January-March 2008, Vol. 3, No.

April 2006, Vol. 1, No. 2

www.irri.org/irrc/

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium

International Rice Research Institute

Rice Research for Intensied Production and Prosperity in Lowland Ecosystems

RIPPLE is produced by the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The IRRC promotes international links among scientists, managers, communicators, and farmers in lowland irrigated rice environments.

A prosperous New Year to all from the IRRC!

In this issue
Ripples of change .......... 2
IRRC scientists bag awards in late 2007 Third IRRC Steering Committee Meeting a success! Aerobic rice scientists gather in China Back-to-back weeds and statistics training held in Myanmar Water management training begins in BRRI Waves of action ....................6 Easing the plight of the hungry in Bangladesh Voices for change: involving farmers in IRRC research IRRC Phase 3 reviewed Research streams ..................9 Measuring SSNM impact in the Red River Delta Profiles ..................................... 10 A person with a purpose Adding a human side to rice research Publications and ................. 12 upcoming events

The science of IRRC appears in Science

THE ROYAL TREATMENT: The majestic Shwedagon Pagoda is located in Yangon, Myanmar, a country where the IRRC has been conducting training and workshops in the past year. The IRRC was featured recently in Science magazine, 12 October 2007, Vol. 318, as one of the few foreign collaborators of Myanmar. (Photo by A. Malabayabas)

ts not only global warming and typhoons that grabbed the headlines last year. News about the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) managed to penetrate not only its network of partners from different countries and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) community but also the world. RIPPLE articles have been picked up by the media.

A recent milestone was in October 2007, when IRRC was featured in Academic Freedom: A Culture Under Siege in Science, 12 October 2007, Vol. 318, p 184-187. The author, Richard Stone, read A rewarding 2006 for IRRC in Myanmar from RIPPLEs April-June 2007 issue and became interested in including IRRC as one of the few foreign collaborators of the country. Here are

excerpts from the article: Yet there are a few bright spots in the landscape. Over the past 2 years, for example, the International Rice Research Institutes Irrigated Rice Research Consortium has run workshops and training in Myanmar on topics such as integrated weed control, nutrient management,
> continued on page 2

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The science ... from page 1

and laser land leveling. There is a great need to support the livelihoods of the poor farmers and to strengthen scientic capacity, says Grant Singleton, the consortiums coordinator. These efforts will continue in 2008, he says. News of the 3rd Steering Committee meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, was also featured on several Web sites, such as those of the Science Daily, Biology News Net, Horizon Solutions, and The Hindu Online. The UK-produced magazine Far Eastern Agriculture ran an article on IRRC technologies. Local newspapers and television programs have also captured IRRCs activities in the past year. Take, for example, a feature on IRRC Labor Productivity Work Group (LPWG) collaborator

Dr. Pratibha Singh and agricultural economist Arelene Malabayabas in a local Indian newspaper in February 2007. IRRC activities are also regularly featured in The Agri-Business News, a weekly paper in Myanmar with 20,000 readers. In December 2006, the paper highlighted postharvest activities in the country. In February 2007, LPWG weed scientist Joel Janiya was shown conducting a weed management training course with Myanma Agriculture Service staff and the private sector. Mr. Janiya was also interviewed in August 2006 in Agritalk, a local TV program of Central Philippine University in Iloilo, Philippines. He discussed the growing problem of weedy rice in Iloilo and introduced IRRCs weedy rice brochure. LPWG partner Dr. M.A. Mazid of the Bangladesh Rice Re-

search Institute has also been interviewed many times on different local TV channels and in newspapers regarding his work on early-maturing varieties and direct seeding, a joint effort with the IRRC. IRRC was also in several of our partners publications. Postharvest activities made waves in CGIARs e-newsletter in March 2007. The aerobic rice cover story in RIPPLEs July-September 2007 issue found its way into the Challenge Program for Food and Waters newsletter. And SSNM and IRRC news are often included in the newsletter of the International Plant Nutrition Institutes Southeast Asia Program, a partner of the Productivity and Sustainability Work Group. Communication plays a crucial role in IRRCs aim to achieve impact. The past

years response from partners and media was rewarding, but this does not mean that the IRRC will rest on its laurels. In fact, the positive feedback drives us to think of more innovative ways to reach our target audiences more effectively. Part of IRRCs communication plan this year is to package knowledgeintensive technologies into simple forms that can be used by farmers in making decisions about their crops. IRRC will continue to develop information materials on rice production technologies and facilitate research-extension partnerships through good communication with national collaborators to ultimately promote sustainable, benetenhancing technologies for poor farmers in Asia.
Trina Leah Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org)

