Rice Today Vol. 10, No. 4

7/31/2019 Rice Today Vol. 10, No. 4

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1Rice TodayOctober-December 2011ISSN 1655-5422

www.irri.org

International Rice Research Institute October-December 2011, Vol. 10, No. 4

Golden grains with a healthy promiseLetting nature manage its battles

Celebrating rice, American style

Ex-combatant women turn to rice in Burundi

How to feed 9 billion people in 2050

2012Calen

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insid

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2/27

Rice TodayOctober-December 2011 Rice TodayOctober-December 2011

cover ig so

publisher Jmy Zwgassociate publisher soph Cytomanaging editor V. submeditors l ry, a Mctcontributing writers G Htt, smu Mohty, aw no,ac stgu, M. lzbth Bo, T lh Moz, Pu B

a GcArica editor svt Mohpt (acrc)copy editor B Hyart director Ju lzo iVdesigner and production supervisor Gt lctphoto editors Ch Qut, ig socirculation lou CoumbWeb master d soprinter dHl Gob M (sgpo) Pt. lt.

RiceTodayis published by The Rice Trader Inc. (TRT) in association with theInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

TRT, or 21 years, has brought subscribers crucial, up-to-the-minute inormationon rice trade through its weekly publication, The RiceTrader. Acknowledged asthe only source o condential inormation about the rice market, this weeklysummary o market data analysis has helped both the leading commercial ricecompanies and regional government ocials make inormed decisions, which arecritical in todays market.

IRRI is the worlds leading international rice research and training center. Basedin the Philippines and with oces located in major rice-growing countries, IRRIis an autonomous, nonprot institution ocused on improving the well-being opresent and uture generations o rice armers and consumers, particularly thosewith low incomes, while preserving natural resources. It is one o the 15 nonprotinternational research centers supported, in part, by members o the ConsultativeGroup on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR www.cgiar.org) and a rangeo other unding agencies.

Responsibility or this publication rests with TRT and IRRI. Designations usedin this publication should not be construed as expressing TRT or IRRI policy or

opinion on the legal status o any country, territory, city, or area, or its authorities,or the delimitation o its rontiers or boundaries.

Rice Todaywelcomes comments and suggestions rom readers. Rice Todayassumes no responsibility or loss o or damage to unsolicited submissions, whichshould be accompanied by sucient return postage.

The opinions expressed by columnists in RiceTodaydo not necessarily reectthe views o TRT or IRRI.

International Rice Research Institute 2011

This magazine is copyrighted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and is licensed or use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3(Unported). Unless otherwise noted, users are ree to copy, duplicate, or reproduce, and distribute, display, or transmit any o the articles or portions o the articles, and to make tadaptations, or other derivative works under the ollowing conditions. To view the ull text o this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.

O the cove:Dhaka, the capital o Bangladesh, has th

population growth in the world. And, licountries in Asia and Arica, Bangladeshto many millions o poor and hungry pedepend on rice as their staple ood. As tpopulation heads toward 9 billion in 20challenge o ood security will increase.

itto rc rch ittutDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.org; www.irri.org/ricetodayWeb (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.orgWeb (Rice Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.org

Rice Todayeditorialtelephone: (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725; ax: (+63-or (+63-2) 845-0606; e mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Th rc T ic.2707 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico, CA 95928Web: www.thericetrader.com

ediTOrial ................................................................ 4Monitoring an inconvenient divergence

neWs ......................................................................... 5

FeedinG THe WOrld in 2050 ..............................12Sub-Saharan Arica will play a vital role in ood security

in the coming decades as population increases

GOlden Grains FOr BeTTer nUTriTiOn .........14

COUnTrY snaPsHOT: irri in BUrUndi .............18

UnleasHinG THe FOrCe ......................................20The Arica Rice Breeding Task Force responds to

the call or an improved research and extensioncapacity on the continent

TeCHnOlOGies MeeT FarMers..........................22Hundreds o thousands o Asian armers are adopting

a range o IRRC-acilitated technologies

WOMen OF War TUrn TO riCe in BUrUndi .....28Ex-combatant women in Burundi try a second chance

or a peaceul lie by turning to rice arming

leTTinG naTUre ManaGe iTs BaTTles ............32IRRI ofers an option to better manage pests in

riceelds by letting natures biological oot soldiersdo the job o controlling pests

WHaTs COOKinG? ................................................36Laotian congee

a COnsUMers GUide TO riCe ............................38

CeleBraTinG riCe, aMeriCan sTYle................40Rice may be the staple ood o Asia, but in the city oCrowley, Louisiana, it is as American as apple pie

a CraZe FOr MaiZe ..............................................42Maize gradually comes out o rice and wheats

shadows to ofer its own set o benets to armersin Bangladesh

MaPs .......................................................................44Who eats the most rice?

Hidden TreasUre ................................................47Interconnected solutions

riCe FaCTs .............................................Seven billion and counting: What does th

global rice ood security?

Grain OF TrUTH ..................................Clash o the Titans: Global population ver

production

ctets V


3/27

Rice TodayOctober-December 2011

new

For several years now, I have been

monitoring, with some alarm,

the world population clock on

the ront page o IRRIs Web site.

s clock is orever ticking upward,

ile, at the same time, the global

oductive land clockjust beneath it

orever ticking downward. Truly, this

n inconvenient divergence o more

d more people depending on less

d less arable land, pasture land, and

est rom which they must obtain ood

d other vital resources. The respective

cks are diverging at a current rate o

ound 2.4 persons per second and 1

ctare every 7.67 seconds!

In a ew weeks (31 October to be

act), our population clock, which

have synchronized to match the

edium variant in the United Nations

cent 2010 Revision o the World

pulation Prospects, will reach the 7

lion milestone. It does not escape me

at almost hal o this mass o humanity

ntinues to depend on rice or its

ple ood.

What o the uture? I we ollow the

s medium predictions, our clock will

ow around 9 billion by mid-century

ellow line on the graph)now less

an 40 years awayand level of at

ound 10.1 billion by 2100. However, i

obal ertility were just 0.5 child more

r woman than expected, our clock

2050 and 2100 could show as many

10.6 billion and 15.8 billion (red line

graph), respectivelyvery scary

d hardly imaginable! Going the other

ection with global ertility being

t 0.5 ch ild less per w oman than e xpected, the clock wou ld show

billion in 2050 and then reverse course to only 6.2 billion at the

d o the century (green line on graph). The medium prediction is

obably more likely, at least or 2050, since people who will be 40

ars old and older by then have already been born.Although we should take all three scenarios in the graph with

rain o salt, I think it is probably most prudent to take the middle

ad. I world population does stabilize at around 10 billion by the turn

the century, at which it hopeully will have reached a replacement-

y level, we should be able to meet the still ormidable challenge o

ding that many people with ocused and cutting-edge agricultural

earch. We have the tools availableparticularly in rice research

w driven by the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP)to

rease productivity signicantly in the coming decades.

Shining examples o our impressive research progress to help

tackle problems associated with more people and less land are

Monitoring an inconvenient divergenceshowcased in IRRIs 2010 Annual

Report. In addition, advances we

are making in both avorable and

unavorable rice environments are

eatured in this issue o Rice Today,

where we take close looks at the

Impact o the Irrigated Rice Research

Consortium (IRRC) and Consortium

or Unavorable Rice Environments

(CURE), partners in the highlands.

To underscore the population

dilemma or this issue, we eature

two CGIAR (Consultative Group on

International Agricultural Research)

directors general as special

columnistsPapa Seck, who leads

the Arica Rice Center, one o our

major GRiSP partners; and Shenggen

Fan, at the helm o the International

Food Policy Research Institute in

Washington, D.C. Assuming the 9

billion or so scenario or 2050, Dr. Seck

believes that sub-Saharan Arica will

play a signicant role in global ood

security in the coming decades. This

is because, unlike Asia and Europe,

where the availability o potential land

and water or agriculture is declining,

Arica still possesses a large reservoir o

underused agricultural land and water

resources. In the Grain of Truth section,

Dr. Fan warns that population growth

and land constraints are not the only

orces o change that are challenging

ood security, especially where rice is

concerned. We also have to add to the

mix increased input and labor costs,

water constraints, and climate change.

