SRI-LMB Newsletter Vol.4 Issue 1, Year 2016

Mr. Sansern Sirikol from Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC)
Thailand talks about challenges faced by
agriculture sector and the opportunities
SRI is providing for quality rice production.
Photograph: SRI-LMB/AIT
Volume 4, Issue 1: Year 2016
SRI-LMB Newsletter
A bi-annual newsletter published by the SRI-LMB Project (A Project Funded by the European Union), Asian Center of
Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ACISAI), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
From technological package to agro-ecological
principles: SRI is gaining momentum in the Mekong
region
IN FOCUS IN THIS ISSUE
Utilizing the implementing consortia
established at local, national and
regional level, SRI-LMB involves now
more than 7000 farmer’s directly over
more than 400 action research sites.
SRI-LMB is also reaching out another
30,000 farmers through field visits and
local workshops in the region. Farmers
are engaged in developing,
evaluating and adapting “Climate
Smart” crop management practices
utilizing SRI agro-ecological principles
through setting up of SRI
demonstration and SRI learning plots.
The government counterparts, who
are directly implementing the field
activities in all four countries, are
reporting higher yield, higher net
income with reduced input use and
greater resilience to extreme weather
events. These findings have been
reconfirmed by research conducted
by national universities in all four
countries. The government believes
that better increase of crop
production with good quality should
enable farmers to successfully
compete with global market.
Farmers
Congress &
National Review
& Planning
Workshops
Page 2-4
Echo Asia
Workshop,
Chiang Rai,
Thailand
Page 6
There is a general understating that
knowledge intensive approach can fuel
innovation and can link innovation,
enterprises and investment in a focused
manner, if sufficiently fuzzy boundaries are
created and if structural design are loosely
defined. Working with SRI, the learning we
have generated so far, it looks like that if
farmers get opportunity to craft their own
world, they can contribute a lot to address
many global and local issues, such as
environmental issue, food security and
poverty and they can act as a strong pillar
for making society more collaborative and
accommodative. Nurturing grassroots
potential through participatory approach
should be the mantra for development if we
are aiming to have a more inclusive and
compassionate society.
Our ‘journey’ and learning continues…
Message from Team Leader
Agro-ecology
System
Page 6
Some key challenges in the
agriculture sector mainly are (a) the
increased number of older farmers
and lack of labor for agricultural
activist in the near future, (b) low
and infertile natural resources and
(c) the market instability need to be
addressed to make the rainfed
production system stable and
efficient.
Reflection
Workshop in
Cambodia
Page 5
Farmer in focus:
Farmers from
Sisaket
Page 7
A project funded by the European Union A project implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology
The view expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
SRI practices vary but the principle remains
the same. SRI demonstration field at
Fouang district, Vientiane Province, Lao
PDR.
Photograph: Kongsy/DAEC/Lao-PDR

The Farmer Congress and National
Review and Planning workshop was
held in Surin, Thailand from 23-24 June
2016. The workshop was organized by
AIT and hosted by the Department of
Non-Formal and Informal Education,
Ministry of Education (MoE), Royal
Government of Thailand. The
objectives of the workshop were to
share the outcomes from the
implementation of the FPARs by
farmers and farmer’s trainers to reach
out to large number of farmers by
integrating message-based learning.
Approximately 300 person
participated that included 260
farmers from Thailand, Governor of
Surin, 15 representatives from
Department of Non-formal and
Informal Education’s local offices,
Department of Agriculture, Rice
Department, Department of
Agriculture Extension, Land
Development Department, Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives
(MoAC), Rice Research Center, Rice
seed Center Surin, Office of
Agriculture and Economics, Bureau of
Agricultural Development Policy and
Planning, Rajabhat University Ubon,
NFE trainers, FAO, Oxfam, SrerKhmer
Cambodia and AIT.
Mr. Adthporn Singhawichai, the
Governor of Surin province greeted
all the participants and shared his
about the work and learning
continuously and giving good
feedback about SRI performance. It
is very helpful in exchanging of ideas,
experience and knowledge among
rural communities. It is now proven
that SRI is playing important role
mostly for small scale farmers having
limited resources. SRI is encouraging
farmers to move toward environment
friendly organic farming which is
essential for product quality,
consumer health and sustainable
environment.
appreciation on the activity progress
and its implementation. He
congratulated the farmers who were
able to grow healthy crops achieving
higher yield with lower costs & inputs.
He stated that water & proper water
management techniques are
important factors for good
agriculture. He also hopes that this
project will be more successful in the
future especially for the smallholder
farmers. He believed that the better
increase of crop production with
superior quality will enable Thai
farmers to successfully compete with
global market.
Ms. Wiyada Heyprakone from
Provincial Commercial Office, Surin,
in her presentation showed that 20
groups of farmers in Surin were
trained in packaging by the
Provincial Commercial office. She
also encouraged SRI-LMB farmers to
form a group and come up with their
local brand for marketing.
The overall impression by ministry was
that SRI-LMB farmers were serious
Farmer Congress and
National Review & Planning
Workshop in Thailand
“To be successful in farming you have to
be patient and live happy in what you are
doing.” Farmer leader sharing their
experience at Farmer’s Congress
“Water and water management
technologies are important for sustainable
agriculture.” Mr. Adthporn Singhawichai,
Governor of Surin province expressing his
views on SRI project during Farmer’s
Congress.
“SRI is encouraging farmers to move toward environment friendly organic farming which is
essential for product quality, consumer health and sustainable environment” says MOAC,
Thailand.

