Chemical-free farming method results in bountiful harvest for paddy farmers in Ba Kelalan

BA KELALAN: It is truly an exciting experience for a group of farmers who finally harvested their much-awaited Adan rice, planted using chemical-free farming method or the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) here yesterday.

SRI is a paddy cultivation method used to increase yield involving organic farming, seeding, cultivation, fertilisation, irrigation, maintenance and control of organic disease.

Baru Agong was among the 11 farmers who were extremely happy with the first harvest since the SRI method was first introduced in 2014 and fully implemented in Long Langai in 2018.

“I am so happy with the harvest today. The paddy grows healthily with more tillers than usual and yellowish fruits. Using this SRI method, I am happy to note that our harvest can now go beyond one and half time the past harvest,” the Lun Bawang told The Borneo Post when met during the harvesting of the first-of-its-kind Adan rice in Long Langai here yesterday.

Commenting further, the 68-year-old Baru, who has been working as a farmer and involved in paddy cultivation using the conventional method for over 40 years, said despite it requiring more work as compared to before, the SRI method is truly a blessing in disguise.

“The paddy cultivated using the SRI method requires greater care but I am thankful for the overall result. I will continue using the SRI method,” he said gleefully.

An owner of a SRI-paddy field, Harrison Thadem Sakai, said the obvious advantage of using the SRI method is the increase in harvest compared to the common planting method.

“This year I had successfully harvested seven sacks of SRI paddy which is more than last year when I only managed to harvest four sacks. I am very happy with this remarkable amount of harvest today,” said the 35-year-old Lun Bawang lad.

Harrison pointed out that through the SRI method, he also learned to control pests, especially the golden apple snails.

“At the same time, I also learned to make organic fertilisers which leads to producing of healthy paddy with more tillers,” he elaborated.

The success of SRI rice harvesting yesterday was made possible under a pilot project by WWF (World Wildlife Fund)-Malaysia through a RM1.5-million funding by CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad (CIMB Islamic) in a three-year partnership, from 2017 to 2019.

In Ba Kelalan and Long Semadoh, the total allocation is RM600,000.

According to WWF-Malaysia senior programme officer (community engagement and education) Alicia Ng, SRI is environment-friendly and delivers a higher yield compared to conventional planting methods.

“It is also proven to be sustainable as this method uses less quantity of rice seedlings and less water during their growth cycle, as well as enables easier transplantation of young seedlings, more effective weeding control and more fertile soil conditions as long organic fertilisers are applied,” she said.

Ng revealed that in 2014, Department of Agriculture (DoA) Sarawak introduced SRI farming in Long Rusu, Ba Kelalan with five farmers joining the three-year test plots programme under its Agriculture Research Centre.

“WWF was also involved in the programme, which is aimed at promoting chemical-free farming while also reducing pests such as the golden apple snail,” she revealed.

Ng also said WWF-Malaysia and CIMB Islamic sponsored local farmers to participate in DoA’s programme which included visiting the SRI Lovely Farm in Sik, Kedah to learn about the theories and technical aspects of SRI.

“In 2017, SRI farming expanded to Long Langai village, with 11 farmers committing to the project,” she explained.

Meanwhile, a fellow of Disaster Management Institute of Universiti Utara Malaysia Zakaria Kamantasha, who was also involved in the project as advisor, said the difference is obvious with the plants or seedlings producing more tillers than usual.

“In Ba Kelalan, a plant only grows 10 to 20 tillers but with the SRI method, we are witnessing an average of 50 to 80 tillers. This is a good record.

“The farmers have patiently and diligently adopted the sustainable farming method using more environment-friendly agriculture practices,” said the expert in SRI, who runs the SRI Lovely Farm, adding that the yield of paddy cultivation using SRI can also help to boost the gross domestic product (GDP).

The farmers at Long Langai started their paddy planting in July last year.

Following this, WWF-Malaysia continued to run workshops, on-the-ground trainings and follow-up activities on SRI under guidance of Zakaria and officials from DoA Sik District in Kedah.

This has enabled interested farmers to learn more about environment-friendly agriculture practices including integrated nutrients, pest, disease and weeding management, as well as exchange experiences with one another.

The farmers then started their harvesting this month.

The project is an initiative taken by WWF-Malaysia to promote sustainable rice farming by local communities as means to reduce impacts of their agricultural practices on the environment.

It adds value to the ecosystem services such as the provision of clean water for irrigation, by minimising upstream land use changes such as unsustainable logging or large scale forest conversion to agriculture.