1009 learning about positive plant-microbial interactions from the system of rice intensification...
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Contributers: Norman Uphoff, CIIFAD, Cornell University, USAIswandi Anas, Biotechnology Lab, IPB, IndonesiaO.P. Rupela, former Principal Scientist, ICRISAT, IndiaA.K. Thakur, Directorate of Water Management, IndiaT.M. Thiyagarajan, Tamil Nadu Agric. Univ., IndiaPresented at: Conference of Association of Applied Biologists on Positive Plant-Microbial InteractionsTRANSCRIPT
Learning about positive plant-microbial
interactions from the System of Rice
Intensification (SRI)Conference of Association of Applied
Biologists on Positive Plant-Microbial InteractionsGrantham, UK, December 15-16, 2009
Norman Uphoff, CIIFAD, Cornell University, USAIswandi Anas, Biotechnology Lab, IPB, IndonesiaO.P. Rupela, former Principal Scientist, ICRISAT,
IndiaA.K. Thakur, Directorate of Water Management,
IndiaT.M. Thiyagarajan, Tamil Nadu Agric. Univ., India
SRI: a methodology developed for raising rice yields in
Madagascar1. Introduction to SRI – can see positive
effects of altering management practices
2. Evidence of the phenotypical effects of SRI practices, and of epigenetic effects?
3. Madagascar data suggesting positive contributions of soil microbial populations
4. SRI changes in soil microbial populations
5. Contributions to rice from endophytic symbiotic microbes, both bacteria and fungi
SRI does not rely on either the introduction of improved varieties
or application of external inputs• SRI changes the way that rice plants, soil, water and nutrients are managed
• To get more productive PHENOTYPES from any and all rice GENOTYPES
• Changes in plant morphology – numbers of tillers, root system growth, leaf area, angle of tillers, etc.
• Changes in plant physiology – water-use efficiency, root exudation, rates of photosynthesis, delayed senescence, etc.
• Indications of EPIGENETIC changes to be explored – contribution from plant-microbial interactions?
CUBA: farmer with two plants of same variety
(VN 2084) and same age (52 DAP)
CAMBODIA: Rice plant
grown from single seed in
Takeo province
NEPAL:Single rice
plant grownwith SRI methods, Morang district
IRAN: SRI roots and normal
(flooded) roots: note difference in color as well as size
IRAQ: Comparison trials at Al-Mishkhab Rice Research Station, Najaf
‘Rice Aplenty in Aceh’
(Indonesia)
CARITAS NEWSSpring 2009
SRI methods were introduced in Aceh in 2005 by CARITAS Australia after tsunami had
devastated the area – new methods raised local rice yields from 2 t/ha to 8.5 t/ha: “Using less
rice seed, less water and organic compost, farmers in Aceh have quadrupled their crop
production.”
2009 Report from Aga Khan
Foundation: Baghlan Province,
Afghanistan
2008: 6 farmers got SRI yields of 10.1 t/ha vs. 5.4 t/ha regular2009: 42 farmers got SRI yields of 9.3 t/ha vs. 5.6 t/ha regular
2nd-year SRI farmers got 13.3 t/ha vs. 5.6 t/ha1st-year SRI farmers got 8.7 t/ha vs. 5.5 t/ha
AFGHANISTAN: SRI field in Baghlan Province, supported by Aga Khan Foundation Natural Resource Management
program
SRI field at 30 days
SRI plant with 133 tillers @
72 days after transplanting
11.56 t/ha
Report on SRI in Deorali Geog, BHUTAN, 2009
Sangay Dorji, Jr. Extension Agent, Deorali Georg, Dagana
SRI @ 25x25cm 9.5 t/ha SRI random spacing 6.0 t/ha
SRI @ 30x30cm 10.0 t/ha Standard practice 3.6 t/ha
Comparison of SRI and usual rice plants in
INDONESIA
Miyatty Jannah,
Crawuk village, Ngawi, E. Java
INDONESIA:Sampoerna CSR
Program,Malang, E. Java, 2009
Single SRI rice plantVariety: Ciherang
No. of fertile tillers: 223
I mproved variety of finger milletwith SRI methods (lef t); regular management of improved variety
(middle) and traditional variety (right)
Extensions of SRI to Other Crops: Extensions of SRI to Other Crops: Uttarakhand / Himachal Pradesh, India Uttarakhand / Himachal Pradesh, India
Crop No. of Farmers
Area (ha)
Grain Yield (t/ha)
%Incr.
2006 Conv. SRI
Rajma 5 0.4 1.4 2.0 43Manduwa 5 0.4 1.8 2.4 33Wheat Research
Farm5.0 1.6 2.2 38
2007
Rajma 113 2.26 1.8 3.0 67Manduwa 43 0.8 1.5 2.4 60Wheat (Irrig.)
25 0.23 2.2 4.3 95
Wheat (Unirrig.)
