Mr. Jan Willem Ketelaar, Chief Technical Advisor, FAO Asia IPM Programme, FAO-RAP Bangkok, Thailand

1. Save and Grow
Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production
EC-AIT-Inception and Planning Workshop
AIT, Bangkok
9 April 2013

3. 1 billion…
… hungry
.. obese
…tons/year wasted!

4. 4
Challenges to food security
• Chronically hungry: 870 million in 2012
• Global population of over 9 billion by 2050
– 70-100% increase food production by 2050
• Declining water & land per caput (4.3 ha
(1961) to 1.6 ha (2050))
• Lower productivity growth & production
stress from climate change
• Rapid urbanization & change in
consumption patterns

5. Challenges to food security
• Increase intensification of production
– 80% from land already under cultivation
• Green Revolution – Major gains but…
– Not sustainable or sufficient
• Challenge: How to intensify crop production
and do this in a sustainable manner?

6. A POLICYMAKER’S GUIDE
TO THE SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION
OF SMALLHOLDER CROP PRODUCTION
Video link: Save and Grow

7. 300
350
400
450
500
550
600
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
2025
2027
2029
2031
2033
2035
Asia Africa Americas Rest of world
Million tons milled rice
2010 global rice production
Additional rice needed:
114 million tons by 2035
Global rice production increases needed to
meet demand by 2035 (Source: IRRI)

8. Green Revolution Slows (Source: IRRI) : Global Rice Yield (1961-2010)
© WPQ
Average yield (t ha-1)
Average yearly increase over
previous 10 years (kg ha-1)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015
Year
0
40
80
120
160
200

9. The Way to Go: Save and Grow
• In Asian rice production:
– Land is moving out
– Labor is moving out
– Water is moving out
• Major changes in crop
production/protection
practices and increases in
efficiency needed!
• In order for rice production
to grow, farmers will need
to learn how to save!

10. Unsprayed
(A)
Sprayed
(B)
Source:

11. IRRI
Planthopper outbreaks have
occurred at an unprecedented
frequency since ca. 2002
(Source: IRRI/Horgan)

12. Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production
Ecosystem approach
• external inputs complement natural
processes and ecosystem services:
– natural biological control
– improve soil fertility & H2O holding capacity
– nutrient cycles and better up-take
– pollination
Sustainable agricultural systems:
Ecosystem-literacy training for
smallholder farmers is vital!

13. Save and Grow
Four underlying principles
1. enhancing productivity and profitability
2. increased resource use efficiency
3. ecological sustainability
4. climate-smart, enhancing resilience
Management practices and technologies
1. Conservation agriculture
2. Integrated Pest Management
3. Fertilizers & Integrated Nutrient Management
4. Improved crop varieties
5. Water Saving methods
6. Crop Diversification and Rotations

14. 14
Conservation Agriculture
Minimum tillage => Permanent Soil Cover
 Eliminates erosion, improves degraded soils
 Increases soil organic matter and structure
 Reduces water + fertilizer needs by 30%
 Pesticide use reduced by 20%

15. 15
Conservation Agriculture
Climate change mitigation
Reduces green house gas
emissions
 reduced energy needs by
60%
 more efficient use of inputs
(N2O, CH4)
Sequesters carbon – 200
Kg/ha/year

16. 16
Integrated Pest Management
Improved control of pests and diseases
with reduced use of pesticides
Promotes:
 Healthy environment
 Effective ecosystem services
 Stable and high yields
 Higher profits for farmers
 Food safety

17. Rice Integrated Pest Management:
• Conservation of Natural
Biological Control
• No need for Insecticides
• Growing a healthy crop
• Regular field scouting for
informed management
• Farmers as IPM Experts!
Source:
IRRI Images

18. Fertilizers
• 50% of increased food production
• Price increase 2-3 fold since 2006
Integrated Nutrient
Management – what
when and how much
to apply
Source: IRRI Images

19. 19
Rice production
•500,000 farmers in
Bangladesh
• 60% reduction in the
amount used
• reduced pollution and
gas emissions (N2O)
• 25% yield increases
Urea Deep Placement Technology
Photo: IFDC Photography

20. 20
Improved crop varieties
• 50% of yield increases
due to improved
varieties
• more efficient use of
water, fertilizer
• tolerant to drought,
flooding, higher
temperatures and pests

21. Water is Essential
cannot produce food without water but we can produce
food with less water

22. Water is Essential
“more crop per drop”
More efficient use
• Improve existing irrigation
structures and
management
• Adopt more efficient
technologies
• Water harvesting
• System of Rice
Intensification: alternate
wet and dry water
regimes or keeping soil
preferably moist during
vegetative stage

