Crop Manager app for rice-based systems released for farmers of Bihar, India

BIHAR, India—Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS), a web app for better crop and nutrient management, has been released to Bihar farmers.

The CMRS app (simply known as Crop Manager) was officially launched by Radha Mohan Singh (photo at right), India’s Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in a ceremony organized at the Research Complex for the Eastern Region of the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR-RCER) in Patna on 28 June.

Singh congratulated the scientists from different institutes who have been involved in the app's development. The app could be linked with the Soil Health Card scheme of the Govt of India, which will carry personalized  recommendations for nutrient and crop management to help farmers improve productivity through efficient input use. Once linked with Soil Health Scheme, it integrates well into Digital India, a campaign launched by Shri Narender Modi, India's prime minister, to ensure that government services are made available to citizens electronically by making the country digitally empowered.

Singh was pleased to know that the app can provide recommendations for rice farming in irrigated and rainfed environments. It can also be used for stress-tolerant rice varieties developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and researchers in India. He said that he plans to visit IRRI headquarters soon to learn more about stress-tolerant varieties and the Crop Manager.

During the launching ceremony, Shri Vijoy Prakash, Bihar’s Agriculture Production Commissioner, officially released the Crop Manager brochure (photo above). 

The app, which can be used with a computer, mobile phone, or tablet, aims to increase farmers' net income and sustain the productivity of rice-based cropping systems. It also provides irrigated and rainfed rice farmers with crop and nutrient management guidelines that are customized to the needs of individual farmers. CMRS uses farmers' answers to questions on practices to automatically generate management guidelines for rice, wheat, or rabi maize. 

CMRS is designed to help extension workers, crop advisers, input providers, and service providers to interview farmers. They can use a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet. 

The app was adapted, evaluated, and verified in Bihar through IRRI’s collaboration with ICAR; Bihar Agricultural University; Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU); international donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Catholic Relief Services; and other CGIAR centers including the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center.

Also attending the launch were R.C. Shrivastav, RAU vice chancellor; K.K. Singh, director, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Bhopal, B.P. Bhatt, ICAR-RCER director; Sudhanshu Singh, IRRI senior scientist;  Sheetal Sharma, IRRI soil scientist; and team members of Improved Rice-based Rainfed Agricultural Systems.

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IRRI administrator recognized for promoting crop science technologies

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines— Dr. V. Bruce J. Tolentino (4th from left in photo), deputy director general for communication and partnerships at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has received the 2016 Honorary Fellow Award from the Crop Science Society of the Philippines (CSSP).

He was recognized for his outstanding contribution in advancing crop science technologies, particularly in rice. The award is the CSSP's highest recognition for outstanding contribution in the advancement of crop science in the Philippines through research, teaching, extension, and administration in the various crop science disciplines.

Tolentino has been involved in international development, governance, management, analysis, and planning of socioeconomic development and reform initiatives and projects in Asia, Africa, and Central America for over 35 years. Most recently, he was significantly involved in the development of the Philippines' Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP) in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture.  

Under the FSSP, IRRI works closely with Philippine partners to reduce poverty and hunger, improve farmer and consumer health, and ensure environmental sustainability. Tolentino leads the formulation and implementation of the program providing guidance and direction to ensure sustainability of food for all Filipinos, many of whom still go hungry every day.

The CSSP promotes human welfare through the discovery and dissemination of knowledge concerning the nature, utilization, improvement, and interrelationships of plants and their environment and people. The awarding was held at the Phela Grande Convention Center on 16 June during the 46th CSSP scientific conference. 

Other CSSP achievement awardees included Dr. Artemio Salazar, University of the Philippines (technology development); Dr. Villaluz Acedo, Visayas State University (teaching); Dr. Chito Sace, Central Luzon State University (research); Dr. Othello Capuno, Visayas State University  (William Dar Award for Research and Management); and Dr. John de Leon, Syngenta (Sant Virmani Hybrid Rice Award). 

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RICE proposal receives positive reviews

MONTPELLIER, France—The new RICE proposal has received positive reviews from the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) during a CGIAR science leaders meeting here on 16 June.

According to the ISPC review, RICE is a conceptually sound, compelling, and articulate proposal that addresses the issue of improving rice production across the developing world. It is founded on clear comparative advantage for CGIAR. Historically, investment in rice research has a proven track record of contributing to CGIAR goals.

The RICE proposal builds on the successful Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP); it maintains a large emphasis on genetic improvement while making the case, through its foresighted studies, of a broadening of this CGIAR Research Program (CRP) to an agri-food system. RICE has a very strong partner base and looks at further strengthening the CRP, in particular by seeking additional agricultural research institutes (ARI) as partners.

The proposal offers a scientifically rigorous case to deliver measurable impacts on the system level outcomes (SLOs). The research activities of RICE range from upstream and basic research to plant-level research (variety selection), through to the delivery of new varieties and management practices to the end users, including farmers and rice processors. The change and impact pathways are logical and plausible.

“There is, of course, always room for improvement,” said Bas Bouman, GRiSP director. “The ISPC has requested us to develop an addendum with some further clarifications to our proposal, following four main recommendations they provided.

