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Introduction of the System of Rice Intensification in Kenya: experiences from Mwea Irrigation Scheme

There are various avenues for intensifying agricultural production, the most common being increased use of fertilizers, supplemental irrigation of crops, and adoption of high-yielding varieties. These options are rather widely known to farmers around the world, but they have not been widely adopted by smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa. The low adoption rate is related to complex technical and socio-economic issues, such as poor extension services, lack of capital, failure to mobilize the requisite water, or simply, poverty. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is in a special category of innovation in that, farmers stand to gain multiple benefits from its use, including the possibility of increasing rice yields substantially, saving water, and getting better grain quality, using differently the assets that they already have. A major impediment for the adoption of SRI in Africa has been lack of knowledge about this intervention, especially for farmers already practicing irrigated agriculture. Farmers generally have good business sense and will adopt technologies or practices once the benefits are proven and the risks are seen as minor. SRI should be attractive for these reasons, but there are various issues to be resolved before large numbers of farmers can adopt the method. This article reports on the steps taken and the technical and socio-economic issues addressed in efforts to introduce SRI and promote it in Kenya, specifically in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme. A diverse set of individuals and institutions in Kenya together embarked on the evaluation and dissemination of SRI methods in this East African country beginning in July 2009. If the new methods can perform in Kenya as in other countries, this will bring much benefit to rice farmers and rice consumers in the region. SRI is coming to Kenya relatively late, as it was the thirty-ninth country from which favorable SRI results have been reported. This means that Kenyans can learn from others’ experience and evaluations, and there is also now more of a supportive institutional framework. The initial results from on-farm SRI trials have been positive, although not conclusive. They have given impetus to Kenyan farmers and institutions to collaborate within a multi-sectoral, multi-level coalition that has provided an informal, multi-faceted platform for the evaluation, adaptation and dissemination of SRI practices. The initiative in Kenya is now gaining more formal status and more resources. This experience is presented to show the kinds of things that have been and can be done to utilize the SRI opportunity for raising land, labor, and water productivity in the rice sector.

Comparison of Yields of Paddy Rice Under System of Rice Intensification in Mwea, Kenya

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the world’s most important food crop and a major food grain for about half its population. It is also the greatest consumer of water among all crops and uses about 80% of the total irrigated freshwater resources in some countries. The conventional paddy system of rice production depends on a continuous supply of water for irrigation. With rapid population growth, and a change in eating habits due to urbanization, annual demand for rice continues to grow, and it presently exceeds the Kenya national annual production by about 200%. To meet the demand for rice with the limited water resources in a sustainable way, new innovative ways of rice crop production are needed. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an innovation that offers farmers an opportunity to reduce their water demand while increasing rice yield. Field experiments were conducted in 2010 and 2011 seasons at the Mwea Irrigation Agricultural Development (MIAD) centre located in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme (MIS), Kenya to compare yields of three rice varieties (Basmati 370, BW 196, and IR 2793-80-1) grown under SRI management with reduced water applications versus conventional practices of continuous flooding (CF). SRI gave the highest yields and water savings for all three rice varieties, on average increasing yield 1.7 t ha-1, 3.4 t ha-1 and 3.3 t ha-1 for the Basmati 370, BW 196, and IR 2793-80-1 varieties, respectively, while the water savings were 2,983 m3 ha-1 3,714 m3 ha-1 and 3,791 m3 ha-1. Similarly, water productivity for the three varieties averaged 140% higher under SRI management (1.2 kg m-3 vs. 0.5 kg m-3). These findings are consistent with similar evaluations in other countries.