Fwd: SRI-Rice Global News: Nov. '22 - Jan. '23 System of Rice Intensification

[Ashok Kumar]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Lucy Hill Fisher <lh...@cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb, 2023, 01:22
Subject: SRI-Rice Global News: Nov. '22 - Jan. '23 System of Rice Intensification
To: jai...@googlegroups.com <jai...@googlegroups.com>

SRI-Rice’s News Highlights: November 2022 - January 2023

                       

 

 

 

SRI colleagues and friends in Asia,

The November 2022 - January 2023 edition of the SRI-Rice News Highlights is now available. Click here to find the latest 12 articles, presentations, and videos about the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania-- as well as Norman’s keynote at the International Conference on System of Crop Intensification (ICSCI22), Erika’s fascinating SRI interview for Acres USA magazine, and two global GHG items: a SRI-2030 blog post on NDCS for methane emissions and a video on SRI and GHGs by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Other SRI News: The 13-country RICOWAS project for West Africa was (finally!) officially launched on January 18. This $14 million project, which is centered around SRI, will build on success of the previous SRI-WAAPP initiative in the region. Also good to see the International Conference on System of Crop Intensification (ICSCI22) presentation papers have been published as a special issue in SARR’s  Journal of Rice Research as a special issue (vol. 15, special issue). (You can read Francesco’s three reviews of the ICSCI22 conference on the SRI-2030 blog.) And, finally, the Indonesian SRI Network held its first house recently to get to know new members and plan for future activities research and field activities (Over 50 universities in Indonesia have published SRI research to date!)

RESEARCH: See what’s new in the SRI Research Network database that has (as of January 31) 2,214 items (1,535 journal articles). There are 841 items in the India SRI research collection. Check the tags (keywords, including country tag) at the bottom left of the database for research about your own country (or write to us for help.) If you have any new articles, please send them along! Keep up to date by viewing new SRI research from around the world in the Global SRI Research Network’s “latest research” folder. Need help with identifying references for your own research or accessing articles? We can help! Write to sri...@cornell.edu. Finally, join the SRI Research Network to access full text research articles and find resources. (It’s free!)

GLOBAL AND REGIONAL EVENTS: Here are events that may be of interest to the SRI community. (Please send us upcoming events)

• Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for Enhanced Efficiency, Income and Resilience among Smallholders, FAO webinar,  March 1, 2023, 9AM CET (Rome time),
• Rice Production Workshop (for California), March 15-16, University of California/Lundberg Farms. US$200
• 3^rd Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, March 13-15, 2023, Dublin, Ireland
• Regenerative and Food Systems Summit, March 28-29, 2023. Chicago, USA. In person only. [The food industry will try to figure out how to relate to Regenerative Agriculture!]
• 6^th Organic Asia Conference: Building World Peace through Organic Agriculture, June 6-9, 2023, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, Philippines.
• ECHO-Asia SRI trainings: July 14 (planting) and Nov. 24 (harvest), 2023, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Contact ECHOAsia for details. [There are other farm trainings as well]
• ECHO Asia Agriculture & Development Conference 2023, October 16-20, 2023, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
• 4th Asia-Pacific edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit, Singapore, Sept. 4-5, 2023
• 6th International Rice Congress, October 16-19, 2023, Manila, Philippines [Stay tuned to see what the SRI activities will be there!]

RESOURCES / OPPORTUNITIES  
(Please send any upcoming events or opportunities for the next issue!)

·       [SRI Discussion Groups / Forums]
1) SRI facebook groups: ) SRI Equipment Innovators Exchange (group), Network of SRI Friends (Myanmar), SRI West Africa (French and English), SRI en las Americas (Spanish), System of Rice Intensification (India), and SRI Peace Corps.
 [See also standard facebook pages (not membership groups): SRI-Rice, SRI Global, and national networks/orgs.: Indonesia, Nepal, and Taiwan]
2) The Japanese SRI Network (J-SRI) meets every other month online. Check the J-SRI website or SRI-Rice events page for date/zoom link.
3) SRI WhatsApp groups in SE Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the DR Congo - ask us for contact info
4) JaiSRI (googlegroup) in India (associated with the National Consortium on SRI)
5) [not SRI, but good to join!] Community of Practice: Join FAO’s Family Farming & Agroecology CoP

·       [New Websites  / Social Media]
1) Newly re-released websites:  Sustainable Rice Platform and the Indonesian SRI Network (IndoSRInet)
2) SRI-2030’s new blog. (Also, here’s a single link to all of SRI-2030’s social media, several of which are new).

