CCpur shares success of SRI farming

S Singlianmang Guite
Lamka, Nov 24: A one-day workshop on the experience of the advanced variety of rice, SRI (System of Rice Intensification) was held here at Synod Hall with two agencies from the district sharing their debut yield with the innovative method of farming.
Rural Aid Service and Relied and Development Depart of EAC - the two NGOs pioneering SRI cultivation here had a power point presentation each, sharing their ultimate experience with the novel farming.
ECA, which experimented in a poorly irrigated region, said that it was successful in enhancing production although it failed to double the yield with the SRI cultivation.
RAS however presented a different story with achieving the targeted double yield in most of their projects.
Nevertheless, the NGO duo declared that SRI system of cultivation was very much practicable in the district and urged upon the Government and NGOs to promote it and called on the local farmers to adopt it.
SRI, according to its promoters was already adopted in 49 countries including India.
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were the most successful among the States; and in the Northeast, Tripura and Assam are leading the initiative.
With a meagre 2 kg of seeds needed for cultivating an acre of land, as against the traditional 30-40 kg, SRI system is manageable with reduced labour costs and allegedly yielded double the product of the traditional method.
"As our initial initiative was evidently successful, we are looking forward to extending our project to at least a hundred farmers from twenty with the advent of a new cultivation,' Holkhomang, co-ordinator of RAS said.