2401 Compatibility between Conservation Agriculture (CA) and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Title: Compatibility between Conservation (CA) and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
Author: Francesco Carnevale Zampoalo, SRI-2030
Date: July 24, 2024
Venue: 9th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, Cape Town, South Africa

1. Compatibility between Conservation Agriculture (CA) and the
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

3. Rice cultivation covers around 167million hectares
Rice is the primary nutrient source for 3.5
billionpeople
Rice support the livelihood of more than 1
billionpeople, half of which are women
Rice uses 34-43%of the world’s irrigation water for production. On
average about 2500 litresof water are needed to produce 1 kgof rice
Rice cultivation is responsible for 10%of agricultural GHG
emissions and 9-19%of global methane emissions
Why Rice?

4. Rice ecosystems

5. SRI is a crop management strategy
•Enhances the growth and performance of rice plants
•Reduces GHGs emissions
•Improves water-use efficiency
•Lowers costs and increase farmers' profit
SRI still needs to be scaled
•~ 4% of global rice cultivated following all SRI
principles
•Flexible and inclusive approach
•Translate principles into context-related practices
•Knowledge-intensive rather than input-intensive
EARLY AND HEALTHY
PLANT ESTABLISHMENT
MINIMIZING COMPETITION
AMONG PLANTS
MAINTAINING MOSTLY
AEROBIC SOIL CONDITIONS
BUILD UP SOIL FERTILITY
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

6. CA is a system of land and farm
management
•Foundation of all sustainable agriculture approaches
•Optimize farming productivity
•Increase ecosystem services
•Field and landscape-level approaches
•Prevent soil degradation
CA is a global phenomenon
•205 million hectares (2019)
•More than 100 countries
•Annual rate of expansion about 10 million
hectares
CONTINUOUS
MINIMUM OR NO
MECHANICAL
SOIL
DISTURBANCE
DIVERSIFICATION
OF SPECIES IN
THE CROPPING
SYSTEM
PERMANENT
BIOMASS MULCH
COVER ON THE
SOIL SURFACE
Conservation Agriculture (CA)

7. How do CA and SRI interact?

8. Limited species diversity in paddiesLack of soil coverSoil disturbance
Why CA+SRI?
Dry-DSRPermanent biomass mulchIncreased diversification

9. How CA+SRI can look like?
Punjab, Pakistan
Yield up to 12 t/ha
PQNKsystem

10. Photos and video
from Pakistan,
PQN system

11. Arkansas, USA.
Yield: 7 –9 t/ha
Seed rate
•Conventional: 28 kg/ha
•CA+SRI: 4.5 –6.5 kg/ha
Aerial view
Frontal view
Costs
Profit
How CA+SRI can look like?

12. Increased
plants
resilience
Increased
Yields
Larger
canopies and
deeper root
systems.
Biologically active soil
and improved soil
structure which
retains high amount
of carbon and
nutrients
Permanent biomass mulch(CA)
No-till DSR(CA)
Increased diversification (CA)
Reduced plant density (SRI)
Minimized
competition for water,
nutrients, and sunlight
Synergies between CA and SRI

13. Reduced weeds pressure
Permanent biomass mulch(CA)
No-till DSR(CA)
Reduced weeds emergence
Reduced weeds seedbanks
Opportunity for intercroppingReduced plant density (SRI)
Synergies between CA and SRI

14. Improved water-use efficiency
Permanent biomass mulch(CA)
No-till DSR(CA)
Reduced evaporation
Improved water retention
Reduced water use
Aerobic soil conditions (SRI)
Synergies between CA and SRI

15. India, Maharashtra
SagunaRural Foundation -
SagunaRice Technique (SRT)
Where is CA+SRI happening?
Pakistan, Punjab
Pedaver-PaedarQudratti
Nizam Kashatqari(PQNK)
Vietnam, Thai Nguyen
Thai Nguyen
University-SRI-rice +
no-till potatoes
China, Sichuan
Sichuan Academy of
Agricultural Sciences
-Use of plastic cover
USA, Arkansas
Large-scale
mechanized farm
Aga Khan Foundation
Madagascar, Mozambique, India,
Kenya, and Tanzania
ZanatanyRice Permaculture System
(ZRPS)

16. Challenges and opportunities
•Practices are substantially different
from conventional methods
•Initially labor-intensive
•High knowledge-intensity: need for
appropriate extension works
•Practices are highly context-related
•Need for further understanding of soil,
water, nutrients dynamics
•Need for appropriate mechanization
(unless it is practiced on a very small
scale)
•Development of locally-adapted CA+SRI
methods
•Labor-saving in the longer terms
•Increased resilience
•Increased yields
•Increased water-use efficiency
•Reduced inputs use
•Increased farmer's profit
•Methanemitigation and Carbon
sequestration
ChallengesOpportunities

17. THANK YOU