EFFECT OF THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) ON ...

Abstract
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been adopted by many resource poor farmers
throughout the world. In Cambodia approximately 80.000 farmers practice some sort of SRI and
farmers are able to increase their rice yields with lower input costs. SRI is based on transplanting
one seedling per hill as opposed to several for traditional rice and managing a drying and flooding
regime of the soil leading to alternately anaerobic and aerobic conditions.
This study targeted farmers in the ILFARM project (Improved Livelihood of Small Farmers)
initiated by the Cambodian NGO CEDAC (Centre d’Étude et de Développement Agricole
Cambodgien) and the Danish organization NORDECO (Nordic Agency for Development and
Ecology) in Cambodia’s Prey Veng province. The objectives were to evaluate the effect of SRI on
the farmers’ livelihood situation, potentials of increasing the soil Carbon pool and mitigation of
greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O and CO2). The applied methods were interviewing households in the
target group and soil sampling in the SRI fields for total Carbon and Nitrogen respectively.
The target farmers were able to increase their rice yields significantly using SRI as compared to
their traditional rice fields. Traditional rice fields yielded 2.19 t ha -1 and SRI fields yielded
3.53 t ha -1 respectively. The main reason seems to be the use of only one seedling per hill thus
reducing the competition for nutrients. The use of water management was not practiced due to no or
little irrigation facilities. Main constraints for further development of SRI would be the lack of high
amounts of biomass. In order to cope with this, the ILFARM project will however supply the
farmers with 500.000 trees in order to increase the amount of available on site biomass. It was
estimated that such measures could increase the soil C pool with roughly 116 kg C ha -1 year -1 . The
SRI conducted by the target farmers did not have large influences on mitigation as farmers were not
able to manage a fluctuating water table due to no irrigation facilities. However if all concepts of
SRI is followed this could decrease emissions of especially CH4.
SRI appears to be a suitable and sustainable way of growing rice for resource poor farmers and in
addition it carries the potentials of being able to increase soil fertility through an increased C pool
and mitigation possibilities of greenhouse gases.
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