Ripple Jan Apr 2012

January-April 2012 1RIPPLE

April 2006, Vol. 1, No. 2 www.irri.org/irrc

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Rice Research for Intensified Production and Prosperity in Lowland Ecosystems

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Volume 7, Number 1, 20th issue • January-April 2012

External review paves the way for new 4-year project

Story on page 2

Phot

o by

Ari

el Ja

vella

na

IN THIS ISSUE...Not all flat bed dryers are

created equal................3Laser leveling for rice emerges in

Southeast Asia...............4Spreading the good news...........7Postharvest team reviews

pilot activities, addresses rice postproduction challenges.............10

Sustainable rice platform workshop held in the Philippines..............11

IRRC anthropologist pursues her PhD...............11

IRRC researcher co-authors high profile impact study of IRRI rice varieties..........12

PROFILESouth Sulawesi’s homegrown

champion..................8A vision for Vietnam.................9

2 RIPPLEJanuary-April 2012

Grant SingletonCover story

(f) There has been remarkable impact at policy level, getting technologies adopted by governments. This is a cumulative effect of continuous engagement in policy dialogue by IRRI with national staff, and identifying and then fostering national “champions.”

(g) An impressive communication strategy, which includes high-quality web access to IRRC outputs, the RIPPLE newsletter, the computer-based decision support tool “Nutrient Manager,” and extension material such as videos produced with substantial farmer involvement has been effectively used.

The external review team summarized their conclusions as follows: the “IRRC is an important part of IRRI and GRiSP (Global Rice Science Partnership). It is well on track to achieve many of its ambitious goals. Adoption and impact at farmers’ level is evident. NARES see IRRC as a mechanism to integrate technologies, to massively scale them out to farming communities, and to prepare for further up-scaling of interventions. IRRI scientists see in IRRC a platform to get technologies to farmers.”

Moving forward in 2012The SDC has invited the IRRC

to develop a new research project for 2013-2016 based on a research

proposal presented at the October 2011 meeting of the IRRC Steering Committee. The IRRI and SDC decided that it is timely for the IRRC to adopt a new structure that will enable partnerships on closing yields gaps and promoting environmentally sustainable production in four or five key rice bowls. There will be geographic hubs in three countries in Southeast Asia (to be decided), East Asia (China), and South Asia (Sri Lanka).

Consultations with key NARES partners began in 2011 and will continue through the first half of 2012. A concept note will be submitted to SDC by the end of March 2012. In June, Indonesia will host a meeting of representatives from the partner countries involved in the new proposal. Our partners will provide essential input into the development of the final project proposal that will be submitted in late October.

The IRRC Phase IV has had a resounding endorsement and we look forward to more exciting research and development outputs aimed at raising the livelihoods of farmers in the Asian region.

(A copy of the external review is available at www.irri.org/irrc.)

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) received a glowing endorsement from a

four-member external review team. The review team was commissioned by Achim Dobermann, IRRI deputy director general for research. The team reported to both the Deputy Director and Carmen Thoennissen, program manager of IRRC Phase IV at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The reviewers from Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Australia strongly recommended to SDC that a new project be considered for funding from 2013 to 2016.

The reviewers provided strong endorsement of the IRRC and highlighted the following achievements during 2009-2011:

(a) IRRC technologies are presently used by 500,000 to 1 million farmers, with yield and income improvements of 10–20%.

(b) Social impact is evident, especially where collective action is part of the technology implementation.

(c) More than 7,000 Asian counterparts have attended training events arranged by the IRRC.

(d) IRRC scientists generated more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.

(e) There is an impressive network with the scientific community worldwide.

External review paves the way for new 4-year projectPhoto by R

ona Niña R

ojas

The external reviewers (from left to right: Jonathan Banks, Karin Zbinden, Frits Penning de Vries, and Urs Scheidegger) presented a preliminary report to the IRRC staff on their last day in IRRI. Discussions on the report followed right after.


In RIPPLE May-August 2009, we published the article “PRPC engineers test and evaluate DA

flat-bed dryer.” It was brought to our attention that this article created some controversy and may have influenced some decisions about outscaling the flat bed dryer technology in the Philippines. In this article, I provide a clear context for our previous article and seek to clarify misconceptions raised by the article.

