Mozambican farmers learn to choose the best rice varieties

Farmers get busy selecting best rice varieties during a field day held at the locality of Mucelo in Zambézia, Mozambique in April 2017.

ZAMBÉZIA, Mozambique - Farmers learned how to better select the best rice varieties during a field day in late April organized by the Mozambique Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

About 40 participants came for the event, during which the farmers among them were given an introduction to concepts and principles that guide the breeding scheme at IRRI and the goals of the rice sector in countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The event was organized by the IRRI-Mozambique rice breeding team involving various partners in the rice value chain. Millers and representatives of district services for economic activities (SDAE) and some NGOs also took part in the event, in addition to the rice farmers who themselves represented several farmer associations.

The event included a visit to a field that had been set up with breeding trials and demonstration plots of promising rice lines. Twelve lines, including checks from the participatory varietal selection (PVS), were presented for final selection. Some of the promising lines in the demo plots were the same ones that had previously been selected by the participants themselves. Lines HHZ5-SAL14-SAL2-Y1 and IR 10L 203 were finally selected as the best, having high yield, long panicles, medium and long grains, medium plant height, and disease tolerance.

During the event, participants were able to share their respective experiences and come to appreciate new and well-performing varieties.

At the end of the field day, a recommendation was made that more of the participatory varietal selection trials be conducted in more locations.

IRRI and its partners hold field days to help rice farmers stay up-to-date on varieties, technology, and equipment that could help them improve productivity, thus empowering them to make informed decisions to improve their income and livelihood.

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Philippines: ICT-aided tool helping mountain rice farmers harvest more

Mary Ann Somera, a farmer from Abra, holds a printed version of the RCM recommendation for her rice field that helped her get higher yields last year. Also in photo is Mr. Edwin Joseph Franco, the focal person for Rice Crop Manager in CAR.

Results from the use of Rice Crop Manager a decision-making tool for rice farmers, in the mountainous rice paddies of the Cordilleras in northern Philippines have been encouraging.

A farmer-cooperator in Brgy. Tamalunog, Flora, Apayao, used Rice Crop Manager (RCM), accessible through mobile or internet connection, for growing a season’s crop. He as well as local agriculture authorities were pleased to note a huge increase in his harvest as a result.

The farmer harvested 111 sacks of rice from a half-hectare field, while a fellow farmer harvested less than half of this from the same size of land.

RCM is an app that provides rice farmers recommendations on management of nutrient, pest, weed, and water depending on the specific rice variety used, yield from the previous season, and specific conditions of a farm. It could potentially be a very important tool for farmers in remote areas to get accurate farming information. Farmers would usually have to go to the nearest extension office for this kind of assistance.

“These good results have encouraged many other farmers to try RCM,” said Jayrex Pablo, a young agriculturist at Flora, who also reported that his office is close to reaching 300 farmers in the area.

Rey Duldulao, a rice farmer from Luna, Apayao, had earlier used RCM, through which he learned that he did not have to apply so much fertilizer as he used to. “I was surprised, because my yield got even better—as if RCM knew the texture of my soil,” Duldulao said.

His farmer's association maintains close contact with the local agriculture office to keep themselves up to date on good practices and new technologies available.

Edwin Joseph Franco, focal person on RCM for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), appreciates the impact of the tool on rice growers in the mountainous region. "There are farmers who have gotten better yields with the use of RCM, compared to the previous year,” Franco said. "I hope this program will become institutionalized in the coming years, so it can benefit even more farmers.”