Thailand invests in partnership-driven rice research

In an effort to further implement the rice research agenda of the country, the Royal Thai Government through the Rice Department recently approved annual donation of THB 3,600,000 (equivalent of USD 100,000) starting fiscal year 2014-2015 to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

In a letter addressed to the Thai Rice Department Director General Anan Suwannarat, IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler acknowledged the funding contribution. “We once again take this time to convey our deep gratitude to the Royal Thai Government for its support of IRRI and its mission,” Zeigler stated.

The funding donation will greatly support the collaboration between IRRI and the Thai Rice Department toward achieving the goals set forth in the country's research agenda.

IRRI Deputy Director for Communication and Partnerships Bruce Tolentino explains the goals of this collaboration. “As Thailand faces more complex and more serious challenges in this modern era, the country's policymakers are adjusting their domestic policies to strengthen the competitiveness of Thai rice in the face of growing competition from major producers such as Vietnam and India, and from newer competitors such as Myanmar,” he said. “The impacts of climate change will become more serious over the long term. Thailand must also raise farm yields, which requires the rapid strengthening of the national agriculture R&D system to ensure the availability of technology adapted to Thailand and readily accepted by Thai farmers,” Tolentino added.

Since its collaboration in 1960 when IRRI was established, Thailand has been a staunch supporter of institute’s research. Key achievements of this partnership include improvements in deepwater rice culture and development of new rice varieties that can tolerate flood and drought. IRRI and Thailand have been working together to improve rice production and enhance capacities of Thai rice researchers.

In October 2014, the 4th International Rice Congress (IRC2014)—the largest regular conference and exhibition of the global rice scientific research community and industry—was held in Bangkok under the patronage of the Royal Government of Thailand, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Thailand hosted, co-organized, and provided financial support for IRC2014. The country was chosen as the location for the congress as it is a key player in world rice trade. Dubbed the “Olympics of rice science,” IRC2014 gathered around 1,500 participants from 69 countries. The event highlighted the latest in rice research to ensure global food security.

With 16 partner countries, IRRI now explores partnerships with many nations to meet their specific local needs where traditional donor agencies lag behind in carrying out research activities. Collaborative funding arrangements between IRRI and countries, such as India, the Philippines, and now, Thailand, helps these nations become not only beneficiaries but partners of their own research initiatives.

Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

CORIGAP workshop focuses on future directions for closing yield gaps

By: Rona Azucena

The Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprint (CORIGAP) project gears up for its second phase with a review of the progress made at sites in major granaries of lowland irrigated rice in six Asian countries.  The meeting reviewed plans for the last 15 months of Phase 1 of CORIGAP and then considered priorities, future development activities, and timelines for Phase 2, 2017–2020.

IRRI scientists and research and extension partners from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China, and Indonesia came together for the two-day workshop on 6–7 October, IRRI headquarters.

Matthew Morell, deputy director general for research at IRRI, in his opening message said that “CORIGAP can provide a global strategic point of view as it brings together half of the world’s rice producing capacity.” He added that the project promotes cross-country learning and is an important part of the Global Rice Science Partnership.

Grant Singleton, CORIGAP coordinator, explains that “the success of the project is because of the strong partnerships built throughout the years since IRRC (Irrigated Rice Research Consortium).”

“It is time to capitalize on those partnerships and explore promising avenues for large-scale dissemination, especially the message that we can close yield gaps in an environmentally sustainable manner,” Dr. Singleton added.

The in-country developments made from research efforts on monitoring the ecological footprint of natural resource management (NRM) technologies, value chains, gender studies, and the field calculator were discussed, as well as the delivery and implementation of NRM technologies per country.

There also was an active exchange of ideas on communication plans for large-scale dissemination of CORIGAP technologies and practices.

The project aims to improve food security and gender equity, by optimizing the productivity (resource-use efficiency) and environmental sustainability of irrigated rice production systems, thereby closing rice yield gaps in a selection of major irrigated rice granaries in Asia.

CORIGAP is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.



Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

CORIGAP conducts workshop on measuring ecological indicators for sustainable rice production

The Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprint (CORIGAP) project conducted a two-day workshop on measuring ecological indicators and using the field calculator on 8-9 October 2015. IRRI scientists, led by Sarah Beebout, and key partners from China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam gathered together to discuss how to calculate 12 core environmental indicators from farmer field data collected from CORIGAP project sites.

 “One of the very important parts of CORIGAP is looking at the environment and examining whether we can measure ecological impact to see where we could make cropping systems more sustainable from an ecological perspective,“ Grant Singleton, CORIGAP project leader, said.

He lauded the continuing efforts of the project team in providing substantial input into creating indicators that will complement the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP). “If we get better measures, we can deliver key messages to policy makers so they can be the key people to take this initiative further,” he added.

“The vision is to build sound recommendations for sustainable practices in different countries for each planting season,” Sarah Beebout, lead scientist for the work on ecological indicators, explained. “For example, if a farmer uses low-carbon technology, does the nitrogen-use efficiency improve?”