The Workshop was inaugurated by Dr.
Abha Mishra, Team Leader SRI-LMB
project. In her opening remarks she
thanked NFE Surin for hosting the
workshop and also for the excellent
support extended for the project
implementation in Northeast Thailand.
In her brief presentation, she
emphasized that agriculture
contributes roughly 10% to the total
GDP of Thailand and so it has low value,
however yet this sector occupies 32%
population. The agriculture has moved
from labor-intensive to a more
industrialized sector though making it
competitive, efficient and smart
remains a real issue, especially in the
context of changing climate scenario,
competitive market and transitioning of
agriculture from a male dominated to
a more women dominated.
“Obviously, if we aim to create value in
this sector we need to be smarter and
innovative in our approach to adjust
with the changing demand. SRI is not
just about ‘tan diao’ (single seedling
transplant) but it’s an idea to adjust the
current agricultural practices to make it
cost effective and environmental
friendly for producing better quality
product” she explained.
The workshop discussed that last year in
many provinces, especially in
Cambodia and Thailand, farmers
witnessed early and prolonged drought
spell. Many famers adjusted planting
dates to cope up with drought. For
example, few farmers from Uttaradit
province Thailand and from Kampong
Speu province Cambodia delayed
their planting. They informed that
instead of June-July sowing they did
transplanting in September and
harvested in December. The yield in
September planting was higher
compared to June- July. But even with
long drought spell, farmers of SRI-LMB
reported higher yield at all SRI
demonstration plot in all four countries
SRI plot, Jasmine 105 variety was
used & single & young seedling
transplanting (2 kg of seeds per
Rai) was practiced.
It was reported that highest yield
(800-900 kg/Rai, which is
equivalent to 5 - 5.62 t/ha) was
obtained from the 40 x 40 cm
spacing SRI plot with only 2,500 –
2,700 Bath/Rai (average 443.7
USD/ha) of producing cost
(compared with approximate
4,000 -5,000 Baht/Rai (796 USD/ha)
of production cost generally used
in farmer Practice plot).
The workshop continued
presentations from each province
with the status of the project
implementation and the learnings
from wet season 2015 FPAR and
later planned the schedule for
next season.
compared to the neighboring plot.
In Thailand, more striking results
came from Sisaket province where
they went completely organic and
made it more attractive by
introducing direct seeding machine
that used less seed (only 5-8 kg/rai
compared to 200-300 kg/rai).
The local implementing ministry, NFE
(Non-Formal Education) Surin, said
that farmer in Thailand have got the
SRI message correctly and therefore
they are innovating and adjusting
their practices based on the
resources they have. This is the main
reason for success of the project in
all three provinces which is also
applauded by the Governor of
Surin.
The workshop reported that most of
the participating farmers in Sisaket
are organic rice farmers who are the
members of the Big Plot Project. In
National Review and Planning Workshop
Planning and discussion at the workshop.
“The Big Plot project will expand the
planting areas from 5000 Rai (800 ha)
up to 8000 Rai (1280 ha) by the end of
2016 and we can set up SRI
demonstration with plot size of 5
rai/demonstration
(0.8 ha/demonstration)” says Rice
Seed Center, Surin.
Workshop held in the Suanpa Resort in Surin Province, Thailand

