Use well decomposed manure or compost ideally at 10-15 metric tons per hectare. With this, there is no need to use chemical fertilizer.
Farmer Practice
Traditionally, manure is applied to rice seedling nurseries only, not to rice fields. The crop is fertilized with urea twice at defined stages in the growth of the plant (tillering and panicle initiation). Only in recent years have farmers begun to use manure in rice fields, following technical advice from Africare and the government agriculture extension service.
SRI Guidelines
Our Approach
We advise farmers to use the recommended amounts of manure in the SRI plots. Decisions on control plot fertilization remain with the farmers. However, in order to control for effects of fertilization alone, we have asked two of the five farmers per village to use identical fertilization for SRI and control plot, ideally one farmer testing manure fertilization only, the second farmer testing manure and chemical fertilizer.
Although the supply of manure and compost is still sufficient, shortages are possible in the future as use of SRI expands and creates greater demand for compost. After the harvest, we will work with the SRI farmers on techniques to produce compost directly in the field for the following season.
Manure is applied immediately before plowing in order to mix it with the soil, so it will not be washed across the plot by the irrigation water. Because manure is easily blown away by wind, it is stored in bags in the field and applied just before plowing.
Note that in the pictures above, the situation is not ideal, as the farmer applies the manure after the plowing. The farmer had not yet brought the manure to the field when the tractor arrived for plowing.
Early to Mid- June, 2008
Fertilization
SRI Timbuktu Blog