SRI International Network and Resources Center

TIMOR LESTE

Progress and Activities

2015 Updates

• Analysis of SRI Program in Covalima Reports Shows Positive Results

  [November 3, 2015] A study by Vicente and Diaz was conducted in Zumalai subdistrict, Covalima, to understand the contributions of a System of Rice Intensification (SRI) program. The program was implemented through several community development methods (community education, community organizing, and community resource management) in order to help the communities achieve rice security. Twenty-four farmer-groups from Raimea village and 17 from Tashilin village were selected; from these 205 respondents participated in a household survey. The findings revealed that majority of the respondents attended various components of the SRI training. The purposes for joining the SRI group included: having access to government facilities and incentives, exchanging experiences, sharing resources and labor among members, and working together. The SRI practices were reportedly able to secure the communities' environment and maximize the utilization of local resources. The program, which the authors believe could be sustained with the existing resources in the study sites, could increase rice production. With the increase in rice production, most farmer-respondents did not experience rice shortages after their involvement in the the SRI program. Rice production became sufficient to feed their families all year round. [See article abstract and related MSc thesis by Vicente.]

• Timor Leste's SRI Centre in Maliana

  [October 27, 2015] In the inaugural year of the Movimento Co-operativa Econômica Agricoltura (MCE-A) SRI program, several milestones were met. First, the Maliana SRI Rice Centre itself was built. It houses equipment, produces organic fertilizer, and is used as a storage facility. The Center supports the work of 74 households from four local village communities. Second, a bumper crop was harvested in July 2015 was a bumper (see photo at right). The Minister of Commerce and Industry Antonio da Conceicao Kalohan and the RDTL Secretary of State Avelino Shalar Kossi cut the first sheaves from the field, with yields as much as 8 tons per hectare. In all, 165 tons of paddy were produced from 22 hectares. Finally, the rice has been marketed. Fifty tons have been sold to government supplies with Oxfam’s support. The rest was sold on the local market from the respective co-operatives themselves, marking a significant rise in income for farmers. Due to the successes with SRI over the past year, activities in Maliana are set to continue. (See report with photos.)

2014

• Report on SRI Trials by Movimento Cooperativa Economica - Agricola (MCEA) Released

  During July 2014, Oxfam New Zealand released a report on SRI trials undertaken in Timor Leste during 2013 by the NGO Movimento Cooperativo Economica-Agricola (MCE-A) with Oxfam support. A total of 11 cooperatives within three districts (Covalima, Bobonaro and Viqueque) had trials throughout 2013, with rice being planted from April (harvested in August) to August (harvested in November or December). Some adaptations were made to the SRI methods to account for the climate in Timor-Leste and the available skills and resources.

  The SRI results were compared with the 2012 average yields using conventional (traditional and ICM) methods. The key results were:

  • Cooperatives' rice average rice yields doubled --from 2.5 to 5.0 t/ha. Increases ranged from 0.5 t/ha to 4.5 t/ha.
  • On average, farmer costs increased from $640 p/ha to $850 p/ha due to the cost of weeders, plastic trays, labour, thresher and additional costs associated with planting and harvesting extra paddy.
  • Farmers' net profit increased significantly with SRI, from $595 to $2,198.
  • Feedback from participants indicates a sincere desire to continue with SRI.

  According to the report, the key lesson from the trial was that more effective planning (to make sure the required machinery and resources are in place) and better coordination with cooperatives would be needed if SRI were to be implemented on a larger scale. Other lessons have been learned in relation to land preparation and planting, water management, and weed and pest control.

  These are more fully outlined in the full report: System of Rice Intensification: Trial and potential in Timor-Leste.

2012-2013

• Movimento Cooperativa Economica - Agricola (MCEA) and Oxfam Make Progress with SRI

  MCE-A, through Oxfam Timor-Leste with the support of Oxfam New Zealand, began SRI trials at on 30 hectares in16 sites throughout Timor Leste. The SRI team provided information and documentation for Oxfam NZ’s successful proposal to the NZ Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid programme; the project will be implemented over the next 5 years.