IRRC scientists bag awards in late 2007

or his leadership in formulating and disseminating improved practices of sitespecic nutrient management (SSNM) through partnerships with national research and extension organizations and the private sector in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam, Dr. Roland Buresh of the IRRC Productivity and Sustainability Work Group was awarded the 2007 International Soil Science Award by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) at its annual meeting on 2-5 November 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. This prestigious award is given annually in recognition of outstanding achieve-

ment and service in the areas of international agricultural research, teaching, and extension. On 2-5 September 2007, Dr. David Johnson and Dr. Azmi bin Man won a gold medal during the science and technology exhibition of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The medal was for their poster on effective weed management through appropriate rice establishment techniques and a presentation in Penang based on separate leaets on weedy rice and the drum seeder. The exhibit can now be seen in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Grant Singleton, IRRC coordinator, received a medal of recognition for his many contributions to rice

Dr. Buresh receives his award from Iajuddin Ahmed (left), president of Bangladesh, and Rattan Lal (right), president of the Soil Science Society of America.

research in Vietnam, along with Drs. Robert Zeigler, Abdelbagi Ismail, Darshan Brar, Il-Ryong Choi, and T.P. Tuong from the International Rice Research Institute. They received their awards during

the 11th Annual Meeting of the Council for Partnerships on Rice Research in Asia on 4-6 September 2007 at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for Southern Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ripples of change

3rd IRRC Steering Committee Meeting a success!

is Excellency Dr. Dao Xuan Hoc, vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam, said that the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) will continue to be an important partner of MARD for many years to come. He emphasized this in his welcome speech during the 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the IRRC in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 8-10 October 2007. The meeting was organized by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), which has been a dedicated partner of the IRRC for the last 10 years. Dr. Dao ofcially welcomed the 66 participants from 13 countries who graced the opening session. He was greatly appreciative of the important contributions of IRRI, particularly the IRRC, to Vietnamese rice production and rural development. He mentioned that Vietnam is looking forward to strengthening its collaborative relationship with IRRC scientists to assist the country in tackling emerging issues that need a sustained investment in research on natural resource management of rice production systems. Methods are also needed to deliver the outputs of this research in a timely manner to smallholder farmers. Dr. Nguyen Van Bo, VAAS president, extended warm greetings from VAAS to all the participants, especially those who were in Vietnam for the rst time. He

Photo by J. Hernandez

was happy that Vietnam was chosen as one of the key partners of the IRRC since the rst phase. Research results from IRRC have contributed greatly to rice production and rice-based cropping systems in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese government and MARD are deeply grateful for these contributions. Dr. Bo said that this meeting was an excellent chance to share experiences among key rice scientists of Asia, especially from wellknown rice-producing countries, to overcome difculties in rice production. The distinguished guests included Dr. Walter Meyer (head of East Asia Division, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation [SDC], Switzerland), Dr. Michel Evequoz (SDC Hanoi), Mr. Geoff Morris (ACIAR country manager, Vietnam), Dr. Christian Witt (director, Southeast Asia Program, International Plant Nutrition Institute, Singapore), and Dr. T.P. Tuong (deputy director general of IRRI). Ms. Karen Eloisa Bar-

roga of the Philippine Rice Research Institute was elected as the new SC chair for 2008. Other committee members who attended were Dr. Hasil Sembiring (director, Indonesian Center for Rice Research [ICRR]), Dr. Dai Xiaofeng (deputy director general, Department of Scientic Management, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences), Dr. Mata Prasad Pandey (director, Central Rice Research Institute, India), U Than Aye (deputy director general, Department of Agricultural Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Myanmar), Dr. Achim Dobermann (IRRI representative and Program 2 leader), Dr. Nguyen Van Bo, and Dr. Carmen Thnnissen (SDC representative). Representatives also came from collaborating institutions: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University, Indian Agricultural

Research Institute, Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research and Development, ICRR, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Technology Assessment and Development, Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, VAAS, MARD, and Thailand Rice Department. The SC meeting coincided with the start of a 2week external review of the IRRC (see page 8 for more on the review). External reviewers Dr. Ian Willett, Dr. John Angus, Mr. Edmund Sana, and Dr. Benchaphun Ekasingh attended the SC meeting, which concluded with a eld trip to meet with local collaborators in Ha Nam Province. A workshop/conference to capture the learning from various countries on the research-to-impact pathway for natural resource management in lowland rice is planned for October 2008 in the Philippines, as well as a nal SC meeting for phase 3.
Ma. Angeles Quilloy (m.a.quilloy@cgiar.org) and Trina Mendoza
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Aerobic rice scientists gather in China

ore than 70 scientists shared their knowledge and experiences in aerobic rice development at the International Workshop on Aerobic Rice in Beijing, China, on 22-24 October 2007. Participants from the Philippines, India, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Colombia, The Netherlands, the United States, and China also identied new priorities for aerobic rice research. Co-organized by Drs. Wang Huaqi of the China Agricultural University (CAU) and Bas Bouman of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the workshop was a joint undertaking of the Water-Saving Work Group of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) and the project Developing a System of Temperate and Tropical Aerobic Rice (STAR) in Asia of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). The workshop brought together breeders and scientists who are working on the development and dissemination of aerobic rice in Asia.

