Page 42 - Green knowledge 2025

Photo: Ragnar Våga Pedersen
SRI boosts rice yields for Tanzania farmers
Three years after its launch, the SRI Tanzania project has given smallholders a major
boost. Around 2,880 farmers have increased their rice yields by 30–40 percent, while their
seed use is reduced by 75–80 percent. The result? Higher incomes, the ability to send
children to school, renovate homes, and invest in transport.
Agriculture in Tanzania is dominated by smallhold-
ers who are vulnerable to drought, uneven rainfall,
and poor soil health. The SRI Tanzania project has
introduced climate-friendly methods that deliver
both higher productivity and increased resilience to
climate change.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) involves a
set of techniques that allow rice to be grown with
better yields and more efficient water use. These
include planting younger seedlings, transplanting a
single seedling in widely spaced rows, alternating
between flooding and drying during irrigation,
mechanical weeding with push hoes, reduced water
use, and the application of organic fertilisers and soil
management.
The aim of these measures is to create better physio-
logical conditions, promote healthier root and plant
development, and thereby achieve higher yields.
“Integrating such environmental measures strength-
ens farmers’ productivity and climate adaptation
capacity,” says project leader Dr Udaya Sekhar Nago-
thu.
The project has also developed a toolkit for cli-
mate-friendly rice cultivation, with guidance on soil,
nutrients and pests, and robust rice varieties.
NIBIO Director General Ivar Horneland Kristensen
is impressed:
“This project gives farmers the knowledge and capac-
ity to create lasting solutions. If all two million rice
farmers in the country adopt SRI, Tanzania could
secure its own food security and help feed six neigh-
bouring countries.”
Purpose: Provide smallholder farmers in Tanzania with knowledge and methods that increase rice yields,
reduce resource use, and strengthen resilience to climate change, enabling them to secure food
security and better livelihoods.
Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI)
Collaboration: Funding: NORAD
Contact: Senior Research Scientist and Director of NIBIO’s Centre for International Development (CID),
Dr Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, Division of Environment and Natural Resources.
Email: nagothu.udayasekhar@nibio.no | Phone: +47 990 15 621.
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