  The initial harvests in June-July 2013 showed a substantial increase in farmers’ income and productivity per area. Even in areas where there were adverse conditions such lack of sufficient water, the SRI fields still demonstrated a substantial increase in productivity compared to even ICM sites in the same area. (see 7/12/13 MCEA blog entry)

• Noltze Completes Disseration on SRI in Timor Leste

  Noltze, Martin Noltze has finished his disseration entitled Adoption and impacts of system technologies in smallholder agriculture - the System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in Germany.

• Ecological Economics Article Expands Analysis of Impacts of SRI Adoption on Rice Yield and Household Income

  Noltze et al have published an article (January 2013) in the journal Ecological Economics that analyzes the impacts of SRI adoption on rice yield and household income among smallholder farmers in Timor Leste. The findings indicate that impacts are context-specific, which was not fully considered in previous research. Comparing mean yield and income levels, the authors found no significant differences between SRI adopters and non-adopters. This is due to negative selection bias; SRI seems to be adopted more on plots and by farmers with less than average yields. Controlling for this bias reveals significant yield and income gains. Poor and non-poor households benefit from SRI adoption; small farms benefit more than larger farms. While the overall results suggest that in the context of Timor Leste, SRI may not be beneficial when compared to conventional rice grown under the most favorable conditions, the paper does not consider the broader benefits of SRI such as the positive environmental externalities (See full Noltze et al article.)

2010-2011

• Growing Use of SRI Methods Reported in Timor Leste during 2011

  Jose Barros, SRI coordinator in Timor Leste, reported on the Indonesian Ina-SRI listserv that 6,740 farmers have implemented SRI methods over 3,400 ha in Timor Leste with an average yield of 6 ton/ha.

• Survey by University of Göttingen Sheds Light on SRI Adoption in Timor Leste

  Within the timeframe of the Second Rural Development Programme of Timor Leste (RDPII), researchers at the University of Göttingen collected primary survey data from 400 randomly selected rice farmers (200 participants and 200 non-participants of SRI extension training) in the two districts of Bobonaro and Covalima in late 2009.

  The study showed that despite the adoption rates which have been constantly increasing since the introduction of SRI in 2007, partial adoption is commonplace, with farmers adopting only some of the components. Various farm and farmer characteristics such as participation in SRI training, labor availability or land size, determine adoption and intensity (land size under SRI) of SRI practices. Additionally, farmers adopted more components on plots that are near the main farm and have favorable conditions as improved irrigation systems. Various adoption models will be developed and analyzed before further analysis will focus on the impact of SRI adoption with regard on household income and poverty. (See article and poster by Noltze et al for additional information. A thesis by A. Poku-Blaeschke at the University of Göttingen which used the survey data will be available soon.)

• Timor Leste Group to Receive SRI Training in West Java

  During the week of October 11 to 18, 2010, a group from Timor Leste received training in organic SRI production from the Nagrak Organic SRI Center (NOSC) in Sukabumi, West Java. After a national workshop in Timor Leste in June 2010, the Minister of Agriculture of Timor Leste said that SRI will be part of the national rice production program. According to Prof. Iswandi Anas, SRI is currently being practiced by farmers in three districts, and it is hoped that SRI will be adopted in all 20 districts of Timor Leste during 2011.

• Farm Visits Follow First National SRI Workshop in Timor Leste

  Prof. Iswandi Anas, coordinator of the Indonesian Association for SRI (Ina-SRI) who attended the 2010 national SRI workshop in Timor Leste, reported on a visit to see SRI results in the field. He went to Bobonaro Maliana and Cova Lima districts and met farmers who are now self-ascribed ‘SRI militants’ based on their positive experiences with the new methods.

  “Mr. Valentino Pareira, a TL farmer who is a candidate for SRI MilitantFarmer, had no experience in doing SRI before, but now he is really very happy to see his Sintanur jasmine rice variety from Indonesia growing very well, with 50-60 tillers.  He is already 50 years old and has been a rice farmer for more than 30 years. According to him, he has never seen rice like this Sintanur, which has so many tillers and such good smell. He has grown also IR-64 variety in the other plots.” (see photo at left).

  Prof. Iswandi credits Dr. Georg Deichert, GTZ, who helped SRI get started in Cambodia and who is now being transferred to the Mekong delta area in Vietnam, and his local GTZ staff colleague Jose Barros, with getting these trials started. Jose and other Timor Leste agronomists have received training on SRI  from the DISIMP research center in Lombok, Indonesia, in 2008, then in 1999 at the PAWEESmeeting in Bogor and at the Organic SRI Center in Nagrak (NOSC).