·       [Research]
1)  Agronomy special issues: Contribute to one of many special issues listed under these categories: Agroecology Innovations, Water Use, Innovative Cropping Systems, etc.
2) Access the CA Research Newsletter and/or the Cornell Conservation Agriculture research database on Zotero (with 3,500+ scientific items on CA)  (Join the group for fulltext)
3) Contribute to Gender and Agriculture (a thematic series will publish in CABI Agriculture and Bioscience). Submissions due Aug. 21, 2023.

·       [Educational and Funding Opportunities]

1. Scholarship opportunities for online courses in Wageningen University & Research (deadline March 30, 2023)
2. Scholarship lists-- General: Terra Viva Fellowship/Scholarship; Ag Scholarships, and for Asia ADB Scholarships in Asia; SEARCA (SE Asia) - listed under the “programs”
3. Lists of agriculture and development funds: Terra Viva grant database; Funds for NGOs;

 

(Although the e-mail version of the newsletter is now quarterly, you can see recently added news anytime by going directly to the online SRI news --which is a better viewing experience with more complete information. For more in depth info, check our SRI-Rice website.)

Comments? Contact the SRI-Rice Team –lh...@cornell.edu
Lucy                                                                                                                 
Note: The info below is also available directly online through the ScoopIt url: https://www.scoop.it/topic/system-of-rice-intensification-sri

