SRI in Western Orissa and SVA (2005-09)

The area of operation of SVA is dominated by small and marginal farmers and around 80% of the population in the area depend on agriculture and related activities. Agriculture in this region has become a risky activity because of erratic rainfall which leads to frequent drought. Other problems associated with farmers and Agriculture in this area are non availability of quality seed, fertilizer, soil degradation, flash flood, low market price, indebtedness of farmers etc. Considering the above problems sustainable and appropriate agricultural practices appear to be the best remedy and by that the economy of farmers could be improved.

Trial by SVA and several other organizations during past few years has shown that System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one of the best sustainable agricultural practices suitable for small and marginal farmers in this region. SVA with its mandate for improvement of livelihood through sustainable agricultural practices has been promoting SRI in its operational area since 2005 and the results obtained so far have been highly encouraging.

SRI introduced in Western Orissa:

•       In 2004, Sri Jagadish Pradhan, President, SVA attended a workshop in Srilanka organized by HIVOS where he first got an exposure to SRI.

•       In July 2005, he attended another workshop organized by HIVOS, CWS and CSA at Hyderabad on sustainable paddy cultivation which threw some more focus on SRI.

SRI in Bargarh & Nuapada district – 2005 Kharif:

•       In 2005 Kharif, SVA tried SRI with 10 farmers in Bargarh and Sohela blocks of Bargarh district.

•       During 2006 summer, SVA started SRI on trial basis with 12 farmers in Nuapada and Bargarh district (Khariar, Komna and Paikmal blocks). 5 numbers of Mandua weeders were brought from Hyderabad and distributed to farmers for tial.

•       Based on the experience of 2006 Summer crops, in Kharif 2006, SRI was taken up with 60 farmers in different blocks of Nuapada and Bargarh districts where the yield was much higher than the conventional method. Now SVA was convinced that SRI could be successfully introduced / promoted among the small and marginal farmers of Western Orissa .

Crop cutting in Khariar block convinced the DAO and other district official for SRI:

•       In 2007 summer, crop cutting was done in SRI a field in Khariar block in the presence of DAO, PD, DRDA and other government officials which could convince them for taking up it in large scale under government programme. The yield was 7200 kg per hectare (Lalat variety, farmer Ghanashyam Bhitria) and it was grown without use of any Chemical Fertilizer or Pesticide.

SRI spreads to Kalahandi and Bolangir districts:

•       In Kharif 2007, it was introduced in Narla block of Kalahandi district with one farmer growing 0.40 acre of land which was increased to four farmers with 1 acre of land each in 2008 summer. A workshop was organized at Titilagarh during January 2007 and few farmers from Gurunda and nearby villages did take up SRI successfully.

Up scaling SRI in West Orissa : 2008 Kharif- 1107 farmers:

•       In Kharif 2008, the number increased to 739 farmers in Nuapada, 85 farmers in Bargarh, 273 farmers in Kalahandi and 10 farmers in Bolangir district (total 1107 farmers) against the target of 1000 farmers. This was in spite of the unexpected drought condition during Kharif 2008. This upscalling programme was jointly carried out by SVA and P.S.I (Dehradoon) with financial support from  Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

•       In 2009 summer, SVA has taken up SRI with 513 nos of farmers in the irrigated patches in three districts i.e Kalahandi, Nuapada and Bargarh.

•       SVA has taken up SRI village programme under Rastriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) in Nuapada and Kalahandi district with 50 farmers in each district. The result so far has been quite encouraging with average no of 50-60 tillers per hill and in few cases the number is as high as 120.

Training and IEC materials on SRI:

•       During 2008 SVA had organised 121 nos of training programmes at block and village level involving 4200 nos of farmers, 52 nos of awareness camps, numerous public meetings and video film shows on SRI involving more than 4500 nos of farmers at village level.

•       SVA has produced a number of IEC materials for farmers on SRI. These includes:

      - A set of 12 posters.

      - A set of 20 flash cards.

      -Oriya Booklet (4 colour).

      - CD in Oriya (30 minutes).

      - Monthly Oriya news letter (Gram Swarajya Abhiyan) with 2-3 pages on SRI

•       SVA has facilitated exposure visits for farmers and agricultural workers from about 100 NGOs from different districts of Orissa as well as from Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Maharastra.

•       SVA has trained 80 nos of Master Trainers who have been supporting SRI farmers.

•       SVA has trained WORLP partners who have been taking up SRI.

Supply of critical inputs:

•       SVA has provided 190 nos of mandua weeder to farmers in its operational area and 131 nos to other organizations through out the state.

•       Markers have been prepared by farmers themselves using simple local materials after training and sample demonstration by SVA.

Experiences of farmers:

•       In Kanakpur, only 2-3 weedings by mandua weeder was possible because of profuse growth of tillers.

•       In short duration paddy like Khandagiri, the maximum no of tillers was 55, in Pratikshya, it was 72. In case of Swarna, it was found to be 65 and above.

•       When organic pesticides and manures are applied, insect or pest attack is less than the plot where chemical fertilizer is used though the yield is initially lower.

•       The small and marginal farmers are more enthusiastic for SRI and they show more interest for SRI than the bigger farmers.

•       Insect attack by swarming catter pillars (Leda insect) in the traditional nursery bed in last Kharif forced some of the farmers to go for quick nursery raising and transplanting and thus they adopted SRI and got better result.

•       In some of the cases, even though the farmer transplanted seedlings of 25 or more days old, the yield is more than 1.5 times than the traditional system.

•       In case of small and marginal farmers, most of the farmers could transplant the seedlings involving their family members which could solve the problem of scarcity of labour.

•       Better water management and timing schedule can better cope with the dry spell and erratic rainfall in the western parts of Orissa. If planned properly it can cope better with the drought like situation.

Research on indigenous rice varieties:

•       In Kharif 2008, 25 nos of indigenous rice varieties have been tried under SRI in organic method in its experimental farm at Balipada, district Kalahandi.

•       Different parameters have been studied. The result has shown that for most of the varieties, the yield was in the range of 15-23 quintals per acre which is quite attractive for the local farmers.