1.
Alternative Management Methods and
Impacts with the System of Rice
Intensification (SRI) in Responding to
Climate Change Effects
Panel on Climate Change and Rice Agriculture
3rd
International Rice Congress,
Hanoi, November 9, 2010
Norman Uphoff
CIIFAD, Cornell University

2.
Rice producers face diverse and adverse
consequences from climate change:
• Droughts, storm damage, cold snaps,
hot spells, etc. are likely to become
more frequent and more severe in future
• Pest and disease problems also are
likely to increase with climate change
Alternative/complementary strategies:
• Breeding strategies (G): breed in resistance
• Management strategies (E): alter phenotype

3.
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
represents a management strategy –
developed in Madagascar 25 years ago
• It modifies the way that rice plants,
soil, water and nutrients are managed
• Results in rice phenotypes that are more
resistant to abiotic and biotic stresses
through biological processes that promote:
• Larger, deeper, less-senescent root systems
• More abundant, diverse & active soil biota

4.
CUBA: Farmer showing two
rice plants of same age (52 d)
and same variety (VN 2084),
i.e. both are same genotype,
get different phenotype

5.
IRAN:
SRI roots
and normal
(flooded)
roots: note
differences
in color as
well as size
Comparison
picture sent
by Haraz
Technology
Research
Center, Amol,
Mazandaran

6.
Total bacteria Total diazotrophs
TNAU research on microbial populations in rhizosphere soil for rice crop under
different management at active tillering, panicle initiation and flowering stages
[units are √ transformed values of population g-1
of dry soil]
SRI = yellow; conventional = red
Phosphobacteria
Azotobacter

7.
Dehydrogenase activity (μg TPF) Urease activity (μg NH4-N))
TNAU research on microbial activities in rhizosphere soil in rice crop under
different management at active tillering, panicle initiation and flowering stages
[units = √ transformed values of units g-1
of dry soil in 24 h]
SRI = yellow; conventional = red
Acid phosphate activity (μg p-
Nitrogenase activity (nano mol C2H4)

8.
Treatments Total
microbes
(x105
)
Azotobacter
(x103
)
Azospirillum
(x103
)
PSM
(x104
)
Conventional (T0) 2.3a 1.9a 0.9a 3.3a
Inorganic SRI (T1) 2.7a 2.2a 1.7ab 4.0a
Organic SRI (T2) 3.8b 3.7b 2.8bc 5.9b
Inorg. SRI + BF (T3) 4.8c 4..4b 3.3c 6.4b
CFU = colony forming units PSM = Phosphate-solubilizing microbes BF = Bio-organic fertilizer
Values with the different letters in a column are significantly different by LSD at the 0.05 level.
Treatments: T0 = 20x20 cm spacing, 30 day seedlings, 6 seedlings/hill, 5 cm flooding depth of water, fertilized with
inorganic NPK (250 kg urea, 200 kg SP-18, 100 kg KCl ha-1
); T1, T2, T3 = All 30x30 cm spacing, 6-10 day seedlings,
1 seedling/hill, moist soil or intermittent irrigation, with different fertilization: T1 = same inorganic NPK as T0;
T2 = 5 t ha-1
of organic fertilizer (compost); T3 = Inorganic NPK as in T0 + 300 kg ha-1
bioorganic fertilizer.
IPB research on total microbes and numbers of beneficial
soil microbes (CFU g-1
) under conventional and SRI rice
cultivation methods, Tanjung Sari, Bogor district,
Indonesia, Feb-Aug 2009 (Iswandi et al., 2009)

9.
SRI Involves Only Changes in Practices
1. Transplant young seedlings to preserve their growth
potential - but DIRECT SEEDING is now an option
2. Avoid trauma to the roots - transplant quickly and
shallow, not inverting root tips which halts growth
3. Give plants wider spacing - one plant per hill and in
square pattern for more exposure to air and sunlight
4. Keep paddy soil moist but unflooded - soil is kept
mostly aerobic, never continuously saturated – but
SRI methods are being extended to rainfed cropping
5. Actively aerate the soil as much as possible
6. Enhance soil organic matter as much as possible –
while fertilizer can be used with other SRI methods,
best results have come from compost applications
These methods work with practically all rice varieties –
also give buffering against drought, storm damage,
etc.