“But we are not being asked to make any changes in the proposal itself, although one of the four recommendations suggests we critically review the feasibility of our proposed targets or outcomes,” he said.  “Most of the observations actually commended us on a job well done! With the Program Planning and Management team and the leaders of RICE flagship projects, we will develop a response to the ISPC review and submit addenda to the RICE proposal by 1 July.”

After the resubmission of the proposal, along with any addenda, the ISPC and the donors on the System Council will again review and rate the proposal in the coming months. It is hoped that RICE will be approved by December 2016.

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India agriculture officials look to IRRI technologies for improving food security

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – “IRRI has an important role in food security and in ensuring that rice production is sufficient in India,” said  Ashok Dalwai, additional secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare.

“We are interested in raising our productivity to meet the increasing demand of food and nutrition security of the population,” Dalwai said when he and a team of senior agriculture officials (photo) visited IRRI headquarters on 22 June. “We are here to study the latest research and technologies in terms of varietal development, production strategies, as well as postproduction and storage technologies. 

We are keen on understanding these technologies and adopt them in India. The country produces 21% of the world’s rice, according to Dalwai. But the official said rice production must be increased in eastern India where some of the areas are low-lying rainfed areas. Currently, rice yields in these areas are low--about 1.8 to 2.2 tons per hectare. If the country could increase yield in eastern India to 4 tons per hectare, these areas can help secure the food requirements of  a hundred million people in India.

“Climate change is a reality,” said  Dalwai. He mentioned that growing seasons are already unpredictable and farmers are the ones most affected by climate change. Climate change makes agriculture a risky business. "With 49% of the population (14 million farm households) depending on agriculture, the government is doing its best to support the people through welfare, such as subsidizing crop insurance for farmers," he said

With the increasing purchasing power of the Indian population, consumer demand for high-value crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and pulses, is also rising. Farmers in Punjab, an important area for rice, production, are responding to this demand.

“There is a need to grow rice in ‘lesser areas’ such as Assam, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh,” said Dalwai. Thus, the government has been promoting Bringing the Green Revolution in Eastern India (BGREI) program over the past few years. BGREI includes introducing a rice-based cropping system to increase production through planting resilient and stress-tolerant varieties in rainfed areas in eastern India.

In relation to this, R.K. Singh, IRRI plant breeder, discussed climate-smart rice varieties that can withstand drought, salinity, and flooding—problems exacerbated by climate change. These varieties are now distributed under the projectm Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA).  Singh reported on how these varieties were able to save the livelihoods of millions of farmers in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

“These stress-tolerant varieties are like crop insurance,” said Bruce Tolentino, IRRI deputy director for communication and partnerships. “Now these varieties are already reaching 12 million farmers in South and Southeast Asia.” He also presented the latest developments in the C4 Rice project, a 15- to 20-year research effort that aims to increase the efficiency of photosynthesis in rice by 30–50%, and recent developments in high-zinc and high-iron rice as the institute’s response to creating a healthier staple.

Aside from developing improved varieties, Tolentino mentioned some of IRRI’s best bets when it comes to improved practices such as the alternate wetting and drying technology that can help farmers save water by as much as 30%. The Rice Crop Manager (RCM) was also featured during his presentation. RCM is an communication tool that helps farmers decide how to manage their rice crops better.

The senior officials also met with Martin Gummert (at right in photo), IRRI’s postharvest expert. Gummert showed the senior officials postharvest technologies such as the Super Bag, the solar bubble dryers, among other others and storage technologies that reduce losses. 

“The losses on account of poor storage, poor processing, and poor transportation are very substantive,” said Dalwai. "About 10% of the country's cereal production is lost because of this. It equals about 10.5 million tons of milled rice, which could feed more than 100 million people in India annually.

In general, the senior officials were impressed with the presentation of technologies. They acknowledged IRRI as a premier rice research center for the last 50 years. They are looking forward to further collaboration with IRRI. “There can be further collaboration between IRRI and research institutes in India, which has a good agricultural research infrastructure,” Dalwai added.

Aside from Secretary Dalwai, the Indian delegation included Subashish Panda, joint secretary, Ministry of Food; Deepak Kumar, joint secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution;  Dr. S.K. Malhotra, agriculture commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare; and A.P. Singh, additional commissioner on agricultural production.

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Odisha Agriculture Secretary lauds CSISA's efforts to fast-track farm mechanization

by Preeti Bharti and Priyanka Anand

BHUBANESWAR, India—Manoj Ahuja (3rd from right in photo), principal secretary in Odisha’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DoA), recognized the efforts of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in reaching out to farmers during a Round Table Discussion on Mechanization here on 1 June.

"The government is committed to the development of agriculture and is hopeful that much can happen through farm mechanization," Ahuja said. "Let's work collaboratively to benefit Odisha’s farmers and to help in the state's progress.” 

As agricultural mechanization starts to gain momentum in the state, Dr. P.K. Mehedra, commissioner and director, Agriculture and Food Production, Government of Odisha, said that agroservice centers could play a vital role in promoting and fast-tracking the technology in the state. He expected CSISA to locate and map all agroservice centers in the state and then link them with service providers and farmers. 

