The principles that make up a System of Crop Intensification (SCI) are now spreading through the regions of Tigray and South Wollo for a range of crops. The use of finger millet seedlings has shown very positive results Read more

It was an afternoon of 2002 when I first read about SRI. As an extension officer in the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), I started promoting SRI in the following years in the district of Morang, Nepal.
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Although hardly enough to meet the national demand, rice yields in Peru are high, reflecting an apparently efficient production system. Working together with other farmers, and not always with the national research and extension system, farmers’ initiatives are showing that a much more efficient way is possible.

However we look at it, the System of Rice Intensification, or SRI, is a major success story. While researchers are still debating its relevance, more and more people are getting to know about it, and more and more farmers are harvesting the results.

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Between 2004 and 2010, the Groupe de Recherche et d’Echanges Technologiques (GRET) supported the introduction and dissemination of SRI in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine State, as part of a series of projects aiming at ensuring food security. Read more

In addition to severe losses in the mountain soil’s fertility, climate change is easily visible in the Peruvian Andes: the glaciers which feed all the rivers, and the snow on the mountaintops, are noticeably getting smaller, less and less water is flowing down into the valleys. The water harvesting approach is proving susccessful to cope with this problem and strenghthen local organizations.

Kaluchi Thakarwadi is a small, remote settlement in the district of Ahmednagar, in Maharashtra, in the semi-arid zone in the rain shadow of India’s western mountains. Rainfall is unreliable, so there is chronic water scarcity, with recurring shortages of food and fodder. Six years ago a broad watershed management programme was established, which has already had an enormous impact: a transformation from desert to a replenished watershed.

In the Nile watershed, the home of ancient dynasties, 21st century farmers struggle to find better ways to irrigate their crops. Technical solutions help, but can farmers work together to improve their livelihoods in the long term? Research support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provides some critical analysis. The document is also available in French and Arabic

Growing maize with use of manure alone.

Revolving Funds represent an effective means to enable peasants families to build their own water tanks to collect rainwater from rooftops and store it during the dry season.