THE GAMBIA
Summary
SRI was first introduced into The Gambia in 2000 in conjunction with thesis research undertaken by a Cornell University PhD student, Mustapha Ceesay, who was formerly director of the National Agricultural Research Institute station at Sapu, The Gambia. SRI results reported in his 2004 dissertation ranged from 5.4 to 8.3 t/ha depending on variety and spacing. Ceesay, who is currently Assistant Director General in charge of Research and Development at the National Agricultural Research Institute, Gambia, continues to promote SRI in his own country as well as other African countries, including Egypt and Ghana.
Progress and Activities
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National Agricultural Research Institute Trials Continue at
Sapu
Mustapha Ceesay, who is currently Assistant Director General in charge of Research and Development at the National Agricultural Research Institute, Gambia, received Cornell Ph.D. degree in crop and soil sciences, undertaking demonstration trials on SRI at Sapu in The Gambia. SRI results ranged from 5.4 to 8.3 t/ha, depending on variety and spacing. This compares with usual rice yields of 2 t/ha (see 2006 article in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Ceesay's 2004 PhD dissertation and related 2003 paper presented at the Northeastern Branch of the American Society of Agronomy meeting, Burlington, VT.)
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Gambian Farmers Undertake SRI Trials in 2002
In 2002, ten Gambian farmers who had observed the Sapu trials tried SRI methods on their own farms, dividing a field in two portions, to practice SRI on one half and conventional rice growing on the other. The average SRI yield was 7.4 t/ha (see paper presented at the Sanya conference) compared with 2.5 t/ha on the other half, where the only difference was crop management, not farms or farmers.
Research and Evaluations
- Ceesay, Mustapha. 2011. An opportunity for increasing factor productivity for rice cultivation in The Gambia through SRI. Paddy and Water Environment 9:129-135. DOI: 10.1007/s10333-010-0235-1
- Ceesay, Mustapha C., William S. Reid, Erick C. M. Fernandes and Norman T. Uphoff. 2006. The effects of repeated soil wetting and drying on lowland rice yield with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. International Journal. of Agricultural Sustainability 4(1):5–14.
- Ceesay, Mustapha C. 2004. Management of rice production systems to increase productivity in The Gambia, West Africa. PhD diss., Cornell University. (178p., 744KB pdf)
Web Modules and Presentations
- Ceesay, Mustapha C., William S. Reid, Erick C. M. Fernandes and Norman T. Uphoff. 2006. Opportunities for increasing land, labour and water productivity in Africa with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Slide presentation. African Rice Center website. 45 slides.
- Ceesay, Mustapha C. and Norman T. Uphoff. 2003. The
effects of repeated soil wetting and drying on lowland rice yield
with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. Paper presented at the Northeastern Branch of the American Society of Agronomy meeting, Burlington, VT. (11p., 185KB pdf) - Ceesay, Mustapha C. 2002. Experiments with the System of Rice Intensification in The Gambia. Paper presented at the International Conference on Assessments of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), April 1-4, in Sanya, China. (2p. pdf)
- Ceesay, Mustapha. System of Rice Intensification in The Gambia. System of Rice Intensification website. [Web module by Mustapha Ceesay, National Agricultural Research Institute and Cornell University]
- Ceesay, Mustapha. 2000. System
of Rice Intensification. PowerPoint presentation. NARI Sapu Research Station,
The Gambia. 13 slides.
