Smallholders

KPL has introduced the System For Rice Intensification (SRI) to farmer families in impoverished villages near the farm that rely on rice for their annual income.

Developed in Madagascar and India, where it has raised smallholder’s yields from 2 to 8 tons/ha, SRI is an unconventional system that uses less seed and wider spacing than traditional planting, which results in bigger root systems and heavier grain weight. Weeding is accomplished without herbicides by the use of a hand-pushed weeder through rice lines planted on a grid.

In 2010, the pilot KPL smallholders, trained by a visiting expert from the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India, doubled their yields, doubling their annual income.

In 2011, the SRI project was extended to 250 farmer families who were provided improved seed, SRI tools, demonstration workshops and extension advice.

By 2016, the SRI project will include 4,300 farmer families.

As the SRI farmers begin to produce substantial quantities of high quality rice, KPL will mill and market their surplus, helping them to achieve the best price.