National Review and
Planning Workshop in
Vietnam
The National Review and Planning
Workshop in Vietnam was held in Bac
Giang province on 18 November
2016 organized by the Plant
Protection Department (PPD),
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD) and Crop
Production & Plant Protection Sub-
Department (PPSD Bac Giang and
Nghe An) in partnership with AIT, FAO
and Oxfam.
The objectives of the workshop were
to share key learnings from previous
years’ FPARs implementation by
trainers and farmers and review the
overall process of FPAR to identify
and establish research oriented
learnings.
The participants mostly included
representatives from PPD, PPSD,
University of Hanoi, Thai Nguyen
University, Rapid Asia Co. Ltd, FAO
local office staffs, AIT, other NGOs,
Trainers and Farmer Trainers from Bac
Giang and Ha Tinh province and
from project sites.
The meeting was inaugurated by Mr.
Do Hong Khanh, the Vice Chief of
Plant Protection Division (PPD). He
mentioned about SRI technology
being useful in combating climate
change, drought and reducing
chemical use in rice production
system in Vietnam since 2007. Now
SRI is being applied in 29 provinces
with more than 400 hectares land
occupancy.
Mr. Pham Van Hoanh, the Director of
Bac Giang PPSD shared about the
economic and weather challenges
faced by mountainous area like Bac
Giang province. He was very positive
towards new programs and
technology which are being applied
to these areas to support poor
rainfed farmers in such areas.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Loc, National
Training Expert, SRI-LMB project in
Vietnam presented that 20% area
is under SRI now in both the
provinces, in which 18% apply
partial SRI and 2% follow total
principles of SRI. The majority of FPAR
participants are women (67%).
Hanoi University of Agriculture
presented on Monitoring Evaluation
and Learning (MEL) Study that aims
to evaluate the adaptation
response for SRI practices. It was
done by Ms. Yen Nguyen. She
mentioned that the MEL survey
revealed that due to FPAR trainings
the SRI adoption has increased in
the project area. On-farm net return
reported from FPAR farmers was 1399
US$ whereas Control group reported
1148 US$.
Dr. Hoang Van Phu, Thai Nguyen
University emphasized on need to
develop regulation for green
farming, organic production group
and cooperatives. He added that
now there is an informal SRI network,
with PPD and farmer’s club being the
part of it. As per PPD, SRI has been
adopted by 2 million farmers.
Mr. Daniel L., from Rapid Asia,
highlighted that almost 50%
workforce are engaged in agriculture
but contributes only 17% to the total
GDP. He said, “Migration from
agriculture is increasingly increasing
and If we observe the emerging
trend and analyze the market of
the last 5 years, rice is one of the
top 10 export commodity.” He
further mentioned that the price
of the Vietnamese rice in the
export market was not
encouraging. Therefore rice
farming should not be limited to
the economic aspects but should
be elaborated through the ‘lens’
of social aspect as well
The workshop concluded with the
outcomes of learnings on
location specific practices for SRI
adaptation to the various rice
production systems in Vietnam.
Workshop held in the Bac Giang province, Vietnam
Photograph: Hieu/SRI-LMB
Photograph: Hieu/SRI-LMB/AIT
Photograph: Hieu/SRI-LMB/AIT

Provincial Reflection
Workshops in Cambodia
The Provincial Reflection Workshops
were held at the Provincial
Department of Agriculture of each
province (namely Takeo, Kampong
Speu and Kampot province) during
24 to 26 May 2016. The Workshops
included 88 participants with
representatives from the Project
Coordinating Unit (PCU) based at
AIT, Project Management Unit, local
partner civil society organizations
Oxfam and Srer Khmer, Royal
University of Agriculture, Local
Management Units, farmer
champions and FPAR participants.
The objectives of the workshops
were to share FPAR results from the
previous year 2015 and discuss
problems encountered and
experiences from different districts,
and plan further FPAR activities for
next year.
The Workshops were officially
opened by Mr. Kong Kea, the
Coordinator of the SRI-LMB Project.
He encouraged farmers saying that
all participants should apply what
they learned in FPAR and in the
Provincial Reflection Workshops to
improve SRI field activities in the
coming season in their respective
areas.
Mrs. Keo Kaneka, Policy &
Communication officer of SRI-LMB
and Policy Advisor of Oxfam Team
briefed participants on the ‘Saving
for Change Program’. She discussed
Oxfam’s experience on how to form
savings groups. The Oxfam Team is
currently working with farmers to
form such groups in SRI target
villages which also includes
enthusiastic women farmers from
FPAR and post-FPAR to participate in
the next Women Farmers’ Forum.
Mr. Cheng Dara, Program Manager
from Rachana Organization,
facilitated discussions on how to form
the Agriculture Service Team. The
main objective of forming such team
is to provide labor for agriculture
production to other families in
neighborhood. He also shared the
detailed cost of labor per hectare
with the participants.
Prof. Chuong Sophal from Royal
University of Agriculture, who has
done study on ‘Adaptation response
for SRI practices’ presented the MEL
study results for all 3 target provinces
and mentioned that farmers follow
SRI practice very well and have done
better than the farmers neglecting it.
He also explained on how to
calculate the rice seed for one
hectare by using drum seeder.
He mentioned that the average yield
from field studies of SRI plots was
more than farmer’s practices at 4.47
tons/ha while it was 3.55 tons/ha
from FP plots. The summary results
showed that SRI plots got higher
yields and higher benefits than FP
plots.
Some discussions were shared on
improving quality of FPAR with
facilitation skills and technical
knowledge of farmer trainers and
district trainers. It was suggested
that the frequent monitoring and
backstopping visits by PMU officer
and LMU will contribute very much
in improving quality of FPARs and
will act as a source of
encouragement for the farmers
involved. The workshops
concluded with the planning
session for next season trial.
Provincial workshop held at the Provincial Department of
Agriculture in Cambodia
Photograph: Lira/FAO IPM/Cambodia