BackgroundWhen the testing of the dryer

was undertaken, the implementation of the flat bed dryer promotion program of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) was in full swing. It was the Philippine Rice Postproduction Consortium (PRPC) who initiated the testing activity. At IRRI, we received feedback from the users of these dryers, mainly complaints to the effect that the flat bed dryer technology did not work. We were asked whether we approved of such an inefficient technology. Although some recipients of the dryer were pleased with the performance of their dryers, the “reputation” of the flat bed drying technology in the Philippines was at risk. With more than 6,200 units of similar flat bed dryers in Vietnam (RIPPLE October-December 2008), the increasing private sector-driven installations in Myanmar and Cambodia, and the reported benefits from using flat bed dryers in Indonesia (RIPPLE April-June 2008), we know that the technology is sound and the reasons for failure have to be sought somewhere else.

The Philippine studyIt is important to demonstrate

that a good flat bed dryer works well if it is constructed and operated according to design specifications. The PRPC requested IRRI to lead the testing team. The team was provided access to two dryers that were installed under the guidance

of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). Both operators, an irrigators association and a private owner, reported some problems with grain quality and drying time. These were attributed to high temperature in the first case and to low fan speed in the second. In both cases, the dryers performed to expectation once the management problems were corrected. The PRPC Steering Committee submitted a proposal to test dryers installed by the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), but BPRE management did not respond. Our article in RIPPLE (May-August 2009) concluded that the flat bed drying technology is “both functionally and technically sound” and stressed the importance of training. We felt that our message was important to safeguard the reputation of the flat bed dryer technology.

What the article did not mention was the involvement of different institutions involved in the installation of flat bed dryers. Some members of the testing team wanted to test the dryers installed by other institutions but the necessary contacts and access were not provided. Many of those other dryers were supposedly of poor technical quality and some recipients reported not receiving any training at all.

About 2 years later, I was informed that the RIPPLE article had been taken out of context and was used to “rubber stamp” the activities of the dryer promotion program, regardless of the source of the dryer and the quality of manufacturing. This apparently alienated some at the government level, who advocate a better program.

Two major lessons can be learned from this development:

• We researchers need to be more vocal not only about technical issues of our research but also how research outputs are being used. We need to be cognizant of sensitivities of national programs but at the same time be able to provide objective advice.

• We need to have more dialogue with and feedback from decisionmakers and policy specialists who design national outscaling programs. The aim is to reduce the potential for misunderstanding and possible misuse of scientific reports.

I personally apologize for any negative effect the article might have had on the design of the program in the Philippines. I encourage our readers to actively give us feedback on any of our articles and activities, and bring to our attention policy and social impacts we have not anticipated (be they positive or negative).

Not all flat bed dryers are created equal Martin Gummert

The left photo shows a good blower with sturdy housing, properly shaped blades, and little clearance between fan blades and housing. The one on the right shows a low-quality blower that was replaced by a user in Agusan del Norte, Philippines, in 2011. It has a shortened and weak housing made from thin metal sheet and no reinforcements, sub-optimally shaped fan blades, big clearance between blades and housing, and a lousy finish, obviously made to save cost. The fan shown on the right cannot deliver the airflow and pressure needed.

Two different FBD fans with 4–6 ton capacity: Manufacturing quality is as important as technical design and training.

Photo on the left by Trina Mendoza


Laser leveling for rice emerges in Southeast Asia

A well-leveled rice field creates a ripple effect of benefits for the farmer: uniform water

coverage, better crop establishment and care, less time needed to do tasks, less weed problems, higher yields, and more. Traditionally, most farmers in Asia use draft animals and two-wheel tractors that drag harrows and leveling boards across the fields to level their land. In developed countries such as Australia, the United States, and Japan, laser land leveling is commonly used in agricultural applications.

With laser land leveling, a laser transmitter sends a laser beam to the laser receiver, which is attached to the leveling bucket. The control panel or box mounted on the tractor interprets the signal from the receiver and opens or closes the hydraulic valve, which will raise or lower the bucket, and drag and drop soil across the field to make it even.