Adhering to the UNs medium

prediction, the Global Harvest Initiative calculates that, i we are to

eed the 9+ billion people sharing our planet by 2050, we will need

to produce as much ood in the next 40 years as we have in the

last 8,000! As daunting as that concept is, I believe we can improve

productivity enough to achieve it. Ironically, it will be due to whatI call the convenient convergence o solving simultaneously

todays problems o oods, drought, seawater incursion, etc., and

tomorrows problems tied to inevitable climate change and the

continuing inconvenient divergence o more people and less land.

Robert S. Zeigler

Director General

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

01800 1840 1880 1920 1960

Year

2000 2040 2080

Billions of people

Estimated

Actual

UN High

UN Medium

UN Low

AdAptedAndupdAtedfrom LorenCobb,

universityofCoLorAdo

Chalky discovery could increase valueof rice by 25%

In a major discovery, the International

Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

uncovered important genetic

information on what makes rice chalky

an undesirable trait that can devalue the

grain by up to 25%.

This discovery could lead to higher

quality chalk-free rice. Chalk-free

rice has higher milling recovery, which

means better returns for farmers.

Chalk, the white, opaque portion

in rice, increases the chances of the

rice grain breaking when milled. This

reduces the amount of rice recovered, and

downgrades the quality assessment rating

of rice.

Two things cause chalkiness in a

rice grain: genetics and environment,

explains Dr. Melissa Fitzgerald, leader

of IRRIs grain quality and nutrition

research.

Farmers cannot answer for the

genetics of rice; neither can they do

anything about the environment. But,

one thing is clearfarmers want to keep

their grains translucent and appealing to

consumers to gain more from their eld.

Before, rice scientists did not know

where in the rice genome the genes

for chalkiness resided, asserts Dr.

Fitzgerald. For more than 15 years, Dr.

Fitzgerald has been trying to understand

what makes rice chalky because

understanding this will pave the way to

creating chalk-free rice varieties.

Currently, only a few commercially

available rice varieties have genuinely

low chalkiness, says Dr. Fitzgerald.

Our discovery can help us improve onthis.

Dr. Fitzgeralds team, which includes

Dr. Xiangqian Zhao, a postdoctoral

research fellow, Dr. Adoracion

Resurreccion, Ms. Venea Dara Daygon,

and Mr. Ferdinand Salisi, worked

with many lines of rice with different

chalkiness properties.

In 2010, crucial data from eld

tests in eight different countries each

with different growing environments

came in. These eld test results showed

three groups of rice: rice that was

always very high in chalkiness, rice that

varied in chalkiness depending on the

environment, and rice with extremely

low chalk.

After analyzing the third group of

rice, the extremely low chalky ones,

scientists were able to identify major

regions in the rice genome, or candidate

genes, that are responsible for chalkiness.

The discovery of these regions puts IRRI

scientists a step closer to identifying the

actual genes that give rice its ch

We are now working with

extremely low-chalk rice to gen

different breeding lines to deve

chalk-free rice varieties, declar

Zhao. These can help farmers

the amount of edible rice they h

produce higher quality rice, inc

prot, and deliver higher qualit

consumers.

This research is supported

Australian Centre for Internatio

Agricultural Research.

Dr. Melissa Fzgd (far right) nd m m o dvop c- c v.

Chalkthe w, opqu poon n ccn

dvu gn by up o 25% bcu cyc gn mo y o b wn md.

isAgAniserrAno

Chrisquint

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4/27


Rice stakeholders from sub-Saharan

Africa (SSA) recently met and

recommended a series of actions to

prove mechanization to increase the

oductivity and competitiveness of rice

oduction in the region.

The stakeholders emphasized

at small equipment, such as 2-wheel

ctors, row seeders, mechanical

reshers, small combine harvesters, and

mall mills, needs to be tested and, where

ssible, manufactured locally.

National governments were urged

consult research organizations when

porting machinery to ensure that, in

dition to being effective and durable,

e technology is well adapted to local

e-growing conditions and can be

rviced and repaired locally.

According to conservative

timates based on recent surveys in 18

untries in SSA, cutting by half the

-farm postharvest losses through the

e of improved technologies would lead

a savings of 0.9 million tons of milled

e, said Dr. Marco Wopereis, deputy

rector general for research, Africa Rice

nter.

The amount of rice saved is

uivalent to nearly 17% of rice imports

o the region and has a real value of

S$410 million in 2011, he added. This

n help lift about 2.8 million persons in

Rice mechanization roadmap for Africa

rice-farming households out of poverty.

Promising technologies for highly

labor-intensive activities, such as

land preparation, seeding, weeding,

harvesting, and processing of rice,

and sustainable approaches for their

introduction, testing, and outscaling were

presented at the meeting.

The ASI thresher-cleaner was cited

as a successful example. The ASI has

received high recognition in the region,

including the Senegal Presidential Award

and praise from the Chad government.

The participants agreed that the key

factors for a sustainable mechanization

program are appropriate technologies,

sound business principles, local

ownership, dealer support, government

backing, and local training in the u se and

maintenance of equipment.

Source: www.africarice.org

s lk gt c hp

The Bathalagoda Rice Research andDevelopment Institute (RRDI) in SriLanka has reported on its progress inhelping rice farmers deal with climate

change and unpredictable weather.

According to RRDI Director Nimal

Dissanayake, the RRDI has developed

rice varieties and technologies to

cultivate rice with less water without

affecting the yield. This includes a short-

duration rice that can yield 5 tons per

hectare.

Source: www.dailynews.lk

rc b pot ouc

dSM Innovation Center and NutraCeahave announced an agreement toinvestigate extracting and modifyinghigh-quality vegetable proteins from rice

bran.

NutraCeas Chief Executive Of cer

W. John Short said that rice bran is

hypoallergenic and gluten free, has

a full range of amino acids, and is

easily digested, making it a potential

additional protein source to feed a

growing world.

Source: www.foodproductdesign.com

Arice hull gasier engine-pump

developed by the Philippine Rice

Research Institute (PhilRice) not

only cuts costs in running irrigation

pumps but also reduces the carbon

footprint in rice elds.

Rice hullsthe outer layers of a

grain of rice that are removed before the

rice can be eatenare a by-product of

processing rice. The equipment allows

rice hulls to be burned through an

efcient mechanism that generates power

to run pumps to irrigate rice elds.

PhilRice said the local mobile

gasier engine-pump system slashes

irrigation costs by a maximum of 37%

when using gasoline and by 44% if it is

run by diesel.

Field tests also showed the gasier

can endure 100 hours of cumulative use

with minimal problems. The machine,

now made compact, mobile, and

affordable, also reduces greenhouse gas

Caritas joins rice resea

Caritas in Bangladesh has joine

Bangladesh Rice Research Inst

(BRRI) in a 6-year deal for rese

production of rice.

Weve considered Caritas

our worthy partner in rice resea

training, said BRRI Research

Khairul Bashar.

The deal, nanced by the E

Union, includes research, disse

rice-related information, and tr

poor farmers nationwide.

Our partnership will bene

farmers countrywide and help t

country become self-sufcient

said Alo DRozario, Caritas exe

director.

Source: www.cathnewsindia.co

Singapore banks on risecurity

Singapores National Research

Foundation will invest up to US

million over 5 years in a new ri

research program to help ensure

is enough to meet the future dem

Singapore and the region.

The grant will support rese

between the National Universit

of Singapore (NUS) and Temas

Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL

collaboration with the Internati

Research Institute (IRRI).

The project will be led by

Prakash Kumar from the NUS

Department of Biological Scie

and Dr. Naweed Naqvi from TL

Singapore.

This grant from the Natio

Research Foundation will enab

teams to help improve yield andresistance in rice, and to adapt t

to rapidly changing environmen

conditions, said Prof. Kumar.

Dr. Naqvi added, Our

collaboration with IRRI will h

position Singapore as a strateg

in regional and global food sec

will now be able to link the exc

research done here in Singapor

many other rice improvement

worldwide.

Pump cuts carbon emissionsemissions as rice hulls are converted to

power the machine.

Moreover, wastes produced after

rice hull burning within the system can

be used as a soil conditioner in seedbeds,

mulching material, and an ingredient in

producing organic fertilizer.

