I basically belong to rice growing region of India, as an ecologist I have few observations that are related to maintaining good production of rice. Rice is a crop which performs well in water logged conditions or in other words the rhizosphere of rice requires higher water content and anaerobic conditions. The best soils that can hold the water for long are clayey soils and therefore the crop performs poorly in sandy and silty soils. In Northern India the soils have depleted ground water reserves obviously owing to lesser precipitation and the soils have predominance of silt and soil texture and therefore retain less water. Rice intensification by biological modes prescribes the use of Azolla-Anabena association which grow well in wetlands which is rare in those parts except for eastern parts of India.

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/perceptions-of-farmers-about-adoption-of-system-of-rice-intensification-sri-2168-9458-1000166.php?aid=68224

https://www.scoop.it/t/system-of-rice-intensification-sri/?&tag=India

https://newint.org/books/reference/world-development/case-studies/does-sri-cultivation-really-work/