Some Asian countries have started to adopt the technology. In India, around 7,000 farmers now own 10,000 laser-leveling equipment,

and almost 1 million hectares of land have been laser-leveled (see Rice Today April-June 2011, pages 16-17).

Breaking the surfaceDr. Phan Hieu Hien, IRRI

postharvest consultant, estimates that in Vietnam, about 300 hectares of rice fields have been laser-leveled, with more than 200 hectares in the Mekong Delta. This includes Bac Lieu and An Giang provinces.

IRRI introduced laser leveling for rice in Vietnam in 2003 by providing equipment and training to the Bac Lieu Seed Center (BLSC) and the Nong Lam University.

“The quality of seeds produced has improved and become more uniform,” says BLSC director Phan van Liem. “Laser leveling is a technology that farmers very much appreciate, with support from the government.” BLSC has a network of farmers who grow seed for the Center. For laser leveling of these areas, farmers pay 50% of the cost while the government covers the remaining 50%.

Farmers who have laser-leveled their fields in Bac Lieu and An Giang are now enjoying the same benefits—less crop lodging, lower seed rate, less diesel and pumping cost for water, less herbicide and pesticide use, and higher yields.

Tran Van Dan, an An Giang farmer who is part of the 1 Must Do, 5 Reductions Program (see RIPPLE September-December 2011), has reduced his seed rate from 150 kilograms per hectare to 120 kilograms per hectare in one cropping season after his field was laser-leveled. He now spends for only 3 liters of diesel to pump water, compared with the 5 liters beforehand. His yield increased by 1.5–3 tons per hectare.

Husband and wife Nguyen Van Han and Nguyen Thi Diep from An Giang said that it takes only 1.5–2 days to level their 4-hectare field using laser leveling, while leveling

continued on page 5

The IRRC reintroduced laser leveling in Cambodia through a field demonstration organized with the Don Bosco School in Battambang Province.

Trina Leah MendozaPh

oto

by T

rina

Men

doza


0.3 hectare using a buffalo takes 3–4 days. Weeding now only takes 4 days; before, they used to do manual weeding for 30 days. Their yield has increased by 1.3 tons per hectare.

With laser leveling, these farmers were able to save a few million Vietnamese Dong, which they spent on TV sets, water pumps, rotavators, and motorcycles. One farmer said that with the ease laser leveling has provided, he has more time to help his family and attend seminars and meetings. Farmers have more time now to plant upland crops and vegetables.

Nguyen Loi Duc, a progressive farmer from Tri Ton District, An Giang, borrowed the laser leveling equipment from NLU, bought his own tractor, and laser-leveled all of his 150-hectare rice field over the last 3 years. His yield has increased by 0.7 ton per hectare, and his income has increased by 30%. Thus, he was able to shift from commercial rice production to seed production, which he says has higher value. He established a seed factory in 2010 and plans to build more mechanical flatbed dryers and seed processing equipment.

continued from page 4

Bumps in the roadThough these farmers see the

benefits of laser leveling, there are still challenges in promoting the technology in Vietnam.

The equipment is expensive and thus limited in number, and the dry soil condition suitable for laser leveling lasts only for a few months each year. “If a contractor invests a lot of money but he can only operate for 1 or 2 months, he will make less profit, and the payback period is longer,” explains Dr. Hien. “Compared with the combine harvester, you can have many potential clients who request your service because their crop is already ripe and they have to cut it. Laser leveling is not as urgently needed because whether they level the field or not, the crop still keeps growing.”

“Although the cost of laser leveling seems high, upon close analysis, farmers will see that it can be paid back within three cropping seasons,” explained BLSC vice director Nguyen Tam Dao. “Each laser leveling operation can be used for the production of about 14 cropping seasons.”

Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc, director of Ideal Farming Cooperation, sold four units of laser leveling equipment to private companies and the government in 2011, but she found selling to farmer households difficult. They either lacked skilled people to operate the machines or had small, separate plots of land that made it impractical to invest in laser leveling equipment.