Arnold S. Juliano, a member of

the team from PhilRice who developed

the machine, said, By continuously

improving the machine, we hope that

more farmer cooperatives will invest,

not only to save, but to help reduce the

contribution of burning rice hulls to

global warming.

In using the machine, Engr. Juliano

advised that the rice hull load should

be clean and dry to produce quality

gas that can run the engine with high

speed and maintain good water-pumping

performance.

Source: w ww.mb.com.ph

the asi c bn dpd ndnoducd by acrc n coboon wirri, non non vc, nd ocmnucu n v coun n Wnd Cn ac.

w m boot Co c

The California Rice Commission(CRC) has ramped up industrymmunication through social mediach as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and

ogs.

This is a new area for us, and

e interest generated through social

edia is encouraging, said rice grower

d CRC Chairman Charley Mathews,

farmer in the Sacramento Valley.

Keeping legislators and others in urban

eas informed about the importance of

alifornia rice is essential in telling our

ory.

In addition to Rice Today, others are also recognizing the looming 7 billion

milestone. For example, National Geographic, throughout 2011, has been

devoting a 7-part series examining specic challenges and solutions. And, the

United Nations Population Fund will start a 7-day count-up beginning on 24

October, which will include a series o events culminating with the launch othe State o World Population 2011 report, which will analyze the challenges

and opportunities presented by a world o 7 billion.

r.rAmAn

phiLriCe


5/27


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Cou tt dt Vu Tgt ptcpt Cou

M ed ia S ki ll s 7 -8 N ov em be r C ol om bo , S ri L an ka C GI AR s en io r s ta f ( by n om in at io n) 1 ,

Leadership Course or Asian and

Arican Women or Research and

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tems (in ESA)

7-18 November Bangladesh Women researchers, research manag-

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RD&E

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28 November

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For inquiries, contact [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

Phone: (63-2) 580-5600, ext. 2538, 2623, 2437, or 2393; ax: (63-2) 580-5699, 891-1292, 845-0606; mailing address: The IRRI Training Center, DAPO B

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7/27


The world population is expected

to increase almostas sure as the

sun rises in the east. Much of this

increase will be concentrated in

veloping countries, with sub-Saharan

frica (SSA) leading the way, as its

pulation is estimated to double from

0 million in 2005 to 1.5 billion by 2050.

According to the United Nations

od and Agriculture Organization

AO), global food production must

crease by 70% to feed the worlda

allenge that has never been as

manding as now, in the face of climate

ange and soaring food prices, which

ict serious damage on the food

curity of the poorest households.

Moreover, the rate of yield growth

major cereal crops dropped from 3.2%

r year in 1960 to 1.5% in 2000. Whilevironmental degradation heightens in

veral parts of the world, the potential

r an increased use of agriculturally

tical natural resources such as land

d water is declining. Climate change is

gravating the severity and uncertainty

weather events.

However, lessons learned from the

st indicate that advances in science

d technology can expand the worlds

ricultural frontier and sufcient food

by Pp abdouye seck

can be produced to nourish the growing

population in the future.

We believe that SSA will play a

signicant role in global food security

in the coming decades. Unlike Asia

and Europe, where the availability of

potential land and water for agriculture

is declining, Africa still has a large

reservoir of underused agricultural land

and water resources.

Only 150 million hectares out of

the total cultivable area of 875 million

hectares are currently harvested. The

continent is using about 4% of its water

resources and has annual renewable

water resources of about 5.4 trillion cubic

meters.

Moreover, several staple food

crops are produced at competitive costs

in SSA. The recent upward trends inagricultural commodity prices reinforce

the competitiveness of agricultural

production in SSA.

ivtg gcutuTo feed around 9 billion people in

2050 (seeMonitoring an inconvenient

divergence on page 4), agriculture

in developing countries needs a net

investment of about US$83 billion per

year, says FAO. In the last two decades,

agriculture was neglected by both

developing countries and donors. The

Organisation for Economic Co-operation

and Development estimates that ofcial

development assistance to agriculture fell

by 43% between the mid-1980s and 2008.

In SSA, agriculture remains a

powerful engine for economic growth,

food security, and poverty reduction,

accounting for 35% of GDP, 75% of

employment, and 40% of exports.

Estimates say that a dollar of farm

income increases the overall economy

(e.g., $1.88 in Burki na Faso and $1.48 in

Zambia). Despite this, SSA governments

have failed to prioritize the sector and

to reverse decades of policy bias against

agricultural production.

In 2003, African countries adopted

the Comprehensive Africa AgricultureDevelopment Programme in Maputo,

Mozambique, and pledged to increase

agricultural spending by at least 10% of

the total government budget by 2008.

But, only eight countries have reached

the 10% budget quota for agriculture, and

the continents average is only 46%.

Without consistent investment in

its own domestic agricultural resources,

SSA cannot fully seize the opportunity

for transforming this strategic sector.

suppotg gcutur&dTo feed the world in 2050,

investments in agricultural

research and extension must

be substantially increased,

particularly in SSA, where

agricultural productivity

generally lags behind the rest

of the world. A case in point:

annual paddy yield in Asia

almost doubled from 2.06 tons

per hectare in the 1960s to 4.06

tons per hectare in the 2000s,

while in SSA it just increased

from 1.81 tons per hectare to

2.31 tons per hectare over the

same period.

Given the context

specicity of agriculture,

technology transfer has limited

effectiveness. In the 1960s, a

stock of proven agricultural

technologies in Asian countries

was assumed to be effective

and adaptable to African conditions.

But, many imported varieties failed

to outperform local species. In fact, out

of more than 2,000 Asian varieties of

mangrove rice for testing in the African

environment, only two performed

comparably to the best local varieties.

Generally, varieties imported from other

regions into SSA were not adapted to

local conditions.

The failure of direct technology

transfer underscores the need for

developing endogenous research

capacities in SSA. Although the internal

rate of return on agricultural research

is above 20%, agricultural R&D has

suffered from decades of inadequate

investments, particularly in the 1980s and

1990s. A recent report, however, indicates

a 20% increase in spending between 2001

and 2008 on agricultural R&D.

Agricultural extension and advisoryservice represent another key area of

investment to stimulate agricultural

productivity in SSA through widespread

dissemination of new information and

knowledge.

Cog th y gpAfricaRice has shown that integrated crop

management (ICM), a step-wise approach

of integrating new technological options

into production systems with full farmer

Feeding theworld in2050

Sub-Saharan Arica will play a vital role

in ood security in the coming decades as

population increases

adoption by farmer

hampered by limite

effective demand, r

access to informati

and credit, as well a

poor instit utional an

infrastructural dev

Despite the ava

improved seed techn

developed by agricu

research organizatio

Africa, adoption by

remains limited. Gr

public involvement

to overcome market

that are affecting th

seed system.

In addition, cor

infrastructure such

electricity, storage,

rural roads is vital t

transform SSAs agr

For instance, better

infrastructure would

reduce transportatio

and improve access to markets.

The average amount of fer

applied in SSA was only about

kilograms per hectare in 2002,

the global average of 101 kilogr

This gap clearly indicates that A

agriculture has enormous produ

potential if only it had better ac

fertilizers.

a combo o ouYet, producing enough food at t

aggregate level will not necessa

translate into adequate food sec

and equitable access to food by

Improving agricultural product

should be a constitutive part of

poor growth strategy that sustai

generation of sufcient off-farm

To feed the world in 2050,

intelligent combination of four

is essential: appropriate technolgood infrastructure, favorable e

and institutional environment, a

preservation of natural resource

then can science be certain of m

greatest impact on resource-poo

and the burgeoning urban popu

2050.

Dr. Seck is the director general

Africa Rice Center.

participation, is a promising way for

SSA, in view of the large gaps between

actual farmers yields and attainable

yields under better management. In Mali,

ICM technological options increased its

average rice yield in irrigated areas from

2 to 6 tons per hectare.

With improved technology, average

yields of cassava more than doubled

from 8.6 tons per hectare to 20.8 tons

per hectare under farmer management.

And, the use of inorganic fertilizer can

increase mean maize yields from 1.4 tons

per hectare to 3.9 tons per hectare.

