Date/Period Event/Activity
2006 Sir Dorabji Tata Trust piloted the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methodology with two NGO partners in Eastern India under its existing livelihoods portfolio.
17-18
November
2006		 The first ever National SRI Symposium in India was held in Hyderabad. The event was organized by the Directorate of Rice Research and the WWF-ICRISAT Project.
2007 The number of NGO partners in the SDTT-SRI programme increased to five with a coverage of 11,000 small and marginal farmers in rain-fed conditions in a few States of India.
3-5 October 2007 The Second National SRI Symposium was organized in Agartala, Tripura. Hosted by the State Government of Tripura and co-sponsored by SDTT and WWF, the other sponsors included DRR, DRD, CRRI, NABARD and ANGRAU. This symposium brought together people from a diverse set of institutions, indicative of the support SRI was receiving, then. More than 250 participants attended the event.
October 2007 SDTT launched the SRI India Google e-group to exchange ideas and foster discussions for promotion of SRI.
December 2007 SDTT sanctioned Rs. 10.94 crores for a three year SRI Programme.
19 December 2007 The first State Level SRI Symposium -cum- policy dialogue in Chhattisgarh was organised in Raipur. This included a one day orientation workshop on the Madagascar System of Rice Production i.e. the SRI methodology. The event was facilitated by Jan Swasthya Sahayog (JSS), Bilaspur.
2008 In Odisha, the State Government circulated a Government Order for promotion of SRI in the entire State.
2008 82 districts were covered under the SDTT supported SRI programme in the States of Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The number of NGO partners increased to 127 and farmer outreach to 37,000.
1-3 December 2008 The Third National SRI Symposium was organised at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu with the theme, “Policies, Institutions and Strategies for Scaling-Up: Mainstreaming SRI for achieving food Security while reducing water conflicts”. This event was co-sponsored by SDTT.
29 December 2008 The first State level SRI Symposium in Bihar was organized by BASIX. More than 135 participants attended the programme in Patna.
19 February 2009 The first State level SRI Symposium for Assam was organized by RGVN in Guwahati. Supported by SDTT, more than 65 participants from various institutions and stakeholders involved in promotion of SRI attended the event. The Agriculture Minister also attended this meet.
4-5 March 2009 The first State level SRI Symposium for Jharkhand was organized by SPWD with support from SDTT. Various NGOs, representatives from the Government, NABARD, research institutions, agricultural universities, SRI farmers and eminent academicians attended the event.
2009 In addition to the existing 8 States, 2 new states – Maharashtra and Manipur took up the initiative taking the total number of states covered under the SDTT initiative to 10. The programme was also boosted by covering 65000 farmers through 163 partner organisations. Against an average area of coverage of 0.23 acres during 2008, the average area increased to 0.33 acres during Kharif 2009 despite the water shortage situation across the country.
June-2009 The SRI Secretariat was established in Bhubaneswar, Odisha to monitor the activities of the SRI partners and coordinate the SDTT-supported SRI programme.
Kharif 2009 On-farm research on SRI directly through partner organizations was taken up by the SRI Secretariat during Kharif 2009. The research trials were initiated on five aspects in the farmers’ fields of four partner organizations in Odisha, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
18-19 September 2009 A national level meet of SDTT-SRI Partners was organized in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
September 2009 A detailed MIS developed by the Secretariat was finalized during the partners meet.
November 2009 The SRI Secretariat made an extensive study report by exploring the opportunity of drought conditions during Kharif 2009 to study the performance of paddy cultivated under SRI and the common management practices (CMP). The study was done by collecting data from 482 plots, covering 241 farmers spread over 7 States.
23-24 November 2009 The first State level SRI Symposium for Maharashtra was organized by Rural Communes in coordination with SDTT, the Department of Agriculture (Govt of Maharashtra) and YASHADA, Pune.
December 2009 to January 2010 A review of the SDTT SRI Programme was undertaken by three prominent scientists, Dr. B.C. Barah, Dr. M.C .Diwakar and Dr. C.S. Prasad who gave positive feedback on the initiative.
20-21 March 2010 A State level SRI Symposium in Odisha was organized by CWS in Bhubaneswar. The workshop was attended by around 700 farmers practicing SRI across the State with a representation by Odisha’s State Agricultural Department.
12 April 2010 A State level SRI Symposium in West Bengal was organized by “BANGLAR SRI” – a platform of various actors involved in SRI promotion in the State. The one-day event was supported by SDTT and organized in collaboration with Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) and Directorate of Rice Development (DRD)-Patna in Kolkata.
