Alternative seed systems help unfavorable rice areas combat poverty

Partners from nine member-countries of CURE convened in early May to share challenges and lessons in their work to help farmers in unfavorable rice environments.  

VIENTIANE, Laos—The formal rice seed production system in Laos can supply only 10% of the country’s seed requirement, but as researchers have found, availability of seed is just one part of the story. The delivery system is just as important, but not as simple when it comes to rainfed and similarly challenged rice areas. In the country, several non-government organizations (NGOs) were instrumental in helping some of the country’s food-insecure communities acquire rice seeds.

Community-based seed systems were reportedly instrumental in introducing stress-tolerant varieties in India, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia, where formal seed sectors are yet to meet national seed requirements. These seed systems also supported the government’s move in these countries to fast-track seed dissemination, especially when the formal seed sector has not operated well, and where commercial seed growers are yet to be convinced that the production of seeds is investment-worthy.

“Although one country’s experience may be unique from another in terms of specific contexts, we see this exchange of experiences as contributing to innovative ways of thinking about how we can overcome many of the constraints and challenges facing rainfed rice environments,” said David Johnson, who also formerly managed CURE and is currently head of IRRI’s Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD).

IRRI's CESD chief and former CURE coordinator David Johnson sought insights, experiences, and lessons from each member-country, recognizing that seemingly  unique experiences also offer an array of options that may apply to other countries as well. 

This and other interventions were discussed in a review and planning meeting of the steering committee of the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) on 9-11 May, which this year focused on scaling out climate-smart technologies that help raise productivity and combat poverty in Asia’s fragile rice ecosystems.

More than the interventions and outcomes are so-called ‘enabling’ factors—social, cultural, environmental, financial, political, and institutional—that were just as important to achieve impact at a broader scale.

Through better varieties, improved management systems, community-based seed systems, and several other interventions, the abovementioned countries benefitted from enabling farmers in the most challenging environments to improve their livelihood. These experiences were reported in a newly published book by CURE, “Climate-ready technologies: Combating poverty by raising productivity in rainfed rice environments.”

“This year’s meeting brings member-countries together to discuss accomplishments, experiences, learning, and challenges during the past four years and as well as form plans for the coming year,” according to Digna Manzanilla, CURE coordinator.

“There is rarely a clear-cut path to overcoming any challenge and raising rice productivity in rainfed environments,” Dr. Johnson added. “But by looking at what worked and what did not work from the experiences shared by our country partners, we can find ways to make rainfed rice environments less challenging.”

The member-countries of CURE include Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar.

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Spend more time in the field - IRRI scientist

Scientists should dialogue with farmers and connect with partners to facilitate technology development and adoption.

“How can we work in the diverse rice farming systems of Southeast Asia, especially in unfavorable environments?” asked Yoichi Kato, rainfed lowland agronomist, during his seminar on 14 August at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Dr. Kato explained that drought, flooding, and salinity are some of the climate-related challenges that the rice production systems in the region need to cope with. To address these problems, Dr. Kato’s group has been conducting research on the regulation of plant elongation, nursery management, rice adaptation to soil-water fluctuation, mechanized direct seeding of rice (DSR), and diversified cropping systems.

Some updates and initial results of their research activities include:

• in collaboration with rice breeders, identified some promising genotypes and/or cultivars with short growth duration to cope with limited irrigation periods in the dry season, and genotypes and/or cultivars for dry-seeded rice culture for labor savings;
• regulation of plant elongation plays a pivotal role in stagnant-flooding tolerance in the field; 
• diversified cropping in rice-based systems is the better strategy for flood-prone areas.

But beyond the realm of research, Dr. Kato stressed other important matters he learned from his experience in field-oriented research for development.

Focus on the process rather than the perfect product. Scientists should pay careful attention to the process of introducing a certain idea or technology to farmers rather than focus on developing a perfect product. Farmers are often given straightforward options that they can either accept or reject. Dr. Kato suggested that a product or idea can be “half baked” (60% complete)—not a “complete solution or technology”—when offered to farmers.

“Any product should be reviewed by farmers in the farmers’ fields,” he said. “As experts themselves, farmers have their own idea and opinion on how they could make their crops adapt to stress-prone environments.”

Networks and partnerships are important. In technology development and outscaling, networks of partners and stakeholders play an important function. “IRRI can capitalize and build on its very strong network and links especially with the NARES," Dr. Kato said. “In fact, through this partnership with NARES, IRRI has successfully developed a series of stress-tolerant varieties and have disseminated them to farmers’ field.” Also, through networks and partnerships, the transfer of information and technology can be facilitated. “Here, IRRI can play an important catalytic function,” he added.

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