Closing the yield gap for the main

staple food crops in SSA is critical to

increase agricultural productivity while

meeting the regional and global food

security challenge.

AfricaRices recent simulation

illustrates this point well. By bridging the

attainable yield gap in the three main riceecologies (upland, rainfed lowland, and

irrigated), while doubling the areas under

irrigated and lowland rice production,

SSA can meet its requirements in rice

and even produce a surplus of 5 million

tons for export.

ittuto tuctuvopmtHowever, even with proven agricultural

technologies, dissemination and

r.rAmAn(3)

isAgAniserrAno

iNCreaseD aGriCUltUral poducon y onncng ood cuy n ub-sn ac,w popuon pcd o ncom 770 mon n 2005 o 1.5 bon by 2050.


8/27


Emma is a 38-year-old mother of

eight from the Philippines. She

earns a living as a cleaning lady,

and putting food on the table is

challenge that she and her husband face

ch day.

For Emma and many other families

Asia, rice is the staple food, which

ts up the familys meager budget. We

pend on rice every day, because it

lling, she said. Most of the time,

wever, we cannot afford sh, meat, or

getables. We only sprinkle salt or soy

uce to add some avor or sometimes

epare rice as porridge.

I know this lacks the important

trients that will help make my children

ow healthy, but what can I do? We

ve to ll our stomachs rst, Emma

ments.

Families around the world, like

mmas, consume only nutrient-poor

aple foods because other nutritious

od such as meat products, vegetables,

d fruits are scarce, unavailable, or

o expensive. This contributes to

dden hungermalnutrition from

cronutrients. With the ballooning

orld population, hidden hunger will

o likely rise.

Lack of sufcient vitamin A in

e diet reduces the bodys ability to

ht infections such as diarrhea and

easles. It can also cause blindness and

creases the risk of death. Vitamin A

particularly important for children as

ell as pregnant and lactating women as

eir nutrient needs are increased.

Asia has one of the highest

evalences of vitamin A deciency in

e world. It is considered a public health

oblem in many Asian countries with

.5% of preschool children aficted.

2009, the World Health Organization

ported that more than 90 million

ildren in Southeast Asia suffered from

more than in any other region. Eachar, it is estimated that 670,000 children

der the age of ve die because they are

amin A-decient, and another 350,000

blind.

The Philippines Food and Nutrition

search Institute (FNRI) reported that,

2003, vitamin A deciency aficted

.1% of Filipino children, 15.5% of

egnant women, and 20.1% of lactating

omen, making it a serious public health

ncern.

by M. aiee Gci

To address the vitamin A deciency

problem in the Philippines, the

government, together with nongovernment

organizations and the private sector, has

been implementing far-reaching programs

such as the distribution of vitamin

A capsules. Sangkap Pinoy, a food

fortication program, was also established

to ensure that food products such as

noodles are fortied with vitamin A along

with other micronutrients.

Owing in part to these programs,

recent data indicate that the populations

vitamin A status has improved. The

National Nutrition Survey conducted by

FNRI in 2008 showed a decreasing trend

in vitamin A deciency among children

aged 6 to 59 months (15.2%), pregnant

women (9.5%), and lactat ing women

(6.4%).

Despite these positive developments,

however, vitamin A deciency remains

a signicant public health problem in

many less developed countries according

to Nancy Haselow, vice president

and regional director of Helen Keller

International (HKI). HKI has been

advocating the elimination of vitamin

A deciency for more than 40 years,

working with governments and other

partners to reach those most in need

through various interventions.

She said, The most vulnerable

children and women in hard-to-reach

areas are often missed by existing

interventions that can improve

vitamin A status, including vitamin

A supplementation, food fortication,

dietary diversication, and promotion of

optimal breastfeeding.

Also, interventions such as vitamin

A supplementation are sustainable only

as long as there is funding and political

will to continue. What if support for

these programs halts?

A free-market driven, food-based

effort with wide coverage that reachespoor areas could be more sustainable

toward controlling vitamin A deciency

in the future, thus preventing blindness

and earlier death. What could help ll

the basket of options to tackle vitamin A

deciency?

a go vtgGolden Rice may be part of the

Golden Rice is unique beca

contains beta carotene, which g

a golden color. The body conve

carotene to vitamin A as it is ne

According to research published

daily consumption of a very mo

amount of Golden Riceabout

could supply 50% of the Recom

Daily Allowance of vitamin A

adult.1

Through genetic modicat

Golden Rice contains genes fro

and from a common soil microo

that produce beta carotene in th

It was rst developed by Prof. I

Potrykus, then of the Institute f

Sciences, Swiss Federal Institut

Technology, and Prof. Peter Bey

University of Freiburg, German

By 1999, Prof. Potrykus an

Beyer had produced a prototype

Rice and published their landm

research in Science. Since 2000

research and international colla

on Golden Rice have been supp

funding and in-kind support fro

private, public, and philanthrop

In 2005, a major breakthrough

development of a new Golden R

now produces more beta carote

became the foundation of the cu

efforts.

The beauty of Golden Rice

its potential to reach many peop

may not have regular access to

sources of vitamin Abecause

widely produced and consumed

is eaten and grown in more tha

countries, including the Philipp

and is the staple food for more

billion people. Rice provides 5

the total caloric intake of most

who are most affected by vitam

defciency.

Since a large proportion ovitamin Adecient children an

mothers reside in rice-consumi

populations, particularly in Asi

Rice should substantially reduc

prevalence and severity of vitam

deciency, and prevent at least

1The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .

GoldEn Grainsf bette utt

GOlDeN riCe unqu bcu conn b con, wc gv godn coo.

isAgAniserrAno


9/27


thousands of unnecessary deaths

d cases of blindness every year, said

fred Sommer, professor and dean

meritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg

hool of Public Health. Dr. Sommer, an

ernationally acclaimed public health

entist, has been at the forefront of

amin A deciency research, leading

ajor studies that were fundamental to

e current understanding of the effect of

amin A supplementation on mortality,

alnutrition, and blindness.

If proven effective in improving

amin A status, Golden Rice could

used in combination with existing

proaches, including education,

pplementation, and fortication

ograms, to overcome vitamin A

ciency. Golden Rice could become

rt of the long-sought solution, which

rmers themselves can harvest from

eir own elds, year after year.

Go rc pojctajor nutrition and agricultural research

ganizations are now working together

further develop and evaluate Golden

ce as a potential way to reduce vitamin

deciency in the Philippines and

angladesh, among other countries.

The International Rice Research

stitute (IRRI) leads the Golden Rice

oject and is d irectly involved i n

veral agriculture-related aspects of

e project, including initial breeding

grain and eating qualities while helping

to tackle the pervasive problem of

vitamin A deciency in the Philippines,

said Dr. Antonio Alfonso, chief science

specialist and Golden Rice team leader at

PhilRice.

sty tLike other genetically modied crops,

Golden Rice will be made available to

farmers and consumers only after it has

been approved by national regulatory

bodies.

To help establish the safety of

Golden Rice in the environment, eld

trials and other evaluations will be

conducted in both the Philippines and

Bangladesh. Field trials are important,

too, to show that Golden Rice grows the

same as other rice in local conditions.

Furthermore, these trials will inform the

national regulators about the safety of

Golden Rice, just like in the regulatory

framework of Bangladesh.Golden Rice will be assessed

according to internationally accepted

guidelines for the safe use of modern

biotechnology, such as the Codex

Alimentarius of the Food and

Agriculture Organization and World

Health Organization, OECD Consensus

Guidelines, and the Cartagena Protocol

on Biosafety. Philippine safety

regulations contained in Department of

Agriculture Administrative Order No.

Golden Ricefor Banglades

In Bangladesh, one in evechildren aged 6 months to 5estimated to be vitamin A-dAmong pregnant women, 23low serum retinol levels, indvitamin A deciency.

As in the Philippines, ricindispensable part o the Bangdiet, providing an average than 70% o calories eveUnortunately, most o the tiis all some Bangladeshis can aeat. Although rice lls their stit doesnt provide a source omicronutrients such as vitam

Dr. Alamgir Hossain, who isthe Golden Rice work or BR

that he has been working winventors o Golden Rice aswith IRRI scientists or yeawork ocuses on putting theRice trait into the best allvariet ies, such as BRRI dthe most popular rice vaBangladesh.

