System of Rice Intensification - Reblogged

20 June, 2008 in Crops by Maylee Thavat | 2 comments

Much favoured topic of interweb rice discussions and debate, the System of Rice Intensification, once again grabbed international attention in the IHT today.

In the business section, William Broad reports on all those vague rumours that SRI could, might possibly, maybe be able to contribute to easing the global food shortage.

Many a professor dreams of revolution. But Norman Uphoff, working in a leafy corner of the Cornell University campus, is leading an inconspicuous one centered on solving the global food crisis. The secret, he says, is a new way of growing rice.Rejecting old customs as well as the modern reliance on genetic engineering, Uphoff, 67, an emeritus professor of government and international agriculture with a trim white beard and a tidy office, advocates a management revolt.Harvests typically double, he says, if farmers plant early, give seedlings more room to grow and stop flooding fields. That cuts water and seed costs while promoting root and leaf growth.The method, called the System of Rice Intensification, or SRI, emphasizes the quality of individual plants over the quantity. It applies a less-is-more ethic to rice cultivation.In a decade, it has gone from obscure theory to global trend - and encountered fierce resistance from established rice scientists. Yet a million rice farmers have adopted the system, Uphoff says. The rural army, he predicts, will swell to 10 million farmers in the next few years, increasing rice harvests, filling empty bellies and saving untold lives.

And all thanks to a Jesuit priest in Madagascar, apparently they’re not all just about saving the souls of heathens.

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Also I’ve been meaning to ask, what is that strange picture under the seminar for collaborative forest management…is it a nut?

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  1. Sango Mahanty on 25 June, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    Hi,

    it’s a forest fruit harvested for sale to the Ayurvedic industry in Sri Lanka. I think the local name for it is Arulu (Terminalia chebula).

    Sango

  2. Matthew Allen on 23 June, 2008 at 10:27 am

    Hi Maylee

    just an inane guess at the strange picture. I reckon it’s either a cocoa pod or a green coffee bean.

    Matt