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SRI Global News: Nov. '22 - Jan. '23 **sririce.org -- System of Rice Intensification by SRI-Rice Powered by SRI 1.0 and Beyond: Understanding the System of Crop Intensification as SRI 3.0 From sarr.co.in - February 16, 3:30 PM ...SRI 2.0 is a set of adaptations of the original practices to be effective under different constraints or opportunities. The principles remain the same – rainfed SRI, direct-seeded SRI, mechanized SRI, etc. SRI 3.0 is the extension and adaptation of SRI ideas and principles to other crops – wheat, millet, sugarcane, mustard, etc. – in other words, the System of Crop Intensification. SRI 4.0 is the integration of SRI ideas into farming systems, going beyond monocropping. SRI 5.0 is the use of SRI beyond agricultural production like reducing GHG emissions, climate-proofing crops, improving women’s working conditions, increasing the nutritional quality, and other ‘externalities’. SRI 6.0 is the research to advance scientific understanding of how and why SRI works. (These versions are not sequential).   SRI has shown the prime importance of two factors: plant roots  and the life in the soil. SRI seeks to elicit the genetic potentials to evoke better, more robust phenotypes from a given variety (genotype). In a changing climate, it will become important to grow crops with bigger root systems in soils that have greater abundance of beneficial soil organisms. SRI-Rice's insight: This paper accompanied Norman Uphoff's keynote address at the International Conference on the System of Crop Intensification for Climate-Smart Livelihoods and Nutritional Security (ICSCI22) that took place December 12-14, 2022, at ICAR, Hyderabad, India. [This paper, along with other lead speakers' presentations, is included in a special edition (vol. 15) of SARR's Journal of Rice Research: https://sarr.co.in/2023/02/05/volume-15-special-issue/]   SRI and Climate Change: Exploring the Role of SRI and Nationally Determined Contributions for Climate Action From www.sri-2030.org - January 20, 4:51 PM ... Since the end of 2022 a total of eleven countries have chosen to include the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as a mitigation or adaptation action in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). SRI is a practical and attractive option for rice producing countries to reduce the GHG emissions associated with rice cultivation and adapt to climate impacts. Rice cultivation is a significant source of methane emissions and is responsible for around 12% of global anthropogenic methane emissions - and around 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. To put this in perspective, this puts rice cultivation not far behind the global aviation industry which accounts for around 2.1% of all anthropogenic GHG emissions. By reducing flooded fields and chemical inputs, SRI can reduce net GHG  emissions by 50% or more per kg rice produced and methane emissions by up to 70%. On top of that, SRI improves a farmer’s climate resilience against droughts, storms and extreme weather all while helping to produce more rice from less. SRI-Rice's insight: This article appears on the blog of SRI-2030,  which has now expanded its social media platforms substantially.  Here's a link to all the ways you can access their information: https://linktr.ee/sri_2030. SRI-2030. SRI-2030 is an NGO dedicated to tackling emissions by upscaling SRI to 59M  by 2030.   How Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Rice Can be Minimised through Regenerative Production From ellenmacarthurfoundation.org - January 20, 11:42 AM [Video] The global food system is responsible for between 20-30% of greenhouse gas emissions, most of which are generated at the production stage. Conventional rice production generates emissions equivalent to the entire global aviation industry. So how can we produce rice in a way that uses fewer resources and regenerates nature? A growing number of farmers around the world are changing the way they produce rice, by adopting an agroecological approach called the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). SRI-Rice's insight: This video is produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which focuses on the circular economy.   KENYA: SRI-Digital App to Revolutionize Rice Farming in Mwea From www.jkuat.ac.ke - January 25, 12:21 PM Achieving Food Security while using water and land resources in a sustainable manner is a major challenge to any country. Agriculture’s success is therefore hinged on effectively using innovation to increase productivity and ensure profitability while managing natural resources. With this in mind, ARIFU, an educational technology company in conjunction with JKUAT’s Prof. Bancy Mati came up with a digital System of Rice Intensification (SRI) training app for rice farmers in Kenya. The app is an important source of information for the farmers on practices towards an increase in rice water productivity.   The ARIFU platform is an interactive chatbot that offers agronomic advice and financial skills training to farmers through mobile phones, giving them access to much-needed information. “This app will be accessible to anyone with a mobile phone and will be important in providing up-to-date information to farmers on the new and improved farming practices,” said Prof. Mati who also Chairperson of the Association of Irrigation Acceleration Platform (AIAP). SRI-Rice's insight: A longer account of the digital app, with insights on its success, can be found in Prof. Mati's extended post on the SRI-Rice website: tinyurl.com/3t97632c.   ODISHA, INDIA: SRI Through SRI - PRAYATN From www.youtube.com - February 15, 10:19 PM SRI Through SRI - PRAYATN: Overview of SRI methods and farmer interviews from a SRI project by Prayatn in Rayagada, Odisha, India.   