Indonesian agricultural extension staff complete training for disseminating RCM to rice farmers

The Pusat Standardisasi Instrumen Tanaman Pangan (PSITP) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) organized a training for Indonesian agricultural extension staff and development partners to speed up the delivery of field-specific nutrient and crop management recommendations to rice farmers through the Rice Crop Manager (RCM).  Held on 9-11 May 2023, the training strengthened the capacity of the participants to develop dissemination strategy for RCM to farmers in their respective provinces.

RCM, a digital agriculture tool locally known as Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP), can enable the delivery of improved agronomic management practices to farmers at scale for better decision-making.  The training aimed to make participants more efficient at teaching farmers how to use LKP in generating recommendations and explaining the recommendations. 

“Capacity building is among the pillars of the RCM Indonesia Project,” said Dr. Hasil Sembiring, IRRI’s liaison scientist to Indonesia. “Through trainings, we hope to strengthen the capacity of our partners not only on the use and dissemination of LKP but also on the foundation or the science behind it.”

PSITP Director Priatna Sasmita noted that the training is critical to achieve the project’s target outputs and outcomes. “As future LKP trainers, we hope you will hasten the dissemination and adoption of LKP and help in sustaining the project outputs beyond the project life,” Dr. Sasmita told the participants. 

A total of 52 agricultural extension staff and development partners from Balai Penerapan Standar Instrumen Pertanian (BPSIP) in West Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, North Sumatera, Central Java, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Sumatera; Balai Besar Penerapan Standar Instrumen Pertanian (BBPSIP) and PSITP attended the training. 

LKP Indonesia was developed in 2015 to improve the incomes and yields of rice farmers. Through the RCM Indonesia Project funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) of the Republic of Korea, LKP is being upgraded and will be disseminated to reach more rice farmers in Indonesia. 

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