Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Myanmar: ACIAR sponsors postharvest management training

A training course on postharvest management for improved quality of rice grain and seed was held in Daik-U Township in the Bago Region of Myanmar on 2-4 May 2013.

Thirty-five participants from the Department of Agriculture (DoA) in Pathein, Maubin, Daik-U, and Pegu townships; IRRI Myanmar Office; NGOs such as GRET, WHH, and Mercy Corps; and local farmers from IRRI-managed project villages attended.

The training course was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research through its project with IRRI, Diversification and intensification of rice-based systems in lower Myanmar, and is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar.

Training topics included harvesting, threshing, drying, milling, hermetic storage, grain and seed quality analysis, and rodent management. The participants were also introduced to the moisture meter and the Super Bag—two IRRI-developed technologies.

Aye Ko Ko, DoA regional director in the Bago Region, said the training was crucial, because farmers focus mainly on improving rice production but usually neglect postharvest management, which often causes losses in income.

Resource persons for the training were postharvest experts Martin Gummert (IRRI), Chris Cabardo (IRRI), Tin Ohnmar Win (DoA), and Myo Aung Kyaw (consultant); and rodent experts Grant Singleton (IRRI) and Nyo Me Htwe (DoA Plant Protection Department). The course was facilitated by IRRI Myanmar Representative Madonna Casimero. 



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