As we do in all our workwe will be looking at the peroo the Golden Rice version dhan29 over many generationdiferent regions o Bangladein diferent seasons.

We want to be sure thatRice grows just as well as the so armers wont have to ghigher yield, or pest resistaother attributes in order to hemost in need o a potentiallyand lling meal, he conclud

work to insert the new Golden Rice trait

into rice varieties that were selected by

the Philippine Rice Research Institute

(PhilRice) and the Bangladesh Rice

Research Institute (BRRI). This

involves laboratory work, greenhouse

tests, and some preliminary eld

evaluation. Potential Golden Rice

varieties are then transferred to national

rice institutes for further development

and assessment.

Golden Rice is an incredible

innovation that we are proud to be

working on, said IRRI Director General

Robert Zeigler. It has a huge potential to

help reduce the devastating consequences

of vitamin A deciency in rice-growing

and rice-consuming countries.

In the Philippines, PhilRice is

at the forefront of developing new

Golden Rice varieties that are suited

to specic rice-growing conditions in

the country. One popular rice variety

being developed by PhilRice to have aGolden Rice counterpart is PSB Rc82,

more commonly known in the market

as Pearanda. PhilRice has just recently

conducted a conned eld test, to be

followed by multilocation eld trials

for several seasons, in accordance with

regulatory requirements.

We are conducting our breeding

carefully to make sure that the new

Golden Rice variety retains the same

high yield, pest resistance, and excellent

8, Series of 2002, are based on these

international guidelines.

PhilRice and BRRI will submit all

safety information to their respective

national government regulators, which

may be as early as 2013 in the Philippines

and later in Bangladesh. Regulators will

review these data as part of the approval

process for Golden Rice before it can be

released to farmers and consumers.

C Go rc mk c?Dr. Gerard Barry, Golden Rice network

coordinator and IRRIs Golden Rice

project leader, shared that his team has

been working on Golden Rice since 2006

to develop a safe and effective way to

deal with vitamin A deciency, prevent

blindness, and save lives.

Our latest stage of work is now

supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation, he said. Helen Keller

International, a leading nutrition

organization, will also be involved to

assess the efcacy of Golden Rice. If the

safety of Golden Rice is conrmed, HKI,

with university partners, will conduct

some studies to see whether Golden Rice

could help improve vitamin A status

among decient populations.

PhilRice and BRRI are breeding

the Golden Rice trait into other rice

varieties that are locally adapted and

popular with farmers, matching thei ryields and other performance factors.

Golden Rice seeds and grains will be

available in the market and are expected

to cost farmers and consumers the

same as other rice. Cooking and taste

tests will likewise help make sure

these qualities of Golden Rice meet

consumers needs. The experience

gained in developing, evaluating, and

planning t he delivery of Golden Rice in

the Philippines and Bangladesh will be

important in designing plans fo

Rice in other countries, too.

Golden Rice offers a bright

for nutritionally enhanced cropson the promise of better nutritio

give Emma another nutritious fo

rely on and a chance for her chil

grandchildren to be healthier.

With Emma and those like

serving as an inspiration, the G

Rice project partners continue t

to evaluate the safety and efca

Golden Rice in the Philippines

potential approach to ghting v

deciency.

eMMa's sON pn on c o dd vo.

ParMiNDer Virk, irri no cn; amghon, Brri pncp pn bd; nd anonoaono, Prc pn bd nd Godn rc pojcd (atleft, from left to right).

eMMa lOOks owd o dy wn cn vmo nuou c o cdn ( top).

AiLeengArCiA(2)

seveity o vitmi a defciecy i ai

Source: GlobalPrevalenceo VitaminADefciency inPopulationat Risk19952005: WHO Global

DatabaseonVitamin ADefciency (www.who.int/vmnis/en/)1

Severity cutofs based on serum or plasma retinol 21020%; severe: >20%.


10/27


ounTry SnApShoT:

irri Buu

Buu: t ct

Population (July 2011 estimate): 10.2 million1Total land area (2011): 2.8 million ha

1

Annual rice consumption (2007): 6.2 kg/person2

Area o rice production (2008): 21,000 ha2

Average rice yield (2008): 3.38 tons per ha2

1 CIA World Factbook2 World Rice Statistics, www.irri.org/world-rice-statistics

rice was introduced in Burundi

in 1890, but it did not develop

until 1968, when the rst

irrigated scheme of 2,550

ctares was installed.

Traditionally, in Burundi, rice was

ten only once or twice a year during

asts and festivals. In the 1980s, with

e introduction of locally adapted riced the distribution of rice in schools

d the military by the government,

rapidly became popular. Now, many

urundians eat rice every day.

Burundi has three major rice-

oducing ecologies: the irrigated

eas of the Imbo plain, the rainfed

onirrigated) areas of Imbo and Moso

wlands, and the nonirrigated areas of

e elevated marshland region.

Rice is grown once a year in

mpiled by sophie Cyto

Burundi. The International

Rice Research Institute

(IRRI) estimates that, in

2010, about 75,000 tons of rough

rice wereproduced in the country,and another 40,000 tons of rice

were imported.

IRRI in BurundiIRRI started working in Burundi in 2008

when a Memorandum of Understanding

between the country and the Instit ute was

signed. The beginnings of this agreement

came after current IRRI Liaison Scientist

and Coordinator for Burundi Joseph

Bigirimana attended the Rice Research

to Production Training Course at IRRI

in 2006.

IRRI now has an ofce within the

University of Burundi campus, in the

7

Kilograms per person per year

Buudi: vege ice coumptio

1961-2007

1961 1966 1971 1976 1981

Year

1986 1991 1996 2001 2006

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

capital city of Bujumbura, and employs

six staff: a liaison scientist/coordinator,

four research technicians, and an

administrative assistant.

Rice research and capacity buildingThe institutions involved in rice research

in Burundi are IRRI, the faculties of

agricultural sciences at the University ofBurundi and the University of Ngozi, and

the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques

du Burundi.

Rice breedingSince 2009, IRRIs Burundi ofce has

received and tested 670 rice varieties

from IRRI headquarters. Variety

IR77713 is due for release in 2011,

pending national approval. It is suitable

for irrigated areas on the Imbo plain,

where it can yield an average of 6.57

tons per hectare, which is 1.5 tons per

hectare more than the average yields of

current popular local varieties. It matures

23 weeks earlier, providing grain and

food earlier in the season and leaving

more time to grow other crops. Another

pending variety is IR79511.

Farmers have eld- and quality-tested IR77713 and I R79511 and they

have ranked both varieties higher

in terms of grain quality (unmilled,

milled, and cooked rice) than the current

varieties.

IRRI continues to develop more

high-yielding, high-quality rice varieties

suited to Burundi, such as varieties with

better tolerance of cold temperatures,

salinity, and iron toxicity and resistance

to blast and sheath rot.

Rice production training for woIn 2010, 398 ex-combatant wom

trained in a joint IRRI-CARE p

in all aspects of rice production

Women of war turn to rice in B

page 28.)

Tackling blastBlast is the most serious diseas

affects rice production in Burun

total of 29 rice lines, each conta

blast-resistance gene, have been

tested in two hot spots in the co

Results showed that nine genes

resistance to local strains of lea

blast. Breeding programs will n

on these genes in an effort to im

resistance to local blast strains.

Collaboration and policyIRRI works together with

nongovernment organizations a

national, regional, and internati

stakeholders in Burundi. It also

an active role in the national co

for rice-sector development und

Ministry of Agriculture in Buru

Small-scale mechanizationIRRI has trained its technicians

Burundi to use its recently acqu

two-wheeled hand tractor and t

Now, it aims to demonstrate the

of the equipment to farmers. Us

these farm machines can save t

labor, and money, which can th

lower rice prices. IRRI is talkin

the Burundi government to plan

increased efciency in rice prod

through mechanization and also

at alternative employment optio

farm laborers.

Capacity buildingIRRI is actively encouraging a

supporting the education and t

Burundian rice researchers, teand extension ofcers through

courses and graduate studies (M

and PhD). In addition, the Inst

is looking at developing a Buru

Rice Knowledge Banka Web

based repositor y of best pract i

information about all aspects o

production spe cic to Bur undi

aims to extend its farmer eld

beyond the Imbo plai n to other

growing areas in Burundi.