10.
Results from SRI Changes in Practices
1. Reduced crop requirements for water – can help
farmers to get ‘more crop per drop’
2. Greater water use efficiency – increased fixation
of CO2
per unit of water transpired by rice plants
3. Drought resistance – even better yields reported in
drought year from Sichuan province, China
4. Resistance to storm damage and cold temperatures
– less lodging; good production despite cold snap
5. Pest and disease resistance – SRI management
reduces plants’ attractiveness and vulnerability
6. Shorter crop duration with higher yield – reducing
exposure to end-of-season biotic/abiotic stresses
7. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions – reduced CH4 when
fields are not kept flooded; apparent reduction or no
increase in N2O when nol chem. fertilizer used

11.
Despite reduction in rice cultivation area, State produces over 60 lakh tonnes
“Rice intensification project a boon to farmers”
Special Correspondent
http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/01/stories/2009120155040500.htm
— Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan
SALEM: Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam has pointed out that
despite reduction in rice cultivation area due to poor monsoons, the State could
produce 64.61 lakh tonnes, thanks to the rice intensification project. The Minister,
inaugurating a seminar organised by the Agriculture Technology Management
Agency (ATMA) of Department of Agriculture here on Monday, said that erratic
monsoon had reduced the area of paddy cultivation in the State. “Because of the
rice intensification scheme, however, the production touched 64.61 lakh tonnes.
While in normal cultivation, 3,450 kg of rice could be produced per hectare,
under the intensification scheme, it is somewhere between 6,000 and 9,000 kg…”

12.
SRI phenotypes give higher water-use efficiency
as indicated in the ratio of
photosynthesis to transpiration:
For each 1 millimol of water lost by transpiration,
SRI plants fixed 3.6 millimols of CO2,
RMP plants fixed 1.6 millimols of CO2
Climate change will make such gains in water efficiency
increasingly important -- C4 transformation is not the
only way to achieve more water-efficient phenotypes
-- agroecological means now available, not hypothetical
AK Thakur, N Uphoff, E Antony (2010). An assessment of
physiological effects of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
compared with recommended rice cultivation practices in India.
Experimental Agriculture, 46: 77-98

13.
Parameters
Cultivation method
SRI RMP SRI % LSD.05
Total chlorophyll
(mg g-1
FW)
3.37
(0.17)
2.58
(0.21)
+30 0.11
Ratio of chlorophyll a/b 2.32
(0.28)
1.90
(0.37)
+22 0.29
Transpiration
(m mol m-2
s-1
)
6.41
(0.43)
7.59
(0.33)
-16 0.27
Net photosynthetic rate
(μ mol m-2
s-1
)
23.15
(3.17)
12.23
(2.02)
+89 1.64
Stomatal conductance
(m mol m-2
s-1
)
422.73
(34.35)
493.93
(35.93)
-15 30.12
Internal CO2 concentration
(ppm)
292.6
(16.64)
347.0
(19.74)
-16 11.1
Comparison of chlorophyll content, transpiration rate,
net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and
internal CO2 concentration in SRI and RMP
Standard deviations are given in parentheses [N = 15]

14.
Effects of the system of rice intensification and fertilizer
N rate on irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and
total water use efficiency (WUE) (irrigation + rain)
Cultivation IWUE (kg m−3
) WUE (kg m−3
)
systems N rate 2005 2006 2005 2006
TF N0 0.298 f 0.232 e 0.210 f 0.182 f
N1 0.371 e 0.278 e 0.262 e 0.218 e
N2 0.433 d 0.344 d 0.305 d 0.270 d
N3 0.448 d 0.326 d 0.316 d 0.256 d
SRI N0 0.675 c 0.602 c 0.399 e 0.396 c
N1 0.837 a 0.738 a 0.494 a 0.485 a
N2 0.825 a 0.724 a 0.483 ab 0.475 a
N3 0.769 b 0.655 b 0.465 b 0.431 b
Values with the same letters in a column are not significantly different by LSD
at the 0.05 level across cultivation systems
TF: traditional flooding; SRI: System of Rice Intensification practices
N0: no N fertilizer ; N1: 80 kg ha−1
; N2: 160 kg ha−1
; N3: 240 kg ha−1
Influence of the System of Rice Intensification on rice yield and nitrogen
and water use efficiency with different N application rates. LM Zhao,
LH Wu, YS Li, XH L, DF Zhu, N Uphoff, Exper Agric 45: 275-286 (2009).

