Almost 40 years ago, a French priest working in Madagascar named Henri de LaulaniƩ developed a new, seemingly counterintuitive method of growing rice.
Rather than transplanting seedlings in flooded paddies cheek by jowl, he and the farmers he worked with realized that by planting in dry soil, using organic fertilizer, and keeping the land alternately wet and dry, rice plants were healthier, more resilient and more abundant. Now known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), the technique reduces water use and can increase crop yields by anywhere from 20 to 200 percent.
SRI has been adapted and tested around the world ever since. A three-year World Bank project in West Africa found an 86 percent average rise in yield in rain-fed areas and 56 percent in irrigated areas. The farmers involved in the project saw a 41 percent increase in their yearly income.
āAt least 25 million farmers are now using these methods on 7 to 8 million hectares,ā says Norman Uphoff, senior advisor for SRI-Rice at Cornell.
With paddy rice responsible for an estimated 1.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the system has another bonus: a big reduction in the production of methane, a particularly noxious greenhouse gas emitted from flooded rice fields as bacteria builds up in the waterlogged soil.
According to āAn Agroecological Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change: The System of Rice Intensification,āa chapter in the recently published book Sustainable Solutions for Food Security, SRI āpractices can help mitigate the forces driving climate change by reducing the net emissions of greenhouse gases from paddy fields, thereby lowering the global warming potential of irrigated rice production.ā
Whatās more, the chapter states, āthere is little or sometimes no increase in nitrous oxide emissions when SRI soils are kept in mostly aerobic condition and when little if any inorganic (nitrogen) fertilizer is applied.ā
Rather than thwarting weeds through continuous flooding or herbicides, promoters of SRI suggest using simple mechanical weeders instead.
Despite SRIās climate-smart methodology, however, less than a sixth of the worldās rice farmers are using it. āThe scaling-up process needs some medium-term commitment,ā said Erika Styger, director of climate-resilient farming systems at Cornell University, who ran the World Bank project.
āItās something that works really well for the farmers, but if you donāt have a medium-term approach on how to scale it up, it takes more time. The question is: how much time do we want to give this process? To do it very quickly, or wait until it goes from farmer to farmer? That may take too long.ā
Private companies, she said, can play a major role. āIf they nudge the sustainability standards up and encourage training, help farmers to be able to adopt those practices, train them and monitor them, they are maybe the ones who can help lead the way.ā
Rice companies are taking the issue of emissions seriously. Last October, Sunny Verghese, CEO of Singapore-based agribusiness giant Olam International, called for a more sustainable approach to rice production, including the reduction of its carbon footprint. āWe must reimagine the whole supply chain if the world is to become carbon-neutral by 2050,ā he said in a press release Olam released just prior to the 5th International Rice Congress.
Together with Thailandās Rice Department, Germanyās GIZ development agency, and other food companies such as Mars and Ebro, Olam will help 150,000 farmers in Asia and Africa adopt sustainable rice practices within the next four years.
As early as 2015, the Bangkok-based Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) launched the worldās first sustainability standard for rice. According to the SRPās coordinator, Wyn Ellis, its 12 performance indicators āoffer rice producers and supply chain actors a framework wherein rice producers can assess farm performance, for example, on methane emissions, the use of water and farm chemicals, workersā rights and womenās empowerment, according to an agreed-upon common benchmark.ā
āThe SRP Standard advocates the use of proven best practices such as alternate wetting and drying in paddy rice systems ā a key component of SRI,ā he added. āSRP offers a framework for the objective assessment of the sustainability of any rice system, including SRI.ā
In fact, there are some differences between the SRI alternate wetting and drying system and others, said Styger. With SRI, three other crop management principles are practiced, which accounts for the higher yields.
Meanwhile, several additional measures have been called for: reduced insurance premiums for producers of sustainable rice, lower interest rates on loans from financial institutions; persuading major brands and retailers to choose the SRPās benchmark as a procurement standard and promoting awareness of better rice production systems to consumers.
A further boost to a global scale-up of sustainable and emission-free rice came in May with the launch of the Sustainable Rice Landscapes Consortium Initiative (SRLI). Comprising the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and five other global organizations, it will āleverage the transformation of global rice value chains through the collective reach of these important partner organizations across the stakeholder spectrum,ā said Ellis.
The initiative reflects a shift in focus from farm to landscape level, he said. āToday, through technology convergence, we can collect data and assess impact using geographic information systems (GIS) tools and automation in a way we couldnāt do even five years ago. We can now monitor in real time the impact of what is going in the field, assess the impact of drought, pest or flood damage, estimate yields, and predict end-of-year stocks. These are powerful tools that will change the way we farm,ā he added.
For Ellis, the SRP is already having an impact.
āFive years ago, rice was seldom discussed in relation to climate change or the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals,ā he said. āThe Paris Agreement was a wake-up call that triggered recognition of the critical role of rice in mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts. We have been seeing heightened interest among private- and public-sector actors, as well as development partners and food retailers.ā
With 144 million resource-poor rice farmers around the world, collaboration, he said, āwill be key to driving scale and global impact.ā
Finallyā¦
…thank you for reading this story. Our mission is to make them freely accessible to everyone, no matter where they are.Ā
We believe that lasting and impactful change starts with changing the way people think. Thatās why we amplify the diverse voices the world needs to hear ā from local restoration leaders to Indigenous communities and women who lead the way.
By supporting us, not only are you supporting the worldās largest knowledge-led platform devoted to sustainable and inclusive landscapes, but youāre also becoming a vital part of a global movement thatās working tirelessly to create a healthier world for us all.
Every donation counts ā no matter the amount. Thank you for being a part of our mission.
On World Peatlands Day, brush up on your peatland knowledge with these 10 articles on our most oft-forgotten climate solution.
Delegates to UNCCD COP15 put forth new approaches to securing tenure and land rights - an essential step to tackling land degradation.
GLF Live with Pablo Nicolini, Enrique Molas and Raquel Fratta