Top Chinese ofcials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Natural Science Foundation, and CAU delivered warm welcome addresses. IRRC coordinator Grant Singleton and Liz Humphreys, leader of the CPWF-Crop Water Productivity Theme, also gave welcome speeches. During the workshop, scientists and students doing work on aerobic rice discussed their ndings from the past 5 years. A range of research studies, including varietal development, water management, crop and nutrient management, mapping of yield potentials, sustainability, socioeconomics, adoption, and impact, was presented. The ndings showed the potential of aerobic rice in the experiment stations and farmers elds and highlighted emerging issues for future research. An initial regional analysis even suggested that there is a relatively

Dr. Christine Kreye, IRRI agronomist, presents her collaborative research on soil health problems in tropical aerobic rice, citing two case studies from the Philippines. Two potential constraints are soil-borne pests and diseases and micronutrient deciencies. Aerobic rice is less developed in tropical countries in terms of high-yielding varieties and management options. (Photo by R. Bayot)

large area with potential for aerobic rice in Asia, Africa, and South America. Results from farm surveys in Asia showed average aerobic rice yields to be lower than those of lowland varieties. The net returns, however, have no signicant difference because input costs for aerobic rice are low. Although aerobic rice was found to be a protable substitute for crops such as maize and soybean, its performance can have large variability, with cases of yield failure and yield decline. While these cases have been

studied, more research has to be done before these can be effectively addressed. A student poster competition was also one of the highlights of the conference. Three students, Xue Chanying, Wei Fengtong, and Zhang Tianyi, were given the Best Poster Awards. The workshop provided a venue where scientists working on the development and dissemination of aerobic rice could meet, discuss, and open possible linkages in research.
Ruben Lampayan (r.lampayan@cgiar.org) and Rica Joy Flor (r.or@cgiar.org)

Ripple January-March 2008

Back-to-back weeds and statistics training held in Myanmar

s a continuing effort of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortiums (IRRC) country outreach program on capacity building, training courses on integrated weed management (5-7 November 2007) and basic experimental design and data analysis using CropStat (8-12 November 2007) were conducted at the Central Agricultural Research and Training Center, Myanma Agriculture Service, Hlegu, Yangon. IRRC Labor Productivity Work Group

weed scientist Joel Janiya conducted the course on weed management and Violeta Bartolome of the Crop Research and Informatics Laboratory of IRRI handled the statistics training, assisted by Mr. Janiya. A total of 42 trainees attended both courses (21 participants for each training course). The integrated weed management course included topics such as crop establishment methods; introduction to weed management; weed population dynamics and surviv-

al; nonchemical and chemical weed control methods; weed collection, identication, and herbarium preparation; planning a weed control trial in rice; and herbicide calculation and sprayer calibration. The course also included practical exercises on weed sampling and identication and sprayer calibration. After a discussion of individual components of weed management, practical exercises on the integration of the various components were done using situational weed problems in the respective townships of the participants.

The statistics course was designed to acquaint researchers with principles of experimental design, basic experimental designs used in rice research, analysis of variance and regression, and correlation analysis. The training also introduced CropStat, a microcomputer-based statistical package that facilitates analysis of experimental data. The course included practical exercises on steps in scientic research, data management, and data analysis.
Story and photos by Joel Janiya (j.janiya@cgiar.org)

Water management training begins at BRRI

A
Participants try to identify and rate weeds in the eld.

Researchers familiarize themselves with experimental designs used in rice research.

3-day training program on integrated eld water management for eldlevel ofcers of different organizations began at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) on 26 August 2007 in Gazipur. BRRI organized the program in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). BRRI Director General Md. Nur-E-Elahi was present in the inaugural program as the chief guest, while IRRI Representative in Bangladesh M. Zainul Abedin and IRRI Liaison Scientist M.A. Hamid Miah were present as special guests. BRRI Director (Admin) B.A.A. Mustari and heads of research divisions of the institute were present, among others, on the occasion.

BRRI Head of Irrigation and Water Management Division M.A. Sattar said Bangladesh can cut almost half of its irrigation costs by adopting integrated eld water management technologies, including the alternate wetting and drying method in rice cultivation. He also mentioned that China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India have already applied the method successfully in their rice elds, saving a lot of fuel, water, labor, and money. A total of 30 ofcials from different government and nongovernment organizations including IRRI, BRRI, BADC, BARD, DAE, BMDA, BRAC, CEGIS, and FoSHol participated in the training program.
From The Financial Express, 27 August 2007