17 April 2010 A State level SRI Symposium was organized for the 2nd time in Bihar by BASIX with the objective of scaling up SRI in the Eastern region. The event was supported by SDTT.
25 May 2010 A State level SRI Symposium for Chhattisgarh was organized by PRADAN and JSS in collaboration with SDTT, Department of Agriculture and IGKV Raipur in Chhattisgarh. 225 participants were present in this workshop – the 2nd of its kind in Chhattisgarh.
4-5 June 2010 A National level meet of SDTT-SRI Partners was organized in Puri , Odisha.
June 2010 The success of the SDTT initiatives prompted NABARD to launch a parallel programme on SRI in the SDTT SRI Model. This programme with a budgeted allocation of 16 crores spread across three years was implemented by NABARD through NGOs with the technical support of the SDTT-SRI Secretariat.
Kharif 2010 The selected partner organizations continued on-farm research with ten aspects. PRADAN Gaya and PRADAN Raigarh were also included as the new research partners.
30 July 2010 A National level workshop on the System of Wheat Intensification (SWI) was organized by the People’s Science Institute in Dehradun with SDTT’s support.
14 September 2010 An Odisha Partners Meet was organized in Bhubaneswar. 85 participants from various partner NGOs of SDTT attended the event.
October 2010 The SRI Secretariat tested soil samples of the SRI promoted plots in collaboration with the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), consecutively for three years in order to work out the soil nutrient status for long term SRI promotion. For this study, two contrasting regions, viz. Bihar and Uttarakhand having same cropping pattern (Paddy-Wheat) and different agro-climatic conditions were selected.
25 November 2010 Deanna Jejeebhoy, Trustee of SDTT, Mumbai visited Bhubaneswar where discussions were held with the Director (Agriculture), Govt. of Odisha for scaling up SRI and to establish convergences with the Government initiatives. A review and briefing of SDTT’s SRI programme was also held.
26 November 2010 Ms Jejeebhoy also made a field visit to an SRI village in Nayagarh district, Odisha.
14 December 2010 The Livolink Foundation was established and registered as a charitable trust under the Indian Trusts Act 1882 headquartered in Bhubaneswar. This new entity would host the SRI Secretariat established by SDTT during 2009.
22-24 February 2011 A Partners Meet of the SDTT-SRI Programme was organized in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. 71 participants representing the Government, civil society organizations and partner NGOs attend the event. Organized by the Livolink Foundation and the Peoples Science Institute, the programme comprised of in-house discussions, a co-currently held exhibition on SRI learning materials and implements as well as a one-day field visit to the System of Wheat Intensification (SWI) areas of Haridwar District, Uttarakhand.
26 February 2011 A State level SRI Symposium for West Bengal was organised by “Banglar SRI” in Kolkata.
March 2011 A comparative Study on Practices for Productivity Enhancement in SRI paddy over the conventional method was undertaken by the SRI Secretariat.
7 March 2011 The second State level SRI symposium for Odisha called, “Jaiba Jivika” was organized by CWS in collaboration with the Agriculture Department, Govt. of Odisha, Trocaire, SVA, XIMB supported by SDTT. The workshop was attended by 400 SRI farmers from the State.
29 April 2011 The second State Level SRI symposium for Manipur was organized by the Development and Relief Department of RNBA in Imphal.
23-24 May 2011 A State level SRI symposium for Maharashtra was organized by Rural Communes.
26 May 2011 The third State level SRI symposium in Chhattisgarh was organized by PRADAN in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, SAMETI (NFSM), Govt of Chhattisgarh and SDTT in Raipur.
June 2011 SDTT launched a web portal on its exclusive SRI Programme.
21 June 2011 A one-day consultative workshop on inputs to the 12th Five Year Plans of the Planning Commission, Government of India, titled, “Upscaling SRI and other Innovative Technologies” was supported by SDTT. 28 participants attended this event organized by the Livolink Foundation at Bhubaneswar.
July 2011 The membership base of SRI India Google Group reached the 450 mark. It is now a vibrant forum for exchange of ideas on promotion of System of Rice Intensification.
August 2011 Coverage of farmers in the SDTT-SRI programme for 2010-11 reached 90,436 in 10873.5 hectares spread across 109 districts in 11 States of the country.
7 September 2011 A State level SRI Symposium on “Upscaling System of Crop Intensification for Achieving Food Security in Uttarakhand and Bundelkhand” supported by SDTT was organized by the People’s Science Institute in Dehradun.
