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ABOUT THE SRI INTERNATIONAL NETWORK AND RESOURCES CENTER (SRI-RICE)


The SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice) was established at Cornell University in 2010 in response to the increasing importance of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a climate-smart, yield-increasing methodology that is being utilized by more than over 15 million smallholder farmers in over 60+ countries (see map). SRI-Rice is housed in the Department of Global Development of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The use of the SRI methodology and its local adaptation to various rice systems, as well as other crops (Systerm of Crop Intensification, or SCI), is quickly spreading among resource-limited farmers in Asia, Africa and Latin America, improving yields, food security, farm-level income, while protecting the environment. For more insights on SRI, see the practice brief, SRI: Revisiting Agronomy for a Changing Climate, which was published by the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.

The widespread success at the farmers' level presents a great opportunity - and also challenge - to collect the knowledge and to make it available to other farmers, program developers, researchers and policy makers. SRI-Rice has set out on this path, striving to reach as many smallholder farmers as possible, enhancing the networking, promoting collaborative synergies and accelerating learning.

Our vision

To reduce hunger and extreme poverty by improving productivity of rice and other crops based on environment-friendly agricultural practices that preserve and improve the natural resource base and help to better withstand changing climate conditions.

Our mission

To advance and share knowledge about the System of Rice Intensification, to improve the technical implementation of the SRI methodology, and to support networking among interested organizations agencies, and individuals around the globe.

SRI-Rice's goals:

SRI-Rice's objectives:

SRI-Rice's core activities:

Knowledge Management and Sharing

SRI-Rice collects, organizes, stores and shares SRI knowledge resources received from partners around the world and from daily Internet searches. We share SRI knowledge via SRI-Rice Online, which is comprised of the SRI-Rice website, various social media, our newsletter, and research databases, as well as associated video, photo and presentation channels and web services. Our website contains the most up-to-date, comprehensive collection of SRI information worldwide, including practical manuals in 15 languages. Additionally, we interact on a daily basis with partners and new acquaintances through personal outreach and respond to individual and specific requests. Personal outreach is also done through presentations at conferences and workshops; regional, national and local trainings; teaching; and provision of location-specific technical advice and backstopping.

Knowledge Generation and Research

We advance knowledge through our own analysis and research, and we advise partners either on their research activities or technical implementation with farmer-based field programs. SRI-Rice is a partner on the EU-financed project "Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin," and participates in scientific projects, including a multi-country arsenic research study.

Technical Advice

With many years of direct experience working with farmers on technical innovations, the SRI-Rice team is active in providing technical advice and backstopping to field programs in several countries. The advice ranges from farmer-centered implementation approaches to agronomic techniques and practices. In the large 13-country three-year World Bank-funded scaling up project for West Africa, SRI-Rice provided technical leadership, including monitoring and evaluation, mapping, adaptation of production practices, and development of training materials.

Network Support and Development

An informal international SRI network has been developing since 2000. Since then, SRI has been recognized, supported and utilized by a growing number of NGOs, universities, farmer groups, government and research institutions, the private sector, and donor agencies. Several national SRI networks have sprung up - for instance in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Nepal, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Vietnam - where members share information and develop strategies to coordinate SRI efforts. SRI-Rice follows these networks closely and provides input and support where appropriate. SRI-Rice is also helping to build capacity for emerging regional SRI networks in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the global level, SRI-Rice is facilitating the development of the Global SRI Research Network and the SRI Equipment Innovators Exchange

Our Supporters

The Center has benefited from gifts and grants from Jim Carrey’s Better U Foundation, the Ohrstrom Foundation, Marguerite and Norman Uphoff, Carolyn McKay, the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD/CORAF), the Bridging Peace Fund, the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and various individual donors.
At SRI-Rice, we raise our own funds to support our projects, staff, and outreach activities. We welcome any contribution and participation to improve rice production for millions of smallholder rice farmers around the world through the SRI-Rice Gift Fund.

People at SRI-Rice

Lucy Fisher Director of CommunicationsLucy Fisher, › Associate Director of Communications at SRI-Rice, oversees knowledge management initiatives and liaises with SRI networks around the world. She maintains the SRI-Rice website, social media and research database as well as the Conservation Agriculture website.

Norman Uphoff, Senior AdvisorNorman Uphoff, › Senior Advisor for SRI-Rice, is carrying on the SRI networking, research and writing he began in 2000, helping to build up the International SRI Network and strengthen the knowledge base for SRI and its extension to other crops.

Terry TuckerTerry Tucker, › SRI-Rice Program Advisor, brings experience in farmer-centered innovation to the SRI-Rice program. He also teaches and advises students in Cornell's International Agriculture and Rural Development major.

Devon JenkinsDevon Jenkins, › SRI Technical Advisor and previous field trainer with SRI-Rice, advises SRI-Rice on GIS, computer programs, and rice production technology.

Oliva VentOlivia Vent, › SRI-Rice Value Chain Advisor, has been working with SRI marketing, gender issues and various communications initiatives since 2002.

Carrie Young, › SRI-Rice Media Advisor, formerly with National Geographic and S. Carolina Wildlife magazine, completed her PhD in communications.

Steve Leinau, › SRI-Rice Smallscale Equipment Advisor, is Executive Director of the NGO Earth Links in Santa Cruz, California.

Hillary Mara›, SRI-Rice French Content Advisor, is a Foreign Service Agriculture Officer with USAID.

Glenn Lines›, SRI-Rice Technical Advisor, is Senior Advisor for Technical Learning and Application at ACDI/VOCA.

Khidhir Abbas Hameed ›, SRI-Rice Water Management and Technical Advisor, is Senior Scientist at the Al-Mishkab Rice Research Institute in Najaf, Iraq.

Mark Fulford ›, SRI-Rice's System of Crop Intensification (SCI) and Mechanization Technical Advisor, consults for Lookfar Agriculture Service in Maine.

Previous SRI-Rice staff, fellows, and students ›
Naadhira Ali, Kevin Alyono, Bethany Boyer-Rechlin, Aravind Boddupali, Bella Culotta, Nolan Edmondson, Sean Finnerty, Zhoucen Feng, Gene Fifer, Matt Fisher-Post, Prabhat Gautam, Jeevan Gyawali, Min Huang, Pratyaya Jagannath, Cyprian Kaziba, Linnaea Kelly, Hannah Koski, Matt Koren, Nina Lin, John Lowry, Sammi Lin, Xingyu Luo, Christine Ly, Sidney Madsen, Eurika Nzouatcham, Lorraine Perricone-Dazzo, Nick Reed-Krase, Hillary Mara, Olu Roberts, Shipra Singh, Genesis Miranda Soto, Erika Styger, Amy Uber, Veronika Vogel, Hanzhou Yang, and Carrie Young.

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The SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice) is supported by
Marguerite and Norman Uphoff and Carolyn McKay
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