Echo Asia Workshop, Chiang Rai
ECHO Asia in collaboration with Fah Mui Farm
organized a two- day “The Northern Thailand SRI
Experience: Sharing, Practicing and Niche Marketing”
workshop at Fah Mui’s farm in Chiang Rai Province,
Thailand during 8-9 June, 2016. The objectives of the
workshop were to discuss about SRI farming, GABA rice
production, learn about reduced use of water in rice
cultivation and also sharing of experience among
farmers and experts on rice cultivation.
The Smart Farmers from SRI-LMB project (from Surin,
Sisaket, and Uttaradit provinces) participated in this
workshop with other participants such as experts from
countries like India, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, U.S.A and
Singapore. SRI-LMB farmers took the lead in conducting
the session on SRI farming.
At the workshop it was shared that one of the farmers
named Fah Mui from Chiang Rai province used SRI
technique of single seedling with 30 x 30 cm spacing
and produced around 3 – 3.5 kg/ha of paddy with
minimum production cost i.e. 3000 baht/rai (approx. 550
US$/ha). More interestingly, Khun Fah Mui used the SRI
practice to produce GABA rice and packed them for
selling. At the end, she was able to sell the GABA rice in
local market and in International market by using
internet as medium which fetched higher price of
Agroecology system should be
considered as “an evolving system”.
Our understandings of it are often
new; but the system itself is not our
creation and is very, very old. The
benefits being seen by the SRI-LMB
come from a strong relationship
between researchers and farmers, to
adapt and evolve the system
together.
To build a more sustainable paddy
rice system different knowledge were
used, as System of Rice Intensification
(SRI); System of Crop Intensification
(SCI); Farmers’ Field Schools (FFS);
and Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) and/or Integrated Pest and
Production Management (IPPM).
Communities, both farming and
scientific and at local, national and
regional levels, all are learning from
each other and advancing
knowledge in this area.
Collaboration between and
among farmers, researchers,
ministries, rural extension
personnel, development
professionals and international
actors has been developed and
strengthened for learning
purposes. Local, national and
regional learning platforms have
been established for facilitating
dialogue and for implementing
activities at all three levels.
The key SRI practices applied are:
transplanting young seedlings or
direct-seeding with very low seed
rate; maintaining wider spacing
between plants; keeping soil
preferably moist but not
continuously flooded; applying
organic manure as much as
possible; and managing pest and
diseases through IPM. These
practices are applied through a
FFS approach. The main focus is on
the rice crop, but already farmers
are developing intercropping with
legumes. We are open to bringing
in fish culture or horticulture as
farmers are in the drivers’ seat, but
we are building upward and
outward from rice.
around 300 baht (roughly 9 US $) for a packet of 200
gm. The business was successful and encouraged
many farmers to follow her.
SRI-LMB farmers also took this opportunity to share
their experience of multi-season SRI adaptation
with the regional farmer participants like Laos and
Myanmar and with local farmers from Chiang Rai
province. The two-day workshop was called off with
practical session of training in field by learning
about seedlings preparation and transplantation
technique from local farmers.
Agro-ecology system: With the ‘Lens’ of SRI-LMB
Eco Asia Workshop conducted in the Fah
Mui’s farm in Chiang Rai
Photograph: Mitesh/SRI-LMB/AIT