In Cambodia, the technology was introduced by IRRI in 1997, with about 200 rice fields around the Ton Le Sap Lake laser-leveled. Farmers became interested, but the lack of available laser leveling equipment, and further training and field demonstrations prevented the technology from completely taking off.

Leveling upNow, with the urgent need to ease

labor shortage by using agricultural

continued on page 6

Battambang, a rural province located in northwesternCambodia, is well-known for its fertile rice fields, which has earned it the title ‘Rice bowl of Cambodia.”

Phot

o by

Tri

na M

endo

za


Laser leveling for rice...

machinery such as combine harvesters, laser leveling is being reintroduced in Cambodia. In November 2011, the IRRC organized a laser leveling demonstration at the Don Bosco School in Battambang Province. Almost 100 extension workers, farmers, and students attended the event.

“Our government has just put in place a new policy to increase rice production and export milled rice on our own,” says Meas Pyseth, postharvest consultant. “We have to use appropriate farm management techniques from preparing the land to harvesting the crop. For the policy to be successfully implemented, people will have to go to laser leveling as one of the many options to achieve that goal,” Dr. Pyseth explains.

“In Vietnam, my team and I use every opportunity to spread

continued from page 5

the news about laser leveling from high officials to ordinary people,” Dr. Hien shares. “Today, I can say that it is a tool that will change agriculture, especially rice agriculture, in a very major way this century.”

Phot

o by

Tri

na M

endo

za

With combined efforts from national partners and the IRRC and a renewed vigor to promote the technology, more farmers in Southeast Asia will benefit from laser leveling and the many advantages it brings.

Dr. Meas Pyseth (far right), IRRI Postharvest consultant, briefs the training participants on the steps in laser leveling.

Des

ign

by M

aria

Ang

ela

Peña

fiel


Rona Niña Mae Rojas

“The beauty of science is that the truth will finally win,” Dr. Xuhua Zhong reveals.

He says this from experience, for nowhere is this more applicable in his scientific career than with the farmers in Guangdong Province, south of China.

Dr. Zhong, a crop physiologist from the Rice Research Institute of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GDRRI), has been a long-time partner of the IRRC in the development and promotion of the Three Controls Technology (3CT) in Guangdong Province—home to 110 million people. The collaboration resulted in 3CT being made into a government-recommended technology in Guangdong since 2008. At present, it is the most widely adopted technology in the province.

3CT is an integrated approach that is based on the following: (1) more efficient use of nutrients, particularly nitrogen (N), by following the principles of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), which often leads to a 20% reduction in N input; (2) reduced unproductive tillers and lodging of the rice crop by avoiding luxury N uptake and having better water management; and (3) reduced insecticide and fungicide sprays because of the healthier rice canopy.

Nitrogen fertilizer, when applied at the right time and at the right amount, results in a decreased number of unproductive tillers—thus preventing lodging of the rice crop.

A reduction in unproductive tillers makes for a more open rice canopy where relative humidity is lessened and light transmission is increased.

Healthier crops mean less sprays of fungicide or insecticide.

Challenging the old waysDr. Zhong is first to admit that

it was initially difficult to convince rice farmers to try a new technology due to long-established farming practices. It was very different from the traditional farming practices in Guangdong. Rice farmers had a hard time accepting that reduced N fertilizer input could actually be good for rice crops.

“The best way to persuade them is to do a field demonstration. Let the farmers see for themselves,” he says. Introducing a new technology requires a lot of hard work, patience, and understanding towards the plight of farmers. The 3CT went through careful evaluation and modification for 6 years before it was widely used in Guangdong.

Criteria for adoptionTo make 3CT easier to adopt,

it was developed with three set criteria: effectiveness, reliability, and ease of use. It should be effective to increase yield, efficiently use nutrients, reduce disease and insect damage, and lessen lodging.

The technology should also be reliable to use with different rice varieties, various locations, and different crop establishment methods, throughout any season. The third criterion is for 3CT to be easy to use. “Majority of rice farmers in Guangdong are women and old people. If it’s too laborious,

Spreading the good newsthen it will be difficult for them to adopt,” explains Dr. Zhong.