KERALA, INDIA: Sarvathobhadram-Organic Initiative: Cooperative Model for Resilient Agriculture by Adopting System of Rice Intensification From www.omicsonline.org - January 24, 12:29 PM Sarvathobhadram-Organic–Farmers Cooperative is helpful in supporting small and marginal farmers in customizing, adapting, and tailoring the system to their specific requirements. The Farmers Club, which has 50 members, was founded in May 2020 to create additional cash while also encouraging farmers to shift to organic farming using System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The club’s mission is to ensure food security, livelihood, and entrepreneurship in the Anthikad Block Panchayat (Kerala). The project addressed climate change and resilience, collaborating with government departments and utilizing convergence to maximize the schemes accessible to farmers in panchayath. SRI-Rice's insight: This case study is a detailed account of the methods, constraints/solutions, and outcomes of an organic SRI project in Kerala. The Plant-ness of the Plant February 1, 7:38 PM The Plant-ness of the Plant is an interview with Erika Styger that appears in the February 2023 issue of ACRES USA magazine. It can also be accessed here:  https://tinyurl.com/prebh7xw on  Dr. Styger's Climate Resilient Farming  Systems website.   The System of Rice/Crop Intensification utilizes simple principles to provide plants an ideal growing environment. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an agronomic approach that was serendipitously discovered in Madagascar by a French priest and popularized by a university in New York, utilizing a discovery — made by Japanese scientists in the 1930s but, probably due to WWII, never translated into English — that follows the pattern in nature we now call the Fibonacci sequence. This is the unlikely and fascinating story of SRI — a set of principles that has enable increased profitability and improved yields for growers of rice and other crops across the world since the 1980s. It is only now beginning to be picked up among growers in industrialized nations like the United States.... https://tinyurl.com/prebh7xw   WEST AFRICA: Official launch of the RICOWAS project. January 18, 2023 in Bamako, Mali From oss-online.org - February 5, 12:36 PM The official launch of the RICOWAS project « Scaling up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa », took place on January 18, 2023 in Bamako, Mali. The project is financed by the Adaptation Fund (AF) and implemented by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) with the collaboration of the Regional Center of Specialization on Rice, hosted by the Institute of Rural Economy of Mali (CRS-Riz/IER), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD) and the Cornell University, for a 14M USD budget over a 4-year period. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a major component of the project. SRI-Rice's insight: More details of this project can be found on the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) site  and a Dec. 2022  Cornell Chronicle article.   INDONESIA: System of Rice Intensification in Indonesia - Research, Adoption, and Opportunities From www.slideshare.net - February 15, 10:17 PM This is a presentation made by Febri Doni at the International Conference on System of Crop Intensification (SCI) in Hyderabad, India, December 12-14, 2023. The Indonesian SRI Network (IndoSRInet) has a newly revised website: https://indosrinet.org/. Check out what's going on with SRI in one of the largest countries (by population)  in the world! SRI-Rice's insight: On Feb. 15,  2023, IndoSRInet (Indonesia's national SRI network), held an "open house" to welcome new members, plan upcoming activities, and review research findings. All SRI stakeholders are welcome. Contact the network https://indosrinet.org/ for more information. (Interesting to note that research on SRI has been published by over 50 universities and several government agencies throughout Indonesia!)   TAMIL NADU, INDIA: TN Govt Award for Highest Yield a Recognition for Women: Pudukkottai Farmer From www.newindianexpress.com - February 16, 6:19 PM For Vasantha Ganesan, a 32-year-old farmer at Ponnamaravathi taluk in the district, the third time was the charm as she was conferred the C Narayanaswamy Naidu Award by Chief Minister MK Stalin for achieving the highest yield of paddy through the System of Rice Intensification, during the Republic Day celebrations in Chennai on Thursday. Her parcel of land at Aalavayal returned a yield of 14,551.25 kg of paddy/hectare to claim the award that entails a cash award of Rs 5 lakh, besides a medal and a certificate.   BURKINA FASO: Technique de Production Agroécologique du Riz au Profit de la Coopérative Gouantina de Douna From plantvillage.psu.edu - January 20, 4:30 PM A la demande de la coopérative Gouantina en début de campagne, la DreamTeam Douna piloté par Albert COMPAORE met en place un champ école de riziculture intensive dans l'optique de mieux enseigner les bonnes pratiques culturales de production de riz. La coopérative Gouantina est une coopérative composée de 65 femmes productrice de riz. Pour le champ école l'agent à terrain Albert à mis deux parcelles de 200m2. Sur la première  parcelle les bonnes techniques de production du riz en système de riziculture intensive (SRI) ont été mise en place... SRI-Rice's insight: At the request of the Gouantina cooperative (made up of 65 women who produce rice) the "DreamTeam Douna" of the NGO PlantVillage set up a SRI field school for SRI.   On a plot of 200m2 the traditional practice yielded 20kg (exptrapolated to 2t/ha) while the SRI plot yielded 35kg (extrapolated to 3.5t/ha). As they saw the profitability associated with SRI methods, the women in the cooperative decided to adopt the methods.   TANZANIA: Social Capital proves critical to success of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) farming in Tanzania From yenkasa.org - December 31, 2022 4:02 PM In Tanzania, social capital was a key contributor to the success of the implementation of System of Rice Intensification (SRI), as part of the activities the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) implemented in the framework of the Farmers’ Organizations for Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific Programme. Recently the adoption of this method has achieved exponential gains. As this experience illustrates, forging positive relations between farmers was a critical component. The Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) took great care in creating the conditions that would ensure as many people as possible could benefit from adopting SRI. One important aspect was the farmer-to-farmer approach. ACT implemented a participatory and inclusive approach. Participation was open to anyone interested and the farmer-to-farmer approach was adopted.

 

 

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