FAO’s Policy Advice on Sustainable Rice Intensification: Closing the yield and nature gaps

1. FAO’s Policy Advice on
Sustainable Rice Intensification:
Closing the yield and nature gaps
Jan Willem Ketelaar, FAO Regional Office
for Asia and Pacific, SRI-LMB Workshop,
Siem Reap, Cambodia 2-3 June 2015

2. 1 billion…
… hungry
.. obese
…tons/year wasted!

3. 3
Number of undernourished people in the world, 2010-12,
based on caloric intake per person (millions of people)
Source: Data from FAO Food Security Indicators, 2013.
Rest of world
Asia
560
294
Total = 854

4. 4
Challenges to food security
• Chronically hungry: 854 million (FAO, 2013)
• 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. Water is Essential
cannot produce food without water but we can produce food with
less water

6. Our water-guzzling food factory
Opinion Article INYT-June 1, 2015
Question:
Which consumes the most water?
• A: A 10-minute shower
• B: A handful of 10 almonds
• C: A quarterpound hamburger patty
• D: A washing machine load

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 Paddy 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. Closing the yield gap:
• 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. 10
Simulated
with
model(s)
80% of
Simulated:
Experiment
Station
Village, Block, District: Crop
Cuts

11. Rice
Raebareli
Kanpu Dehat
Firozabad
Faizabad
Gorakhpur
Meerut
Muzaffarnagar
Moradabad
Lucknow Bareilly
Gonda
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000 200000
Yield(ton/hectare)
Area (hectares)
Yield Gap between top yield and
average of the rest of the sample
Top 15% yield 3.03 31%
Rest of the
sample yield 2.08 46%
Yield Gap 0.95
Yield data from 11 districts in Uttar Pradesh, India

12. Rice-based Farming Systems – more than just rice!

14. IRRI
Crop Intensification Risks:
Rice planthopper outbreaks, linked to
pesticide (and N-fertilizer) overuse,
have occurred at an unprecedented
frequency during last decade
(Source: IRRI/Horgan)

15. Challenge:
Sustainable Rice Intensification,
optimizing ecosystem services
A POLICYMAKER’S GUIDE
TO THE SUSTAINABLE
INTENSIFICATION
OF SMALLHOLDER CROP
PRODUCTION
www.fao.org/ag/save-and-grow/

16. Relationships between 6 rice intensification/farming/crop
management systems and 13 ecosystem services – benefits that
people obtain from ecosystems – as key outcomes of multi-
functional rice-based agricultural systems (FAO, 2014)

17. Synergies and Tradeoffs between ecosystem services and rice yield
(FAO, 2014)

18. • Understanding ecosystem
services & “eco-
engineering” vital for local
adaptation and responsible
management
• Supportive policies,
reducing subsidies on
chemical farm inputs
• Investments in research and
ecosystem-literacy training
for smallholder rice farmers
Closing the ‘Nature Gap’

19. International Wetlands Convention
(Ramsar, 1971)
• COP-XI adopted Resolution XI-
15 on rice paddy and pest
control calling on governments
to strengthen pesticide
regulation for conservation of
biodiversity and sustainable use
of wetland ecosystem services.
Source: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-
documents-cops-cop11-cop11-drs/main/ramsar/1-
31-58-500%5E25607_4000_0__

20. A Regional Rice Strategy
 FAO de-centralization
 Upon request by member
countries, FAO formulated
RRS, endorsed at March
2014 APRC in Mongolia
 Support for
(re)formulation and
implementation of
national rice strategies or
policies

21. A Vision for the Rice Economy
A Regional Rice Strategy
“Food-secure, better nourished and
prosperous rice farmers and consumers in
the Asia/Pacific region who benefit
equitably from a vibrant, innovative and
transformed rice sector that is more
productive, efficient and environmentally
sustainable by 2030”

22. Designed to:
Regional Rice Initiative
Contribute to FAO
Strategic Objective 2
(SO2) “Increase and improve
provision of goods and
services from agriculture,
forestry and fisheries
in a sustainable manner”

23. Regional Rice Initiative (2013-15)
Rice-fish
Rice-duck
Trees outside
forest
Rice-vegetables
Climate change
adaptation
Cultures/
heritages
Policy and strategy
formulation and
implementation
• National rice
strategy/policy
• Farm input
policy/reduce
subsidies
• Code of Conduct
Pesticide
Management,
Convention on
Biological
Diversity, Ramsar
Wetlands
Convention
Evidence
Knowledge
• - Inputs
• + Yield
• + Income
• + rice
ecosystem
goods &
services
Producing
more and
better with
less inputs in
a sustainable
way

24. The Way Forward
• Closing both yield and nature gaps vital
for global food and nutrition security
• No silver bullet solutions – policies,
approaches, production systems &
management practices need to be tailored
to individual country and local smallholder
farmer needs, opportunities & challenges.
• Sustainable production is knowledge
intensive – investments in agricultural
research for development and capacity
building for ecosystem-literacy training are
essential.

25. New EU funded and AIT-FAO-Oxfam
implemented project on System of Rice
Intensification action research and training
in rainfed rice-based farming systems in
Lower Mekong River Basin:
http://www.sri-lmb.ait.asia