This document discusses how smallholder farmers in Uttarakhand, India adapted the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to better fit their local social and environmental conditions. The farmers made several adjustments to SRI practices, including transplanting seedlings earlier to ensure timely ripening, locating nurseries and plots closer to homes, and forming new labor groups for tasks. The farmers also integrated SRI with their existing rice farming methods in ways that sought complementarity between different approaches. As a result of these adaptations, SRI became incorporated into the complex, balanced rice system in a fluid way contingent on local agroecological factors.

1. People’s Science Institute
Dehradun, India
How Smallholder Farmers in UttarakhandHow Smallholder Farmers in Uttarakhand
Reworked the System of Rice Intensification (SRI):Reworked the System of Rice Intensification (SRI):
Innovations from Sociotechnical Interactions inInnovations from Sociotechnical Interactions in
Fields and VillagesFields and Villages
Debashish SenDebashish Sen

2. Research Objective & Research QuestionsResearch Objective & Research Questions
To understand how SRI,
conceived as a set of
practices introduced from
outside the communities,
was incorporated into the
local rice farming system
1) How were SRI practices interpreted and adjusted to fit with the local
social and agro-ecological arrangements?
2) How did the new method influence existing rice farming practices in the
locality?
3) How were existing farmers’ work groups adjusted to accommodate the
new method?
Transplanting of
young seedlings
Transplanting
at wider spacing
Alternate wetting
and drying (AWD)
Enhancing soil
organic matter
Inter-cultivation
with weeder
SRISRI
PracticesPractices
Single seedling
per hill

3. Methodology: Conceptual Framework, Location and ToolsMethodology: Conceptual Framework, Location and Tools
Analytical Framework
• Socio-technical System
• Agriculture as Performance
• Task Group Culture
Ethnographic Approach
3 Villages in Tehri Garhwal
district of Uttarakhand, India
Rice Seasons : 2011 to 2013
• Rapid Rural Appraisal Exercises
• Participant Observations
• Field Measurements
• Focus Group Discussions
• Semi-Structured Interviews
India
Uttarakhand
Tehri Garhwal
Bhilangana Sub-basin, Tehri-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India

4. Rice Farming in Western Himalayas : Main FeaturesRice Farming in Western Himalayas : Main Features
• Predominant kharif irrigated and un-
irrigated crop
• Grown simultaneously with mixed
crops in unirrigated fields
• Diverse methods (Sathi, Bijwad and
Saindha) utilizing hand tools
• Multiple long duration (120-165 days)
varieties, mostly local
• Limited availability of draft power
forces hiring/sharing of bullocks
• Rituals associated with transplanting
and harvesting of rice (Din Bar)
• Women’s collectives (Padiyals)
undertaking transplanting

5. SRI Demands New Performative SkillsSRI Demands New Performative Skills
Raised Bed Nurseries (RBNs)
Properly Marked Fields
Precise Transplanting of Seedlings
Water : Not Too Much nor Too Little

6. New Norms for Water ManagementNew Norms for Water Management
Source: Mean Daily Water Depth of 20 plots each under different rice cultivation methods, Village Phalenda, 2013
SRI plots
•Shallow flooding preferred over recommended AWD, especially in early
crop stage
•Liberal irrigation regime controlled weed growth & water beetles
•Facilitated distribution of labour between rice and rainfed crops
Irrigation Water Depths under Different Rice Cultivation Methods
Days after Transplanting
Bina
Saindha
SRI

7. Drying and Marking as Additional TasksDrying and Marking as Additional Tasks
 Introduces time gap between Land Preparation and
Transplanting
 Village Level Resource Persons (VLRPs) emerge as Key
Specialists for Marking
 Readjustments in Marking: Line and eye estimation
adapted over seasons and across plots collectively
Marking Patterns of SRI plots of 30 randomly selected farmers (10 from each study village)

8. Reconfiguring Nursery Tasks & GroupsReconfiguring Nursery Tasks & Groups
 Rescheduling Dates: Early seeding required for timely ripening
 Relocating Sites: Most RBNs located nearer to plot owner’s house
 Reforming Groups: Emergence of different nursery forms
 Readjusting Tasks: Seed treatment optional, More densely seeded
 RBNs and Flatbed Nurseries complement each other
Nursery
Type
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
2
w
3
w
4
w
1
w
2
w
3
w
4
w
1-4
w
1-4
w
1
w
2
w
3
w
4
w
1
w
2
w
Saindha/
Bina
N T H
Synchronized
Transplanting
RBN N T H
Synchronized
Harvesting
RBN N T H
W: Week, N: Nursery, T: Transplanting, H: Harvesting
Synchronized Transplanting vs Synchronized Harvesting

9. Reorganizing Transplanting Tasks & GroupsReorganizing Transplanting Tasks & Groups
 Rescheduling Dates: Early establishment for timely ripening
 Relocating Plots: Most SRI plots located in middle reach of canal
 Reforming Groups: Emergence of larger and young aged groups
 Readjusting Tasks: Mingling of existing and new practices
 Redistributing Tasks: Elderly uproot while young transplant
System of Rice Intensification: Transplanting Patterns (2011)
Phalenda Dakhwangaon

10. Predominant Forms of Transplanting under SRI influencePredominant Forms of Transplanting under SRI influence
SRI opens up various options - Farm households make choices as per their
bio-physical and socio-economic circumstances
Rice Plots Under Different Methods

11. Conclusions and ImplicationsConclusions and Implications
• Entry of SRI necessitates rearrangements of
a complex but very balanced rice farming
system
• Technical and social adaptations happen in
situ, but also contingent on agro-ecological
factors
• Farmers try to seek complementarity and
synergy between various rice farming
methods
• Fluidity among work groups leads to
extension and diversification of the
repertoire of methods
• Task groups as potential units for
agricultural research and extension
Need to build upon farmers’ adaptive capacities to maximize exploitation of
agro-ecological niches, minimize uncertainty in farm production and
rationalize employment of available work force

12. THANKTHANK
YOUYOU !!

13. Steps in SRI – Pictorial RepresentationSteps in SRI – Pictorial Representation
Field Marking
Seed Selection and Treatment Raised Bed Nursery Preparation
Removal of Young Seedling
Regular Weeding
Water Management SRI Field Harvesting
Transplanting at Wide Spacing