Ripple January-March 2008

Waves of action
leave thousands of families homeless. Floods usually arrive in August and September, just before the monga season. The plight of the people, often already sick with diarrhea and other illnesses, is worsened due to starvation during monga. To help ease the hardship during monga and improve farm productivity, the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), and local nongovernment organizations (NGOs) have teamed up to develop the means for earlier harvests through shorter-duration rice varieties combined with direct seeding of rice (DSR) and weed control options. Dr. David Johnson of the IRRC Labor Productivity Work Group and Dr. M.A. Mazid, head of the BRRI Rangpur station, have been working closely with farmers to test the potential of DSR as an alternative to transplanted rice in different cropping systems. DSR allows the crop to be harvested 9 to 10 days earlier and raises the chances for farmers to grow a second crop such as potato, maize, mustard, wheat, chickpea, or vegetables. People can also explore other livelihood opportunities and earn more income. (See Adaptive research helps ght famine in Bangladesh, RIPPLE, October-December 2007.) The IRRC team traveled to Rangpur on 22-28 October 2007 to capture the impact of DSR in monga mitigation. Dr. Florencia Palis, IRRC socio-cultural anthropologist, conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) among farmers and landless men and women in Rangpur, Nilphamari, and Kurigram districts. One grief-stricken widow in Nilphamari said that her life was miserable and useless because she had no work and no land to work on. Left with two daughters to take care of, she could not remarry to somehow ease her burden because it was unusual in their culture and not an option. Another woman had gotten into a spiral of debt after borrowing from several NGOs to pay for each previous debt. Hope still remains for such landless women though, as they formed a group to develop incomes during the monga period. They borrowed money from an NGO so that they could hire a teacher for their young children. They

For many poor people in northwest Bangladesh, monga means eating only one meal a day for 47 days a week. (Photo by G. Singleton)

Easing the plight of the hungry in Bangladesh

he travel from Dhaka to Rangpur in Bangladesh takes about 7 hours by a road that gradually gets rougher as you approach your destination. In the course of that long journey, you get a feel for the exotic nation that is Bangladesh. As you leave the crowded urban streets of Dhaka, you are greeted with shocking images of makeshift tents in between trees and on the ground, just along the highway. Nearing Rangpur, there are whole communities made of tin houses. And in villages in Nilphamari and Kurigram, families live in thatch huts, most of them without electricity or plumbing. These are the homes of Bangladeshs many poor people. About 20% of the population in Bangladesh more than 20 million ultrapoor peoplesuffers from severe hunger each year. Life gets harder though for the rural poor in northwest Bangladesh from late September to mid-November, because they face a yearly famine called monga. During these months, many cannot

afford to eat three times a day, often even struggling to have one decent meal. The hardship at this time of the year is because most of the people who rely on farmwork in the greater Rangpur districts are jobless, waiting for the harvest of transplanted rice in December. By the time the monga season comes, they have consumed all of their stored food and do not have any opportunities for work. Most of the men migrate to cities to nd work such as pulling rickshaws and transporting bananas and logs, but these prospects are few and they also offer low wages. Oftentimes, families buy livestock and poultry before the monga comes and sell them during these trying months. Even 8- to 12-year-old children are sent to work for landowners. Boys receive about US$28 and food for a year in exchange for hard labor in the elds. The girls, who are allowed to do only household chores, are given only food. It does not help that northwest Bangladesh is transected by 21 rivers that regularly change course and

When monga season strikes, most men nd work pulling rickshaws, but the job is backbreaking. Since many of them are engaged in rickshaw-pulling, they compete for the same passengers and earn even less than the already low fare. (Photo by T. Mendoza)

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Easing the plight... from page 6

sold poultry and livestock and also engaged in lac production, supported by the Grameen Artto Unnayan Sangstha (GAUS), an NGO. Lac (Laccifer lacca) is a scale insect that secretes a resinous product, which is scraped off and sold to traders. Lac resin can be sold as dye and wax, which have great demand in the world markets of Germany, the U.S., Egypt, China, Australia, UK, and New Zealand. Almost all the lac rearers in Bangladesh are women. A further innovation has been DSR. Many farmers who have not tried DSR were eager to use the technology because they saw that their neighbors had healthy crops and good harvests. One farmer in Nilphamari was able to grow dry-sown rice and harvested about 3 tons per hectare and was also able to grow ginger; he said, it was a miracle. With the introduction of DSR and BRRI dhan 33, an early-maturing variety (115118 days), farmers can harvest at least 35 to 40 days earlier, sell at a higher price, and get other jobs.

IRRC agricultural economist Arelene Malabayabas trained interviewers and conducted initial household surveys. The surveys aimed to collect rice and other crop production data from 200 farmers. From the preliminary results, farmers said that the most effective ways of informing them about DSR are through television, demonstrations and training, farmers eld schools, other farmers inuence, and extension technicians. With the data collected from the FGDs and surveys, the IRRC can have a better understanding of how DSR and improved weed management can be extended effectively to help improve farmers harvests. The team also discussed the potential of DSR technology as a way to mitigate monga with government and nongovernment agencies. They met with executives of the Department of Agriculture and Extension and the

