IRRI - System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an evolving set of practices, principles, and philosophies aimed at increasing the productivity of irrigated rice by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients.

According to the SRI International Network and Resources Center at Cornell University, SRI “is not a recipe of precise things to do.” The flexibility in SRI’s definition of practices renders SRI a challenge for evaluation and assessment of adoption.

Offering farmers a menu of practices that are science-based, have a solid track record of performance, and that can be tested, adapted, and integrated by farmers locally, is a powerful mechanism to bring improvements to their production systems. Such a menu of practices tallies well with IRRI’s approach of offering best management practices as listed in the Rice Knowledge Bank.

SRI practitioners can try out best management practices locally and incorporate them into their practices where they find them successful to compliment and build on their current practices.