Aside from ecological indicators, the participants were also taught how to use the field calculator, a tool to assess sustainability using the ecological indicators themselves. The participants brainstormed on how to use the field calculator further and who else might be its potential users.



Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

Transforming knowledge and disseminating new seeds through women’s networks

Rural women play a vital role in increasing in food production. Women farmers should have better access to varieties and resources to help mitigate the effects of climate change on their rice production. More importantly, instead of treating them as mere beneficiaries, they should be viewed as experts who possess the know-how that can complement experts’ formal knowledge.

Paddy cultivation is the main alternative livelihood for women in eastern India. This is part of changing landscape of agriculture across Asia. The traditional role of women in rice farming is rapidly changing, according to Dr. Samarendu Mohanty, head of the Social Sciences Division at the International Rice Research Institute. They are going from farm laborers to farm managers and owners because of the outmigration of male farmers to urban areas in search of better economic opportunities.

Despite the changes, the extension system in most developing countries has not made significant impact on small-scale farmers. Seed replacement rates remain very low, and access to new seeds continues to be problematic. Most farmers grow old varieties and use their own seeds. In order to address these challenges, new approaches based on community participation have come to the fore as a means of scaling up agricultural technologies to a wider audience.

The Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project is initiating approaches that promote women farmers as principal agents of change in their communities. The new strategy focuses on enhancing their learning processes, capacity building, and empowerment to improve their ability to adapt and make better decisions. The project is also training women farmers—being the actual operatives of the most rice farming practices—to provide accurate feedback to researchers.

STRASA is using this approach to disseminate information and seeds of stress tolerant rice varieties in eastern India. It aims to reach all farmers in an entire village by working with members from existing women’s groups in the villages because most social networks, where interaction is greater, are found within these groups. The approach works on the premise that female farmers would facilitate the further spread of knowledge and seed of stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) through their social networks thereby generating sustainable processes and practices. If a member of a self-help group successfully adopts a technology, other members may not only learn the innovation from her but also share it with others creating a multiplier effect. Moreover, in most of the stress prone areas with inadequate extension services available, women are taking the lead in all the operations of rice farming. They can be the best agents for extending the knowledge and seeds of STRVs.

Because stress-tolerant varieties are knowledge-intensive technologies, representative farmers go through a joint learning process with researchers and extensionists. It is necessary for them to understand the subject behind the practices before implementation. STRASA facilitates their interaction with researchers and provide hands-on trainings on quality seed production, seed testing, and safer storage. With the launch of phase 3 of STRASA, new lines developed by the International Rice Research Institute have been released in India for flood and drought stresses. These are Bina dhan11, Samba Mahsuri Sub1, DRR42 (IR64 Drought), DRR43, DRR39 and DRR44. Some of these varieties are already popular in many of the regions of eastern India, where they are being evaluated and promoted through private seed companies and other channels.
 
The importance of women in the promotion and dissemination of STRVs in the first season of their release can be clearly seen as these varieties have been disseminated through women's networks with the help of NGOs working with women’s self-help groups and women farmers.STRASA works with groups who have already an established base in these areas working for improving the livelihoods and empowering women through different interventions.

One organization, Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) organizes self-help groups for poor rural women each with ten to twenty members. RGMVP has developed a cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable poverty reduction and women’s empowerment model adopted by STRASA for the dissemination of knowledge and seeds of STRVs like IR64 Drought (DRR42), Samba Mahsuri Sub1 and Binadhan 11.

Farmers are initially educated about the basics of rice farming and made aware about the characteristics of the new varieties. Trainings are conducted for different operations from seeding to storage, to ensure that quality seed is produced which can be bought back from the farmers and sold/shared to others as a part of the RGMVP model.

Other NGOs which are engaged in the promotion of new STRVs through women’s networks are Vishwalok Jan Sewa Sansthan in eastern Uttar Pradesh,  Baster Sevak Mandal in Chhatisgarh, and Samekit Jan Vikas Kendra in Jharkhand in eastern India. A total of about 1,350 female farmers from different community groups across the four states were reached through this initiative.



Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

Strategic public and private partnership help accelerate dissemination of new varieties in eastern India

It could take between 3 to 6 years from initial evaluation of a breeding line to the release of a new rice variety. Add to that the slow rate of varietal adoption by farmers, because of problems with the seed industry and extensions services, and you have a system with low production, productivity and farm incomes. Now, the dissemination of newly released stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) in eastern India is getting a boost through the partnership between public and private seed producers.

The Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project has been working with partners in the region to spearhead initiatives to accelerate the adoption and dissemination of stress-tolerant varieties so they can reach farmers’ fields much quicker. STRASA is using this strategy to create awareness among the farming communities in 50 districts in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. These districts mostly have marginal farmers without access to quality seed of new varieties. The strategy also promotes proper channels as seed sources to ensure a sustainable seed system in the future.

STRASA facilitated the activities in which public and private formal seed sectors and extension systems participate in the promotion and multiplication of the flood-tolerant BINA dhan 11 and Sambha Mahsuri Sub 1, the drought-tolerant DRR42, DRR 43, DRR44, and salinity tolerant DRR 39. These are suitable for areas where farmers suffer heavy losses due to floods and drought and salinity. The varieties are early maturing and have characteristics and traits preferred by most farmers and consumers.

