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Progress and Activities

• RiceTech, a company in Texas, has experimented with SRI methods within their more mechanized and highly capitalized production system through the interest of Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Fangming Xie. However, so far RiceTech has not observed 'the SRI effect' seen elsewhere, possibly because of soil biological conditions associated with its production techniques. Some individuals in the U.S. have expressed interest in SRI and may be doing trials in Louisiana, Arkansas and Washington State.

• At Cornell University, the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) continues to provide technical and communications support to the growing application of SRI practices around the world (see SRI orgins). For a number of years, most faculty at Cornell remained skeptical about SRI potentials. But accumulating evidence from the countries reviewed above, about 80% of the time confirming the principles and claims of SRI, and from a number of Ph.D. or master's theses, has elicited interest among faculty in mounting a large-scale, multi-disciplinary evaluation effort.

• Such evaluation should and would be undertaken collaboratively with researchers in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries. There is no longer much doubt that SRI methods can raise yields and factor productivity. The questions now are: under what conditions? what are the optimum conditions? and how can these results be best and fully explained? CIIFAD is looking for sources of support for this work, and any suggestions or leads for support are welcomed. As seen from the reports above, some of the major rice research institution in the world, such as CNRRI, CNHRRDC, AARD, PhilRice, UPLB, TNAU, ANGRAU, and BRRI, are working seriously on the evaluation and dissemination of SRI.