Dr. Flor Palis (left), IRRC socio- cultural anthropologist, conducts a focus group discussion among landless women in Nilphamari. Dr. M.A. Mazid of BRRI (right) assists by translating the discussion. (Photo by T. Mendoza)

district commissioner of Kurigram, who agree that planting early-maturing varieties is most vital in mitigating monga, but there is also a need for more seeds as well as training. DAE has been promoting early-maturing varieties since 2005, and direct seeding by a drum seeder to farmers, although their efforts have been hampered by recent oods. The team also met with NGOs such as Solidarity, Inter-Cooperation, GAUS, Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service, and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). These two technologies, early-maturing varieties and DSR, can stagger employment generation and, to some extent, combat monga, says Dr. Mahabub Hossain, BRAC chief executive ofcer. For GAUS members, this project was a dream come true as before using DSR, the farmers were harvesting only 2.1 tons per hectare,

says GAUS executive director Matiur Rahman. Upon using DSR with BRRI dhan 33 variety, and with good management and training, they were able to harvest about 4.7 tons per hectare. The work to relieve the problem of monga by enabling farmers to have earlier rice harvests still has a long way to go. Further farmer training will be undertaken this year so that farmers themselves can become trainers in the community. The IRRC team will travel down that road to Rangpur again and the jarring images of tents and thatch huts will probably still be there. But the IRRC believes that if the burden of the poor can be eased, through helping farmers make more of the natural resources, it will all have been worthwhile and indeed a dream come true.
Trina Mendoza and David Johnson (d.johnson@cgiar.org)

Team
EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION TEAM
IRRC: Trina Leah Mendoza, Grant Singleton, Jennifer Hernandez CPS: Tess Rola, Bill Hardy, George Reyes, Juan Lazaro IV
In late July 2007, oods destroyed transplanted rice crops of farmers in Bangladesh. This photo taken in August 2007 shows direct-seeded rice (right) that survived the oods, and the transplanted crop (left) that was just recovering. (Photo by G. Singleton)

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Rica Joy Flor, Ruben Lampayan, Joel Janiya, David Johnson, Divina Gracia Rodriguez, Ma. Angeles Quilloy
7

Ripple January-March 2008

armers, the target end-users of developed agricultural technologies, are often relegated to the quiet periphery of the research world. In the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC), however, the role of farmers is not limited to that of passive recipients of technology. Farmers are involved in many different ways throughout the technology development process. This is because the IRRC works on ensuring that the technologies brought out will have a positive impact on farmers. One case in point is the research on alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology by the Water-Saving Work Group of the IRRC. AWD was initially brought out through participatory trials to explore its viability for use by farmers on a large scale. The trials involved farmer cooperators who experimented with the technology on their own elds. Farmers made their own observations and comparisons between AWD

Voices for change: involving farmers in IRRC research

and their usual irrigation practice. At the end of the trials, farmers evaluated the technology. To scientists, feedback from farmers was valuable for further development of the technology and for efcient extension to other farmers. Once AWD was introduced to more farmers, social scientists worked on monitoring progress. In the monitoring activities, farmers shared their experience with the technology. The comments, gathered through interviews and group discussions with farmers, were complemented with socioeconomic surveys. The complementary methods ensure that the data reect a realistic picture of what farmers experienced and not the opinion of a few farmers only. While monitoring is an avenue that brings feedback from farmers to scientists, it is also a way to learn from farmers about strategies in

Farmers themselves in Tarlac, Philippines, check the water depth in their own experimental plots. (Water-Saving Work Group photo)

reaching more farmers with AWD. The involvement of farmers in extension is also important. Those who adopted the technology pass the knowledge and practice of AWD to other farmers. The farmers acted as lighthouses of knowledge, raising the awareness of AWD in the community. Years after AWD was introduced, farmers continue to make their voices heard as they report how

the use of AWD has brought about changes or impacts in their eld, in their household, and in their community. The process from research to impact in the IRRC continuously involves many participants, including farmers. Emerging from the sidelines, farmers become involved in making signicant changes in irrigated rice production for the benet of many.

Rica Flor

IRRC Phase 3 reviewed

stablished in 1997 with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) is in its third 4-year phase, which ends in December 2008. With a strong multistakeholder partnership, the IRRC is currently working in 11 countries. Our target in Phase 3 is to assist farmers in irrigated ricebased systems to achieve increased protability, food security, and
8

environmental sustainability. Our main foci are twofold: (1) innovative research directed at developing and testing technologies aimed at increasing production and (2) dissemination of technologies led by national partners through IRRC Country Outreach Programs. In October 2007, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) commissioned an external review of Phase 3 of the IRRC. The SDC provided strong input into the terms of reference and funded the review. The

main objectives of the review were to assess progress and future directions of the Consortium, and to provide comment on its current management and structure. The review team of Dr. Ian Willett, Dr. John Angus, Mr. Edmund Sana, and Dr. Benchaphun Ekasingh attended the Steering Committee Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, and then interacted with NARES and private sector partners in China, Myanmar, Lao PDR, and the Philippines. The review team completed its review with 3

days of deliberations at IRRI headquarters. After 2 very busy weeks, Dr. Willett presented a seminar to IRRI staff and indicated that the Consortium plays a pivotal lead role for natural resource management of rice production systems in the region and has made tremendous progress in its current phase. A nal written report was presented to IRRI management in mid-November and will be released for wider information and consultation in early 2008.