Spreading the good news3CT was proven to reduce

fertilizer N input by as much as 20%, attain 5–10% yield increase, lessen fungicide or insecticide sprays, and achieve US$220 per hectare additional income for farmers. The technology was widely accepted not only in Guangdong Province but also in neighboring provinces such as Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hainan, and Zheijiang.

The government established two demonstration bases—around 70 hectares each—where officials, extension workers, and farmers could compare the traditional farming practice against 3CT.

“Once they see the good effects of the technology, they spread the news themselves,” Dr. Zhong says. Another method to disseminate the technology is through the provincial extension stations where farmers could easily access information on agricultural technologies.

Information materials on 3CT include manuals, posters, message boards, and video compact discs. The 3CT software (much like the Nutrient Manager for Rice software) is also available in the GDRRI and the Department of Science and Technology Web sites of Guangdong Province.

Dr. Zhong plans to have 3CT reach the whole southern part of China. The new technology has recently been announced by the Ministry of Agriculture as one of the 10 recommended technologies for rice in China.

Dr. Zhong’s success with 3CT also prompts him to look back and be grateful for how it all started. “I want to thank IRRI, specifically IRRC, who supported me in my research from the very beginning.”

For more information on Three Controls Technology, please see related articles in the April–June 2007 and September–December 2009 RIPPLE issues.

Dr. Zhong (right) explains the Three Controls Technology (3CT) to an extension worker during a visit to one of the demonstration squares in Guangdong Province. 3CT is a widely used technology in the province.


South Sulawesi’s homegrown champion

Calm and smiling, he spoke with authority, and the interviewer from Televisi

Republik Indonesia (TVRI) kept probing him for more. He talked about alternate wetting and drying, a water-saving practice, and the Nutrient Manager, both technologies developed by the IRRC. The next morning, he was interviewed again by TVRI, this time, about maize, at the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology (AIAT) office of South Sulawesi in the town of Maros. Professor Djafar Baco is the go-to-guy when it comes to maize and rice production in South Sulawesi.

Professor Baco was born and raised in Bone District, South Sulawesi, in a small village called Dusun Salokaraja, where only eight houses used to stand. His great grandparents were among the original settlers of Dusun, although many advised them not to live there because of stories of ghosts and thieves. Nevertheless, it was here where he had his most cherished experiences.

At the age of 4, young Djafar’s task was to tend their carabao, his parents being rice farmers. He remembers vividly that their carabao used to eat the rice crop of their neighbor, and his father had to pay them for their losses. His father did not scold or punish him, but this experience taught Djafar the importance of being responsible, which he carries with him to this day.

Before graduating from high school, he got interested in a project on sugarcane, and wanted to pursue this field in a university in Java, Indonesia. However, moving to Java would be expensive and far from home, so he opted to study at the University of Hasanuddin in Makassar.

An entomologist by training, Professor Baco finally achieved his dream of becoming a teacher like his uncle, when he taught ecological entomology at the

University of Hasanuddin in Makassar City for 5 years.

He started doing research from 1975 to 1995 at the Research Institute for Food Crops, focusing on rice and maize. In 1996-2001, Prof. Baco headed the National Research Institute for Maize in Maros.

It was when he became head of the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology in South Sulawesi from 2001 to 2004 that he started working with IRRC coordinator Grant Singleton on a project on rodent management funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Partnership with the IRRC strengthened in 2008, in an ACIAR-funded project that aimed to improve rice productivity in South and Southeast Sulawesi (read RIPPLE May-August 2011). His career highlights include the “many good experiences from the project.”

“The farmers are now solving their problems in the field,” he says. He cites their problem with the rice bug. “Farmers used to spray insecticide that smelled very bad. Then, they tried other foul-smelling bait—chicken manure, fermented fish and shrimp, and golden apple snails—to attract rice bugs. A week later, the farmers found out that rice bugs were more attracted to the snails. This is how they check the rice bugs in the fields now,” he shares.

While he has officially retired from AIAT in 2004, Prof. Baco’s schedule remains as busy as ever. Future TV guestings are inevitable. His wife, Nuraida, often keeps him company during his travels to farmers’ fields and overseas. In the January planning meeting for 2012 activities with the IRRC, Prof. Baco lightheartedly said, “Don’t worry; I will work with you until I die.”