  One of the things that impressed Prof. Iswandi was the initiative of local farmers to manufacture their own mechanical weeders to aerate the soil at the same time they remove weeds. Wilfred, one of the ‘SRI militants’ showed a rotating hoe (at right) which he had made himself at a cost of only $US 15.

• SRI-Secretariat at MAF Dili

  The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been increasingly implemented by farmers in Timor Leste since 2007 with support from different stakeholders such as EU/GTZ/RDP II, JICA, OXFAM, local NGOs like Hadomi Malu and Permatil. Positive experiences using SRI with resource-limited farmers over the past several years has led has prompted Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to include SRI as one of three national programmes for increasing rice production.

  With the new program to promote SRI in all western and central districts of Timor Leste, the need for systematic dissemination, better coordination and increased documentation of SRI activities in the field has arisen. A permanent SRI secretariat has been proposed that would be located at MAF Dili. The Secretariat could strengthen MAF in coordinating its programmes, facilitating knowledge management/sharing and networking among national and international SRI stakeholders.

2008-2009

• SRI Farmers in Two Districts Experience 60% Yield Increase After Two Years

  In 2007 the government program RDP II began to introduce the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to the two districts of Bobonaro and Covalima in Timor Leste. A paper delivered by Georg Deichert at the International Conference on Promising Practices for the Development of Sustainable Paddy Fields describes the approach and experiences with SRI introduction under the special situation of ICM (Integrated Crop Management) already being introduced earlier. The approach incorporates the introduction of SRI through the government extension service structure.

  Within two years the number of farmers practicing elements of SRI increased from around 50 to almost 1300 in the 2009 season, while the average yield increased from about 3 t/ha to around 5 t/ha (around 60%). MAF has endorsed SRI as one of three national strategies to intensify rice production in Timor Leste. Special mechanisms are presented for monitoring elements of SRI application.

  Introducing SRI in Timor Leste has been a remarkable achievement so far, in spite of the partly difficult specific circumstances. Different or competing approaches – including ICM - for rice intensification appear to be the most prominent challenges for SRI dissemination. On the other hand, success factors include a genuine political will and support will the Ministry side, and a clear understanding and confidence on SRI from the side of extension staff

• SRI Starts in Timor Leste, 36th Country to Join the "SRI Club"

  Dr. Georg Deichert, who previously assisted in the introduction of SRI in Cambodia working closely with CEDAC there, became a GTZ rural development advisor in Timor Leste in 2007. In January 2008, he accompanied a high-level team of TL officials on a visit to Lombok and Bali in neighboring Indonesia to learn about SRI directly from DISIMP colleagues and farmers there.

  During the 2008-09 season, the government provided training on SRI for agricultural extension staff and has supported its introduction alongside what is Integrated Crop Management (ICM). ICM had already incorporated many SRI practices as early as 2002 as a result of Indonesian researchers’ evaluation, but continued to rely on mineral fertilizer more than on organic fertilization.

  Because SRI is presented simply as a matter of changing present practices, rather than offering subsidized fertilizer and other inputs, initial acceptance has been slow. TL farmers are more accustomed to ‘extensive’ methods of production than to the kind of ‘intensive’ management recommended for SRI. Even so, Deichert reports that SRI yields have been around 4 tons/hectare, compared with the usual yield of 2.5 tons. A report on the results of 30 farmers using SRI methods (not fully and not all as recommended) showed an average yield of 4.4 tons/hectare. Some farmers who have understood the methods and the reasons for them are getting very good results, with yield as high as 6.8 tons/hectare.

  Because of widespread attitudes favoring chemical inputs and expecting subsidies and payments, the spread of SRI is anticipated to be slow initially. But Deichert and his TL colleagues working with SRI methods are optimistic that the demonstrable productivity gains and non-reliance on external inputs will be increasingly appreciated by farmers and the government.