IRRI Sites

Lowland

High elevation

NgoziAkagoma

GihangaMugerero

Bujumbura

KirundoKireka

Muramba

Cankuzo-MishihaMbaragaMwiruzi

MutimbuziKirekura

KinamaMubone

Rugombo

nduWimAnAJuLien(2)

Dr. JOsePh Bgmn,on cn, o v o ofc nirri n Buund.

ex-COMBataNt womn n Buund nng o gow c oug irri.

mAp:hAbArugirAgeorges


11/27


Rice breeders in sub-

Saharan Africa (SSA)

are an endangered

species, according to Dr.

oussa Si, Africa Rice Center

fricaRice) senior scientist.

ince classical plant breeding

no longer fashionable, veryw students are taking up this

scipline, he remarked. Even

e handful of rice breeders who

e working in national programs

day are generally above 45 years

d.

A survey, which was

nducted among AfricaRices

ember countries, veries his

servation. It showed that even

country the size of Nigeria has

ly two rice breeders. Africa

eds trained rice breedersmost

frican countries have none, said

o Annan, chair of the Alliance

r a Green Revolution in Africa,

inting out the lack of national

pacity in rice breeding.

Drawing attention to the

sperate lack of research

d extension capacity, which

reatens to impede the progress

developing Africas rice sector,

rticipants of the Second Africa Rice

ongress, held in March 2010, urgedfrican governments and their partners

substantially strengthen the training

d retention of new staff.

The Congress also called for the

vival of the successful Task Force

proach, introduced by AfricaRice in

e 1990s. The Task Force consists of

Africa-wide collective research for

velopment effort on critical thematic

eas in the rice sector, based on the

nciples of sustainability, buildup

of critical mass, and ownership by the

national agricultural research systems

(NARS).

The Africa Rice Breeding Task ForceIn response to this call, the Africa Rice

Breeding Task Force was launched in

June 2010 to regroup scarce human

resources devoted to rice breeding in

Africa and help build a new generation of

rice breeders across the continent.

The main thrust of the Breeding

Task Force is to adopt a systematic

collaborative approach to rice breeding

that will build much-needed

rice breeding capacity, facilitate

access of African rice breeders

to new materials, stimulate rice

germplasm evaluation across

the continent, and, in general,

shorten the time needed to deploy

new climate-resilient and stress-tolerant rice varieties for major

production systems in SSA.

The international

agricultural research centers

(IARCs) cannot do this alone nor

can the NARS, said Dr. Si, who

is the overall coordinator of this

Task Force, which is supported by

the joint IRRI-AfricaRice Japan-

funded breeding project.

Dr. Si described the

Breeding Task Force as a

partnership of rice breeders

from NARS and IARCs in

Africa, which willprovide

synergy to breeding efforts

across the continent, thereby

increasing impact. To enhance

communication and collaboration

among all the partners of the

Breeding Task Force, a dedicated

Web site has been developed. (See

www.africarice.org/afribreed/.)

The scope of the forceThe Breeding Task Force covers mainly

the four mega-environments in SSA

the rainfed lowland, irrigated, upland,

and high-elevation ecologies. The

challenges in these mega-environments

are many and breeders must be able

to tackle these challenges through

improvements in productivity, stability

and adaptability and grain quality of rice.

Responsibilities for the different

mega-environments have been divided

among AfricaRice and IRRI breeders

based in Africa, who work closely with

their NARS colleagues.

The main thrust of the Breeding

Task Force consists of a 3-phase

evaluation of rice breeding lines from

IARCs and NARS, starting from the

regional trial, then national

trials, and participatory

varietal selection trials (a rice

garden followed by 2 years

of mother/baby trials). These

trials are done in multiple

locations in different countries

(please see the map of Africa

Rice Breeding Task Force trial

sites).

The International Network

for the Genetic Evaluation of

Rice (INGER)-Africa plays a

key role in the multiplication

and distribution of new seedfor in-country hotspot testing

and participatory varietal

testing trials and genotype-

environment analyses.

Takashi Kumashiro,

regional theme leader of

GRiSP Themes 11

and 22

and leader of the AfricaRice

Program on Genetic Diversity

and Improvement, explained

that one of the unique features

of such an approach is that

the breeding lines that enter

the Task Force are provided

by not one but many institutes

such as NARS in Africa as

well as IRRI, the International

Center for Tropical Agriculture

(CIAT), and AfricaRice.

For example, in 2011,

the breeding lines nominated

for the lowland regional trial

consisted of 13% lines from the

NARS, 34% from AfricaRice,

14% from IRRI, and 39% fromCIAT.

The Task Force thus

enables the evaluation of many

breeding lines with prior

data on performance from

different sources under different

biophysical and socioeconomic

by sviti Mohpt

1 Theme 1: Harnessing genetic diversity to chart new productivity, quality, and health horizons.2 Theme 2: Accelerating the development, delivery, and adoption of improved rice varieties.

Unleashing the forceThe Arica Rice Breeding Task Force responds to the call or an improved research and extension capacity

on the continent through a collaborative approach to rice breeding

Mutitge regio Ti netwok

Arica Rice Breeding Task Force

Lines developed by ongoing AricaRice

Projects STRASA, GSR, GCP, Japan RiceBreeding, etc.

Varieties dveloped by

NARES, IRRI, CIAT

BreedingTask Force

500 lines/year

100 lines/year

50 lines/year

5 nominatedlines/year

Regional trials

National trials

Recommendation to target countries

Multilocation trial

Multilocation trial

Baby trial

Baby trial

Rice garden

are expected to enhance the qua

evaluation.

This will result in increase

credibility on recommended va

well as credibility of data accum

We expect that this will shorte

lag between the completion of b

and the ofcial approva

varietal release, Dr. Ku

stated.

Training programs

breeding, experimental

and germplasm databas

management have been

organized to upgrade th

of rice researchers, inclu

training course held at I

October 2010 for rice br

from various Asian and

African countries as we

training workshop organ

AfricaRice in Decembeto introduce the principl

new concepts of the exp

planning for plant breed

The Task Force wil

support MSc and PhD s

and link up with Global

Science Scholarships (G

and other types of scho

Spotting the championThe key to the success

Africa Rice Breeding T

will be timely and qual

collection, managemen

interpretation for sound

on moving germplasm

in the various trials, ac

Dr. Kumashiro. If that

well, smart G E (geno

by environment) analys

enable us to select prom

breeding lines to proce

next phase, that is, spot

Olympic champions e

Hopefully, these Olymchampions will help re

some barriers toward im

quality and quantity of

production on the conti

and put Africa on the m

potential sources of ric

security in the world.

conditions. This feature is a bit like the

Olympic Games, Dr. Kumashiro said.

The second unique feature is that the

breeding lines will be cultivated at many

sites and exposed to not just a few but

many breeders from different institutes.

The multiyear and multilocation trials

sOMe MeMBers o ac rc Bdng t Foc m (om leftto right): M. Bnc Bnco, booy cncn; M. abdouysow, gonom; D. Mmdou MB Couby, c; Bdng tFoc; D. Jmmy lmo, vc-c, Bdng t Foc, nd D. Mous, coodno, Bdng t Foc.

r.rAmAn

Mp o ac rc Bdng t Foc .

High elevation

Irrigated lowland

Rainfed lowland

Rainfed lowland and upland

Upland

kilometers


12/27

n Asia, where about 90% of rice is

grown, hundreds of millions of rural

poor grow rice on less than a hectare

of land.

Producing affordable rice for the

or has been a challenge for the last 50

ars. During the 2008 rice price crisis,

anges in rice availability and price

used social unrest in some developing

untries. The International Rice

search Institute (IRRI) estimates that

additional 810 million tons of rice

ed to be produced each year to keep

e prices stable.

The challenge now is to grow more

e with less land, less water, and less

bor amidst climate change.

egional approach to food security1997, the Swiss Agency for

evelopment and Cooperation (SDC)

gan funding the Irr igated Rice

search Consortium (IRRC), which

ovides a platform for partnership in

search and extension in the intensive

wland irrigated rice-based production

stems.

