Management of rice production systems to increase productivity

5. Very low nutrient‐use efficiency – fertilizer is often applied to
flooded fields because farmers cannot risk draining their
fields because there may not be water when they want to re‐
irrigate. This problem is even more serious in communal
irrigation systems.
6. Beyond optimum plant population or poor plant stand due to
insect pest damage or inadequate planting geometry.
7. Insufficient weed control– insufficient time is allocated to
weed control, and weeding is often done too late.
Unless farmers adopt management practices that alleviate many, if not
all of these constraints, they will not reap full benefits from modern high‐
yielding rice varieties and related improved production technologies.
Lowland rice yield responds significantly to applied N on nearly all soils
when irrigation is adequate and weeds and pest problems do not limit growth.
There is a need to introduce management practices that address
problems of untimely transplanting, water control, nutrient management and
pest management. One system that addresses these problems is the System of
rice Intensification (SRI). This system aims at increasing rice yields through a
combination of simple, timely and cost effective management practices.
3.1.2. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was developed in Madagascar
in the early 1980s by Father Henri de Laulanié, S.J., who between 1961 and
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