His efforts with the project have truly been valuable and have contributed to the farmers’ increase in income by more than US$207, on average, per season per hectare. As the IRRC enters a new chapter in 2013, the Consortium looks forward to more years of working with Prof. Djafar Baco, South Sulawesi’s homegrown champion.

Trina Leah Mendoza

Prof. Djafar Baco talked about IRRC technologiessuch as alternate wetting and drying and site-specific nutrient management during a TV guesting at a local TV station in Makassar in January.

When he goes to see the farmers and their rice fields in South Sulawesi, Prof. Baco rarely visits without his wifeNuraida.


A vision for Vietnam

Dr. Pham Van Du listens intently while an IRRI scientist explains the

experiments conducted on a certain rice plot in IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. Every now and then, the IRRI scientist would pause for Dr. Du.

Dr. Du would then address the Vietnamese delegates in front of them through a megaphone, carefully translating for the crowd what the scientist just said. This goes back and forth until all questions were asked and the answers given. Then Dr. Du, with his fellow countrymen, move on to a different site and the

translation process is repeated. After a whole day of witnessing

Dr. Du act as translator and guide for a large Vietnamese delegation during a trip to IRRI, this writer could see just how passionate and hardworking he is in educating his fellow countrymen about rice production.

What motivates Dr. Du in his tireless pursuit?

“I want to contribute to food security in Vietnam while the country’s population is increasing in the next 20–50 years. We are also preparing to face the challenges brought by climate change,” says Dr. Du.

Currently the deputy director general of the Crop Production Division at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam, he is well placed to achieve his vision due to his years of experience in rice research. He started as a researcher in plant pathology at the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, Can Tho, Vietnam, in 1980, then worked his way up to become deputy director in 2007.

In 2004, he began working with the IRRC in conducting pest impact assessments in the Mekong Delta. He assisted the IRRC during the

conception of the Three Reductions, Three Gains Program (which encouraged farmers to reduce seed rate, pesticide use, and fertilizer use) in Vietnam. The impact of the program improved the livelihood of more than 12 million rice farmers by decreasing their

dependence on insecticides, increasing their incomes, and reducing health an environmental hazards.

As an IRRC Steering Committee member, Dr. Du prioritizes further outscaling of natural resource management (NRM) technologies, through the IRRC platform, in the Mekong Delta. He sees the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) playing a major role in NRM technology diffusion in the region.

To reduce methane gas emissions and to be more responsive to climate change, DARD will introduce


the Mot Phai, Sau Giam (One Must Do, Six Reductions) Program—a take off from the earlier “five reductions” promoted to rice farmers. “The sixth reduction integrates a farming practice that reduces methane emissions in rice fields,” explains Dr. Du.

DARD is also set to introduce a business model that would involve sector representatives from the rice value chain in Mekong Delta. According to Dr. Du, thousands of smallholder rice farmers and various stakeholders would be able to coordinate under a fully mechanized structure. The business model would entail investing in postharvest machines and building public-private partnerships to help farmers directly access inputs and sell their outputs. Thus, the overall rice value chain is improved with a high-quality rice product that could be exported.

Truly a man for his country, Dr. Du says that what gives him satisfaction in what he does is when the end-users—the farmers—benefit from his research. “I feel very happy about our research when my colleagues and I introduce technologies that could be used by farmers in the Mekong Delta to continuously upgrade rice production sustainability and, eventually, help improve farmers’ livelihoods.”

Dr. Du spends his spare time shopping, cooking, and watching the National Geographic channel (his favorite) with his wife, Le Cam Loan, a former IRRI PhD scholar and currently a CLRRI scientist. When time permits, the couple visits the beach or the countryside. His only daughter, Pham Xuan Lan, is currently taking up an M.A. in Finance and Accounting at the University of South Australia. Dr. Du is also fond of pets, having cats and Phu Quoc ridgeback dogs in his house.

Dr. Du has big responsibilities and daunting tasks ahead of him. Still, he carries on, unfazed, guided by the vision he has for his country.

Phot

o by

Ron

a N

iña

Roj

as

Dr. Pham Van Du was tireless as he translates for the Vietnamese delegates the various field experiments in IRRI.