15.
Other Benefits from Changes in Practices
1. Water saving – major concern in many places, also
now have ‘rainfed’ version with similar results
2. Greater resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses –
less damage from pests and diseases, drought,
typhoons, flooding, cold spells [discuss tomorrow]
3. Shorter crop cycle – same varieties are harvested
by 1-3 weeks sooner, save water, less crop risk
4. High milling output – by about 15%, due to fewer
unfilled grains (less chaff) and fewer broken grains
5. Reductions in labor requirements – widely reported
incentive for changing practices in India and China;
also, mechanization is being introduced many places
6. Reductions in costs of production – greater farmer
income and profitability, also health benefits
Drought-resistance in SRI LANKA:
Rice fields 3 weeks after irrigation water was suspended;
conventionally-grown field on left, and SRI field on right

16.
Journal of Sichuan Agricultural Science and Technology
(2009), Vol. 2, No. 23
“Introduction of Land-Cover Integrated Technologies with Water
Saving and High Yield” -- Lv Shihua et al.
• Yield in normal year is 150-200 kg/mu (2.25-3.0 t/ha);
yield in drought year is 200 kg/mu (3.0 t/ha) or even more
• Net income in normal year is increased by new methods
from profit of 100 ¥/mu to 600-800 ¥/mu (i.e., from profit of
$220/ha to >$1,500/ha)
• Net income in drought year with new methods goes from
loss of 200-300 ¥/mu to 300-500 ¥/mu profit (from a loss of
$550/ha to a profit of $880/ha)

17.
Storm resistance
in VIETNAM:
paddy fields in
Dông Trù village,
Hanoi province,
after typhoon
SRI field and
rice plant on left;
conventional field
and plant on right

18.
CHINA: Nie Fu-qiu, Bu Tou village, Zhejiang
In 2004, his SRI field gave
top yield in province: 12 t/ha
In 2005, although his SRI
fields were hit by 3 typhoons
-- he was able to harvest
11.15 tons/ha while other
farmers’ fields were badly
affected by storm damage
(CNRRI report)
In 2008, Nie used chemical
fertilizer to try for highest
yield - and his crop lodged

19.
Irrigation
method
Seedling
age
Spacing
(cm2
)
Plant lodging percentage
Partial Complete Total
Inter-
mittent
irrigation
(AWDI)
14
30x30 6.67 0 6.67
30x18 40.00 6.67 46.67
21
30x30 26.67 20 46.67
30x18 13.33 13.33 26.67
Ordinary
irrigation
(continuous
flooding)
14
30x30 16.67 33.33 50.00
30x18 26.67 53.33 80.00
21
30x30 20 76.67 96.67
30x18 13.33 80 93.33
Rice plant lodging as affected by intermittent vs. ordinary
irrigation practices when combined with different
ages of seedlings and spacing in Chiba, Japan, 2008
(Chapagain and Yamaji, Paddy & Water Envir., 2009)

20.
PeriodPeriod Mean max.Mean max.
temp.temp.00
CC
Mean min.Mean min.
temp.temp.00
CC
No. ofNo. of
sunshine hrssunshine hrs
1 – 151 – 15 NovNov 27.727.7 19.219.2 4.94.9
16–3016–30 NovNov 29.629.6 17.917.9 7.57.5
1 – 15 Dec1 – 15 Dec 29.129.1 14.614.6 8.68.6
16–31 Dec16–31 Dec 28.128.1 12.212.2** 8.68.6
Cold resistance in INDIA: Data from an IPM
evaluation, ANGRAU, Andhra Pradesh, 2005-06
SeasonSeason Normal (t/ha)Normal (t/ha) SRI (t/ha)SRI (t/ha)
Rabi 2005-06Rabi 2005-06 2.252.25 3.473.47
Kharif 2006Kharif 2006 0.21*0.21* 4.164.16
* Low yield was due to cold injury for plants (see above)
*Sudden drop in min. temp. during 16–21 Dec. (9.2-9.8o
C for 5 days)

