The document discusses rice production in Fiji. It notes that Fiji imports about 33,720 tons of rice per year, costing $19.55 million on average. Between 2005-2007, the government aimed to increase domestic rice production by 7,500 tons to reduce imports. However, rice's contribution to Fiji's GDP has declined from 25% to 12% and self-sufficiency has declined from 65% to 20%. The document evaluates the performance of SRI, ICM and local recommended practices at a research station, finding higher yield with SRI.

1. 2 nd Symposium on SRI Directorate of Rice Research Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030 Dr. S.V. Subbaiah Principal Scientist (Agronomy) & Head, Crop Production 3 – 5 October, 2007 Preliminary evaluation of SRI in Fiji for enhancing rice production Agartala

3. Rice Scenario in Fiji Detail Unit 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Area ha 4,896 7,628 5,140 6,202 5,664 6,076 Production Tonnes 12,239 19,071 12,851 15,504 14,161 15,189 Output value $,000 5,700 6,500 4,400 5,300 5,600 7,595 Farmers No. 7,140 7,140 7,140 5,098 5,098 6,707 Ave. farmgate price $/kg 0.47 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.40 0.50 Import quantity Tonnes 38,619 28,522 27,495 33,955 36,107 37,500 Local product converted to rice equiv. Tonnes 7,343.40 11,442.60 7,710.60 9,302.40 8,496.60 9,113.40 Total imports and local production Tonnes 45,962.40 39,964.60 35,205.60 43,257.40 44,603.60 46,613.40 Import value $,000 16,174 19,231 18,669 18,986 22,338 21,943 Self-sufficiency % 15.98 28.63 21.90 21.50 19.05 19.55

4. Weather Data (Average of 2001-05), Koronivia Research Station Months Mean Maximum (°c) Mean Minimum (°c) Mean Temperature (°c) Rainfall (mm) No. of Rainy days Humidity (%) January 31.1 22.0 26.6 312.9 21.6 78.6 February 31.1 23.6 27.4 237.5 21.6 79.2 March 30.9 23.6 27.3 355.9 21.6 80.8 April 30.1 23.6 26.9 396.5 23.2 80.8 May 29.2 22.0 25.6 151.2 18.0 81.2 June 27.5 20.9 24.2 190.5 18.2 80.8 July 26.8 20.1 23.5 147.2 17.8 80.6 August 26.4 19.5 22.9 192.3 15.8 79.0 September 27.2 20.0 23.8 205.6 15.2 77.4 October 28.0 21.0 24.6 210.5 15.8 74.0 November 28.6 22.0 25.3 203.6 18.0 76.0 December 30.0 23.4 26.6 294.0 21.2 76.8

7. Comparison of SRI with ICM and Local Recommended Practice (LRP) Practice SRI ICM LRP Seed quality Certified Certified Certified Seed rate (kg/ha) 5 kg 5-10 40 Nursery Field nursery Modified mat nursery Conventional Seedling age (d) 10 (2-leaf stage) 15 (4-leaf stage) 25 Seedlings/hill 1 1-2 3-4 Plant spacing 25 cmX25 cm 20 cm X 20 cm Random Plant geometry Square Square Random Gap filling Within 7 DAT Within 7 DAT Within 7 DAT Mechanical weeding As recommended --2-3x (10,20 & 30DAT) 2-3x (15, 25 and 35 DAT) Hand weeding twice Irrigation Intermittent irrigation Intermittent irrigation Continuous submergence Nutrient application Organic + inorganic (50:70:70) Organic + inorganic (50:70:70) Inorganic alone (50:70:70)

8. Performance of Rice (Uttam) under SRI during Main Rice Growing Season at KRS S. No Parameter Farmers method ICM SRI C.D (0.05%) 1 Plant height (cm) 99 100 101 NS 2 No. of productive tillers/hill 189 264 272 59 3 Length of panicle (cm) 23.8 25.4 24.2 NS 4 No. of grains/panicle 163 154 156 NS 5 Grain yield (t/ha) 5.2 7.2 7.1 0.11 6 Straw weight (g) 4.9 5.8 6.2 0.80 7 Harvest index (HI) 51.4 55.3 53.3

9. slides Experiences

10. National Food Security Mission Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana Area T.P. Area T.P. Target 05-06 06-07 2012 Rice 43.66 91.79 43.7 91.05 102 Wheat 26.48 69.35 28.17 73.70 83 Pulse 22.39 13.39 23.76 14.11 16 Path-Breaking New Programmes to Transform Indian Agriculture

12. AICRIP TRIALS ON SRI AT GLANCE (2004 – 06) Year No. of locations Sig. NS SRI ICM SC % increase yield 2004 22 18 4 16 14 4 12 2005 26 22 4 11 8 3 6.5 2006 27 21 6 13 7 4 15

13. AICRIP RESULTS (04-05) Multi-location trials conducted during 2004 and 2005 on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method, evaluated in comparison with normal transplanting (NT) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) methods. Grain yield recorded under SRI was significantly higher under SRI compared to NT at 53% of the locations, while it was similar to ICM at 33% of locations. Higher grain yield under SRI was recorded in diverse soil types, with wide range of soil pH (6-8) under different regions which could be associated with increased number of panicles per unit area, biomass and panicle weight. However, the cultivars used had significant inter-action with method of cultivation at 28% of the locations. Rice hybrids responded better than varieties. Normal transplanting with wider spacing nor SRI method with older seedlings did not enhance grain yield significantly. It is also observed that SRI could be adopted successfully even under late transplanting conditions. Conclusion SRI appears to be more promising in terms of grain yield although gains observed were genotype- and location-specific . Further studies are required to confirm these results.

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