Dr. R.K. Malik, senior agronomist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, discussed CSISA’s initiatives for quality zero-tillage machines fitted with inverted-T type tynes and laser land leveling, which the project has introduced over the past three years. Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, senior scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and rainfed lowland agronomist for South Asia, presented CSISA’s plans for the next five years.

Dr. P.K. Paikray, joint director for agriculture (engineering), DoA, and Dr. Ashok Kumar, IRRI coordinator of the CSISA Odisha hub, were among the 50 participants, which included manufacturers of farm machinery and implements, senior agriculture officials, and service providers from around the state.

CSISA organized the event in conjunction with the Government of Odisha and machine manufacturers in Bhubaneswar.

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Indonesian ambassador commends crucial role of rice research in helping farmers

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—During his visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), H.E. Johny Lumintang (at right in photo), Indonesian ambassador to the Philippines, commended the impact of rice research on improving the productivity and livelihood of Indonesian farmers.

“I believe that IRRI is the best institute to help Indonesian farmers increase their rice yields,” he said. He added that, as a young boy, he grew up helping out on his family’s farm and is greatly concerned about the current situation of Indonesian rice farmers.

H.E. Lumintang was welcomed by Dr. Bruce Tolentino (at left in photo), IRRI deputy director general for communication and partnerships. He was briefed on collaborative projects with the Indonesian government.

Dr. Grant Singleton, coordinator of the project, Closing rice yield gaps in Asia with reduced environmental footprint (CORIGAP), presented an overview of the adaptive research work in Yogyakarta and South Sumatra. CORIGAP aims to increase rice production through sustainable environment-friendly approaches. The project is working closely with the Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research and Development, the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technologies, the Indonesian Center for Rice Research, and the Directorate General of Food Crops.

During his visit, the ambassador observed a demonstration of the Indonesian Rice Crop Manager (RCM).  RCM is a computer- and  mobile phone-based tool that provides farmers with personalized crop and nutrient management guidelines and general recommendations. The technology was developed by IRRI and its Indonesian partners. He also toured the Long-term Continuous Cropping Experiment, the world's longest-running rice research project that provides a firsthand glimpse of how rice production can be sustained in a changing climate without adversely affecting the soil and the productivity of a rice ecosystem. He also met with Indonesian scholars who are studying at IRRI.

Indonesia and IRRI have nurtured an ever-evolving partnership for 44 years. This collaboration has resulted in increased rice productivity, improved livelihood for Indonesian rice farmers, and increased capacity through a new generation of IRRI-trained scientists.

(This article was written by Rona Mae Azucena, IRRI).

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IRRI's rice recipes calendar wins international publishing gold award

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA—The 2016 Heirloom Rice Recipes Calendar, produced by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has won a Gold Award (1st place) in publishing from the U.S.-based Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences. The award—in the promotional publications class—was presented during ACE’s annual international meeting, this year in Memphis, 13-16 June.

The judges commented that, “the writing really captured the chefs' passion for rice without seeming hokey. The best dishes and recipes are, after all, the ones that have stories behind them as depicted in this calendar. The mix of history with modern issues around rice production gave the calendar real authenticity. The chef and farmer stories were compelling and sophisticated.”

To produce this very special calendar, the Heirloom Rice Project, a joint effort of the Philippine Department of Agriculture and IRRI, provided funding and teamed up with top celebrity chefs in Manila. The goals were to help raise awareness of rice farming in the Cordillera Region in the northern part of the country and contribute to preserving the local cultural heritage there.

The calendar features a different recipe each month contributed by chefs Robby Goco, Chele Gonzales, Gaita Forés, Anthony Raymond, Jessie Sincioco, and Sharwin Tee. The chefs, who created the culinary dishes especially to bring out the excellent culinary traits of heirloom rice, provided the recipes free-of-charge. Proceeds from sales of this calendar will be donated to the rice-farming communities in the Cordilleras.


The IRRI Communication team responsible for producing this masterpiece included Tony Lambino and Gene Hettel (concept); Gigi Evangelista-Caballero (coordination); Grant Leceta (design and layout); Alaric Francis Santiaguel and Leah Baroña-Cruz (text); Isagani Serrano, Jec Narciso, and Chris Quintana (photography); and Cynthia Quintos and Isabella Jhocson (additional research).Members of IRRI’s scientific staff and the Heirloom Rice Project who contributed to the calendar’s technical accuracy included Casiana Vera Cruz, Digna Manzanilla, Ana Cope, Aileen Lapitan, and Jonas Victor.

In addition to being a handsome desk calemdar, this publication is distinctive because of its tasty recipes and its mix of historic information and great photography. So, although 2016 is half over, the calendar is still available as a unique collector’s item, which can be later filed with your favorite recipe books and keeping in mind that all proceeds above costs will be going to the Cordillera’s farming communities that produce the heirloom rice. Contact IRRI at info@irri.org regarding discount prices for single and multiple purchases.



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