System of Rice Intensification

PERU

Overview	Reports and Articles
Progress and Activities	Practical Information

Overview

The first SRI results in Peru were reported by Pablo Lutz, who learned of SRI from a 2001 article in ECHO Development Notes. Working with farmers near Pucallpa in the Amazonian region of Peru, rice yields increased from 2 to 8 t/ha with SRI methods. Ir. Angel Fernandez Garcia, a private agricultural consultant, became interested in SRI and attended the Sanya conference in China in 2002. His first two seasons were unsuccessful, but third-season yields in 2003 resulted in field-scale yields of 9-11 t/ha using IR-42. (Rice production in Peru averages 6 t/ha).
By 2007, Fernández' evaluations extended to 500 ha with yields of 8-12 tons. In a review of SRI/SICA in Peru for the 4th International Rice Meeting held in Havana, Cuba (June 2-6, 2008), Fernandez showed that if SRI increased yields from 5-7 tons/ha to 8-10 tons/ha accompanied by a 20% reduction in costs/ha (from $1,000 to $800), this would make rice production in Peru much more profitable than at present.

Progress and Activities

2008 Update

• SRI Progress in Peru Presented at the 4th International Rice Meeting in Havana

  Ir. Angel Fernández prepared a review of progress with demonstrating SRI/SICA under Peruvian conditions in advance of his participation in the 4th International Rice Meeting held in Havana, June 2-6, 2008. Trials plots have shown that yields can be boosted from 5-7 tons/ha to 8-10 tons/ha, with a 20% reduction in costs/ha (from $1,000 to $800), making rice much more profitable than at present.

  Despite evident economic advantages of SRI, Ir. Fernández says that he has encountered problems in getting it introduced. There are very high costs of irrigation in the coastal region of Peru, and the costs of agrochemical inputs are mounting, so SRI should be attractive. With the introduction of new varieties, rice yields increased during the 1990s, up to 8 tons in 2000. But since then, there has been no further gain in yield. SRI thus comes along at an opportune time.

  With some financial support, the first 500 hectares of SICA have been planted, and Fernández expects that the results will warrant expansion to 2,000 hectares, and then 3,000 hectares. In another area, he reported that it is expected to expand SICA to 5,000 hectares. His goal is to reach 20,000 hectares within 5 years, but rising input costs and tighter water constraints could drive this acceptance faster if the yield gains hold up.

2007 Activities

• SRI Evaluations Expand to 500 Hectares After Four Seasons

  During 2007, Ir. Fernández reported on results of carefully planned trials over the last four seasons of six months each. The evaluations started with 19 farmers on 100 hectares, but the number grew to 169 farmers on 400 hectares by the third season, and then to 500 hectares in the fourth, indicating farmer satisfaction with the methods. Whereas yields over the past 10 years with standard methods in that area have been 5-7 tons/ha, with SRI methods the yields have been at least 8 tons/ha and more usually 9-10 tons/ha, with some yields of 10-11 and 11-12 tons/ha achieved by farmers who adapted appropriately all the SRI practices -- sowing density, water applications, fertilization, and timing of irrigation.

  Costs of production were reduced by $200 per hectare, adding to the profitability of SRI methods. A mechanical weeder is being used that makes the use of herbicides unnecessary, and fertilizer applications are reduced by 50-60%, with higher yield. Dr. Fernández reports that the profitability of SRI has become very convincing to farmers, and he hopes to expand this transformation of rice production in Peru.

2001-2005

• 9-11 t/ha Yields Obtained During Third Year of SRI Trials

  Dr. Angel Fernandez Garcia at the National Institute of Engineering became interested in SRI since attending the Sanya conference in 2002. The first two seasons, his trials were not successful due to drought or cold, which also negated other rice production. In 2003, however, he obtained field-scale yields of 9-11 t/ha, and trial plot results as high as 23 t/ha with IR-42. Rice production in Peru averages 6 t/ha, which is not profitable given the cost or production and prevailing market price for rice. The profitability of rice production with SRI methods, on the other hand, is very attractive, and Dr. Fernandez continued to be optimistic about their spread. (See Spanish language report.)

• 2005 Trials with Pro-A NGO Inconclusive

  The NGO Asociación Promoción y Desarrollo Agario (Pro-A), undertook farmer trials in La Ramada, Cajamarca, with inconclusive results. Pro-A produced a 6-page Spanish-language manual, El Sistema de Intensificación del Cultivo Arrocero (SICA), together with and the Asociación Productores de Arroz Ramadino.

• 2002 SRI Trials in Amazonia Region Result in 8 t/ha Yield with SRI and 5.5 t/ha Ratoon Crop

  The first SRI results in Peru were reported by Pablo Lutz, based on what he read about the methods in a 2001 article in ECHO Development Notes. Farmers near Pucallpa in the Amazonian region got a yield of 8 t/ha with SRI methods where before they got only 2 t/ha, with a lot of time devoted to bird-scaring. With SRI, this was not necessary because the heavier panicles hung down so that birds could not feed on them. In addition, they got a ratoon (regrowth) harvest of 5.5 t/ha.

Reports and Presentations

• Fernández García, Á. 2008 (Sept. 10). Sistema tradicional vs “SICA” castellano ó “SRI” ingles. System of Rice Intensification website. September 10. [Document prepared for a visit to farmers in Jaén, Peru] (6p. pdf)
• Fernández García, Á. 2008. Avances y perspectivas del SRI/SICA en Perú. Paper prepared for the 4th International Rice Meeting, June 2-6, 2008, in Havana. (3p. pdf)
• Fernández García, Á. 2005. Informe de experimentation - SICA. Asociación Promoción y Desarrollo Agrario (Pro-A). System of Rice Intensification website. June. (4p., 265KB pdf)
• Fernández García, Á. Ensayo de adaptabiliidad del "SRI" y 5 variedades en Rioja. Colegio de Ingenieros del Peru. Lima, Peru. (8p., 207KB). System of Rice Intensification website. November. [Informe final del ensayo "SRI" en Rioja-San Martin]

Practical Information

• PRO-A. El Sistema de Intensificación del Cultivo Arrocera (SICA). Asociación Promoción y Desarrollo Agario (Pro-A). System of Rice Intensification website. (6p., 864KB pdf).[Instructional material developed by the NGO Asociación Promoción y Desarrollo Agario (Pro-A) in Chiclayo, Peru, together with the Asociación Productores de Arroz Ramadino in La Victoria, Chiclayo, Perú]