NATIONAL CONSORTIUM ON SRI

Annual SDTT Partners’ MeetGaya

January 23-25, 2012

SRI Heralding Change

–

Making significant difference in smallholder farms & livelihoods in rainfed areas

SRI an Agro-ecological innovation - benefits

• SRI gives 20–90 % more rice from same piece of land• Higher net incomes (86 – 165 %)• Lower costs (11 – 20 %), less labour use after acquired skill• Sustainable NRM: SRI uses 22–72 % less water,• Reduced dependency on external inputs

– seeds (less by 80 – 90 %), fertilizers, pesticide

• Climate change resilience & adaptability (drought tolerance, resistance to storm, reduced pest damage, limited data even in GHG emission)

• Conserving of Biodiversity (even indigenous varieties respond well)• SRI is ‘Pro-poor’ – auto fit for small and marginal farmers who

operate on own labour

SRI in Other Crops: Innovation spillover

WHEAT RAJMA SUGAR CANE

MAIZE FINGER MILLET SOY BEAN

Major SRI Actors in IndiaCSOs PSI, CWS, SPWD, WASSAN, AME, ASA, AKRSP,

PRADANGOVERNMENT AGENCIES

NFSM, IAMWARM (WORLD BANK), MPRLP, BRLPS – JEEVIKA, SAUs, KVKs, DRD, STATE GOVTs – TN, AP, TRIPURA, BIHAR, JHARKHAND

RESEARCH AGENCIES

DRR, CRRI, DWM, TNAU, IARI

DONORS SDTT, NABARD, WWF, AKFOTHERS CIIFAD, IWMI, IDS, WUR, XIMBNETWORKS BANGLAR SRI, AP SRI CONSORTIUM, ORISSA

LEARNING ALLIANCE, LIVOLINKPRIVATE SECTOR

USHA MARTIN, WEEDER MANUFACTURERS

SRI- substantial coverage

SRI map draft Aug 2010ICRISAT

Today an estimated three million farmers in not less

than a million hectares have adopted SRI partially

or fully in India

Time to scale up

• SRI/SCI has achieved significant scale in a relatively short period of time

• Need to scale up further to really make an impact on issues of food security

• About 13 m ha of rice production area where SI scale up immediately possible; even a ton of extra production can make millions food secure

• This needs paradigm shift in policies, streamlining and strengthening practice and deepening research to inform practice

Advocacy, SRI upscaling and Genesis of NCSDate ActivityNov 2006 ‐ 1st National SRI Symposium at HyderabadOct 2007 ‐ 2nd National Symposium at AgartalaDec 2008 ‐ 3rd National Symposium at CoimbatoreFeb 2009 ‐ SRI scaling up future directions meeting at ICRISAT‐May 2009 ‐ Planning Commission consultation at ANGRAU, HyderabadDec 2009 ‐ Policy meeting on SRI at Delhi, PRADAN, NFSMMar 2010 ‐ Presentation to NABARD and SDTT by SRI expert review teamApr 2010 ‐ Proposal discussion by SRI group with NFSMMay 2010 ‐ SRI meeting in Madagascar, attended by some NCS membersJun 2010 ‐ Proposal submitted by NABARD to NFSM for SRI coverage through NGOsJul 2010 ‐ NRMC holds national conference on SRIJul 2010 ‐ National SWI workshop; AP SRI consortium formedOct 2010 ‐ National SRI Consortium meeting organized by PRADAN & NCAPDec 2010 ‐ Planning Commission 12th plan consultation on food security HyderabadDec 2010 ‐ National SRI workshop, WWF HyderabadFeb 2011 ‐ SCI workshop at Patna, BiharMar-2011 Round Table on SRI at IARI arranged on behalf of NCS, SRI MelaJul-Oct -11 Participation by NCS members in different PC Working GroupsOct -2011 NCS officially launched, post meeting at XIMBNov –2011 SWI Trial at IARI

Regular state level workshops/ learning alliances in Orissa, Bengal, Uttarakhand, AP, etc‐

Shifting to SRI means..• Reorientation of farmers in rice agronomy

– Nursery management (farmer)– Organic matter addition and soil health improvement– Land preparation: leveling and marking (farmer)– Timely inter cultivation (weeding ) (farmer + labor)‐– Water management (farmer + moisture conservation)– Management of pests and diseases / agro ecological knowledge‐

• New farm management routines & knowledge transfer– Reorientation in skills– New transplantation methods– Mechanical weeding, in place of manual weeding

• Ensuring control on moisture– Better irrigation systems management where it exists– Directing investments (through convergence) to soil moisture

conservation

Shift in focus on extension required

Parameter Conventional From CSO Experience

Approach and focus

Scattered demonstrations(0.4 ha per 100 ha)

Blocks or contiguous areas /clusters of villages

Extension strategy

Agri-extension departments& scientific establishment

Farmer / community-led extension

Incentives input-centric, input subsidy-led extension; farmer fieldschools to a limited extent

Confidence & skill-building offarmers; labor support and skilling of labor; farmer field schools and investments on facilitation

Support Correcting the nutrientdeficiencies

Correcting and conserving soilhealth

equipment Centrally-supplied – one type for all areas

De-centralized – locally suitabledesign; custom hiring center

Long term strategy for SRI scale up• Transform selected areas into sustainable SRI hubs

over a period of time• Paradigm shift from conventional demonstration

approach to an area focused approach • Lobby for convergence to attract investments in

natural resource management• Adopt a cluster based strategy to address issues of

knowledge and behavioral changes in farmers• Changes and adaptations to be embedded/ habituated

into local economies.• Enhancing the economic status of the rice farmer

Main challenges for policy on SRI• Re orienting farmers towards management and increasing ‐

farmer knowledge on rice agro ecology‐• Mobilise investments for SRI scale –up from different sources –

