Myanmar partners get help on producing quality rice seed

Forty-five representatives from IRRI’s partners in Myanmar underwent a hands-on training on quality rice seed production held recently at Yezin. Production of good-quality rice seed will help increase the overall rice productivity of Myanmar.


The training also aimed to enable progressive farmers to do seed purification, which is crucial for subsistence agriculture. Participants learned by doing, with the training focusing on the practical and sessions held mostly in the rice fields.

The training, initially organized for 25 participants, attracted huge interest among IRRI’s partners in Myanmar. Attendance went up to 45, with 7 more attending as observers. The participants came from the Department of Agriculture Research (DAR); the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in Pathein, Hmawbi, Hinthada, Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun, and Labutta; NGOs (GRET, Radanar Ayar, WHH, AVSI, Mercy Corps, LEAD, Dagon International Limited); postharvest development groups from Shwe Bo, Bogale and Labutta; and Yezin Agriculture University. Also represented were progressive farmers from Bogale, Labutta, and Shwe Bo; JICA; and the IRRI-Myanmar Office.

The training was conducted at the Department of Agriculture Research, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, in Yezin on 10-12 October 2013. It was opened by Madonna Casimero, IRRI scientist and representative to Myanmar, with U Maung Maung Thein, director of DAR-Yezin, as chief guest.

R.K. Singh, senior scientist at IRRI, organized the training course with the help of resource persons from DAR—Daw Tin Tin Myint, director of the rice division, and Daw Ohnmar Myint, plant breeder. Naireen Aiza Vispo, researcher at IRRI, also helped as resource.

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