SRI in Orissa - Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture ...

seed was sufficient to transplant a 20 decimal main land.
There were more surprises in store for onlookers as each
hill now had as many as 30 to 36 vigorously growing tillers
after mere 30 days of transplantation. And all these were
achieved with total low cost organic management.
In the meantime, the package of practice has got further
boost as those farmers who doubted the technique and
slightly diverted from total adoption have been proved
wrong. It was seen that after four days of sowing, seedlings
were about one and half inch taller if covered with straw.
But in one case, where it was not covered with straw, it
was just germinating. Then two trial fields had less tillers
because farmers disbelieved dry field theory and kept
standing water there.
Serious interest in the system is developing in place of
severe disbelief. Now, there is considerable interest among
farmers in the new system of farming. Abdul Usman’s
demonstration field is drawing onlookers and interested
farmers each day. Plants in his neighbouring plots are
thinner and shorter than his fields in spite of two doses
of chemical fertiliser applications. One big farmer from
Padampur, the nearest town, is coming once every week
70
Towards a Learning Alliance: SRI in Orissa
to see the progress of the crop. Usman is a very proud
farmer now. The 20 decimals of land in which he has
gone for SRI, is the only farm land that he has. Hence,
he had quite a lot of stake in that. He was also persuaded
by many to use fertiliser and chemicals. But Usman stuck
to the theory and is very happy now. People have started
believing that SRI is an answer to drought and crop loss.
But they are little sceptical about its large scale adoption
and possibilities.
Drawing Future Plans
With the initial success, MASS has done a potential
assessment to scale up SRI in its operational fields. It has
been identified that 14 villages in MASS’s area of operation
in Paikmal block have tremendous SRI potential. In six
villages SRI can be done in both Kharif and Rabi season.
Only six farmers cultivated paddy in only about an acre of
land this year. But the growing interest and confidence of
farmers will help in large scale scaling up and adaptation of
the technique. MASS intends to involve as many farmers,
local NGOs and government institutions in this process. This
year was just the beginning of SRI initiative.