24 October 2011 A book on Growing Crops with SRI Principles was published by the SRI Secretariat, Bhubaneswar.
23-25 January 2012 A three day SDTT-SRI Partners Meet was organized by Livolink Foundation and PRADAN at Bodh Gaya, Bihar. The event was attended by 93 participants representing SDTT, NGO partners, officials from Government of Bihar, ICAR and successful SRI farmers. In-house discussions and a days’ visit to observe field based interventions on SRI, SCI, SWI and DBI in Gaya District formed part of the event.
January 2012 to February 2012 An evaluation of the SDTT SRI Programme is undertaken by Mr Ved Arya, CEO-SRIJAN, New Delhi and his team along with Dr Pravat Roul, Professor, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar.
20 February 2012 A meet on Leveraging Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) in the context of South Odisha Development Initiative was organized at Bhubaneswar. 22 participants attended the event organized by Livolink Foundation.
5-6 March 2012 A State Level Meet of SDTT-SRI Odisha partners was organized by Livolink Foundation at CYSD, Bhubaneswar, for reviewing progress of programme activities and future SRI interventions for Odisha.
20 March 2012 A State Level Workshop on “Agriculture in Assam: SRI and Issues for Sustainability” is organized by Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA) in collaboration with PRADAN and RGVN at Guwahati.
May 2012 A Book on “Innovative Technologies in Agriculture and Rural Development” is brought out by Livolink Foundation, Bhubaneswar. The document seeks to scale up innovative ideas and experiences from a select compilation of rural innovations taken up by various civil society organizations, research institutes and other agencies from different parts of the country.
12 June 2012 A State Level SRI Symposium for Manipur was organized by Rongmei Naga Baptists Association in Imphal. This is the third such symposium in this state supported by the trusts.
16-17 June 2012 A two day Consultative Meet on Research Issues in System of Rice Intensification was organized in Bhubaneswar, supported by SDTT and organized by Livolink Foundation. 20 participants representing partners NGOs working on on-farm research in the SDTT-SRI programme and notable scientists associated with DWM and OUAT, Bhubaneswar attended the event for finalization of the on-farm SRI research design, technical and social aspects affecting adoption in SRI.
June 2012 The SRI Secretariat collaborated with the State Government in Odisha, whereby an amount of Rs 3 crores was sanctioned by the Government for SRI promotion in the state through SDTT’s SRI partners. The programme has been taken up by ATMA in convergence with the State Plan/RKVY.
25 September 2012 A State Level SRI Workshop was organized by PRADAN, Gaya, at Rajendra Agricultural University, PUSA, Samastipur, Bihar. The event supported by SDTT was organized by PRADAN for effective policy action in the context of SRI promotion in this state and establishing convergences with the Government and State Agricultural Universities in Bihar.
December 2012 The Experience of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts in promotion of System of Rice Intensification, was cited in the Water Policy Research Highlight documented in the IWMI/TATA Water Policy Programme. The paper tables adoption-related results from intensive monitoring and data collection across four cropping seasons in Nayagarh District, Odisha.
20 December 2012 A Winter Workshop on the Collaborative SRI Research Programme between Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust was organized by BCKV at its University Campus in Kalyani, Nadia District, West Bengal.
February 2013 The SDTT supported SRI programme is now operational in Six Intensive Programme States – Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Manipur and Assam. Till the 2012-13 season, a total number of 66 partners are being supported by the Trusts in 69 Districts of the country. The SRI initiative now has benefitted 1,56,336 farmers with the per farmer coverage increasing to 0.5 acres.
February 2013 The Livolink Foundation signed an agreement with the Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Thiruvananthapuram, for undertaking a comprehensive study to identify socio-economic factors affecting wider adoption of the System of Rice Intensification methodology. The study is commissioned in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Manipur and Odisha.
27 February – 1 March 2013 The fifth SDTT-SRI Partners Meet was organized by Livolink Foundation and SPWD at Ranchi, Jharkhand. The event marked representation from SDTT, Livolink, partner and co-partner NGOs, Government of Jharkhand, State Agricultural Universities, SAMETI, JSLPS and others. Two days’ in-house discussions and a day-long field visit to observe SWI interventions in Ranchi District were core components of the three day event. Few SRI farmers from Jharkhand were also felicitated during the meet, for their outstanding contribution in promoting SRI and application of its principles to other crops.
