Myanmar farmers, extension agents join workshop on mechanized land leveling to boost agricultural development

Farmers from four townships covered by MyRice and CORIGAP projects attended the workshop on laser land leveling. They also shared the current best management practices they are trying out in their farms during a Learning Alliance meeting.

MAUBIN, Myanmar—The Ayeyarwaddy Delta, the rice bowl of Myanmar, is endowed with vast land and water resources. However, traditional practices prevent smallholder farmers from achieving optimal rice yields. Increasing farmers’ incomes and productivity require technological innovations such as laser land leveling.

“The precision land leveling using laser-guided system is a technology option that provides a more even land surface resulting in improved crop productivity through reduced irrigation water, chemical input, and more uniform crop growth,” said Engr. Caling Balingbing, an agricultural engineer from the Postharvest and Mechanization Unit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Balingbing was one of the experts tapped for a laser land leveling demonstration in Maubin on 23 March.  About 60 farmers, extension agents, and private sector and non-government organization personnel from Daik-U, Hlegu, Maubin, and Letpadan Townships participated in the demonstration as an option for better crop management.  The activity is part of the Learning Alliance, which brings varied stakeholders with similar interests to assess and develop ways to optimize the use of rice-based technologies and practices.

“This event is a great opportunity to interact with NGOs, the private sector, Department of Agriculture, and farmers from other townships,” said Romeo Labios, IRRI scientist and agronomist in Myanmar. “Taking advantage of the Learning Alliance platform, stakeholders can discuss how these technologies from IRRI can provide efficient use of land and water resources and other farm inputs to increase productivity and get a better income. They can learn from each other’s experiences and interact with our private sector guests how you can use this and other technologies.”

“Just by observing the field, I can immediately see the difference and the benefit of laser-guided land leveling it will bring to my farm,” said U Shwe Toe, a  rice and pulse farmer leader from Maubin. “I want to use this immediately; I hope that we can come up with ways to own these technologies.”

“This is a good initiative that helped farmers understand the benefit of the technology,” said Dr. Myo Aung Kyaw from Pioneer Agrobiz, Inc. “From the discussions, they are really convinced that this technology would really work well on their farms.”

Other IRRI experts at the laser land leveling demonstration were Yan Lin Aung, agricultural engineer, and Su Su San and Hlwan-Oo, assistant scientist and researcher, respectively at the IRRI Myanmar office.

The event was organized by Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprints (CORIGAP-PRO) and MyRice project. CORIGAP-PRO  is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, while MyRice is funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research.

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Role of mechanization in sustainable rice production highlighted during international exhibit

Martin Gummert, IRRI's postharvest and mechanization expert,

talks about the impact of mechanizing rice harvest. 

BANGKOK, Thailand— “There is a need to mechanize the rural areas to increase productivity as that is a key driver for change in the rice sector,” Dr. Bas Bouman, the director of a global partnership platform for making rice research more effective in meeting development challenges.

The leader of the CGIAR Research Program on Rice (RICE) made the statement at the AGRITECHNICA Asia, a trade fair for agricultural machinery and equipment held at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center on 15-17 March.

Bouman, an expert on sustainable agricultural development and food security at IRRI, presented IRRI’s mission to combat poverty, food security, health and environmental issues, and promote sustainable rice production.

“Mechanization should benefit farmers to have a better life and income and make good quality rice available in the market,” he said. Bouman also rallied the audience to take part in the sustainable rice platform in order to help small farmers maintain productivity while minimizing the environmental and social footprint.

Bouman was joined by his colleagues who discussed other issues at the exhibit’s series of seminars on the role of mechanization in sustainable rice production. Engr. Martin Gummert, IRRI’s expert in postharvest technologies, presented the advantages and drawbacks in mechanizing rice harvest (in photo).

“The rice combine harvester is a game-changing technology that made wetter grains available in big volume at harvest seasons putting pressure on the traditional postharvest system, especially grain drying,” he said.  “Combine harvesters solve the problem of labor shortage and harvesting cost can be lowered by up to 60%.

“However, unlike manual harvesting, combines leave rice straw in the field causing new problems,” Gummert added.

For every 4 tons of rice grain, 6 tons of straw are produced. In Asia, this amounts to about 550 million tons of straw.  Farmers usually dispose of the rice straw by burning or by incorporating the byproduct into the soil.