23. According to IRRI - without
reducing yields, use of SRI:
• reduces water
consumption by 30%
• reduces greenhouse
gas emissions by 25-50%
“Rice is so important across
the whole of Asia that if one
could implement this
technology in many different
places, you could have
significant reduction in
methane production.”
Campbell, coordinator
CGIAR Climate Change
Research Task Force
Save and Grow: System of Rice Intensification
In Vietnam summer crop 2011, SRI was
applied on 185,065 hectares in 22 provinces
by over 1,070,384 farmers (69% female)
In Cambodia as of 2011, SRI was applied
on 24,293 hectares in 13 provinces by about
75,395 farmers

24. Paddy fields in East Java, hit by both brown planthopper
(BPH) and tropical storm damage in June 2011
New variety
(Ciherang) with
fertilizer &
agrochemical
protection –
no yield
Traditional variety
(Sintanur) with
organic SRI
management –
8 t/ha yield

25. Crop diversification: growing
potatoes after rice
Optimizing the use of remaining
moisture in the rice field - and the
practice of mulching - reduced
irrigation from 5,000 cubic meters
of water to 900 cubic meters per
hectare
Cultivation using minimum tillage
potato IPM has the potential to
reduce labor costs by 45%
compared to the conventional
method
Profits from growing potatoes
increased by 60 to 73%
Save and Grow: Minimum Tillage Potato in Vietnam

26. 26
Maximizing the benefits of
more efficient production
30-40% of food produced is lost or wasted
• primarily at farm level in
developing countries
• improved food security,
increased income – better
nutrition and stability
The use of metal silos to
store grain and maize can
reduce post-harvest losses.

27. Farmers Field School
“School without walls”,
farmers learn about crop
ecology and pest
management in the field;
Season-long, from seed
to harvest, 25-30
farmers;
Aim to help farmers
adopt IPM, grow healthy
crops and produce more
& safer food with less
inputs of agro-chemicals

28. Farmer Field Schools
Farmers acquire:
–Observation skills
–Analytical skills
–Decision-making skills
FFS are particularly
suited for learning
complex management
skills, like natural
resource management,
diversifying production
and accessing markets to
increase rural incomes
(Swanson and Rajalahti,
World Bank, 2010).

29. KASAKALIKASAN
The Philippine National IPM Programme
Trends in Insecticide Use and Frequency of Application
in Major Rice Producing Provinces in Central & Southern Luzon, Philippines, 1966 - 2007
(Source: J. Binamira based on Rola & Pingali, 1993; Mataia, Jamora, Maya & Dawe, 2009; Warburton, Palis & Pingali, 1995; Dawe, 2006; IRRI,2007)
Ecosystem Services for Sustainable
Intensification of Crop Production (SICP)

30. Conservation and Utilization of Ecosystem
Services for Sustainable Intensification of Rice
Production (1994-2007)
KASAKALIKASAN
The Philippine National IPM Programme
Spray frequency & insecticide a.i./ha < 70%
Increase Yield/ha >12%
Reduction Yield variability across seasons <15%
National Increase National Rice production:
>60% 10.5 MMT (1994) to 16.8 MMT (2007)
(Source: Rola & Pingali, 1993; Mataia, Jamora, Maya & Dawe, 2009; Warburton, Palis & Pingali, 1995; Dawe, 2006; IRRI, 2007)

31. 31
The way forward
• We can produce the food needed by 2050 in a
sustainable manner
• No silver bullet solutions – approaches need to be
tailored to individual country needs.
• Increasing production alone is not sufficient –
Innovation & investment along the food value chain is
required.
• Sustainable production is knowledge intensive –
investments in agricultural research, development and
capacity building for ecosystem-literacy training are
essential.
• Today’s rural youth will be the farmers of tomorrow:
Include discovery-based field training on ecology and
exploring agro-biodiversity in formal school curriculum!

33. More Information:
• “Save and Grow: A
Policymaker’s Guide to the
Sustainable Intensification of
Smallholder Crop Production”,
published by the FAO Plant
Production & Protection
Division, FAO-HQ, Rome,
Italy, June 2011
www.fao.org/ag/save-and-
grow/
• Oxfam (2011): Growing a
Better Future
www.oxfam.org/grow
• FAO and IPM/Farmers Field
Schools in Asia
www.vegetableipmasia.org