1. Research on SRI and its future scope T.M. Thiyagarajan

2. SRI HEXAGON Young seedlings Single seedling per hill More organic manures Enhanced water, labour, land and nutrient productivity Wider spacing Unflooded irrigation Intercultivation with weeder

3. SRI Crop (From 16 seedlings to 1 kg grain per sq.m)

4. What SRI does ?

5. Research areas Comparison with other practices Understanding SRI principles Optimizing SRI package of practices Impact of SRI on crop response Effect of SRI practices on soil system Socio-economic aspects on adoption Tool development

6. Comparison with other practices On-station evaluation On-farm evaluation Farmer participatory evaluation SRI compared with Best Management Practice Local recommended practice Farmer’s practice

7. Adaptive Research Trials in Farmers’ Fields – Grain yield (kg ha-1)(Tamil Nadu) Average : 7227 n = 100 Average : 5657

8. Respective and joint contributions Flexibility of individual principles Understanding SRI principles

9. Interaction between young seedling, green leaf manure and intercultivation with weeder Thiyagarajan et al., 2002

10. Variable(s) effect on grain yield SRI Conventional Rajendran et al., 2005

11. Transplanting single seedlings per hill and following intermittent irrigation during the vegetative growth stage are key elements of SRI methodology (Mishra, 2010)

12. Optimizing SRI package of practice Adopting to site specific agroecological environment Seedling age (direct seeding, 8-14 days) Number of seedlings (more than one in specific situations) Spacing (distance, square, zig-zag, crop duration ) Intercultivation (type of weeder, time of operation, no.of times) Irrigation (quantity, time, drainage, rainfed) 6. Organic manure (Source, qty, INM)

13. Gliricidia : best organic source in SRI N : 2.4 % P : 0.1 % K : 1.8 % Ca : 1.2 %

14. Impact of SRI on crop response-1 Varietal expression variety neutral hybrid vigour exploited scented rice response

15. Impact of SRI on crop response-2 Physiological changes 1. higher and extended root activity 2. profuse tillering 3. reduced tiller mortality 4. higher % productive tillers 5. more grains per panicle 6. erect leaves 7. reduced leaf senescence 8. higher LAI beyond flowering 9. source-sink relationship, 10. phytochemical changes 11. Early maturity

16. SRI exploits the genetic potential of rice plants Lodging resistance more than 40 tillers per hill in 30 days more than 100 panicles from single-seedling more than 350 grains per pancile

17. 17 New roots due to earthing up by weeder

18. Effect of SRI Greater cationexchange capacity (CEC), ATPase activity, and cytokinin content of the roots in plants grown under SRI rather than conventional cultivation (Nisha, 2002) composition as well as abundance of beneficial soil organismsaltered (Gayathry, 2002)

19. Reasons for higher yields in SRI Younger tillers became productive Greater root activity at later growth stage also Larger leaves with spreading canopy Greater light interception Delayed leaf senesence Higher rate of photosynthesis Higher harvest index Thakur et al., 2009, Mishra and Saloke, 2010

20. Impact of SRI on crop response-3 Use efficiency of resources 1. Land 2. Water 3. Light 4. Seeds 5. Labour 6. Nutrients

21. Interaction between spacing and water management Ceesay et al., 2006

22. Impact of SRI on crop response-4 Adpatability changes quick establishment increased rooting depth lodging resistance aerenchyma ?

23. Impact of SRI on crop response-5 Pest, disease interactions incidence changes resistance micro-climatic changes nutrient management

24. Effect of SRI on soil system Soil physical and chemical changes Effect of intercultivation (aeration, pruning effect) Soil biological activity (BNF, micorhizae, hormones) Green house emission (CH4, CO2, N2O) Carbon sequestration (root biomass) Redox potential (exposure of soil to air) Nutrient dynamics (soil fertility changes, long term effect) Nematode dynamics

25. Effect of nutrients Andriankaya, 2001

26. Socio-economic issues in adoption Capacity building Skill development Farm size Land ownership Resource availability Seasonal liquidity Technical support Policy support Labour issues Tools availability Disadoption

27. Single seedling planting, row planting, wider spacing, intercultivation practice developed by a farmer a century ago in Tamil Nadu Visit : sri-india.net (SRI Newsletter 6)

28. Future scope Farmer participatory local research - site specific package of practice - varietal selection - flexibility of SRI principles - tool modification - factors for non-adoption / disadoption

29. Future scope Coordinated trials in different agroecological regions - simplifying of intercultivation operation - standardizing water management practice - optimum nutrient management - long term effects of SRI

30. Future scope In-depth studies - impact of intercultivation on soil and crop - how genetic potential is changed - root activity - grain filling process - green house gas emission

31. Future scope Coordinated efforts - Consortium concept - monitoring mechanism

32. SRI research and evaluation requires more comprehensive approaches and a deeper understanding of the biology of ecosystems. Uphoff et al. (2009)