Postharvest team reviews pilot activities, addresses rice postproduction challenges

The Asian Development Bank-funded IRRI Postharvest project led by Martin

Gummert took the team’s effort further in reducing postharvest losses in Asia through a series of in-country reviews in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The workshops were conducted to review the piloting phase to plan for the outscaling phase of the project implemented in these countries.

The in-country review in Cambodia was conducted on 14-15 November 2011 at Preah Sihanouk Province. About 40 extension staff members of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, private sector partners, representatives of collaborating government institutions, and staff of the General Directorate of Agriculture attended the meeting and participated in the stakeholder analysis. The participants identified project outcomes through observed changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills of end-users and discussed the stumbling blocks encountered

during project implementation. The Vietnam group, composed

of collaborators from five regional universities in the country, presented their latest efforts in developing business models on important postharvest technologies. The in-country review was held on 24-25 November in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province. The group also reported of a Learning Alliance Web site in Vietnamese language that they developed. Business model specialist Alfred Schmidley led the group in setting their goals to refine and integrate the business model component into the outscaling phase of the project.

The last leg of the review was held for the Philippine group on 6-7

December 2011. Collaborators from the provinces of Agusan, Bicol, and Bohol gathered in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte Province, to share their key learnings in piloting the project activities on hermetic storage and how the Learning Alliance worked in their respective sites. A stakeholder analysis was also conducted to identify the actors in each province and how they are linked with each other, visualize an effective network that could support the outscaling phase of the project, and identify the adjustments needed to make the current network reach more end users. The communication tools produced for each province were also monitored by the project’s communication team.

Martin Gummert lauded all the activities implemented in the three countries. To take their efforts further, each country will roll out their outscaling plans to be implemented in the first quarter of 2012 through the project Strategic research for sustainable health and nutrition security in Asia. Country coordinators and lead implementors for this project are Dr. Pyseth Meas from Cambodia, Dr. Lehung Nguyen from Vietnam, and Dr. Caesar Tado from the Philippines.

Reianne Quilloy

Philippine Learning Alliance partners from the Bohol Farmers’ Multi-purpose Cooperative, Catholic Relief Services, the local government unit of Pilar, Bohol, and Kaanib Foundation analyze their stakeholder network map to plan 2012 outscaling activities in the Visayas and Mindanao region.

Cambodian partners from one province discuss their stakeholder network map in preparation for outscaling under the Postharvest project.

Phot

o by

Rei

anne

Qui

lloy

Photo by Reianne Q

uilloy


Sustainable rice platform workshop held in the Philippines

The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP), which aims to make rice production and consumption more sustainable, was launched at an international forum held at IRRI on 29-30 November 2011.

The SRP is a multistakeholder platform to promote resource efficiency and sustainable trade flows, production and consumption operations, and supply chains in the global rice sector. It is co-convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and IRRI.

Participants established an SRP

governance structure and technical working groups with output targets and roadmaps for the coming years. Over the next 2 years, the SRP will develop and promote a set of globally relevant principles (standards) and best practices for sustainable rice production; develop and promote quantifiable sustainability targets (criteria and indicators) that suit a variety of agricultural, social, and environmental conditions; develop and promote a set of decision-support systems (such as field or footprint calculators) for assessment

of rice production practices against an array of biophysical, socio-economic and environmental performance indicators; and promote the adoption of the developed principles, best practices, and targets

by rice producers and participants in the whole rice value chain.

During his presentation on the need for sustainable rice production, IRRI scientist and Program 3 leader Bas Bouman said that IRRI will actively co-convene the SRP and ensure that the work of IRRI and GRiSP will dovetail with that of the SRP. IRRI will especially share natural resource management technologies for rice production through the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium and the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments.

The SRP founding members are private sector companies Kellogg’s, Mars Foods, and Louis Dreyfus and the Asian Institute of Technology/CIRAD. Other participants in the launch were representatives from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia; CropLife Asia, Syngenta, DuPont Crop Protection, Jolibee Foods Corporation, AidEnvironment, and the German International Cooperation.


