Launch of Project: Grow More with Less: Adaptation, Validation and Promotion of SRI in the Americas as a Response to Climate Change

A consortium of partners including the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (IDIAF), the Dominican Council of Agricultural and Forestry Research (CONIAF), the National Federation of Rice Producers (FEDEARROZ-FNA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), are executing a project to validate the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Dominican Republic and Colombia with financial support from the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO).

The launch of the project and the first training took place in October in the Dominican Republic.  

Fifteen participants visited rice fields to see SRI in practice and to view machinery available in the country to support rice production. 

SRI is an innovation practiced by 9.5 million producers on over 3.4 million hectares in 50 countries.  Instead of a predetermined technological package, SRI utilizes flexible practices based on four fundamental principles:

• Favor early and healthy plant establishment

• Minimize plant competition

• Build fertile soils rich in organic matter and soil biota

• Manage water carefully for ideal plant development , avoiding flooding and water stress.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the principles of SRI have been tested with positive results in several countries. However, many of these initial efforts have not been properly monitored, evaluated and documented.  These initial experiences have, however, identified high cost of labor required for transplanting individual seedlings as a challenge for scaling SRI in the hemisphere.

This two year project will validate SRI in Dominican Republic and Colombia to help reduce the vulnerability of small rice farmers to climate change.

The project is being implemented under FONTAGRO’s 2014 Call for Proposals: “Innovation for the Adaptation of Family Agriculture to Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean”.  Supported by FONTAGRO and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the call supports innovation platforms and coordination mechanisms that foster competitiveness and sustainability.  

 For more information: kelly.witkowski@iica.int