The System of Rice Intensification
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Laos

• Progress and activities

• Reports and articles

Progress and Activities

• Northern Community Managed Irrigation Sector Project to Promote SRI in 2008
The Northern Community Managed Irrigation Sector Project plans to encourage about 300 farming families in northern provinces to use SRI rainy season. This system is being implemented in the provinces of Xieng Khuang, Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xayaboury and Vientiane because these provinces have suitable land for planting and sufficient irrigated water supplies. During June 2008 project staff demonstrated the new planting technique for four families who cooperatively farm about 4.5 rai in Phatthana village, Naxaithong district, Vientiane. The demonstration was attended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Department of Irrigation Director General, Dr Khamphad Sourinphoumy, as well as agricultural staff and farmers from six nearby villages. Dr Khamphad urged farmers at the ceremony to expand the use of the System of Rice Intensification and gave examples of farming families in northern provinces who participated in the project and benefited from using the system. He relayed that this method of cultivation uses less water, seeds, fertiliser and insecticide and yields 5-8 tonnes per hectare as opposed to traditional cultivation, which yields 3-4 tonnes per hectare. Almost 60 families have used the SRI methods on farming land totaling 118,570 square metres during this year's dry season. The project has been operating since 2006 (see article in the Vientiane Times.)

• SRI Can Double Yield According to Director of Irrigation
At a workshop held March 28 in Vientiane, at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Director General of the Department of Irrigation, Khamphad Sourinphoumy said that SRI evaluations in three provinces had shown SRI yields to be 6-8 tons/ha compared with more typical yields of 3-4 tons/ha with traditional methods. The Irrigation Department trials were assisted by Pro-Net 21, a Japanese NGO, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Shuichi Sato, Nippon Koei team leader in Eastern Indonesia, also reported to the workshop on SRI performance in this neighboring Southeast Asian country).

• OXFAM/Australia Reports on SRI Experience 2002-2007
Sengthong Vongsakid, agronomist working with the Oxfam/Australia program in Laos, has compiled a report summarizing results from SRI trials on farmers’ fields starting in 2001, when a yield differential of only 16.5% was recorded. The next year, the yield increase was 81-107%, and since then, the yield advantage has ranged between 50 and 100%, with reduced use of water and little or no requirement for purchased inputs. Some Lao farmers have been adapting SRI concepts to rainfed farming systems, which are very widespread in Laos. The report assesses adaptations being made in the original SRI recommendations and ways in which knowledge of SRI is being disseminated in this country.

• An October 10, 2007, article in the Vientiane Times reported on SRI results stemming from training efforts five years ago by Oxfam Australia (CAA) that are now starting to spread. According to the article, Lao farmers using SRI are now getting more than doubled yield with less inputs with no additional labor requirements. This effort will be further supported by a program being launched now by Oxfam America to spread SRI opportunities within the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia.

• Community Aid Abroad/Oxfam was the first NGO to take up SRI in this country. This is described in a presentation at the International Conference on Assessments of the System of Rice Intensicfication (SRI) held in Sanya, China, April 1-4, 2002. Its first season results with a few farmers were not very good, only 20% increases in yield on average, though there was a four-fold improvement in the seed:harvest ratio. CAA continues to expand experimentation with farmers, preparing an extension bulletin on SRI in Lao.

• In April 2002, the IRRI program in Laos sponsored a national workshop on SRI with the National Agricultural Research Center, to initiate evaluation of these methods, given the government's urgent request to raise rice yields but not in a chemical-dependent way, given financial constraints and environmental concerns. The first season's results were mixed: three sets of trials gave SRI yields lower than standard methods; one trial showed no difference; and two showed improvements with SRI, in the 6-7 t/ha range, compared with average yields of 3 t/ha. Evaluations are continuing in Laos.

• In March 2004, an evaluation of SRI in Laos was conducted by Dr. John Schiller as part of a review for FAO of SRI in Southeast Asia, carried out with Dr. Max Whitten. Dr Schiller (JS) was visiting Laos for another purpose and took advantage of his presence in Laos to investigate SRI-related activities and to assess the potential of SRI for rice production in Laos. Discussions were held with Lao and international scientists associated with the Swiss funded Lao-IRRI Project and the National Rice Research Program of Laos, also with Lao and international technical advisors in the National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service on 22-23 March. A site-visit was also made thereafter to an Oxfam-CAA (Community Aid Abroad) farmer-participatory SRI site in Feung district of Vientiane province, where discussions were held with farmers participating in the SRI activities, together with officials of the Fueng District Agriculture and Forestry Services Office. [see report]

Reports and Articles
 
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last updated: July 2, 2008
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