Empowering women farmers to lead agricultural transformation

A network of women farmer leaders are set to drive widespread adoption of innovations and technologies across India. IRRI, together with the Department of Biotechnology of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, are training women farmer leaders on advanced rice production to help boost food security in India.

A week-long advanced training on rice production was recently implemented by IRRI Education for women farmers. According to participant Jamuna Dutta Baruah, “through this program we were able to enrich what we have learned from the first training program with advanced knowledge on farming systems, mechanization, business development, and leadership skills.”

IRRI, WorldFish and Myanmar work together to optimize rice-fish farming productivity

IRRI, together with WorldFish and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation of Myanmar is exploring opportunities to improve the the livelihood, income, and nutrition of smallholder farmers in Myanmar by maximizing the combined productivity of rice and fish farming.

Research results conducted in Myanmar and some neighboring countries through the ACIAR-funded Rice-Fish project show that improved rice-fish farming offers a chance for farmers to produce a greater range of food and earn more income while only having minimum paddy modifications. “In Myanmar, growing fish together with rice has not affected rice yield. It has even increased farmer income by 9% in Maubin, Ayeyarwady Region, and 132% in Letpadan, Bago Region”, reports IRRI scientist Alexander Stuart.

IRRI discovers SWEET solution to bacterial blight

IRRI is leading innovations to provide adequate solutions to problems such as bacterial blight which severely affect rice production. In irrigated environments, bacterial blight can easily spread to large areas, causing up to 30% losses, a huge impact on the income for smallholder farmers in Asia.

Major genes for resistance called Xa genes (e.g., Xa4, Xa5, Xa21), have already been used in rice breeding programs. However, despite the importance of these genes in controlling the disease, the bacteria adapted to these resistant varieties making them susceptible again. There is a need to continue discovering new ways and developing varieties that can protect farmers from losses due to bacterial blight.

IRRI transforms rice breeding processes through market-oriented product profiling

Cambodian farmers invest in future rice varieties—digital product profiling through the
Investment Game Application (IGA) (photo credit: Matty Demont)

IRRI is purposefully engaging with farmers to inform policies and establish standards that transform rice breeding to become more efficient and market-oriented.

Together with the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA), IRRI conducted behavioral experiments with Cambodian rice farmers in Prey Veng and Takeo to elicit their preferences for future rice varietal trait improvements.

Farmers were trained in digital product profiling through an interactive app called Investment Game Application (IGA). The app enables them to participate in a simulated investment market for public rice breeding.  More specifically, IGA helps farmers express their preferences for the varietal trait improvements that they need to improve their livelihoods. Since the app simulates and exposes farmers to the cost and risk trade-offs that rice breeders face under resource constraints, it compels them to prioritize their preferences and design focused product profiles for their future needs as rice farmers. IRRI senior economist Matty demont explains, “By placing farmers in the shoes of donors and by allowing them to decide on the allocation of rice breeding funds, we are able to determine their preferences and priorities. In turn, this helps researchers starting priority setting at an early stage in the field, helping breeding programs become more cost-efficient, market-driven, client- and product-oriented, and forward-looking.”

Consumers willing to pay a premium for sustainably produced rice, a new study shows

In a study recently published in Food Policy, a leading international journal in agricultural economics, researchers from the International Rice Research Institute, Hue University, and Ghent University tested urban Vietnamese consumers’ response to sustainable production labels in rice.

Through behavioral market experiments, they elicited consumers’ willingness to pay for rice produced and labeled under the national sustainable production standard “VietGAP” in a supermarket in Can Tho City in the Mekong River Delta. The researchers also examined the conditions that make consumers willing to pay more for certified-sustainable rice. They found that consumers were willing to pay price premiums of 9% for certified sustainably produced rice on top of the price of regular rice. These premiums even further increased up to 33% when they were informed about what the label on sustainably-produced products mean and where exactly the rice was produced. Consumers that consider themselves as environment- and health-conscious tended to be most responsive to sustainable production labels. 

IRRI, World Bank team up to strengthen post-harvest management in Myanmar

A robust seed system is the "backbone" of a vibrant rice production sector.

To strengthen the agricultural systems of different areas in the country, IRRI, in partnership with the World Bank, launched the Agricultural Development Support Project (ADSP) which aims to increase rice productivity in the 4 pilot project regions under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI): Bago, Naypyitaw, Mandalay, and Sagaing.

Myanmar is the highest per capita rice consuming country in world (140.8 kg milled rice per person per year) and majority of its population depend on the agricultural sector for livelihood. This makes it imperative for the agricultural sector of the country to increase their knowledge and adopt technologies that can improve their harvest.

WeRise-RR orientations conducted for ICRR researchers

The IJCRP on CCADS-RR team poses for a group photo with ICRR researchers

Sukamandi, Indonesia, 15 August 2018 – The IRRI-Japan Collaborative Research Project (IJCRP) on Climate Change Adaptation through Development of a Decision-Support tool to guide Rainfed Rice production is catalysing partners to drive the adoption of the Weather-rice-nutrient integrated decision support system (WeRise), a decision support tool for rainfed farmers.

Water availability is crucial to rice production in rainfed areas. However, climate change has made it difficult for farmers to predict rains that will determine the best time to plant rice in their area.

In order to help farmers in such unfavorable areas, IJCRP has developed WeRise, a seasonal climate prediction-based app that could help rainfed rice farmers plan their upcoming production more strategically. WeRise could provide advisories on the best time to plant, suitable varieties to use, and fertilizer application schedule according to the weather characteristics of the upcoming cropping season. This includes the onset, amount and distribution of rainfall; and simulated crop growth.

WeRise-RR exhibits potential to increase rainfed rice production in Indonesia

Bogor, Indonesia, 14 August 2018 – Results of the initial on-farm experiments to validate the predictive accuracy of the WeRise for rice-rice for rainfed rice (WeRise-RR) in selected provinces in Indonesia showed that farmers could potentially increase their yield by following the WeRise advisories.

WeRise is an ICT tool that aims to improve rainfed rice productivity by helping farmers plan their crop production strategically by using seasonal climate forecast and crop growth models to come up with advisories. It was developed by the IRRI-Japan Collaborative Research Project (IJCRP).