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Progress and Activities

1997-2006 Progress and Activities
(see also 2007-2008 updates for recent news)

• SRI evaluations were started by the Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (AARD) in 1999 at its rice research station at Sukamandi, with a yield of 6.2 t/ha the first season, and up to 9 t/ha in the next season. After three seasons of evaluation, AARD incorporated SRI methods into a new Integrated Crop Resource Management (ICM) strategy intended to end the yield stagnation that Indonesia had experienced for five years with Green Revolution technologies. For background, see paper for Sanya conference.

• The Indonesian IPM program began evaluating SRI in 2000. Farmer Field School participants in Ciamis evaluated SRI methods in 2001 and got a 52% increase in yield, and an increased ratio of beneficial insects-to-pests, helping to explain the improved health of the SRI crop. Pest populations were about 2/3 lower in the SRI plots. A series of four workshops held in January 2003 with Farmer Field School participants across Java found that SRI methods were averaging 9.25 t/ha. The Indonesian IPM program now operates under the aegis of the Field Foundation, continuing Farmer Field School programs with a somewhat broader agroecological focus and including SRI. Observations on the work of the Indonesian IPM program as of September 2005 are included in IPM section of a trip report by Uphoff.

• ADRA, a major international NGO working in West Timor with USAID funding, tried SRI in 2002 (see Kupang results). Farmer SRI plots averaged 11.7 t/ha compared to the conventional comparison yield of 4.4 t/ha. These farmers were already more successful rice-growers than most of their neighbors since the average yield in that area is 2 t/ha. SRI use has spread rapidly there.The results in Lampung (Sumatra) were 8-8.5 t/ha compared to 3-3.5 t/ha. This experience with SRI led ADRA to produce a training video that is accessible at: http://streaming1.video.cornell.edu:
8080/ramgen/courses/pbsynapsisnormtest2.rm.

• In 2002, under the Small-Scale Irrigation Management Project phases I, II and III (SSIMP-I to III) and its successor, the Decentralized Irrigation System Improvement Project (DISIMP, or SSIMP-IV), staff of the Japanese consulting firm Nippon Koei have evaluated and disseminated SRI in eastern Indonesia. A paper by NK team leader, Shuichi Sato, reviewing three years of experience with SRI, summarizes the results of comparison trials by 414 farmers on 361.86 ha in 13 locations in two provinces (South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara).

The results show an average SRI yield of 9.5 t/ha, compared with 4.93 t/ha in the comparison trials with usual methods, a 93% increase. This was achieved with a 20% reduction in costs of production and an on-farm water saving of 40%. The contrast between SRI and ‘normal’ rice plants is very evident. (Click on picture to enlarge).

2005-2006
• The Indonesian irrigation agency PU has begun training farmers in SRI methods with the main purpose of making water saving possible, though also to enhance farmers’ incomes. PU’s 2006 budget included an allocation of 1 billion rupiahs (about $100,000) for SRI training at three centers in Java and eastern Indonesia. The Bandung center is promoting the production and sale of organic (chemical-free) rice grown with SRI methods (see PU Bandung section of 2005 trip report).

• Several NGOs have begun programs of training and dissemination of SRI. We have some information on the activities of World Education (see World Education section of 2005 trip report) and VECO (see VECO section of 2005 trip report). It appears that ADRA, whose initial work is reported above, has withdrawn from SRI efforts. We welcome information from any other organizations on their SRI experience in Indonesia to post on this page.

• SRI was introduced in Bali province in 2006 at farmers' initiative, with hybrid rice, giving an average of 13.3 t/ha with SRI methods and 8.4 t/ha with non-SRI methods.

• In a paper given at the International Dialogue on Rice and Water: Exploring Options for Food Security and Sustainable Environments, Shuichi Sato presented data from Eastern Indonesia showing an 84% yield increase with SRI that was accompanied by substantial water savings and cost reduction. Sato, who is currently the team leader for Nippon Koei's participation in a large-scale irrigation project in Eastern Indonesia, presented his results at a workshop held March 7-8, 2006, at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. During a three year period, SRI was evaluated to assess its potential to reduce demand for irrigation water while rewarding farmers with higher production and incomes. Comparison trials managed by 1,849 farmers on 1,363 ha and supervised by project staff have given an average SRI yield of 7.23 t/ha compared to 3.92 t/ha with conventional methods, an 84% increase. Water saving has been assessed to be around 40%, accompanied by an average reduction in costs of production per hectare of >25%. A detailed analysis of costs and benefits in the 2005 dry season in West Nusa Tenggara province calculated that the net returns per hectare with SRI methods was 6.2 million rupiah compared with 1.2 million rupiah using conventional methods. In one scheme (Batu Bulan dam irrigation), the ratio of net return was 7.3 times higher. Sato's team concluded that the economic attractiveness of SRI methods is substantial, giving farmers strong incentive to accept water-saving as the new norm for irrigated rice production.