Farmers evaluate the varieties in multi-location field trials through the extension system. Extension agencies collect the feedback from the farmers then convey the information to seed producers. The feedback from these demonstrations help the national system to determine which new varieties for improving the rice yields in rainfed conditions are suitable for large-scale promotion and seed upscaling. The seed production sector engages in the upscaling and the comparison of the new varieties with existing varieties.

Farmer seed systems and formal seed systems have complementary tasks in supporting agricultural development. STRASA is strengthening both systems to expedite the upscaling and adoption of new varieties in the pipeline. The project is developing a promotion roadmap by linking public, private, and state seed corporations with institutions that produce breeder seeds.  This will allow new varieties to enter the formal seed chain as early as the first year of their release.

For example, the Seed Association of Bengal, a group of more than 45 seed companies which supplies seeds to several states in eastern India, has taken up the multiplication of DRR42 seed in the first year of its release. This will speed up the replacement of high-yielding, but short-rooted and drought-prone commercial rice variety, IR64.

STRASA supports these small seed companies by creating awareness of the varieties by providing technical information about the varieties and conducting small demonstrations through their dealers’ network.

These partnerships are gaining momentum in the seed sector, allowing for fast-track commercialization of STRV seeds that enable large-scale distribution so more farmers benefit. STRVs is a top priority of breeder seed indent from different agencies across the states submitted to the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture.

In 2014, STRASA facilitated the production of 5 tons of breeder seed of the new rice varieties allocated to public and private seed companies. This will produce about 400 tons of foundation seeds in 2015 and is sufficient to produce more than 25,000 tons in next two years. The seed will be commercially available to farmers.

In target areas where farmers traditionally use their own seeds and depend on their own varieties, the foundation seed will be used in demonstration areas to generate further awareness and demand through multiple channels. STRASA is demonstrating the STRVS with support from the states and partners (mostly NGOs) in collaboration with scientists and extension workers. These demonstration areas are in small clusters to cover more areas. Quality seed-production training and meetings are conducted to increase awareness of STRV varieties and accelerate the informal seed diffusion.

The governments of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand joined IRRI in establishing demonstration areas of STRVs to improve and stabilize rice productivity in 15 target districts. There are 40 demonstration areas (50 hectares each) in Uttar Pradesh and 12 demonstrations (100 hectares each) in Jharkhand. The demonstration areas are linked to producers to make the seeds available to farmers.  Along with STRVS, the improved management practices are also shown. More than 8000 farmers, many of them registered as seed growers, are participating in these activities. The target producing more than 1500 tons certified seed of these varieties.



Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

Odisha Government and IRRI to promote climate-resilient rice varieties to reduce losses from natural calamities

In the Indian state of Odisha, rice is synonymous with food. Unfortunately, the state is also vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Odisha’s agriculture sector is already experiencing delayed monsoon and prolonged dry season, increased frequency of heavy rainfall and strong cyclones, and higher average temperatures. All of these contribute to lower rice productivity.

To help mitigate the impact of climate change, representatives of the state government and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) signed a memorandum of understanding to promote high-yielding, stress-tolerant, and climate-resilient rice varieties in the rainfed areas of Odisha. The partnership will also focus on developing modern and appropriate management practices for both rainfed and irrigated systems.

 “With frequent natural calamities causing huge loss in the agriculture sector, the government hopes IRRI would come up with new technology to produce more stress-tolerant paddy that would be helpful for farmers,”said Mr. Rajesh Verma, Odisha’s principal secretary Agriculture. “Besides, more efficient and cost effective nutrient management technologies would be available to the farmers.” This collaboration would further explore science-based crop insurance system at a reasonable cost, Verma added.

Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha agreed. "This would help in developing high-yielding varieties that can cope with adverse climatic conditions and paddy seeds that can be grown even under drought and flood conditions,” he said.

In addition, the collaboration also strengthens cooperation in the field of research, development, training, improvement of production technology of rice and extension.
"We will provide better flood and drought-resistant seeds, manage post-harvest activities, increase capacity building of rice scientists, progressive farmers and agriculture officials and dissemination of other technical know-how," said Matthew Morell, IRRI deputy director general for research

Commissioner of Agriculture Pramod Meherda and Morell signed agreement on 3 October in the presence of Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy, Chief Secretary Gopal Chand Pati, and other senior officials.  IRRI scientists Dr. A. M. Ismail, Dr. U. S. Singh, and Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, were also present during the event.


Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).

IRRI rice genomics scientist wins Yunnan Friendship Award

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) rice genomics senior scientist Kenneth McNally recently
received the 2015 Yunnan Friendship Award. The award covers development in all sectors, including agriculture, industry, technology, medical care, culture, and education. Set up in 1997, it is given annually to foreign experts for their contributions to the social and economic development of the Yunnan Province in China.

The Yunnan Friendship Award is the highest honor given to foreigners in Yunnan.

Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).