Reports and General Articles

• Sharp, Gawain. 2015. SRI in Timor Leste: The SRI Centre in Maliana. SRI-Rice website. (2p., 1.58MB pdf)
• MCE-A and Oxfam. 2014. System of Rice Intensification: Trial and potential in Timor-Leste. Oxfam New Zealand website. July. (18p. pdf) [Report of an Oxfam-sponsored project carried out by the Movimento Cooperativo Economico-Agricola (MCE-A)]
• Charlotte. 2014. Harvest of hope in East Timor. Oxfam New Zealand. June 10.
• 2013 postings in Movimento Cooperativa Economica - Agricola MCEA blog.
  Felis-s innovations – Number 2 (August 23)
  Felis’s Innovations in SRI rice techniques - Number 1 (August 22)
  Mr. Jose Martins, Cooperative Haburas Sare (July 16)
  SRI Rice trials bring income and increased productivity to farmers (July 12)
  Minister of Agriculture to visit Suai SRI field (July 1)
  
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim. 2011. Knowledge-Based Agricultural Innovations in Asia: The System of Rice Intensification(SRI) in Timor Leste. Pacific News 35:4-9.
• Deichert, Georg, José Barros and Martin Noltze. 2009. Introducing System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste – Experiences and Prospects. Paper presented at the International Conference on Promising Practices for the Development of Sustainable Paddy Fields held Oct. 7-9, 2009, in Bogor, Indonesia. 9p. [also available on the GTZ site]

Research and Evaluations

• Vicente, Ergilio Ferreira, and Josefina T. Dizon. 2015. Community development methods towards food security: The System of Rice Intensification in Zumalai Subdistrict, Covalima, Timor-Leste. Journal of Public Affairs and Development 2(2): 37-73
• Vicente, Eriglio Ferreira. 2013. Community development methods toward food security: The System of Rice Intensification in Zumalai Sub-District Covalima, Timor Leste. MSc thesis, University of the Philippines, Los Banos. 198 p.
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze, and Matin Qaim. 2013. Impacts of natural resource management technologies on agricultural yield and household income: The system of rice intensification in Timor Leste. Ecological Economics 85: 59-68. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.10.009
• Noltze, Martin. 2012. Adoption and impacts of system technologies in smallholder agriculture - the System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste. PhD Dissertation, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany. (147p, 2MB pdf)
• Noltze, M., S. Schwarze, and M. Qaim. 2012. Impacts of natural resource management techonologies on agricultural yield, income, and poverty: The System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste. Paper presented at the annual conference on Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural and Natural Resource Management (TROPENTAG), September 19-21, in Gottingen, Germany. (no individual PDF, but the whole proceedings are available in pdf form)
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim. 2012. Farm diversity and heterogeneous impacts of system technologies on yield, income and poverty: The System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste. Poster presented at the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) Triennial Conference, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. pp. 1-25.
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim. 2012. Understanding the adoption of system technologies in smallholder agriculture: The system of rice intensification (SRI) in Timor. Agricultural Systems 108: 64-73. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2012.01.003\
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim. 2011. Knowledge-Based Agricultural Innovations in Asia: The System of Rice Intensification(SRI) in Timor Leste. Pacific News 35:4-9.
• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim. 2010. Explaining SRI (System of Rice Intensification) adoption among smallholder farmers in Timor Leste. Poster presentation at the 3rd International Rice Congress held Nov. 8-12, 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam. (3.65MB pdf)
• Poku-Blaeschke, A. 2010. The System of Rice Intensification: Productivity assessment and determinants of technical efficiency in East Timor. Master’s thesis. University of Göttingen, Germany. [not yet online]

PowerPoint Presentations and Posters

• Noltze, Martin, Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim 2010. Explaining SRI (System of Rice Intensification) adoption among smallholder farmers in Timor Leste. Poster presentation at the 3rd International Rice Congress held Nov. 8-12, 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam. (3.65MB pdf)
• Deichert, Georg, José Barros and Martin Noltze. 2009. Introducing System of Rice Intensification in Timor Leste – Experiences and Prospects. PowerPoint presented at the International Conference on Promising Practices for the Development of Sustainable Paddy Fields held Oct. 7-9, 2009, in Bogor, Indonesia. 14 slides. (Flash 9 or higher required to view this presentation below)

Photo Collection

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The Timor Leste SRI photos were provided by Norman Uphoff. (Single click on arrow to see the embedded slideshow. Double click on the photo showing to enlarge it).