Social & Environmental Benefits of SRI

"SRI can make a lasting global impact with far-reaching benefits, if large scale support programs are initiated." From WWF International, "More Rice with Less Water: The System of Rice Intensification"

From individual farmsteads to whole landscapes, the social and environmental benefits of farmers using SRI methods are many:

• Food Security: increased rice production
• Livelihoods: more income for producers and more options
• Health: more chemical-free, highly nutritious rice for everyone; improved production conditions; diversification of diets with fruit, vegetables
• Environment: water-savings; reduced use of agrichemicals; less methane emissions
• Biodiversity: traditional rice varieties and ecosystems conservation
• Society: accessible to the poorest of the poor, including hard-to-reach populations in conflict or post-conflict areas; empowers farmers; promotes community integrity

Here is what organizations like Oxfam US say about SRI's benefits: "Perhaps the greatest attraction of SRI, particularly in poor countries like Cambodia, is that with just a bit of training and virtually no technology, farmers can earn big returns."

• OXFAMExchange Fall 2008 - A Root Revolution in Cambodia