25 0.09 1.6 2.6 63
Rajma (kidney beans)
Manduwa (millet)
ICRISAT-WWF Sugarcane
Initiative: at least 20% more cane
yield, with: • 30% reduction in water, and • 25% reduction in chemical inputs
“The inspiration for putting this package together is from the successful approach of SRI – System of Rice Intensification.”
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 to achieve “edge effect” everywhere
4. Keep paddy soil moist but unflooded -- soil should be mostly aerobic -- not continuously saturated
5. Actively aerate the soil as much as possible6. Enhance soil organic matter as much as possible
First 3 practices stimulate plant growth, while the latter 3 practices enhance the growth and health of plants’ ROOTS and of soil BIOTA
Evidence of Phenotypical Effects of
SRI Practices
SRI LANKA: same rice variety, same irrigation system &same drought -- left, conventional methods; right, SRI
VIETNAM: Dông Trù village,Hanoi province,
after typhoon
Period Period Mean Mean max. max.
temp. temp. 00CC
Mean Mean min. min.
temp. temp. 00C C
No. of No. of sunshine sunshine
hrshrs
1 – 151 – 15 NovNov 27.727.7 19.219.2 4.94.9
16–3016–30 Nov Nov 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 Dec 16–31 Dec 28.128.1 12.212.2** 8.68.6
India: Meteorological and yield data from ANGRAU IPM evaluation, Andhra Pradesh,
2006
SeasonSeason Normal (t/ha)Normal (t/ha) SRI (t/ha)SRI (t/ha)
Rabi 2005-06Rabi 2005-06 2.25 2.25 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. (9.2-9.8oC for 5 days)
Nepal: Crop duration (from seed to seed) of rice varieties with SRI vs.
conventional methods – average no. of days: 125 vs. 141
Varieties 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)
SRI
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
IH H FH MR WR YRStage
Org
an d
ry w
eigh
t(g/
hill)
CK
I H H FH MR WR YR
Yellowleaf andsheathPanicle
Leaf
Sheath
Stem
47.9% 34.7%
Non-Flooding Rice Farming Technology in Irrigated Paddy FieldDr. Tao Longxing, China National Rice Research Institute, 2004
China National Rice Research Institute:
Factorial trials over two years, 2004/2005
using two super-hybrid varieties with the aim of breaking the ‘plateau’
limiting yieldsStandard Rice Mgmt• 30-day seedlings• 20x20 cm spacing• Continuous
flooding• Fertilization:
– 100% chemical
New Rice Mgmt (SRI)• 20-day seedlings• 30x30 cm spacing• Alternate wetting
and drying (AWD)• Fertilization:
– 50% chemical, – 50% organic
Average super-rice yields (kg/ha) with new rice
management (SRI) vs.standard rice management
at different plant densities ha-1
0100020003000400050006000700080009000
10000
150,000 180,000 210,000
NRMSRM
AN ASSESSMENT OF PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) COMPARED WITH RECOMMENDED RICE CULTIVATION PRACTICES IN INDIA
A.K. Thakur, N. Uphoff, E. AntonyExperimental Agriculture, 46(1), 77-98 (2010)
Water-use efficiency is reflected in theratio of photosynthesis to transpiration
For the loss of 1 millimol of water by transpiration,
In SRI plants, 3.6 millimols of CO2 are fixed
In RMP plants, 1.6 millimols of CO2 are fixed
ParametersCultivation method
SRI RMP LSD.05
Total chlorophyll (mg g-1FW) 3.37 (0.17) 2.58 (0.21) 0.11
Chlorophyll a/b ratio 2.32 (0.28) 1.90 (0.37) 0.29
Transpiration (m mol m-2 s-1) 6.41 (0.43) 7.59 (0.33) 0.27Net photosynthetic rate (μ mol m-2 s-1)
23.15 (3.17)
12.23 (2.02)
1.64
Stomatal conductance (m mol m-2 s-1)
422.73 (34.35)
493.93 (35.93)
30.12
Internal CO2 concentration
(ppm)
292.6
(16.64)
347.0
(19.74)
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).