February 28, 2013 The results of three years’ on-farm trials on System of Rice Intensification conducted in different agro-climatic conditions at partners’ fields were brought out by the SRI Secretariat of Livolink Foundation as a consolidated booklet. The document was released during the SRI Partners Meet at Ranchi. The SRI Research has now entered the fourth year of its trial. The partners who had undertaken research trials for 2011-12 season were PRADAN-Gaya, PRADAN-Raigarh, PRAGATI-Koraput and SPWD-Ranchi.
March 2013 The experience of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts in promotion of System of Rice Intensification is documented in the notable quarterly magazine LEISA India, published by AME Foundation, Bangalore. The article presents the innovative approach adopted by SDTT in spreading SRI which has been able to reach more than 1.5 lakh poor and marginal farmers over the last six years, in the country.
25 April 2013 A Regional Level SRI Workshop is organized by PRADAN, Raipur, under the SDTT-SRI Programme in Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh. The event was attended by officials from the Department of Agriculture, partner NGOs of Chhattisgarh and SRI farmers.
May 2013 The SDTT supported SRI programmes now reaches 1,76,847 farmers till the Rabi 2012-13 season. With a total area coverage of 89,893 acres, the per-farmer coverage now reaches 0.51. A total number of 65 districts are being covered under SRI and SCI practices through a network of 76 partner organizations.
14 June 2013 A State Level Workshop on Growing Crops with SRI Principles: A Means for Strengthening Agriculture based Livelihoods in Assam, was organized by Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA), in Guwahati, Assam. Supported by SDTT, the event was attended by 55 participants. The objective of this workshop was for sharing experiences in SRI, building understanding on best practices and establishing SRI as a means for strengthening agriculture based livelihoods in Assam.
1 October 2013 A Workshop under the SDTT-BCKV Collaborative Research titled “Improvement of productivity of land through diversity and activity of soil organisms in various agro- ecosystems of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in West Bengal” was organized by Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (BCKV) at its University campus in Kalyani. SRI research on estimation of green house gas emission, nutrient balance, pest infestation and water saving in SRI vis-à-vis traditional paddy is operational since May 2011 in three On-Stations and On-Farms in eight districts of West Bengal.
7 February 2014 A State Level SRI Partners’ Meet for Odisha was organized by Livolink Foundation in the Conference Hall of Odisha Farm Machineries Research and Development Centre (OFMRDC), Bhubaneswar. The objective of this meeting was for reviewing progress by partner NGOs under the SDTT supported SRI programme and exploring avenues to establish convergences with on-going state level programmes of the Government both at the state and district levels in Odisha.
February 2014 Livolink Foundation brings out a briefing document titled “System of Rice Intensification: Cases from Odisha”. This publication is a consolidated compilation of select case studies on SRI and SCI practices, stories and experiences of poor and marginal farmers from different districts of Odisha. The document was released in presence of Government of Odisha officials in the state-level SRI Partners Meet organized in Bhubaneswar.
March 21-22, 2014 he sixth SDTT-SRI Partners Meet was organized by Livolink Foundation at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The event marked representation from SDTT, Livolink, partner and co-partner NGOs, senior officials from the Government of Chhattisgarh, key representatives and scientists from Indira Gandhi State Agricultural University, SRLM, SAMETI and others. The event comprised two days’ in-house discussions with the theme on “Mainstreaming SDTT-SRI Programme: Feasibility and Constraints”. Few SRI farmers from Chhattisgarh invited to share experiences were felicitated during the event, for their outstanding contribution in promoting SRI and its application to other crops. A poster-display competition on IEC materials developed by partners for wider dissemination of SRI and SCI, was co-currently held during the event.
March 2014 Livolink Foundation brings out a document titled “System of Rice Intensification: Concept and Cases” enlisting innovative case studies of SRI farmers from the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Manipur. The purpose of this publication is to illustrate the key difference in the principles and practices of SRI and conventional method of paddy cultivation, the status of SRI promotion in different states and to reflect on selected cases of farmers from different areas under SDTT-SRI programme coverage.
March 2014 Livolink Foundation publishes a document titled “Strategies for the diffusion of SRI technology in eastern and north-eastern part of India”. The study on the social dimensions on SRI was undertaken by a team of experts from Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Thiruvananthapuram, to carry out a research in select SDTT-SRI programme states, for assessing factors affecting wider adoption of SRI. The document was released in presence of key Government functionaries, officials and partner NGOs during the sixth SDTT-SRI partners meet at Raipur, Chhattisgarh.