Rice Seedling Nursery
 
Rice plants develop faster and more uniformly in the SRI nursery as compared to the traditional nursery. With SRI, seeds are soaked in water for 24 hours before planting. Seeds germinate after two days, compared to four days in the traditional nursery. At eight to nine days, SRI plants have two leaves and are ready for transplanting.
 
June 22, 2008 : SRI nursery of Ibrahima Hamidou (left), 8 days after sowing, in the middle of his traditional nursery. The nursery is 1 meter x 8 meters, and it required 900 grams of seed. From initial observations, farmers use about a third of the nursery for a rice plot of 1/8 hectare, thus 300 grams of seed. This means 2.4 kg of seeds are needed for one hectare. This is a significant saving over the regional norm of 40 kg per hectare! (We are collecting data from each farmer as regards all these aspects.)
 
 
Mid to Late June, 2008
Traditional Nursery
 
The traditional nursery is hand plowed using a hoe. The rice seeds are broadcast, and covered with manure (picture 1). The nurseries are surface irrigated (picture 2). Plants remain in the nursery 30 to 45 days before transplanting. Different aspects of traditional nurseries are shown in pictures 3 to 5.
 
SRI Nursery Establishment
 
Nurseries are either 1.2 meters x 6 meters or 1 meter x 8 meters (picture 1). The clay soil is mixed well with manure and sand (picture 2), to create a light textured and regular seed bed. After sowing, the seeds are covered with a layer of sand and with straw or other plant material until germination (picture 3). Nursery beds are ideally watered twice a day using a watering can.
SRI Nurseries at 8 Days after Sowing
 
The pictures below show the nurseries of Daouda Aboubacrine (picture 1) and Asseydou Alhassane (on the left in picture 2) in Hara-Hara village, and of Mahamadou Hamadoun, Douegoussou (on the left in picture 3). We attribute the darker green color of  Asseydou’s nursery to the use of cow manure, rather than the goat manure used in the others.