On this occasion, we will review the method of organic rice cultivation using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method. This method is an innovation in rice cultivation techniques. In some places, SRI has reportedly doubled rice productivity.

SRI was first developed in Madagascar by Fr. Henri de Laulanie, SJ, a Jesuit priest from France. He published his method of discovery in 1983. By the inventor, this methodology was called Ie Systme de Riziculture Intensive (French). In popular English with the name System of Rice Intensification abbreviated SRI.

In 1994 a non-governmental organization named Tefy Saina and Cornel International Institute for Food and Agriculture Development (CIIFAD) began collaborating in the development of SRI. With the help of CIIFAD, the SRI method spread to other countries. Nanjing Agricultural University in China and the Agency for Agriculture Research and Development (AARD) conducted the first experiment outside Madagascar in 1999.

What is the relationship between SRI and organic rice cultivation?

Some practices in various countries found that the SRI method succeeded in suppressing production inputs as low as possible. This is in line with the efforts of organic agriculture activists to cultivate land sustainably. The result, found a relationship of water conservation in the SRI rice cultivation system with soil conservation efforts adopted in organic rice cultivation. At present, many organic farmers are applying rice cultivation using the SRI method.

The pattern of organic SRI rice farming is a combination of SRI rice cultivation methods that were first developed in Madagascar, with organic rice cultivation methods in organic farming practices. This method will improve the function of the soil as a growing medium and a source of plant nutrition. With the organic SRI system the ecological cycle will take place well because it uses soil microorganisms naturally. In turn, ecosystem balance and environmental sustainability will always be maintained. On the other hand, products produced from this method are healthier for consumers because they are free from exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Through this system, soil fertility is returned so that ecological cycles can resume well by utilizing soil microorganisms as providers of metabolite products for plant nutrition. Through this method, it is expected that environmental sustainability can be maintained properly, as well as the final product produced, which in fact is healthier for consumers because it is free from exposure to hazardous chemicals.

The selection of organic rice cultivation methods by SRI can produce the final product in the form of organic rice which has high quality as healthy rice, seen from the following aspects:

• Environmental aspects, by eliminating the use of fertilizers and chemical drugs and indirectly measured water use management have helped conserve the environment.

• Health aspects, for consumers the products produced will be healthier and healthier, because there is no residue of harmful chemicals that can cause various diseases in the human body.

• High productivity, for producers or farmers, the application of this method can increase yields which in turn produce maximum profits.

• High quality, the products produced have better quality than conventional products, so the price will certainly be better.

Principles of SRI organic rice cultivation

• Young seedlings are less than 12 days after the seedlings when the seeds are still 2 leaves.

• Seeds are planted with a perforated tree with a minimum distance of 25 square meters.

• Move the planting should be as soon as possible (less than 30 minutes) and must be careful so that the roots do not break.

• Planting rice with shallow roots

• Water regulation, giving a maximum of 2 cm of water and the soil is not continuously irrigated until it is submerged and full, but only moist (irregular intermittent or interrupted)

• Increased aeration of land by bubbling or piracy.

• Weeding from the beginning around 10 days and repeated 2-3 times with 10 days intervals

• Maintaining the balance of land biota using organic fertilizers

Advantages of SRI organic rice cultivation

• Water-saving plants, As long as the growth from planting to harvesting gives 2 cm max water, it is best to scramble about 5 mm and there is a drying period until the soil is cracked (irrigation is cut off)

• Save money, only need 5 kg of seeds per hectare. Does not require seed extraction fees, does not require the cost of moving seeds, lack of planting power, etc.

• Save time, plant young seeds 5-12 days after seedling, and harvest time will be earlier

• Production increased, in some places it reached 11 tons per hectare

• Environmentally friendly, does not use chemicals and is replaced by using organic fertilizers (compost, cages and local micro-organisms), as well as the use of pesticides.

