After validating the System of Rice Intensification on 13 farmer plots in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, the project reported very encouraging results. Plants developed more tillers, panicles and spikelets, and longer, heavier roots. As a result, SRI achieved yields up to 25% higher than the traditional system, with savings of up to 96% in seed and up to 45% in water. Production costs fell by 10% on average, and profits rose by 43% in the Dominican Republic and 68% in Colombia. Mechanizing tray filling, transplanting and weeding cut total costs by 36% in Colombia and 10% in the Dominican Republic.

These achievements sparked interest among researchers, extension agents and farmers across the region. With other resources, IICA is supporting initial SRI actions in Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala and Suriname, and has received requests from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Argentina. SRI is thus emerging as an innovation adaptable to different conditions, useful for both family farming and larger-scale agriculture, and a Regional SRI Network has been proposed to benefit rice technicians and farmers across the hemisphere.

🔗 Results news story (in Spanish) 🔗 Impact story: More rice, less water (in Spanish) 🎥 Impact story video (in Spanish)