CUBA SRI ARCHIVES
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Progress and Activities (2002-2009)
(for more recent activities see main Cuba page)2009 UPDATE
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SRI with Sprinkler Irrigation Presented at Rice Irrigation
Workshop in Cuba
During November 2009, the Institute of Investigations of Irrigation and Drainage held a workshop to discuss the current state of the hydraulic infrastructure in Cuba, as well as to examine new techniques of rice
production that
include sprinkler irrigation rather than flooding. Rena Pérez presented
information on SRI (see PowerPoint
presentation), including the results Brazilian experiences with sprinkler
irrigation using the central pivot system. In the Brazilian trial, yield was
increased from 3.5 to 8.0 t/ha, while production cost/ha was reduced by 20
percent. Dr. Pérez also showed on-going sprinkler trials using adapted SRI
(SICA) methods with rice in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (shown at
right; click on photo to enlarge). -
Spanish Language Google Group opens SRI Discussions
SICA-America-Latina is a Spanish language Google Group for discussions about the SRI (Sistema Intensivo Cultivo Arroz or SICA in Spanish) primarily relating to Latin America. Global SRI issues are also discussed. The list, which was was initiated in February 2009, is moderated by Rena Perez, who has been instrumental in disseminating SRI in numerous countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. To subscribe, go to the SICA AMERICA LATINA URL at http://groups.google.es/group/sica-america-latina and follow the instructions, or send e-mail to: sica-america-latina@googlegroups.com.
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Cuban Urban Agriculture Celebrates a Second SRI
Workshop
Following a SRI workshop in November 2007, the National Group of Cuban Urban Agriculture held a second workshop during February 2009 to discuss preliminary results and plan future policy with respect to this new methodology. Ing. Salvador Sanchez of the Institute of Rice Investigations, noted that SRI had forever changed Cuban rice culture by:
- reducing the age of seedlings from 35-40 to 12-15 days
- reducing the time employed between pull/transplant from 12-24 hours to 30 minutes, and
- reducing the number of seedlings per hill, from between 3-5 to one.
He also emphasized the saving in seeds and the possibility, in some cases, to triple the yield.
Dr. Adolfo Rodriguez, Director, Cuban Urban Agriculture, presented the information (see table 1) related to the previous years' results in several provinces (see Spanish language presentation) before obtaining the group's consensus to, in 2009, plant a minimum of 0.5 hectares SRI in 140 of Cuba's 169 municipalities, which includes all of the country's rice producing municipalities.
Dr. Rena Pérez also discussed a trial by Mr. Oscar Montavo of "El Pedregal" in Costa Rica to adapt a mechanical transplanting machine to SICA, particularly in terms of planting distance and the use of only one seedling (see Costa Rica SRI page for more information).
2007-2008
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Spanish Language Overview of SICA Now Available
Rena Pérez has provided a document in Spanish (El desarrollo del SICA en el mundo) that summarizes SRI (SICA) progress in Cuba and around the world as of 2008. Cuba was the first country in the Americas to start working seriously on SRI, thanks to the initiatives of Dr. Rena Perez, who serves as an advisor on food security for the Ministry of Sugar.
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International Rice Meeting in Havana, June 2008, Reviews SRI
(SICA)
The 4th International Rice Meeting convened in Cuba, June 2-6, 2008, and featured a round table on experience with SICA, the Spanish acronym for SRI. Presentations were made by Marie-Soleil Turmel, a Canadian PhD candidate doing field research on SRI under different soil conditions from a base with the Smithsonian Institution's Tropical Research Institute in Panama; Lazaro Maquiera from the National Institute of Agriculture Sciences on SICA evaluations at INCA's rice research center at Los Palacios; Angel Fernandez on the SICA evaluations he has done in Peru and the prospects for SICA spread there; Juan Riambau, chief agronomist with the producer cooperative (CPA) “Camilo Cienfuegos” in western Cuba which started SICA evaluations in 2001 with much success; Dr. Rena Pérez, volunteer coordinator for SICA in Cuba, reporting on extension efforts and results; and Dr. Norman Uphoff, Cornell University, with an international overview on SRI spread and impacts. (See trip report by N. Uphoff on the meeting and on two field visits).
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Rena Pérez Facilitates Two Workshops in Cuba
On November 21, 2007, Rena Perez facilitated a nationwide Urban Agriculture-sponsored workshop (see English or Spanish version of workshop report) with the aim to promote SRI according to the agronomic guidelines for rice production in her institution. The workshop, which was held in Havana, included 31 participants from seven of the 14 provinces. More recently, Dr. Perez has conducted a workshop (Feb. 27, 2008) at the Menelao Mora Cattle Cooperative in the town of La Ruda, San Jose de las Lajas, Havana province.
Dr. Pérez has also produced a number of training materials in Spanish (see also practical Information below) for what is called SICA, the Sistema Intensivo de Cultiva Arrocero. Most recently, she has produced a video on SICA (SRI) entitled Sistema Intensivo de Cultiva Arrocero en Cuba. A 14 minute Spanish language video (35.2MB) is available as well as a longer 36 minute version with English subtitles (76.2 MB).
2002-2006
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Cuba was the first country in the Americas to start working seriously on SICA (the Spanish acronym for SRI), thanks to the initiatives of Dr. Rena Perez, advisor on food security for the Ministry of Sugar, who learned of it in 2000 from a Cornellian at a conference. The first sugar cooperative to try SRI, CFA Camilo Cienfuegos in Bahia Honda, got 9.5 t/ha its first season in 2001 (compared with the usual yield of 6.5 t/ha) which increased during the 2002/2003 season to 10 and 14 t/ha on its two SRI plots. It has expanded its rice-growing area from 14 to 20 hectares to take advantage of the profitability of its SRI. Since its rice fields have little weed pressure, its labor input for rice production has been reduced as yield has roughly doubled.
The Rice Research Institute (IIA) and the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (INCA) have had trials over the past few years, with the latter reporting a 12 t/ha yield the first season at its rice research station at Los Palacios. The government is currently importing 60% of the country's rice consumption needs, so there is real pressure to become more self-sufficient. Given the economic situation, it is attractive to be able to raise yields without petrochemical-dependent inputs. A government program, Arroz Popular, to encourage smallholder rice production and to fill in for the declining production of costly, inefficient large-scale, mechanized production, has taken up SRI as part of its strategy. By the end of 2003, eight provinces in Cuba had reported initiating SRi trials, with an average yield increase of 71%.
Other farmers in Cuba, such as Luis Romero, whose farm is near the IIA at Bauta, have gotten SRI yields as high as 14 t/ha. The Cuban Association of Small Producers and other organizations and agencies have been organizing many training sessions on SRI, sometimes weekly, all around the country during the past several years. Other Cuban institutions have also taken an interest in SRI. The Cuban Council of Churches has been promoting SRI through its sustainable agriculture program, producing a good brochure on these methods.
