How is SRI faring in other places of the world? Exploring SRI technique to boost rice production The country, in recent years, has witnessed a major boost in the rice sector, with billions of naira being invested by private sector investors. This, industry watchers believe, is an endorsement of the Federal Government’s agricultural policy under the present Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina. Boom Only a fortnight ago, one of the major importers of rice in the country, Elephant Group, expressed its readiness to spend $50 million on local rice production. Managing Director of the company, Tunji Owoeye, during a visit to the minister, said: “We have done about 1,000 hectares in Moniya, Ibadan, for two seasons. The company has acquired 9,5000 ha, first, in Guza and has got approval of another 5,000 ha in Baro, both in Niger State, for fully mechanised rice farming. Because of our position in rice industry, we don’t want to lose that. We take this very seriously. We also want to take over Veetee in Ewekoro, Ogun State. As a chairman of rice importers association, our buying into rice production is going to send strong signals to others in the industry.” “We are going to be the watchdog for government. Whoever does not have short-term plan of backward integration will not be allowed in our association. We will not welcome traders from outside, except they are going to invest in production,” he added. On the fast-paced rice production, which the country is currently experiencing, Chief Executive, Agro Nigeria, Richard Mbaram, said that the Federal Government’s intervention policy on rice had continued to boost the production in Nigeria. Mbaram quoted Kebbi State Governor, Usman Dakingari, to have said that “because of the rice revolution under Adesina, we now count rice in kilometres, not in hectares,” and Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, said: “We have turned our land into massive rice baskets by fully aligning with the agricultural transformation of the Federal Government.” These, Mbaram said, were affirmations of the success of the rice revolution in Nigeria. Mbaram also noted the springing up of different madein- Nigeria rice from locally produced paddy, which has led to the state-of-the-art rice milling facilities at different locations in the country. Good policies According to him, the sound policies of the Federal Government under the minister of agriculture on rice has now shifted interest of majority of rice farmers to the high quality varieties, with long grain characteristics that are now preferred by the integrated rice mills. He said that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture accomplished this through the massive distribution of high yielding varieties to farmers two years ago. The ministry, under Adesina, through massive publicprivate partnership with local seed companies and the Africa Rice Centre, launched free distribution of Faro 44 and Faro 52 to rice farmers across the country and three bags of fertiliser per farm every planting season, which has prompted a massive shift to the new highyielding varieties. Nearly one-third of the world’s population depends heavily on rice and rice products for food, with rice providing up to 70 per cent of daily calories in some regions. Checks revealed that over the last thirty years, milled rice consumption has increased by 40 per cent, and by 2030, the global demand for rice is expected to increase up to another 40 percent. To meet this demand, rice paddies cover over 300 million acres around the world. Traditional rice fields are flooded and planted and the high water levels are maintained until the rice is ready to be harvested. This requires a lot of water: Up to one-third of the planet’s annual freshwater use goes towards irrigating and growing rice. In Asia where over 90 per cent of the world’s rice is grown and eaten, approximately 84 percent of all freshwater use goes towards agriculture, primarily for irrigating rice. This can create serious water shortage. Also, in the context of global climate change and booming population growth, these water shortages bring up serious questions about global food security. One of the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2014 report, Princeton professor, Michael Oppenheimer, said: “We need yields to grow to meet growing demand, but already climate change is slowing those yields.” Hope Therefore, with this shortcoming, some experts have advocated a new farming technique called System of Rice Intensification (SRI) across the world to boost rice production. The technique, it was gathered, is already generating hope, excitement and new possibilities for increased crop yields. SRI methods generate higher rice yields using less water. Conventional rice field production averages between two to four tons of rice per hectare. But, with Lotus Foods’ More Crop Per Drop SRI program, the average yield is around seven tons of rice per hectare. Some farmers in the programme have reported achieving as high as 10 tons per hectare. By utilising 23 per cent fewer seeds than conventional rice fields, further checks showed that farmers are achieving, on average, a 47 per cent increase in yield, 40 per cent water savings, and a 60 per cent increase in income. It is however uncertain if the country or other relevant stakeholders have embraced this new technology. See more at newtelegraphonline/exploring-sri-technique-to-boost-rice-production/
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:28:59 +0000