The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a resource-conserving rice production
system that uses intermittent flooding and organic fertilization. The SRI is
emerging as an alternative to conventional rice production systems that use
continuous flooding and mineral fertilizer only, however yield improvements with
SRI have been highly variable. The objective of this research was to determine if
soil properties control the yield improvements with SRI and, if so, the underlying
chemical and biological mechanisms. A meta-analysis of 72 SRI vs. conventional
system trials from 16 countries found a significant yield response to SRI in low
fertility soils (P