National Symposium On SRI

Norman Uphoff (second left), Professor of Government and International Agriculture, Cornell University, the U.S., releasing the SRI Newsletter at the National Symposium on System of Rice Intensification in Coimbatore on Monday. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is not a technology. It is a science, a paradigm, a movement, which is spreading throughout the country, Norman Uphoff, Cornell University, the United States, said here on Monday. He was inaugurating a national symposium on “System of Rice Intensification in India – Policies, Institutions and Strategies for Scaling Up” at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

The three-day symposium was being jointly organised by the university and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) through WWF-ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics) Project, Hyderabad. Concurring with the fact that initial scepticism was an expected reaction when it came to accepting SRI, he assured that once the scepticism was overcome, it could be recognised as the best option. Speaking on the sidelines to reporters, Mr. Uphoff and other officials involved in SRI said that the system was being extended to other crops like wheat (System of Wheat Intensification), ragi, sugarcane, mustard and red gram.

Though 220 districts were under SRI cover, the area under cultivation could not be quantified. However, in Tamil Nadu SRI was quantified to 30 per cent of the total cultivable land. They felt that there was no lobby to push the concept. The team sought to bring 20 per cent of the country’s cultivation under the concept by 2015. To bring about this, the formation of a National SRI Mission would be set in motion, they said.

Vice-Chancellor of TNAU C. Ramasamy said SRI method of transplanting preserved the biological potential of the plant. “SRI is included in the National Food Security Mission to improve productivity of rice in the country. Projection of India’s rice production target for 2025 is 140 million tonnes. This can be achieved by increasing the production by over 2 million tonnes a year. This should be viewed against the backdrop of diminishing natural resources like land, labour and water,” he said. Progressive farmers implementing SRI shared their experiences. They were honoured with citations and cash prizes.

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