Farmers, experts brainstorm on intensive rice farming Farmers, experts brainstorm on intensive rice farming

Beneficiaries of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method in the Mekong region are gathering in Hanoi for a two-day exchange that aims to improve and expand this mode of farming.

The meeting was co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Vegetation Protection Department and Oxfam America.

SRI rice cultivation has currently been applied in 20 countries around the world as it requires less seed or fewer plants per unit area, as well as less water and fewer pesticides, but produces a greater yield.

According to Brian Lund, Oxfam chief representative in Vietnam , the SRI programme has been jointly carried out in the country by Oxfam Quebec , the Vegetation Protection Department, the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development and the Hanoi Agriculture College .

In Hanoi , Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An and Ha Tinh, the SRI programme has focused on enhancing the technological capacity of farmers.

By the end of the 2009 winter-spring crop, more than 264,000 farmers in 21 northern provinces had adopted the SRI method, wholly or in part, on over 85,400 ha of rice fields.

The application of SRI has helped farmers earn 1.8-3.5 million VND more per ha, the participants heard.

SRI was first developed in Madagascar during the 1980’s.

Tags: Vietnam agriculture