Save and Grow Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production

EC-AIT-Inception and Planning Workshop

AIT, Bangkok

9 April 2013

1 billion…

… hungry

.. obese

…tons/year wasted!

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Challenges to food security

• Chronically hungry: 870 million in 2012

• Global population of over 9 billion by 2050 – 70-100% increase food production by 2050

• Declining water & land per caput (4.3 ha

(1961) to 1.6 ha (2050))

• Lower productivity growth & production

stress from climate change

• Rapid urbanization & change in

consumption patterns

Challenges to food security

• Increase intensification of production – 80% from land already under cultivation

• Green Revolution – Major gains but…

– Not sustainable or sufficient

• Challenge: How to intensify crop production

and do this in a sustainable manner?

A POLICYMAKER’S GUIDE

TO THE SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION

OF SMALLHOLDER CROP PRODUCTION

Video link: Save and Grow

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Asia Africa Americas Rest of world

Million tons milled rice

2010 global rice production

Additional rice needed:

114 million tons by 2035

Global rice production increases needed to meet demand by 2035 (Source: IRRI)

Green Revolution Slows (Source: IRRI) : Global Rice Yield (1961-2010)

© WPQ

Average yield (t ha-1) Average yearly increase over

previous 10 years (kg ha-1)

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1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

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The Way to Go: Save and Grow

• In Asian rice production:

– Land is moving out

– Labor is moving out

– Water is moving out

• Major changes in crop production/protection practices and increases in efficiency needed!

• In order for rice production to grow, farmers will need to learn how to save!

Unsprayed

(A) Sprayed

(B)

Source:

IRRI

Images

IRRI

Planthopper outbreaks have

occurred at an unprecedented

frequency since ca. 2002

(Source: IRRI/Horgan)

Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production

Ecosystem approach

• external inputs complement natural

processes and ecosystem services:

– natural biological control

– improve soil fertility & H2O holding capacity

– nutrient cycles and better up-take

– pollination

Sustainable agricultural systems:

Ecosystem-literacy training for

smallholder farmers is vital!

Save and Grow

Four underlying principles

1. enhancing productivity and profitability

2. increased resource use efficiency

3. ecological sustainability

4. climate-smart, enhancing resilience

Management practices and technologies 1. Conservation agriculture

2. Integrated Pest Management

3. Fertilizers & Integrated Nutrient Management

4. Improved crop varieties

5. Water Saving methods

6. Crop Diversification and Rotations

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Conservation Agriculture

Minimum tillage => Permanent Soil Cover

Eliminates erosion, improves degraded soils

Increases soil organic matter and structure

Reduces water + fertilizer needs by 30%

Pesticide use reduced by 20%

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Conservation Agriculture

Climate change mitigation

Reduces green house gas

emissions

reduced energy needs by

60%

more efficient use of inputs

(N2O, CH4)

Sequesters carbon – 200

Kg/ha/year

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Integrated Pest Management

Improved control of pests and diseases

with reduced use of pesticides

Promotes:

Healthy environment

Effective ecosystem services

Stable and high yields

Higher profits for farmers

Food safety

Rice Integrated Pest Management:

• Conservation of Natural

Biological Control

• No need for Insecticides

• Growing a healthy crop

• Regular field scouting for

informed management

• Farmers as IPM Experts!

Source:

IRRI Images

Fertilizers

• 50% of increased food production

• Price increase 2-3 fold since 2006

Integrated Nutrient

Management – what

when and how much

to apply

Source: IRRI Images

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Rice production

•500,000 farmers in

Bangladesh

• 60% reduction in the

amount used

• reduced pollution and

gas emissions (N2O)

• 25% yield increases

Urea Deep Placement Technology

Photo: IFDC Photography

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Improved crop varieties

• 50% of yield increases

due to improved

varieties

• more efficient use of

water, fertilizer

• tolerant to drought,

flooding, higher

temperatures and pests

Water is Essential cannot produce food without water but we can produce

food with less water

Water is Essential “more crop per drop”

More efficient use

• Improve existing irrigation

structures and

management

• Adopt more efficient

technologies

• Water harvesting

• System of Rice

Intensification: alternate

wet and dry water

regimes or keeping soil

preferably moist during

vegetative stage

According to IRRI - without reducing yields, use of SRI:

