System, Service and Product Innovation in

Agriculture : The case of SRI

C Shambu Prasad Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar

LENS Workshop IIT Delhi July 14, 2009

Contents

• PSS or SSP – the knowledge question• Unsustainability of industrial

agricultural systems – globally and in India

• Emerging alternatives• Newer architecture, institutional

innovations• Implications for triple bottom line –

System Service Product (SSP) innovation• Conflicts of knowledge claims

underplayed – what when knowledge systems coexist?

• Reversing PSS• Innovating on systems for sustainability• If management is about sensitive

system design…• What do designers do when there is no

product focus?

“Business as Usual not an option” – IAASTD April 08

"Agriculture has a footprint on all of the big environmental issues, so as the world considers climate change, biodiversity, land degradation, water quality, etc. they must also consider agriculture which lies at the centre of these issues and poses some uncomfortable challenges that need to be faced. We've got to make sure the footprint of agriculture on climate change is lessened ……. There are some major challenges, but we believe that by combining local and traditional knowledge with

formal knowledge these challenges can be met."  – www.agassessment.org

Rs 100 000 crores spent, but no additional benefits.

• No addition to Canal Irrigated areas for 12 years http://www.sandrp.in/irrigation/– Siltation of reservoirs and canals, poor maintenance of

the irrigation infrastructure, water intensive crops in the head reaches, water logging & salinisation are some of the other reasons.

Dear Farmers are you Aware?Years 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Subsidy 15779 18299 25952 40338119772* (estimated)

The government has not increased the prices of fertilizers in last four years whereas the subsidy by the Government on fertilizers has increased eight fold! - Min of Fertilisers

unsustainability of industrial agriculture..

Fertiliser riots, inequity in distribution

Ecological Foot Prints

Each ha of paddy yields @ 30 bags/acre and 75 kg/bag 5625 kg/ha grain

In terms of rice 70 % milling 3938 kg/ha

Water requirement 2000 mm (2 m) crop water requirement x10000 sq m.

20000 cu m water

Which is equal to 5.078 cu.m/kg rice (5078 litres/kg rice)

Each family consuming monthly 30 kg rice

152340 Litres of water per month per family

This is equivalent to

Each family consumes water directly at around

@ 300 litres/day and for 30 days

9000 litres

Water consumption by way of rice is

16.93 times higher than the water we consume directly

3. From Input intensive agiculture to knowledge intensive systems• CMSA / NPM in AP - 13 lakh acres with 6

lakh farmers, 3000 villages (20 districts), 140 pesticide free.

• SRI – 250,000 farmers, 250 districts, little formal support, smaller states, non GR areas.

• ….Both systems challenge linear model of innovation, not variety dependent, knowledge outside formal science, reduced ecological footprint

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

– Less seed, Less water, Less chemical fertilisers & pesticides, yet More yield

SRI = just five fundamental ideas:1. If you transplant, use young seedlings --2. Use wider spacing and single seeding per

hill3. Keep soil moist but unflooded –

unsaturated4. Add organic matter to soil - as much as

possible 5. Actively aerate the soil - as much as

possible

36 Countries over a million farmers in less than 10 years

Yet struggling to be accepted….

Institutional innovations

• Learning alliances• Nomenclature – System of RI, Jai SRI• Spaces that enable exchange, knowledge

dialogues, dissolve hierarchies (needs support)

• Innovation is all about making the system (big) ‘listen’ and ‘learn’ and

• Small to be open to surprise, collectively learn and be reflexive

Implications for designers• Enter through system and service

rather than product• Visualise the product as part of the

larger system and movement, account for diversity – e.g. mechanised tools in TN or improved systems in rainfed.

• Design for community innovation, people and planet – profit can come later.

• Large domestic market, great scope, lesser transaction costs….. Many more

Nov 2006

October 2007

Coping with Complexity: The Learning Alliance Journey

December 2008