IRRC anthropologist pursues her PhD

IRRC’s resident anthropologist Rica Joy Flor took the next big step in her career as she began her PhD

studies in January, in Wageningen University, The Netherlands. She is working under two chair groups, Technology and Agrarian Development and Communication and Innovations. Her study, under a sandwich program with IRRI, will be linked with IRRC projects looking at approaches such as adaptive management and learning alliances.

Since 2006, Rica has been studying the social impacts of IRRC technologies in the different partner countries. Her days were spent conducting household surveys and interviews, facilitating learning alliance workshops, and writing the results in various refereed journals and books.

With this new chapter in your life, we wish you all the best, Rica!

Rica Flor (inset) will be missed by her IRRC family. In the photo, Rica (front row, left) is with the IRRC group during a trip to the beautiful Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, Philippines.

Workshop participants inspect some rice plants in the IRRI fields.

IRR

I Pho

to

Trina Leah Mendoza


Volume 7, Number 1January-April 2012

This newsletter is produced by the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The IRRC promotes international links among scientists, managers, communicators, and farmers in lowland irrigated rice environments.

Materials in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official views of IRRI, SDC, or collaborating institutions of the IRRC.

EdITORIaL aNd PROdUcTION TEam

IRRc Trina Leah Mendoza, Grant

Singleton, Rona Niña Mae Rojas, Jennifer Hernandez

cPS Tess Rola, Bill Hardy

cONTRIbUTINg aUTHORS Martin Gummert, Arelene

Malabayabas, Reianne Quilloy

Please direct further correspondence, comments, and

contributions to

Trina Leah mendozaSenior Communication Specialist

International Rice Research Institute

DAPO Box 7777Metro Manila, PhilippinesEmail: [email protected]: www.irri.org/irrc

IRRC researcher co-authors high profile impact study of IRRI rice varieties

It’s always nice to reap the benefits of an investment. A recent study of IRRI’s improved

rice varieties concluded that farmers harvested an extra $1.46 billion worth of rice a year across three Asian countries. These improved varieties were mainly grown in the intensive lowland irrigated rice farming systems.

The study was commissioned by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The report, entitled International Rice Research Institute’s contribution to rice varietal yield improvement in Southeast Asia, assessed the impact of IRRI on rice production in ACIAR’S mandated regions. It focused on three key rice-growing countries: the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

One of the authors of this study is Arelene Malabayabas, an agricultural economist of the IRRC. She assisted Dr. John Brennan, the lead author, in conducting an impact assessment of the development, uptake, and impact of IRRI-based rice varieties in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. She obtained and compiled relevant information on the research activities and adoption of rice varieties of the targeted countries. Ms. Malabayabas also gathered data on germplasm pedigree, breeding,


and release from IRRI data bases—the International Rice Genebank, the International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice, and International Rice Information System.

In-depth individual impact assessments of germplasm improvements for each country from 1985 to 2009 showed significant and sustained yield gains from IRRI’s work on varietal improvement.

From 1985 to 2009, improved rice varieties from IRRI boosted farmers’ returns by US$52 per hectare in the Philippines, by $76 per hectare in Indonesia, and by $127 per hectare in south Vietnam.

The study concludes that the investment made on IRRI’s research on germplasm improvement revealed high economic returns. This finding is consistent with ACIAR’s mandate

of delivering research outputs that improve the livelihood of the people most in need.

The interest of many IRRI scientists, including visiting donors, was captured by the study, because it demonstrated

that the efforts of IRRI to improve varietal yield were successful. It was highlighted by IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler in his 2011 end-of-the year report and also by Achim Dobermann, IRRI deputy director general for research, in his presentation titled Megatrends, Innovation, and IRRI’s Future Business Model in January 2012.

IRRI has been developing rice varieties for release in Asian countries for more than 50 years. ACIAR has supported the research activities of IRRI since ACIAR’s establishment in 1982.

Phot

o by

Tri

na M

endo

za

Arelene Malabayabas (left), IRRC agricultural economist, co-authored the study on the impact of IRRI on rice production.

Ripple Jan Apr 2012

Documents

Transcript of Ripple Jan Apr 2012