Steps of organic rice cultivation using the SRI method

Rice is of two types, paddy rice and upland rice, the difference being in the presence or absence of water. At this time we will discuss about rice cultivation. Rice can grow at an altitude of 0-1500 meters above sea level with temperatures of 19-27 degrees Celsius, requiring full sun exposure without shade. Wind influences pollination and fertilization. Rice requires fertile mud soil with a thickness of 18-22 cm and soil pH 4 - 7. Before starting organic rice cultivation, the first step is to prepare good seeds. As for how to select good organic rice seeds, please see the following video:

Stage 1. Seeding

The first thing to do in organic rice cultivation is seed sowing. The first activity is to do seed selection. The selection of these seeds is intended so that we plant really good seeds. Rice seeds used for an area of ​​200 square meters are as much as half a kilogram. To check whether or not the seeds can be done by testing seeds in water, good seeds are sunk seeds, while seeds that float are poor seeds, usually seeds that float are seeds that are hollow or seeds that have grown.

To ensure that the sinking seed is really good, then re-test the seed by putting it in salt-watered water. Enough salt water solution to test seeds is a solution that when put into an egg, the egg will float. A good seed to be made into a seed is a seed that sinks into the solution. The seeds that have been tested are then soaked in plain water for 24 hours then drained and marinated 2-3 days in a moist place until the candidate shoots out and then sown on the soil media and then compost around 10 kg. After the seedling age of 7-12 days the rice seeds are ready to be planted. The following is a video on how to seed rice seedlings using the SRI method:

Stage 2. Land processing

Processing land for planting lowland rice is done by being hijacked and hoeed. Usually at least 2 times the piracy is done, which is rough piracy and subtle hijacking followed by hatching: The total processing of this land can reach 2-3 days. After completing, aliri and soak it with paddy field water for 1 day. Make sure the next day the seeds that have been sown are ready to be planted, that is, reaching the age of 7-12 daily, keep in mind, try the seeds that are not over 12 days old if the plants are too old to adapt and grow in new places because of the roots it's too big. Please see the video on how to process land using the SRI method:

Stage 3. Planting

Before planting, do the planting (making spacing), a good spacing is the spacing according to the SRI method which is not too tight, usually 25 x 25 cm or 30 x 30 cm. Plant with one seed in one planting hole. Planting should not be too deep so that the roots can move freely.

Stage 4. Treatment

In organic rice cultivation with the SRI method the most important thing is to maintain the flow of water so that the rice fields are not stagnant continuously but rather on water drainage only. For this reason, every day farmers usually control and close and open floodgates regularly. The following is the SRI irrigation guide:

• Shallow planting, without being flooded, cracking, until tillers are around 10-14 days

• After that, the contents of the water to inhibit the growth of grass and to fulfill water needs and to cripple the soil, are inundated until the soil is not exposed to the sun, after which it is water-based.

• About a week if there is no significant growth fertilization is carried out, when fertilization is dried and galengan is closed

• When it starts flowering, it is 2 months old, it must be inundated again, and when the harvest will be dried

Fertilization is usually done in 20 days after stocking, the fertilizer used is compost around 175-200 kg. When fertilizing, the fields are dried and the floodgates are closed. After 27 days after stocking, run rice fields in turns between dry and wet.
Some pests that often attack rice plants include birds, walang sangit, plant hopper and ganjuran disease or yellowing leaves.

How to handle it usually by manual, making scarecrows for bird pests, spraying with biological pesticides such as pineapple, garlic and kipait or gadung, and for diseases usually by removing and burning tanaamn which has been exposed to yellowing leaf disease. For prevention, planting should be carried out simultaneously so that pests and diseases do not come, use of healthy seeds, good water management, and by conducting a system of cultivating healthy plants that have enough nutrients and vitamins so that their immunity is high.

Other pests that often attack are white pests, thrips, plant hopper, walang sangit, green ladybug, rice stem borer, rats, and birds. Meanwhile the disease is brown leaf spot disease, blast disease, leaf midrib rot, fusarium, crackle disease or leaf blight and tungro disease.

Stage 5. Harvest

Rice begins to flower at the age of 2-3 months and can be harvested on average at around 3.5 to 6 months, depending on the type and variety. For 200 square meters of land, for short-lived rice (3.5 months), usually 2 quintals of wet grain are obtained, equivalent to 1, 5 quintals of dry grain or 90 kg of rice. After being harvested, rice can be sold directly, or also dried in the sun for about 1-2 days and then sold, or after being dried, the ground is sold in the form of rice or for some consumption.,