Initially, the IRRC focused on

egrated pest management (IPM)

d nutrient management. However,

nce 2002, the IRRCs research has

atured water-saving technologies, labor

stainability (including direct seeding

d weed and rodent management),

stharvest management, crop health

tiatives, and, recently, climate change11 countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia,

hina, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR,

yanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam,

d the Philippines.

The IRRC develops partnerships to

entify the needs of rice farmers and

tential solutions to their problems,

d to facilitate the adoption of suitable

chnologies. It provides a range of

chnologies for rice farmers and other

akeholders in Asia to improve their

per hectare. In 2009 alone,

partners reporte d 120,000

farmers adopting AWD.

The private sector

promotes AWD by

producing tubes that are

used to monitor water

levels in the eld. Although

thousands of farmers are

practicing AWD in the

country, a 2010 adoption

study reported that, with

millions of farmers still to

be reached, adoption is in

its infancy.

Around 40,000 farmers

in Vietnam are practicing

AWD, and more farmers

are expected to be reached through a

new IRRC-An Giang Department of

Agriculture and Rural Development

initiative: the One Must Do, Five

Reductions Program. In 2010, Lao PDR,

Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand

started or successfully demonstrated

AWD.

Personalized precision farmingMost farmers lack knowledge on the

most effective use of fertilizer. They

either apply too much or too little, or

apply it at the wrong time. Too much

nitrogen fertilizer leads to increases

in diseases and pests, damage to the

environment, and low prot. For more

than a decade, IRRI soil scientist Roland

Buresh, leader of the IRRC Productivity

and Sustainability Work Group, has been

working with partners in Asia to provide

site-specic nutrient management

(SSNM) practices for rice.Since 2003, correct fertilizer timing

and application rates have greatly

increased farmers yields compared with

traditional practices. Yield increases

from adopting SSNM have improved

net returns by $100 to $300 per hectare

per year in China, India, Indonesia,

Vietnam, and the Philippines. An impact

assessment study on SSNM in the Red

River Delta in Vietnam revealed a 2%

and 3% increase in net present values for

smallholder farmers in Ha Tay and Ha

Nam provinces, respectively. Farmers

who used SSNM reported a reduced use

of pesticides.

Encouraging farmers to use SSNM

has been a challenge because it is

knowledge-intensive and many factors

need to be considered, such as crop yield

and the use of organic materials. This has

slowed down farmers adoption of these

improved practices.

But, this speed bump did not slow

down Dr. Buresh and his group, who

looked for ways to make their science

simpler for the farmers. The leaf color

chart (LCC) was developed as a tool for

farmers to assess the nitrogen needs of

their crop. In Bangladesh, an estimated

600,000 farmers use LCCs, which has

increased the efciency of urea fertilizer

use, enabling farmers to harvest more

rice with less expense for purchased

fertilizer.Farmers learned about the use of

potassium and phosphorus fertiliz ers,

and gained new knowledge on other

micronutrients. They were able to save

$25 per hectare in production costs and

harvested higher yields.

In 2008, SSNM principles were

packed into a computer-based decision-

making tool calledNutrient Manager

for Rice. A farmer or extension worker

only needs to answer about 15 questions

and, within 510 m

a fertilizer guidelin

provided for a eld

Web and mobile ph

versions were deve

in the Philippines. W

applications of the

Managerare now a

for Guangdong, Ch

Indonesia, while ap

for Bangladesh, Vi

southern India, and

Africa are under w

Saving labor and wIn the Indo-Ganget

which covers most

northern and easte

and almost all of Bangladesh, f

face rising costs, waning produ

worsening soil health, and labo

shortages, as many people mov

cities to nd work. Farmers dep

the monsoon rains, and they can

if the rains come too late.

Led by IRRI weed scientis

Johnson, the IRRC Labor Produ

and Community Ecology Work

promotes direct seeding of rice

alternative way to establish a cr

direct seeding, pregerminated s

are sown directly into a nonoo

saturated eld, using a drum se

Direct seeding allows quic

preparation, and farmers can sa

in labor costs and 30% in water

It takes 50 person-days to trans

hectare of rice, but it takes only

days to directly seed using a dru

seeder.

Direct-seeded rice maturesdays earlier, allowing farmers t

other crops earlier. In a partners

with Indias Ramakrishna Miss

2010, direct seeding (wet or dry

farmers elds helped the early

of autumn and winter paddy, pr

new opportunities for improved

cropping practices through earl

of planting, new cultivars, and n

An earlier winter rice harvest m

earlier potato planting and a lar

Technologies meet farmers by Ti leh Medoz and Gt sigHundreds o thousands o Asian armers are adopting a range o IRRC-acilitated

echnologies because o the many impressive economic, social, and environmental benefts

Rice TodayOctober-December 2011Rice TodayOctober-December 2011

livelihoods and increase rice production

to maintain food security.

Hundreds of thousands of Asian

farmers are now adopting these

technologies because of impressive

economic, social, and environmental

benets. This article examines some of

these successes.

More rice, less waterIrrigated lowland rice is usually grown

under ooded conditions, and kept

ooded to help control weeds and pests.

However, researchers found that riceneeds to be continuously ooded only at

the owering stage. Through alternate

wetting and drying (AWD), a water-

saving practice, elds can be dried

for 110 days before being re-ooded.

Farmers can save 1530% of water and

still harvest the same yields. The water

saved can be used to irrigate more elds,

thus increasing overall production. If

AWD were to be adopted all across

Asia, the amount of water saved in one

year would equal 200 times the water

consumption of Paris for a year.

The IRRC Water-Saving Work

Group led by IRRI water scientist Ruben

Lampayan began studying AWD with

Philippine partners and farmers in

several national irrigation systems in

2002. In 2009, the Philippine government

approved the endorsement of AWD for

nationwide adoption. By July 2011, more

than 80,000 Filipino farmers had adopted

AWD.

Introduced in Bangladesh in

2004, AWD is now being promotedby government and nongovernment

agencies. The secretary of the Ministry of

Agriculture endorsed AWD in 2009, and

directed the governments Department

of Agriculture and Extension (DAE)

to promote the technology nationwide.

Along with other agencies, the DAE

promoted AWD in over 50 districts in

2010. Field studies reported a decrease

in pumping cost and fuel consumption,

and an increased income of US$6797

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Rice TodayOctober-December 2011Rice TodayOctober-December 2011

rvest, and reduced fungicide usage and

ought risk.

In northwest Bangladesh, direct

eding combined with shorter duration

e varieties, appropriate weed

anagement, and crop diversication is

lping to ease monga, a seasonal hunger.

ch year, farm workers suffer from

onga from September to November as

ey wait for the wet-season harvest.

In monga-affected districts of

angpur and Nilphamari, farmers who

rectly seeded their rice got higher

t returns in both the wet and dry

asons. Yields of directly seeded

ops in the wet season were higher by

3 kilograms per hectare, and total

oduction cos ts were lower by $47 per

ctare than on farms with transplanted

e. Planting of potato, maize, and

heat on time in the dry season

owed farmers to sell their crops at

gher prices, because they were able

harvest earlier when supply in the

arket was still relatively low. On-time

anting of the se dry-seas on crops also

sulted in better yields. Net incomes

farmers who directly seeded during

e wet and dry seasons were higher by

41 per hectare than for farmers who

ansplanted.

With the earlier harvest of the

rectly seeded rice crop in the wet

ason, 5559 person-days per hectare

n potentially be hired during

rvesting, thus easing the problem of

employment.

ologically based rodent managementis not uncommon for farmers to lose

lf of their entire crop to rats, because

damage is usually patchy and family

e plots are small. Surprisingly, only

% of the many different species of

dents are pests in agriculture. The

allenge is to develop ways to control

the pests without greatly affecting those

that are benecial in our environment.

Farmers are adopting a simple,

environment-friendly community

method called ecologically based rodent

management (EBRM). With EBRM,

farmers are encouraged to conduct

control methods as a community, such as

planting synchronously and hunting rats

together. EBRM reduces rodent damage

by 3350%, and increases rice yield by

25%. It also reduces rodenticide use by

6290%.