Grant Singleton (g.singleton@cgiar.org)

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Research streams

Measuring SSNM impact in the Red River Delta

ite-specic nutrient management (SSNM) has been introduced for ve years now in the Red River Delta in North Vietnam, probably one of the most intensively cultivated agricultural areas in the world in terms of both cropping intensity and the collective amount of grain produced each year. To assess the performance of SSNM in terms of farmers productivity, income, and socioeconomic welfare, the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC), in collaboration with Hanoi Agricultural University No. 1 (HAU 1), conducted impact assessment surveys from 31 July to 13 August 2007. The survey was done in Hanam and Hatay, two of ve provinces in the Red River Delta where SSNM evalu-

ation and nutrient omission showed that SSNM increased plots were conducted in ve rice yields signicantly by soil types. The survey team 0.16 ton per hectare using was composed of 11 faculty signicantly less nitrogen (N) members and four students fertilizer and no increase in from HAU 1, a faculty memlabor as compared with ber from Vietnam Forestry traditional farmers fertilizer University, and a researcher practices (FFP). SSNM from the Research Institute farmer-adopters reduced the of Fruit and Vegetable. IRRC rate of N and potassium (K) agricultural economist Divina applied by 6.1 kilograms and Gracia Rodriguez led the 4.0 kilograms per hectare, Research and training activities in the Red River Delta aim to improve team along with Dr. Nguyen respectively, and increased production in these areas. Thi Duong Nga from HAU 1. their phosphorus (P) rate A total of 374 farmers were Changes in NPK use, yield, and gross returns over total fertilizer cost randomly selected (TFC) for SSNM compared with farmers fertilizer practice (FFP). for the survey. Two sets of data Variable of interest (per hectare) Average for summer 2006 and spring 2007 were collected; knowledge, SSNM FFP Difference attitude, and Nitrogen (kg) 78 84 6.1 practices (KAP) Phosphorus (kg) 22 19 2.5 and the inputPotassium (kg) 61 65 4.0 output aspect of Yield (tons) 5.3 5.1 0.16 production for Total fertilizer cost (US$) 171 180 8.6 two seasons of Gross returns over TFC (US$) 1,000 972 28.1 rice production (summer 2006 applied by 2.5 kilograms per are, however, still prelimiand spring 2007). hectare. This suggests that, nary because other factors Among all with the SSNM approach, of production such as seeds, respondents, 61% NPK use efciency increased pesticides, and labor are not adopted SSNM. as evidenced by more grain yet accounted for. Moreover, Preliminary results yield per unit of fertilizer a simple comparison of means NPK used. has inherent limitations. Mr. Thoai, a faculty However, this did not The benets derived by member from Vietnam necessarily mean reduced farmers from SSNM depend Forestry University, interviews a farmer on her input cost. The total fertilon how much rice yield can be input use, production, izer cost of SSNM adopters increased with improved nuexpenses, and income from rice farming. was still comparable with that trient management; the scope under FFP (a difference of for further optimizing the only US$8). Nonetheless, the amounts and timing of fertilincrease in yield contributed izer N, P, and K to achieve to higher gross returns over such increased yield; and total fertilizer cost of SSNM what related advantages there adopters ($28 increase per are (e.g., reduced use of pestihectare). In addition, farmcides). The added benets (in ers practicing SSNM reduced terms of increased yield) from their use of pesticides, which using SSNM suggest that it included herbicide, fungicide, should be evaluated in other and insecticide applications. areas of the Red River Delta. Thus, based on initial Story and photos by ndings, SSNM adopters The survey team goes over the questionnaire Divina Gracia Rodriguez with Dr. Nguyen Thi Duong Nga (left) of seemed to prot more than (d.p.rodriguez@cgiar.org) Hanoi Agricultural University No. 1. nonadopters. The results
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Proles

A person with a purpose

ven as a child, Pyseth Meas knew what he wanted to be when he grew uphe was taught by his parents to be useful to the community. All of my life, Ive wanted to do something meaningful for the people of Cambodia, especially the farmers, because we rely on rice as our staple food and main source of income, he says. Now, as one of the few postharvest technology experts in Cambodiain fact, the rst trained in this eldDr. Meas is seeing his dreams come to life. Growing up on a rice farm with a father who was a government ofcial, he learned the best from both worlds: managing eld operations and solving farming problems. He also observed his mother, who had problems then in selling milled rice to consumers and traders. His early exposure to postharvest problems encouraged him to pursue a career in postharvest technology. With his rst scholarship from the Czechoslovak government, Dr. Meas received his MS degree in agricultural mechanization in 1987 from

the University of Agriculture in Nitra, Czechoslovakia. He then worked as vice-head of the project management ofce of the Department of Agricultural Engineering in Cambodias Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries from 1987 to 2000. He received a second scholarship from the New Zealand government and earned another MS degree in postharvest technology in 1999 from Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. After his MS study, he served as head of the agricultural engineering program and as deputy director of the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and as a member of its board of directors from 1999 to 2003. With another scholarship co-funded by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the New Zealand government, he nished his PhD in agricultural engineering in 2006 at Massey University, specializing in postharvest technology for rice. Now, Dr. Meas has his hands full as CARDI deputy director and as an IRRI consultant on postharvest technology.