In Cambodia, SRI is being supported
and promoted by the government
for smallholder farmers (since 2006).
There is an SRI Secretariat
established within the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF) to coordinate the work. In
Vietnam, SRI has been endorsed as
a “technical advance” by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (in 2007).
There is a recommendation to
apply SRI in all food insecure
provinces, especially in northern
upland areas of Vietnam. In
Thailand, organic production is
being encouraged, especially for
smallholder farms, and so there is
considerable appreciation of
some SRI practices within the
context of market‐oriented
demand. Similarly in Laos, there is
some recent policy
encouragement for SRI and
agroecological approaches.
Policy as yet needs to be put in
place for up‐scaling and
supporting agroecological
approaches.
In terms of supporting research in
academia, there is some recent
development at universities for
Agroecology and multi‐disciplinary
research work; however,
conventional systems still receive
more resources and policy support,
thereby making multidisciplinary
work less attractive for researchers
and students. In a few cases, the
issues are handled by individual
researchers and at farmers’ level
with much success; however, they
are not able to galvanize needed
support from market and policy
centers.
FARMER IN FOCUS
Smart farmers from Sisaket
turning 100% organic
After the successful collaboration with
Big Plot project (an initiative of Ministry
of Agriculture and Cooperatives
(MoAC), Thailand to produce high
quality rice following the HM the King’s
Sufficiency Economy philosophy), SRI-
LMB team provided trainings and
backstopping visits to the farmer groups
in Sisaket province during wet season
2015 and 2016. SRI demonstration plots
were setup at different locations
involving more than 400 farmers to
integrate local organic rice production
technique with SRI crop management
technique. The project is working in
collaboration with Surin Rice Seed
Center.
Based on the information shared by the
local implementing consortia, farmers
are not only able to produce more rice
but they are also able to fetch higher price in the market. They
reported that paddy price for organic SRI rice was 25 THB/kg (0.7
USD/kg) which was higher than the conventionally produced
paddy whose price ranges around 11 THB/kg (0.3 USD/kg).
This year, the group of Smart farmers from Sisaket with 100 % organic
rice cultivation were awarded with highest yield award by the
Governor of Surin Mr. Adthporn Singhawichai at the Farmer
Congress held at Surin, Thailand.
Political Space for SRI

SRI-LMB’s Learning from
Cambodia and Thailand
documented: “Improving rice-
based rainfed production
systems in Southeast Asia for
contributing towards food
security and rural
development through
sustainable intensification of
crop production”
More than 120 sets of field experiments have been carried out
at 60 FPAR sites in Cambodia and Thailand, directly involving
3600 farmers. The experiments have ranged from the integration
of many SRI principles with farmers’ current local practices or
improved practices which was termed as “SRI-transition” to full
demonstrations and assessments of SRI methodology, i.e., SRI
demonstration. The initial calculation of yields has showed an
average paddy yield of 5.03 t/ha with SRI-transition, whereas
with SRI-demonstration the average yield was 6.41 t/ha. These
yields were 60 and 100% higher than the average baseline yield
in the region, 3.14 t/ha, for the same farmers and same locales.
Productivity gains (dollars gained/dollars spent per ha) were
calculated for both rainfed and irrigated production areas. In
comparative terms, the economic gains for farmers were found
to be higher in rainfed areas when using the new methods. This
paper addresses the potential of new strategies to promote
food security in rainfed areas in the LMB region by managing
household and natural resources more productively.
See full article at:
www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/agrfood.2016.2.102
A project funded by the European Union A project implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology
The view expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
SRI-LMB Newsletter is published bi-annually by SRI-LMB Publications Unit. We welcome your input, preferably in English.
The deadline for submissions is on 30 May for June issue and 30 November for December issue.
We reserve the right to edit all contributions.
Please send inputs at srilmb@ait.asia and cc to Dr. Abha Mishra, Project Manager-SRI-LMB (abhamishra@ait.asia).
Website: www.sri-lmb.ait.asia
Find us at:
https://www.facebook.com/sri.lmb
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5P9MFLsKIbshwMDY918XXw
http://www.slideshare.net/srilmb/
https://plus.google.con/photos/100435612470757772541/albums
http://www.scoop.it/t/sri-lm

SRI-LMB Newsletter Vol.4 Issue 1, Year 2016

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (20)

Destaque

Destaque (20)

Semelhante a SRI-LMB Newsletter Vol.4 Issue 1, Year 2016

Semelhante a SRI-LMB Newsletter Vol.4 Issue 1, Year 2016 (20)

Mais de Sri Lmb

Mais de Sri Lmb (20)

Último

Último (20)

SRI-LMB Newsletter Vol.4 Issue 1, Year 2016