EBRM has been adopted as the

national policy for rodent management

in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. It

also was recently included in a national

integrated crop management program in

Indonesia, which was promoted through

50,000 farmer eld schools in 2009 and

2010.

The impact of rodent outbreaks

in different parts of the world washighlighted in the 2010 bookRodent

outbreaks: ecology and impacts,

published by IRRI.

Reducing postharvest lossesAsian rice farmers lose 3050% of

their earnings from harvest to market.

IRRI postharvest specialist Martin

Gummert leads the IRRC Postproduction

Work Group in tackling problems on

postharvest losses by providing best

practices and technologies to farmers and

other stakeholders. Since 2005, activities

have been funded by SDC and the Asian

Development Bank.

The mechanical at-bed dryer,

which produces better quality rice

than sun drying, was introduced in

Cambodia, Myanmar, and Lao PDR.

Farmers groups and private companies

themselves provide funds to install

more dryers in different provinces. As

many as 35,000 farmers in Myanmar

beneted from using at-bed dryers. In

Cambodia, traders pay 20% higher for

dry paddy, and an additional 1012%

for mechanically dried paddy. In the

Philippines, third-generation at-bed

dryers were transferred from Vietnam,

and adaptation trials are ongoing.

Stakeholders in Cambodia,

Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao PDR,

Vietnam, and the Philippines tested

small-scale hermetic (airtight) storage

systems for grains and seeds. Local

distributors were established as well. An

impact survey indicated that Cambodian

farmers who use IRRI Super bags

reduced their seed rates by 22 kilograms

per hectare. In Myanmar, a lo cally

manufactured bag for rice seeds was

developed, with over 10,000 bags sold to

farmers.

Partners share their experiences

in using these postharvest technologies

through national learning alliances

(LA) in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the

Philippines. Five regional LAs have been

established in Vietnam.

Successes in SulawesiThrough country outreach programs

in Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, and

the Philippines, combinations of IRRC

technologies are showing positive results

in trials in farmers elds.

From 2008 to 2011, an IRRC-led

project funded by the Australian Centre

for International Agricultural Research

focused on raising rice productivity in

South and Southeast Sulawesi, two major

rice-producing provinces in eastern

Indonesia.

Farmers in four villages tested

AWD, integrated pest management, and

direct seeding (using a drum seeder) with

appropriate weed management. EBRM,

storing seeds using the IRRI Super bag,

and fertilizer management (using a soil

test kit and the computer-basedNutrient

Manager) were also benchmarked.

Farmers obtained a substantial

increase in yields of 0.5 to 2.3 tons per

hectare. The increase in mean farmer

income ranged from 22% to 566%,

signicantly higher than the 10% target

of the project.

The number of farmers adopting

direct seeding almost doubled in

Southeast Sulawesi, from 26% in the

2008 wet season to 48% in the 2010 wet

season.

None of the farmers had heard of the

Nutrient Managerin 2008, but, in 2010,1455% of the farmers had heard about it

and 1020% had used it.

Compared with farmers in control

villages, the number of farmers with

improved knowledge on key insect pest

management principles doubled. For

water management, none of the farmers

had heard of AWD in 2008, but, in 2010,

1980% of the farmers in the project

villages had adopted AWD.

The projects adaptive research

approach was integrated into a

program called Integrated Crop

Management-Farmer Field Scho

Closing yield gaps in Southeast The IRRC has proven to be an e

platform for delivering new tec

to small-scale rice farmers acro

With over a decade of valuable

experiences under its belt, the I

envisions that it will continue to

scientic leadership and essenti

networks for environmentally s

increases in rice production in S

Asias main rice bowls.

The impacts have been imp

so far, and the IRRC, through it

national partners in both the pu

private sector, has a key role to

facilitating food security in the

Dr. Singleton is coordinator of

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14/27

Rice TodayOctober-December 2011 Rice TodayOctober-December 2011odayOctober-December 2011, Vol. 10, No. 4

Th cow cty o dhk Bgh pt p poputo gowth ub vop cout ut 2050. Th ub vub to ufct oo cuty. dug th 2008 oo pc c, th ub poo w ht th ht.


15/27


Burundi is a small landlocked

country in Central Africa. Long-

standing tribal conicts in the

country broke out into a civil war

1993 that lasted 12 years and resulted

more than 200,000 deaths.

In 2006, a year after the conict

ded, a horrendous 83% of Burundians

ere found living below the international

verty standard of less than US$1.25 a

y.1

By 2010, Burundi ranked alongside

neighbor, the Democratic Republic of

e Congo, as the poorest country in the

orld.2

omen o waruring the war, women in Burundi

t only hid, fed, and looked after

ale combatantsincluding their own

ns, brothers, and husbandsbut they

ere also recruited to take up arms

emselves.

The United Nations (UN) news

rvice, IRIN, recorded an interview

th Annabelle Nshimirimana, an ex-mbatant in Burundi:

3

We used to leave home [carrying

od] at around 8 p.m. and walk and walk;

e arrived at their [Forces nationales de

eration] hiding places at dawn.

The next night, we walked back

home, taking care nobody observed our

absence. It was a difcult task because it

was a long way through the mountains.

Sometimes, we were ambushed and

forced to ght.

After the war, many ex-combatant

women were left scarred both physically

and mentally and without money or

resources to rebuild businesses or

livelihoods. And, they became social

outcasts.

The UN and other organizations

work with governments to reintegrate ex-

combatants into society. But, in Burundi,

to be included in the UNs Disarmament,

Demobilization, and Reintegration

program, ex-combatants had to either

own or have direct access to a rearm

themselves or pass a prociency test in

handling weapons.4

This excluded many

women ex-combatants from the formal

reintegration programs.

Replacing bullets with skillsIn 2009, a team of organizations, with

nancial support from the Howard Buffet

Foundation, got together to help those

unofcial ex-combatant women in

Burundi who had fallen through the gaps.

They provided a holistic approach to

empower these women economically and

socially.

CARE, Survivor Corps, and

CEDAC5

focused on the psychosocial

aspects of reintegration, while

CONSEDI6

provided vocational

training for the participants economic

development. The International Rice

Research Institutes (IRRI) role was to

improve their income by teaching them

how to grow rice and by introducing new

rice production technologies.

Rice is an increasingly important

crop in Burundi (see Country snapshot

on pages 18) and the women traditionally

provide food for their families. They are

the main source of agricultural labor for

food production.

IRRI and CARE organized about

400 ex-combatant women into 10 groups

to grow rice on 10 hectares of land, said

Mr. Joseph Rickman, IRRIs regional

coordinator for East and Southern Africa.

The project supplied the necessarystart-up nancing for renting land, seed,

and fertilizer, while the women provided

the labor. Each group was visited by

the project team weekly to provide the

necessary training.

The women were taught how to

grow rice through a farmer eld school.

Representatives of the womens groups

learned all aspects of rice production,

from land preparation to rice harvesting

and drying. Back in their own elds,

these women, in turn, shared their

knowledge with their colleagues.

From the prots the women made in

the rst season, they were able to pay for

their own land and inputs the following

year, said Dr. Joseph Bigirimana, liaison

scientist and coordinator for IRRI in

Burundi.

These ex-combatant Burundiwomen are turning their own lives

aroundthey just needed a hand to

get started, he added. Now, they are

helping our country attain rice self-

sufciency and build a more stable future

for all Burundians.

In their own wordsDuring a group interview with women

involved in the project, they all indicated

that the most important aspect of the

With IRRIs assistance, I

produce rice myself and Ican eat rice with my children

whenever I need it.

Ms. Elisabeth Nibigira

Womn of wa tn to ic in BndSophie Clayton and Alaric Francis Santiaguel

x-combatant women in Burundi try a second chance or a peaceul lie by turning to rice arming

The World Bank, http://data.worldbank.org/.Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): The World Factbook, http://snipurl.com/cia-facts.RIN news item: Female ex-combatants picking up the pieces (Bu rundi), http://snipurl.com/burundi _women2.

United Nations Disarmament, Demobilization, and ReintegrationBurundi Programme, http://snipurl.com/burundi_women.Le Centre dEncadrement et de Dveloppement des Anciens Combattants (Council for the Training and Development of Former Combatants).Council on Integrated Develop

Rice Today Vol. 10, No. 4

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