COME RAIN OR HIGH WATER: Dr. Pyseth Meas about to cross a ooded area in Long An, South Vietnam, in June 2007 to conduct economic assessments of selected postharvest technologies, prepare sample business plans for submission to nancial institutions, and meet with Vietnamese counterparts. (Photo by T. Ryan)

Dr. Meas takes a rare holiday, visiting the famous ancient temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia with wife Leakhena, daughter Kanika, and sons Sakan and Sakun.
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Dr. Meas works with the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) Postproduction Work Group in a project with the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The project aims to demonstrate in eight villages in Cambodia that improved harvesting, drying, storage, and milling can help farmers increase income from their rice harvest and improve the quality of grain and seed throughout the postharvest chain. (See Cambodias continuing postharvest quest in RIPPLE, Vol. 2, No. 4.) In addition, he is also in charge of the projects activities in Vietnam. His days are mostly spent out in the eld, conducting training courses and farm machinery demonstrations to hundreds of agricultural researchers, extension workers, managers, and farmers. He nds this part of his work gratifying and most challenging as well. Not many people in Cambodia have been trained in postharvest technology, Dr. Meas explains. Bringing the technology to farmers is hard because there are not enough human resources. He hopes to be

able to help reduce postharvest losses such as grain shattering and deterioration of grain and seed quality. He also puts his good command of English to use by translating documents into Khmer, his native tongue. He contributes these documents to universities in his country. Studying in Czechoslovakia motivated him to become uent in its language and learn English as well. He even became a translator for Cambodias Ministry of Education in 1987. But he proudly reveals that his children, Kanika, 17, Sakan, 15, and Sakun, 12, are better English speakers because they stayed with him in New Zealand during his graduate studies. His childhood dream to help his country drives Dr. Meas to work hard; even his rest time is spent translating materials. In Cambodia, more than 85% of the people are rice farmers, he says. I hope that they recognize and accept that we have postharvest problems, and that they will work with me to try to do something about them.
Trina Mendoza

Ripple January-March 2008

Adding a human side to rice research

It was a project in 1990 on environmental and health impact assessment of farmers pesticide use that shifted her interest from the science of numbers to the science of humans. Dr. Palis was a senior research assistant then in the Social Sciences Division (SSD) of IRRI. Her team promoted gloves and masks as protective equipment for farmers while mixing and spraying insecticide. It was a shock when they found that the farmers did not use the gloves for spraying but for playing baseball and doing laundry. They discovered that farmers believed that using the gloves during spraying will cause a Filipino folk illness called pasma, characterized by weakness or trembling muscles. Dr. Palis realized then that quantitative data alone were not enough to explain what people do, and it made her appreciate the importance of culture as a signicant factor in farmer adoption of technologies. Then and there she decided to add anthropology to her research toolbox and nished a PhD degree in anthropology at UP in 2002. In 2006, she joined the IRRC after almost 20 years at SSD. As an anthropologist working among social and natural scientists in IRRC, she faces challenges such as nding time to read and understand the cultures of different societies and traveling to far-ung areas and engaging with people of different languages. Ideally, anthropologists stay in an area for years to fully understand the culture of others. But, with the IRRCs focus on many technologies in many countries, Dr. Palis works doubly hard to learn the science behind the technologies and implement anthropological methodologies, given the limited time of stay in a study area. For example, when Im working on ecologically based rodent management (EBRM) in Vietnam, I need to know somehow the biology and behavior of rats, and EBRM strategies per se, Dr. Palis explains. This includes being able to understand Vietnamese culture, farmer knowledge and practices on rodent pest management, peoples norms, values, and other aspects of society (social, economic, political, environmental, historical). Incidentally, her work on promoting EBRM led to one of her most memorable adventures in the eld; that of eating roasted rats in Vietnam. When shes not tasting foreign delicacies or conducting focus group discussions somewhere in Asia, shes at home in the Philippines, watching TV, reading, going to the gym, and spending time with her husband and three children. But, more often than not, the cheerful, petite anthropologist is thinking of ways to further extend IRRC technologies to farmers. We need to strategically implement the IRRC country outreach programs and involve the right partners in the network for participatory research and extension, says Dr. Palis. Our natural scientists have recognized the importance of farmer participation and partnership in technology development, adoption, and extension, in the researchto-impact pathways. Yes, we are achieving our goals step by step and one at a time.
Trina Mendoza

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: To fully immerse herself in a different culture, Dr. Flor Palis (left) interacts with farmers after the discussions and surveys. Here she is in 2005 with farmers in Tien Giang, Vietnam.

