One of the FFS members volunteered to give 2 acres of land for SRI experimentation in paddy cultivation.This was necessary for the farmers to see and observe the result of both the method of paddy cultivation, SRI as well as the conservative method.
The volunteer (he can be seen in the last photograph) faced fierce opposition from his family members who stopped talking to him, until they saw the results. Later on they were so happy that they not only went on to advise other farmers to adopt this method but also adopted the SRI method for ragi cultivation.
Less water consumption, less number of seeds for sowing, and higher yield than the conservative method are some of the key observations.
These experiments were conducted at Kunigal, Tumkur under IDF-Sujeevan programme.