Abstract:
A detailed farm survey was conducted in Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kenya during the 2010/2011 and
2011/2012 main growing seasons to quantify the benefits of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) over
farmer Practice (FP) of rice cultivation. Data was collected through distribution of questionnaires and
structured interviews to farmers practicing both SRI and FP methods of rice production on their farms.
For SRI practice, factors considered were transplanting one seedling per hole aged 8-15 days at a spacing
of at least 20cm by 20cm, weeding the crop at least three times at an interval of ten days and
intermittently irrigating the farms. Use of organic manure and weed control method were not major
considerations in this study since availability of manure and mechanical weeders were challenges at the
time of study. A total of 40 farmers from 10 units out of the 50 SRI farmers from 18 units were sampled.
The cost-benefit analysis was estimated using tabular analysis of all the variable costs and income from
yields. On average, yield increased by 1.6t/ha (33%), seed requirement reduced by 86.7% while water
savings were 27.8% under SRI. SRI required 9% more labor than FP except in 3 units where labor costs
were reduced by an average of 13%. SRI required 30% more labor for weeding than FP in the first season
but this reduced significantly to 15% in the second season when the weeders were available. The results
showed that SRI gave a higher benefit-cost ratio of 1.76 and 1.87 compared to 1.3 and 1.35 for FP in the
first and second seasons, respectively. These results indicate that SRI practices of younger seedlings,
wider spacing and intermittent irrigation lead to increased paddy rice yields and consequently raises the
economic benefits. Up-scaling of SRI in Mwea will thus help achieve national and household food
security.
