Reports of Gains Bring Attention to Rice-Growing Method

Reports of Gains Bring Attention to Rice-Growing Method
Supporters say the System of Rice Intensification can double productivity of irrigated rice. But others say there is no proof that S.R.I. is better than the best of conventional methods. Transcript of radio broadcast:
07 July 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Some farmers of irrigated rice in Asia, Africa and the Americas are using a production method called S.R.I.


S.R.I. is short for the System of Rice Intensification. It does not require new seeds. It only requires changes in the ways that rice farmers manage plants, soil, water and nutrients.

With S.R.I, farmers use fewer seeds and transplant them earlier than usual. Leaving more room between plants lets the roots and leaves spread more. Farmers also use less water. They keep the fields moist but do not continuously flood them. The use of chemical fertilizer is also reduced or even eliminated.

Norman Uphoff is a big supporter of the System of Rice Intensification. He was a professor of government and international agriculture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He retired but still works from an office there to bring attention to the system.
A French priest, Father Henri de Laulanie, developed S.R.I. in Madagascar in the nineteen eighties. Norman Uphoff learned about it fifteen years ago while working there. He led field trials for the system for three years.

He says it usually doubles productivity. But during that time in Madagascar, it produced an average of eight tons per hectare. That was four times the usual average. In the late nineteen nineties, Professor Uphoff began trying to spread the word about S.R.I.

Supporters say there have been reports from many areas of large increases in productivity and profits. But not everyone is persuaded.

Kenneth Cassman is an agricultural expert at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In his words, "There is no strong evidence that the S.R.I. is more effective than the best of conventional rice-growing methods."

Kenneth Cassman notes that productivity in irrigated rice fields has been slowing, or stagnating, for years. He says there should be more research into the problems and how to solve them.

But Norman Uphoff says he looks forward to more field trials next year which he believes will confirm the effectiveness of S.R.I.

The World Bank says farmers using the system in India's Tamil Nadu State are harvesting forty to eighty percent more rice than before. They report using eighty-five percent less seed and saving thirty-two percent on water usage.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For a link to the S.R.I. home page at Cornell, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

----------------------------Google Translate

报告的收益带来注意水稻生长方法
支持者说，该系统的水稻强化栽培可以双重的生产力，灌溉水稻。不过，其他科学家说，是没有证据证明s.r.i.总比最好的常规方法。全文电台广播：
2008年7月7日

这是美国之音特别英语农业的报告。

一些农民灌溉稻在亚洲，非洲和美洲所使用的生产方法所谓斯里兰卡


s.r.i.是短期为系统的水稻强化栽培。它不需要新的种子。它不仅需要的变化，在方式稻农管理植物，土壤，水分和养分。

与斯里兰卡，农民使用更少的种子和移植他们比平时提前。留下更多空间之间的植物，让根和叶蔓延。农民也使用更少的水。他们不断领域潮湿，但不不断防洪他们。使用化肥也减少，甚至消除。

诺曼uphoff是一个很大的支持者，该系统的水稻强化栽培。他是一位教授，政府和国际农业在康乃尔大学绮色佳，纽约。他退休，但仍工程从一处有把关注的制度。
一位法国神父亨利德洛拉尼耶，发展斯里兰卡在马达加斯加，在19八十年代。诺曼uphoff了解它15年前，而在那里工作。由他率领的田间试验，为系统的三年。

他说，它通常是双打的生产力。但在这段时间在马达加斯加，它产生了平均8吨，每公顷。这是4倍，一般平均水平。在后期， 19 90年代，教授uphoff开始试图散布闭口不谈斯里兰卡

支持者说，有报道称，从许多地区的大量增加，生产率和利润。但是不是每个人都说服。

丁cassman是一个农业专家在内布拉斯加大学的在林肯。用他的话说， “有没有强烈的证据表明，斯里兰卡是更有效，比最好的常规水稻生长的方法” 。

丁cassman指出，生产力在灌溉稻田已放缓，或停滞不前，多年来。他说，应该有更多的探究问题以及如何解决这些问题。

但诺曼uphoff说，他期待着更多的田间试验，明年他认为将确认的成效，斯里兰卡

世界银行说，农民使用该系统在印度的泰米尔纳德邦州的收割40到80 ％以上水稻比以前。他们的报告使用85 ％ ，少的种子和节能32 ％的用水。

这是该美国之音特别英语农业的报告，书面，由jerilyn沃森。一个链接到s.r.i.网页上，康乃尔，到voaspecialenglish.com 。我史蒂夫ember 。