Group I: Field Trip Report2nd National SRI Symposium,

Agartala, October 4, 2007

Local Information

• Villages visited: South Bagma, Bagabasa, Barabhiya Bazar Para Math, and South Mirza in Matabari, Udaipur, South Tripura district

Farming communities

• Mostly Bengali population

• 746 households out of a total of 2,339 are practicing SRI

• About 50% of the households are either sharecroppers (baargadar) or marginal farmers

Adoption of SRI principles

• Principles of early transplantation, wider spacing (except for an innovative method in South Mirza), fertilizer use, etc. are by and large adhered to

Support systems: Institutions, actors and linkages

• Panchayati Raj institutions (PRI) take the lead in SRI promotion along with the Agriculture Department

• Subsidy of Rs. 900 is provided for 1.25 kaani area (1 kani= 0.16 ha); plus 7 kg urea, 2 kg MoP, 11 kg phosphate and 4 kg bio-fertilizer are provided to farmers

• The Department provides buy-back support for paddy seeds

Sustainability

• SRI is spreading now even without extension support.

• All the farmers interacted reported that they would continue practicing SRI even if the subsidy is withdrawn.

Salient features• Very active participation of

Panchayati Raj institutions• Agriculture Department

planning and close collaboration with PRIs evident

• Planning and accountability mechanisms operate at village level

• More working days are created because of SRI, particularly for wage labourers at village level

• Sharecroppers taking the most care of their SRI fields

• Incremental yield in all the four villages as described by the Pradhans (local government chairman) indicates increase of 2.5 to 3 times

Salient features

• Spread is seen across caste and political affiliations

• At least in one case there was an interesting innovation experimented with

• The best SRI practice, among the four villages visited, was observed at the village that had 95% scheduled caste (SC) population

• The local establishment has taken some risks to promote SRI

• SRI is also practiced in tilla (upland) areas• A real bottom-up approach was evident

throughout the area

Scope for improvement

• Drainage systems still need to be improved

• Pest control mechanisms can be improved