRI is utilizes flexible practices based on four fundamental principles:
- Encourage early and healthy plant establishment
- Minimize plant competition
- Build fertile soils rich in organic matter and soil biota
- Manage water carefully, avoid flooding and water stress, for ideal plant development
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the principles of SICA have been tested with positive results in several countries. However many of these initial efforts have not been properly monitored, evaluated and documented. These initial experiences, have however, identified high cost of labor required for transplanting individual seedlings as a challenge for scaling SRI in the hemisphere.
This two year project will validate SRI in Dominican Republic and Colombia to help reduce the vulnerability of small rice farmers to climate change.
The project is being implemented under FONTAGRO’s 2014 call for proposals: "Innovation for the Adaptation of Family Agriculture to Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean." Supported by FONTAGRO and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the call supports innovation platforms and coordination mechanisms that foster competitiveness and sustainability.
Specific objectives of the project:
1. Validate and document the effectiveness of SRI for rice-producing families and adapt then practices to the local context, applying a technically rigorous methodology in Colombia and the Dominican Republic
2. Identify an effective way to reduce the high costs of labor in SRI systems through mechanization.
3. Increase the knowledge and skills of researchers, technicians and rice producers on SRI principles, practices and benefits.The project's technical and operational strategy is based on three activities: a) validation of the system in the two countries through the implementation of demonstration and control plots, b) adaptation of the implementation of the SRI principles to the local context, and c) training researchers, technicians and producers in its use. The project will identify appropriate machinery to support the transplantation and weeding in SRI plots, evaluate their performance in the field.
The project will lay the foundations of the successful dissemination of this innovative system with multidimensional - social, economic and environmental - benefits, which will increase the resilience of small rice producers to climate change while strengthening their food security. For more information, see the related documents below or contact David Williams, project lead
Photos: SRI Plots in the Dominican Republic by Juan Arthur, IICA. Related Documents
- IICA. 2015. Aportes técnicos por SRI - Sistema Invtensivo del Cultivo de Arroz. Aportes técnicos, October. SRI-Rice website. (2p., 1.58MB pdf) [Technical bulletin produced in association with SRI Global, SRI-Rice, IICA, FEDEARROZ, IDIAF, and CONIAF]
- IICA and Instituto Banco Mudial. 2015. SICA - Logrando mas con menos: Kit herramientos (multimedia). SRI-Rice website (8p., 8.69MB pdf) [Spanish language brochure accompanying multimedia kit produced by the World Bank Institute and updated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)]
- IICA. 2015. Grow more with less: Adaptation, validation and promotion of SRI in the Americas as a response to climate change. SRI-Rice website. (23KB pdf) [A project by a consortium of partners including the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (IDIAF), the Dominican Council of Agricultural and Forestry Research (CONIAF), the National Federation of Rice Producers (FEDEARROZ-FNA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), will be executing a project to validate the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Dominican Republic and Colombia with financial support from the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO).]
- IICA. 2015. Cultivar más con menos: adaptación, validación y promoción del SICA en las Américas como respuesta al cambio climático. SRI-Rice website (2p. 271 KB pdf) [Un consorcio de socios estratégicos, que incluye el Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales (IDIAF), el Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales (CONIAF), la Federación Nacional de Arroceros (FEDEARROZ) y el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), está ejecutando un proyecto para Parcelas bajo el SICA en República Dominicana. Fot. de Juan Arthur, IICA. Este programa es financiado por FONTAGRO y por el Fondo para el Medio Ambiente Mundial validar el SICA en ALC, con el apoyo financiero del Fondo Regional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (FONTAGRO).]