21.
Disease and pest incidence in VIETNAM:
National IPM Program evaluation: average of data
from on-farm trials in 8 provinces, 2005-06:
Spring season Summer season
SRI
Plots
Farmer
Plots
Differ-
ence
SRI
Plots
Farmer
Plots
Differ-
ence
Sheath
blight
6.7% 18.1% 63.0% 5.2% 19.8% 73.7%
Leaf blight
-- -- -- 8.6% 36.3% 76.5%
Small leaf
folder *
63.4 107.7 41.1% 61.8 122.3 49.5%
Brown
plant
hopper *
542 1,440 62.4% 545 3,214 83.0%
AVERAGE 55.5% 70.7%
* Insects/m2

22.
Crop duration in NEPAL (from seed to seed) of different
rice varieties with SRI vs. conventional methods (6.3 t/ha
vs. 3.1 t/ha) 125 days vs. 141 days=16-day reduction
Varieties
(N = 412)
Conventional
duration
SRI duration Difference
Bansdhan/Kanchhi 145 127 (117-144) 18 (28-11)
Mansuli 155 136 (126-146) 19 (29- 9)
Swarna 155 139 (126-150) 16 (29- 5)
Sugandha 120 106 (98-112) 14 (22- 8)
Radha 12 155 138 (125-144) 17 (30-11)
Barse 3017 135 118 17
Hardinath 1 120 107 (98-112) 13 (22- 8)
Barse 2014 135 127 (116-125) 8 (19-10)

23.
Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from
Paddy Rice Fields in Indonesia
Comparison of SRI and surrounding conventional fields -
SRI Experiment Plots + Farmers Fields
Tabo-Tabo
Jampue
Langunga
Penarungan
Sungsang
Dr. KIMURA Sonoko Dorothea
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

24.
CH4 Flux
Water status at the time of sampling had a greater
influence on CH4 flux than did the difference between SRI
and conventional methods. However, since SRI fields tend
to be drained, CH4 flux tended to be higher in
conventional fields. Highest CH4 emission was found
during early growing stages with conventional methods.
N2O Flux
High variability. Unexpected negative flux in some fields.
SRI fields tended to emit more N2O than conventional
fields -- but the values are in the range found for
conventional paddy fields (F.M. Honmachi, 2007 --
total emission 0-0.2 kg N ha-1
).
Conclusion

25.
Highlights of S.R.I. Research in
Indonesia
Iswandi Anas, D. K. Kalsim, Budi I. Setiawan, Yanuar, and
Sam Herodian, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)
Presented at workshop on S.R.I
at Ministry of Agriculture,
Jakarta, June 13, 2008

26.
METHANE
EMISSIONS
Initial results reported by IPB
Soil Biotechnology Laboratory
from GHG studies with SRI
management in Indonesia

27.
N2O
EMISSIONS

28.
Yan, X., H. Akiyama, K. Yagi and H. Akomoto. ‘Global
estimations of the inventory and mitigation potential
of methane emissions from rice cultivation conducted
using the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change Guidelines.’ Global Biochemical Cycles, (2009)
“We estimated that if all of the continuously flooded rice fields were
drained at least once during the growing season, the CH4 emissions
would be reduced by 4.1 Tg a-1 . Furthermore, we estimated that
applying rice straw off-season wherever and whenever possible would
result in a further reduction in emissions of 4.1 Tg a-1 globally. … if
both of these mitigation options were adopted, the global CH4
emission from rice paddies could be reduced by 7.6 Tg a-1.
Although draining continuously flooded rice fields may lead to an
increase in nitrous oxide (N2O) emission, the global warming
potential resulting from this increase is negligible when compared
to the reduction in global warming potential that would result
from the CH4 reduction associated with draining the fields.”

29.
Thank you
Website:
http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu
Email:
ntu1@cornell.edu