MGNREGA, NFSM, NABRD, RKVY and so on• Converge investments for developing land and water resources

in large scale• Establishing decentralised manufacturing of SRI implements

and appropriate distribution system• Build up cadres of SRI resource farmers• Mobilise organic matter and resources for improving soil

productivity• Establish research back up and support‐• Investments not just for inputs, implements and training, but

for a new institutional architecture

Monitoring/ Feedback Loop

R&D and policy inputs/ Technology Capacity building

support roleState level Resource Org (SRO; knowledge body)

Master Trainers

Grassroot Farmer Groups/FFS/SHG

FARMERS

CSO/ NGOsDOA/KVK CBOs

Streams 1&2: Ministry (DAC, RD), NARS (KVK & SAU)

Stream 3: Autonomous agencies SERP, BRLPS etc.

Stream 4: NABARD through NGOs

Stream 5: Corporate, NGOs (through donors) …

Village Resource Persons

National Consortium on

SRI Dept of Ag (MoA),

R&D Org., Universities,

donors, innovation brokers, farmers etc

Institutional Architecture for upscaling innovation (suggested for SRI)

Policy formulation FUND

The National Consortium on SRI• A collective of individuals, organizations and networks engaged in

promoting SRI at various levels.• An inclusive association of like-minded individuals. and an open ended

network• No fixed membership, encourages voluntary participation, involvement

and engagement with SRI and agro-ecological innovations• NCS seeks to facilitate interaction and encourage learning and sharing

amongst its members through multiple means – meetings, seminars, collaborative research, web-site and other learning events and processes

• Build on and complement efforts of existing and upcoming networks and processes of cross learning

Objectives of NCS• Enhance scientific understanding of SRI through

– Establishing a research network for sharing and learning about the science of SRI– Encouraging collaborative research; both experimental (research station) and on-farm

research (Farmers fields) on SRI and its principles– Building partnership with national and international research agencies, individuals, and

networks• Improve our understanding of the cultivation practice by

– Development of SRI machinery and small farmers oriented implements.– Collaboration with members to develop relevant research and development agenda on

other contemporary issues of SRI– facilitating and supporting establishment of knowledge sharing platforms at national

and state levels– Documentations of comprehensive compendium of farmers’ experiences, programs,

research and publication etc.• Promote policy engagement at national level

– Synthesizing recommendations of various Sub-Groups on SRI for the XII Five year plan– To organize interface meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, NABARD and other

agencies at National and State level– Supporting large scale mainstream experiences on promotion of SRI in collaboration/

convergence with Government programs

Organisations in Consortium

• CSOs at field level are at the forefront of extension – PSI, PRADAN, AKRSP, Orissa Learning Alliance, Banglar SRI, etc.

• Govt. agencies introducing SRI – Tripura, Tamil Nadu (IAMWARM), Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, HP

• Researchers - ICAR/DRR, WMC, other agencies• Financial institutions – NABARD, SDTT• Govt. institutions - NFSM, NRLM, Planning Commission,

NFSM, NRLM, DRD• Consortium facilitators – NCAP, PRADAN (NRCRL), XIMB,

WASSAN, SRI Secretariat of SDTT

Governance• Secretariat

– To enable NCS to achieve its purpose and objectives it is envisaged that one of the organisations active in the Consortium would anchor its Secretariat

– Secretariat a lean-body of full-time professionals anchored by a host organization for a period of 3 years or so

– Anchorage of Secretariat to rotate over time– Secretariat is meant to look-after daily functions of NCS and

further NCS ideas with external stakeholders in keeping with its mission

• Core Group: – A Core Group consisting of not more than 5 individuals to

provide an intensive oversight and support to Secretariat– Responsible to nurture engagement of larger network/and

evolve operational agenda for NCS from time to time– Discourse with the larger network that exist in various media,

periodical interactions, symposia, policy discussions etc., shall form the basis for Core Group to evolve action agenda for the NCS

Immediate deliverables – next 3 years• Research

– Review of SRI Research in India, emphasizing on comprehensive clarity on Science of SRI or how SRI works

– Understanding dis-adoption of SRI– A concept note on Indigenous Varieties and SRI

• Practice– SRI resource book and learning modules – Status of development of SRI machinery and small farmer oriented implements– Invite members to develop relevant research and development work and other

contemporary issues of SRI to be pursued by NCS – Documentation of comprehensive compendium of farmers’ experiences, programs, research

publications etc. and development of a website– As a core mandate, NCS will strive to promote and support state level consortia and enable

active exchange of strategies, experiences and synthesis of lessons across the state• Policy

– Synthesizing recommendations of various Sub-Groups on SRI for the 12th Five Year Plan constituted by the Planning Commission and organizing advocacy events on the emerging strategic framework

– To organize interface meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, NABARD and other agencies at national and state levels on appropriate strategic framework for strengthening SRI.

Action Plan – Next 1 year• Strengthening the consortium – setting up Secretariat, building rules

and norms, stabilising membership, setting up web site, e-group• Specific engagement with the Planning Commission on integrating

lessons from various sub group reports and ensure their incorporation in the XII Plan

• Working with MoRD /MoA for design of suitable programmes/pilots• Working with ICAR/IARI/AUs for on and off-station trials on SCI• Publication of policy brief• Systematic documentation of important aspects of SCI such as

experiences and methodologies of scale up, to be decided by Core Group

• Research on specific issues such as dis-sdoption behaviour, impact, to be decided by Core Group

Thank you