Presentation at the Workshop on Crop Production Equipment for the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
Presenter: Lucy Fisher, SRI-Rice, Cornell University
Title: Overview of SRI Rice Production Equipment
Date: November 1, 2014
Venue: ACISAI, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
1. Overview of SRI Rice Production Equipment
Lucy Fisher
SRI Rice – Cornell University
Workshop on Crop Production Equipment for SRI
Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
November 1-3, 2014
5. Why do we want them?
•While SRI can increase weed pressure, weeders can
reduce drudgery and time spent hand-weeding.
•Weeders are especially important where labor is
expensive or not available.
•Mechanical weeders aerate the soil, which improves
root health and can increase nutrient uptake by plants
•Lack of mechanized equipment to manage weeds
limits scaling-up of SRI to larger-scale farmers
35. •How do I know which weeder to get?
Which one works best with my …..
- soil type?
- Weed pressure and weed types?
- Plant spacing?
- Weeding schedule?
•How can I get one?
- Where can I buy it?
- Can I afford it?
- If I want to make it myself , where can I get a technical drawing?
•Can it be easily used and maintained?
- Is it too heavy? Can women use it easily?
- Will it break down easily?
- Are spare parts available?
- Is it adjustable?
- Is it easy to repair?
•How much labor will I save?
69. Checchi &Magli Foxdrive transplanters
Can use bare-root seedlings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1wThWyr0oM
Editor's Notes
SRI is not just a methodology, it is a tool for empowerment. Equipment for SRI has transformed and adapted to different environments, financial situations, and labour availability.
Objectives and Current R&D, continued.
While the design and construction of Weeders has evolved tremendously and diversely over the past few years to suit different soil and crop growth conditions, here we shall show you a sequence of them from simple and common designs to more complex and motorized designs.
For upland or black soil conditions.
Most popular, common and widely used
Drum Weeding Innovation from Sri Lanka.
For rainfed, dryland conditions, also commonly used for SWI.
Better efficiency to an already popular Cono Weeder.
Mechanized inventions at a higher cost, but for greater output and less labour.
Popular product, commonly found across South Asia.
Novel invention in Weeding machines, from Pakistan.
Scaling up weeding outputs for mainly large-scale farms, from Japan.
Markers, though they may not seem significant, are integral to proper SRI practices. Like weeders, they too have seen their fair share of innovations and adaptations according to available resources for farmers. Here they are arranged from common designs to more adaptive or multipurpose ones.
Farmers’ invention from India, may not make perfect spacing patterns, but is inexpensive with minimal resources
Farmer adaptation from India, resource-friendly for certain areas, makes uniform patterns, but labour-intensive.
Less uniform to space fields, but with an easy design and inexpensive.
Multi Purpose, Pegs on one side can be used for SRI, and the other side for SWI.
Farmer adaptation from India, resource-friendly for certain areas, makes uniform patterns, but labour-intensive.
More efficient and of better utility than Line Markers, Roller Markers create uniform square pattern spacing for seedlings.
The Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute has designed a farmer-friendly PVC marker for transplanting nurseries in place of the conventional heavy iron roller marker. The new equipment needs less manpower for transplanting the nurseries. Just eight workers would be needed for an acre against 18 workers under the old method. The new roller costs just Rs.200 against the Rs.1,100 for iron markers. Amrik Singh says it takes more time though.
Multi Purpose Tool to level undulated lands and mark SRI fields.
Current R&D on SRI Equipment involves finding direct seeders that can control intra-row spacing and the number of seeds. Here we have a sequence of seeders that have been used for traditional paddy and wheat crops, still needing to be properly adapted to SRI conditions.
Transplanters, though capital intensive, lead to higher outputs at a faster rate for medium to large field holders. While transplanters are also being worked upon to meet proven SRI conditions of precise spacing, here is a sequence of the machines from India, Iraq, Liberia, and Pakistan in that order.
Transplanters come in a range of designs and sizes, most of which can be made multi purpose farm implements.
India
India
India
Iraq
For an even field with uniform conditions, capital intensive but necessary for the use of a transplanter on SRI fields.
Iraq
Liberia
Novel adaptation to more reliable and still mechanized transplanting, from Pakistan.