“Both practices of burning and incorporating in the field have adverse impacts on human health and the environment through smoke and greenhouse gas emission, respectively,” said Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander, a climate change specialist at IRRI, as he discussed the effects of a changing climate on rice production and the environmental impacts of farmers’ practices in managing the rice straw after harvest. Sander proposed a combination of limited straw incorporation combined with the straw collection and off-field use as a climate-friendly alternative.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hung,  a research scientist working on rice postharvest and byproduct management at the institute, also provided workable options in managing the massive amounts of rice straw from the use of combine harvesting and how farmers can earn additional income while ensuring environmental sustainability and protecting the health of people in the community.

“We are using life cycle assessment of different rice straw management practices to help identify sustainable straw management practices and provide recommendations to policy makers,” he said.

Engr. Carlito Balingbing presented the numerous advantages of laser-assisted land leveling technology and the many benefits that small rice farms have gained since it was introduced by IRRI in Asia in 1996. Laser land leveling is a climate-smart agriculture practice that helps conserve resources while increasing yields and farmers’ incomes. The benefits from a laser level fields include efficient water use, better weed and nutrient management, uniform crop maturity, among others.

The current trends in contract farming and the different strategies for promoting sustainable rice in the market through appropriate packaging and labeling were covered by Dr. Matty Demont, the lead of IRRI’s market and value chain research team.

“Survey results from Vietnam on customers’ preferences show that there is a market for sustainably produced rice,” he concluded. “It is very encouraging to observe that urban Vietnamese consumers are willing to pay price premiums up to 30% for sustainably produced rice when the product is accompanied by information on its production standards and traceability.”

The seminars led to enthusiastic discussions between IRRI and other organizations.

“We will develop further projects related to sustainable rice production using the updated information on rice straw management,” said Dr. Juejan Tangtermthong, the regional advisor on monitoring & evaluation at Better Rice Initiative Asia.

Dr. Mayling Flores Rojas, an agricultural systems mechanization officer at the Food and Agricultural Organization, also expressed interest in developing collaborative activities with IRRI, particularly in mechanization and postharvest technologies.

The AGRITECHNICA seminar series on the role of mechanization in sustainable rice production was organized by the German Agricultural Society (DLG) in collaboration with IRRI’s Postharvest and Mechanization Unit and GIZ through the ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood System.

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Cambodia assesses new technologies for safe and sustainable rice straw management

BATTAMBANG, Cambodia, 30 April—Cambodian rice farmers will soon have access to sustainable rice straw management techniques that will curtail the air pollution and potential health risks associated with rice straw burning.

The Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Don Bosco Agro-Vocational School (DABVS), and the Postharvest and Mechanization Unit of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) organized a technology demonstration event for extension agents, government agencies, the private sector, and NGOs in Cambodia to help promote better options for rice straw management.

The event (photos), conducted at the DABVS model farm, showcased a rice straw baler machine for collecting the straw in the field, spraying urea or Trichoderma fungi to hasten the decomposition of rice straw, and mechanical equipment for chopping and dispersing rice straw into mulch. These technologies drew a lot of interest from the participants. The rice straw baler technology from Vietnam, in particular, opened a possibility of developing business models to add value for farmers on the use of rice straw either as feedstock or for mushroom production.

Another technology aims to transform rice straw into renewable energy. “The huge energy potential that can be derived from rice straw through the use of an anaerobic digester can generate fuel for cooking and electricity for home lighting,” said Nguyen Van Hung, an IRRI postdoctoral fellow working on renewable energy from rice residues. “This technology on anaerobic digestion of rice straw is being piloted at IRRI to generate sufficient data before further delivering it to farmers.”

Sustainable rice straw management technologies are becoming more important as rice farming produces millions of tons of the material every year. “The increase in mechanization for rice production, through the wide adoption of combine harvesters in Cambodia has been a game changer that has resulted in more rice straw being left in the field, especially in intensive production systems,” said Martin Gummert, IRRI senior scientist and head of IRRI’s Postharvest and Mechanization Unit. “Farmers opted for burning as the cheapest option due to a lack of technology for collection and the short turn-around time between cropping seasons that is not sufficient for decomposition before the next seedbed preparation.”

However, smoke from burning rice straw contributes to air pollution that causes acute and potentially serious health problems. “Moreover, burning rice straw in the field brings minimal benefits to the soil with the addition of potassium silica from charred straw and ash,” said Walter Zwick, senior expert on agronomy from Germany, who is helping in the operation and management of the DABVS model farm.

The project team discussed the next steps for Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which will focus on the promotion of a rice straw baler and further studies on Trichoderma and mushroom production.

The project, Scalable straw management options for improved farmer livelihoods, sustainability, and low environmental footprint for rice-based production systems, is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), which supported the technology demonstration.

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