• reduces water consumption by 30%

• reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 25-50%

“Rice is so important across the whole of Asia that if one could implement this technology in many different places, you could have significant reduction in methane production.” Campbell, coordinator CGIAR Climate Change Research Task Force

Save and Grow: System of Rice Intensification

In Vietnam summer crop 2011, SRI was

applied on 185,065 hectares in 22 provinces

by over 1,070,384 farmers (69% female)

In Cambodia as of 2011, SRI was applied

on 24,293 hectares in 13 provinces by about

75,395 farmers

Paddy fields in East Java, hit by both brown planthopper (BPH) and tropical storm damage in June 2011

New variety (Ciherang) with fertilizer & agrochemical protection – no yield

Traditional variety (Sintanur) with organic SRI management – 8 t/ha yield

Crop diversification: growing

potatoes after rice

Optimizing the use of remaining

moisture in the rice field - and the

practice of mulching - reduced

irrigation from 5,000 cubic meters

of water to 900 cubic meters per

hectare

Cultivation using minimum tillage

potato IPM has the potential to

reduce labor costs by 45%

compared to the conventional

method

Profits from growing potatoes

increased by 60 to 73%

Save and Grow: Minimum Tillage Potato in Vietnam

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Maximizing the benefits of

more efficient production 30-40% of food produced is lost or wasted

• primarily at farm level in

developing countries

• improved food security,

increased income – better

nutrition and stability

The use of metal silos to store grain and maize can

reduce post-harvest losses.

Farmers Field School

“School without walls”,

farmers learn about crop

ecology and pest

management in the field;

Season-long, from seed

to harvest, 25-30

farmers;

Aim to help farmers

adopt IPM, grow healthy

crops and produce more

& safer food with less

inputs of agro-chemicals

Farmer Field Schools

Farmers acquire: –Observation skills –Analytical skills –Decision-making skills

FFS are particularly suited for learning complex management skills, like natural resource management, diversifying production and accessing markets to increase rural incomes (Swanson and Rajalahti, World Bank, 2010).

KASAKALIKASAN

The Philippine National IPM Programme

Trends in Insecticide Use and Frequency of Application

in Major Rice Producing Provinces in Central & Southern Luzon, Philippines, 1966 - 2007

(Source: J. Binamira based on Rola & Pingali, 1993; Mataia, Jamora, Maya & Dawe, 2009; Warburton, Palis & Pingali, 1995; Dawe, 2006; IRRI,2007)

Ecosystem Services for Sustainable

Intensification of Crop Production (SICP)

Conservation and Utilization of Ecosystem

Services for Sustainable Intensification of Rice

Production (1994-2007)

KASAKALIKASAN The Philippine National IPM Programme

Spray frequency & insecticide a.i./ha < 70%

Increase Yield/ha >12%

Reduction Yield variability across seasons <15%

National Increase National Rice production:

>60% 10.5 MMT (1994) to 16.8 MMT (2007)

(Source: Rola & Pingali, 1993; Mataia, Jamora, Maya & Dawe, 2009; Warburton, Palis & Pingali, 1995; Dawe, 2006; IRRI, 2007)

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The way forward • We can produce the food needed by 2050 in a

sustainable manner

• No silver bullet solutions – approaches need to be tailored to individual country needs.

• Increasing production alone is not sufficient – Innovation & investment along the food value chain is required.

• Sustainable production is knowledge intensive – investments in agricultural research, development and capacity building for ecosystem-literacy training are essential.

• Today’s rural youth will be the farmers of tomorrow: Include discovery-based field training on ecology and exploring agro-biodiversity in formal school curriculum!

More Information: • “Save and Grow: A

Policymaker’s Guide to the Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Crop Production”, published by the FAO Plant Production & Protection Division, FAO-HQ, Rome, Italy, June 2011 www.fao.org/ag/save-and-grow/

• Oxfam (2011): Growing a Better Future www.oxfam.org/grow

• FAO and IPM/Farmers Field Schools in Asia www.vegetableipmasia.org