The Numbers Don’t Lie
The Shree-Ram Women Farmer’s Group came together soon after the new Nepal Dhanpalthan program was launched in their area by local partner SAHAS Nepal in 2025. One of the first things this group of 30 women did together was to learn about the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a scientific farming method aimed at increasing the yields of rice.
They had previously followed traditional rice cultivation methods which involve transplanting between four and eight seedlings in one spot, using 30–40-day-old seedlings fairly close together and keeping fields heavily flooded with water. SRI, by contrast, involves transplanting one seedling per spot, using 8-12-day-old seedlings, maintaining wider spacing, applying less water and ensuring timely weeding.
They planted a plot using the SRI method side-by-side with a plot using the traditional method. Each was about .015 acres in size. At harvest, they could easily see that the SRI method was more profitable.
| SRI Method | Traditional Method | |
| Seed | $0.15 | $0.42 |
| Organic Fertilizer | $4.15 | $4.15 |
| Land Preparation | $1.38 | $1.38 |
| Labor | $2.08 | $1.73 |
| Land Rent | $1.73 | $1.73 |
| Total Cost | $9.49 | $9.41 |
| Rice Yield | 60 KG | 50 KG |
| Rice Income | $12.05 | $10.04 |
| Straw | $0.69 | $0.52 |
| Total Income | $12.74 | $10.56 |
| Total Profit | $3.25 | $1.15 |
Rita, chair of the group, said “At first, we did not believe in this method and thought that all transplanted seedlings would die. To our amazement, those single seedlings were turned into 28-30 seedlings. The yield was also higher with this method which gave us more profit. So, we are very happy to learn about this scientific method and next year, we will adopt it.”
Nepal Dhanpalthan
Led by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and local partner SAHAS Nepal (Group of Helping Hands)