Data from Madagascar Suggested Contributions
of Soil Microbial Populations and Plant-
Microbial Interactions for Explaining SRI Effects
ENDOPHYTIC AZOSPIRILLUM, TI LLERING, AND RICE YIELDS WITH CULTIVATION PRACTICES AND NUTRIENT AMENDMENTS Replicated trials at Anjomakely, Madagascar, 2001 (Andriankaja, 2002)
Azospirillum No. of CLAY SOIL in roots
(103/mg) tillers/
plant Yield (t/ha)
Traditional cultivation, no amendments
65 17 1.8
SRI cultivation, with no amendments
1,100 45 6.1
SRI cultivation, with NPK amendments
450 68 9.0
SRI cultivation, with compost
1,400 78 10.5
LOAM SOIL SRI cultivation with no amendments
75 32 2.1
SRI cultivation, with compost
2,000 47 6.6
Effects of Active Soil Aeration with Mechanical
WeederMechanical Weedings
(N) Yield (t ha-1)
MADAGASCAR: 1997-98 main season -- Ambatovaky (N=76)
None 2 5.97One 8 7.72Two 27 7.37
Three 24 9.12Four 15 11.77
NEPAL: 2006 monsoon season – Morang district (N=412)One 32 5.16
(3.6 – 7.6)
Two 366 5.87(3.5 – 11.0)
Three 14 7.87(5.85 – 10.4)
SRI Management Practices Can Modify
Soil Microbial Populations
Microbial populations in rice rhizosphere
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University research
Microorganisms
Conventional
SRI
Total bacteria 88 x 106 105 x 106
Azospirillum 8 x 105 31 x 105
Azotobacter 39 x 103 66 x 103
Phosphobacteria
33 x 103 59 x 103
T. M. Thiyagarajan, WRRC presentation, Tsukuba, Japan, 2004
Total bacteria Total diazotrophs
Microbial populations in rhizosphere soil in rice crop under different management at active tillering, panicle initiation and flowering (SRI = yellow; conventional = red)
[units are √ transformed values of population/gram of dry soil]
Phosphobacteria \ Azotobacter
Dehydrogenase activity (μg TPF) Urease activity (μg NH4-N))
Microbial activities in rhizosphere soil in rice crop under different management (SRI = yellow; conventional = red) at active tillering, panicle initiation and flowering
stages [units are √ transformed values of population/gram of dry soil per 24 h]
Acid phosphate activity (μg p-Nitrophenol) \
Nitrogenase activity (nano mol C2H4)
Total microbes and numbers of beneficial microbes (CFU g-1) under conventional and
SRI cultivation methods, Tanjung Sari, Bogor, Indonesia, Feb-Aug 2009 (Iswandi
et al., 2009)Cultivation
method and fertilization
Total microbes
(x105)
Azoto-bacter(x103)
Azospi-rillum(x103)
P-solubilizing bacteria
(x104)
Conventional crop mgmt with NPK
2.3a 1.9a 0.9a 3.3a
Inorganic SRI (NPK fertilizer)
2.7a 2.2a 1.7ab 4.0a
Organic SRI (compost)
3.8b 3.7b 2.8bc 5.9b
Inorganic SRI + biofertilizer
4.8c 4.4b 3.3c 6.4b
Endophytic Symbiotic Microbes (both Bacteria and Fungi) Contribute to Rice Plant Productivity --
and Not Only in Rhizosphere
May or may not apply to SRI, which is still ‘a work in
progress’
Ascending Migration of Endophytic Rhizobia, from Roots and Leaves, inside Rice Plants and Assessment of Benefits to
Rice Growth Physiology Feng Chi et al.,Applied and Envir. Microbiology 71 (2005),
7271-7278Rhizo-bium test strain
Total plant root
volume/pot (cm3)
Shoot dry weight/ pot (g)
Net photo-synthetic
rate (μmol-2 s-1)
Water utilization efficiency
Area (cm2) of flag leaf
Grain yield/ pot (g)
Ac-ORS571 210 ± 36A 63 ± 2A 16.42 ± 1.39A 3.62 ± 0.17BC 17.64 ± 4.94ABC 86 ± 5A
SM-1021 180 ± 26A 67 ± 5A 14.99 ± 1.64B 4.02 ± 0.19AB 20.03 ± 3.92A 86 ± 4A
SM-1002 168 ± 8AB 52 ± 4BC 13.70 ± 0.73B 4.15 ± 0.32A 19.58 ± 4.47AB 61 ± 4B
R1-2370 175 ± 23A 61 ± 8AB 13.85 ± 0.38B 3.36 ± 0.41C 18.98 ± 4.49AB 64 ± 9B
Mh-93 193 ± 16A 67 ± 4A 13.86 ± 0.76B 3.18 ± 0.25CD 16.79 ± 3.43BC 77 ± 5A
Control 130 ± 10B 47 ± 6C 10.23 ± 1.03C 2.77 ± 0.69D 15.24 ± 4.0C 51 ± 4C
Data are based on the average linear root and shoot growth of three symbiotic (dashed line) and three nonsymbiotic (solid line) plants.
Arrows indicate the times when root hair development started.
Ratio of root and shoot growth in symbiotic and nonsymbiotic rice plants -- symbiotic plant seeds were inoculated with Fusarium culmorum
Russell J. Rodriguez et al., ‘Symbiotic regulation of plant growth, development and reproduction,’
Communicative and Integrative Biology, 2:3 (2009).
Growth of nonsymbiotic (on left) and symbiotic (on right) rice seedlings. On growth of endophyte (F. culmorum) and plant
inoculation procedures, see Rodriguez et al., Communicative and Integrative Biology, 2:3 (2009).
SRI is pointing the way toward an emerging paradigm shift in the agricultural sciences:• Less genocentric and more fundamentally biocentric• More interest in epigenetics• Re-focus biotechnology and bioengineering to capitalize on benefits of biodiversity and ecological dynamics• Less chemical-dependent and more energy-efficient• More oriented to health of humans and the environment•Intensification of production• Focus on greater factor productivity and sustainability