or the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) to operate smoothly, a multidisciplinary coordination unit is on hand to support the coordinator and work group leaders as they engage in research across 11 countries in Asia. The IRRC team is an oddball mix, composed of a communicator, a database specialist, agricultural economists, and socio-cultural anthropologists. Yet, the unusual combination works. And at the right hand of the IRRC coordinator, evaluating IRRC technologies, developing strategies for disseminating research products to different stakeholders, and working closely with partner organizations, is Dr. Florencia Palis, a post-doctoral fellow and socio-cultural anthropologist. Dr. Palis, or simply Flor to her colleagues, says that many people are still in the dark when it comes to anthropology, especially if it is applied in the eld of agriculture such as in the IRRC. Anthropology, as an academic discipline, studies human behavior using a holistic approach, considering the past and present, and man as

both a biological and cultural being, says Dr. Palis. Oftentimes, anthropologists are associated only as archeologists, those who are discovering the material cultures of past societies to understand the present cultures, but there are other elds of anthropology as well. For example, we have socio-cultural anthropology, which is a comparative study of human cultures or lifeways in contemporary societies. As an applied sociocultural anthropologist, she studies farmers behavior, knowledge, norms and values, relationships among groups, and other aspects of society, including history, in relation to their adoption of IRRC technologies. She has been dealing with research or experimental designs and analysis for various types of data since she rst started working at the Forest Research Institute and at the National Crop Protection Center at the University of the Philippines (UP), but she wasnt an anthropologist then. In fact, she has BS and MS degrees in statistics from UP, which is about as different as night and day from the qualitative methods often employed in anthropology.

Ripple January-March 2008

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Upcoming events
(January-April 2008)
Workshops and conferences
IRRC Country Outreach Program Workshop on 4-6 February 2008 at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Nueva Ecija, Philippines Two-day meeting on 7-8 February 2008 at the International Rice Research Institute, Laguna, Philippines 5th International Crop Science Conference in Jeju, South Korea, 13-18 April 2008 Postproduction Work Group Hands-on training on postharvest technology with NAFRI. Participants from extension and research in Vientiane, Laos, 8 January 2008 Assessment of postharvest situation in Southern Laos and Luang Prabang, 3-12 January 2008 Setting up of laser-leveling equipment and training of operators and technicians in Savannakhet, Vietnam, 13 January 2008 Labor Productivity Work Group Field visit to Laos and Cambodia (January 2008) and Sulawesi, Indonesia (February 2008) for constraint identication and program development Field visit to Iloilo and Bohol, Philippines, for data collection, January and March 2008 Field visit to assess collaborative experiment on alternate wetting and drying and weed management in

PhilRice, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, January and March 2008 Field visit to Myanmar for review and planning, March 2008

over the last decade in the Muda granary of Malaysia. p 268-273. Janiya JD, Mortimer AM, Johnson DE. 2007. Composition of the weed seed bank under intensive irrigated rice cultivation: observations after twelve consecutive rice crops. p 172-176. Johnson DE. 2007. Weed management issues in rice in the era of biotechnology. p 1-7. Namuco OS, Migo T, Johnson DE. 2007. The contribution of rice seed traits to early growth as an indicator of competitiveness. p 340-344. Pea JT, Baltazar AM, Johnson DE, Merca FE, Ismail A. 2007. Biochemical adaptation of purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) to ooding: alcohol dehydrogenase activity in dryland and wetland ecotypes. p 361-366. Singh VP, Singh Y, Singh G, Mortimer AM, Johnson DE. 2007. Crop performance and incidence of weed species with the introduction of direct seeded rice in the ricewheat cropping system of northern India. p 451-455. Villalobos MC, Baltazar AM, Johnson DE, Merca FE, Ismail A. 2007. Biochemical adaptation of purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) to ooding: pyruvate decarboxylase activity in dryland and wetland ecotypes. p 503-508.

Publications
International journals
Brown PR, Nyunt Yee, Singleton GR, Kenny AJ, Nyo Me Thwe, Myo Myint, Than Aye. 2008. Farmers knowledge, attitudes, and practices for rodent management in Myanmar. International Journal of Pest Management 54, 6976. Faedo M, Hinds LA, Singleton GR, Rawlinson WD. 2007. Prevalence of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in wild house mice (Mus musculis) in southeastern Australia. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43, 668674.

Conference proceedings
Abeysekara ASK, Herath HMS, Wickrama UB, Nugaliyadde L, Johnson DE. 2007. Effects of the seed establishment method of rice (Oryza sativa L.) on weed growth and yield of rice. In: Marambe B, Sangkkara UR, De Costa WAJM, Abeysekara ASK, editors. Proceedings of the 21st Asian Pacic Weed Science Society (APWSS) Conference, 2-6 October 2007, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Colombo (Sri Lanka): University of Peradeniya and Chemical Industries, Ltd. p 1-3. The following papers are also part of the same APWSS conference proceedings: Azmi M, Baki BB, Johnson DE. 2007. Weed species of rice