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Vol. 2 No. 1 April 2012CoNsortium for uNfAVorAble riCe eNViroNmeNts

CURE M a t t e r s

People-centered approaches now pervade political and development circles. From the conventional top-down and centralized approaches, there have been shifts in decision making from hierarchies to people at the grass roots.

It is, after all, the people “on the ground” who know and understand the situation best, and it is these people who can often speak most authoritatively.

In working in stress-prone rice areas where poverty and food insecurity are the dominant features, CURE acknowledges that farmers and their families are central to the development of solutions to the constraints they face.

This issue of CURE Matters highlights stories of people and communities taking charge of their lives. We share with you stories of communities that have succeeded in developing “seed banks” and of farmers having their say on which varieties they want in their fields and on their plates. With an aim of people-centered development, CURE has, through the availability of options and practices, helped farmers and their families in unfavorable rice areas make informed decisions and take charge of their lives.

We also provide you with updates on CURE’s capacity-building activities, technology evaluation, and the provision of technical innovation services (TIS) to IFAD grant partner projects in Nepal and in the Philippines. These stories show how an inclusive development approach can help provide hope in unfavorable rice areas.

Words from the field Arakan holds farmers’ field day .......................2 Farmers gain from “salinity-buster” BRRI

dhan47 ......................................................................4 Bangladeshi farmers welcome the release of drought-tolerant rice varieties .........................5

TIS Corner: reaching out and learning-by-doing CURE shares knowledge in Nepal’s Western

Uplands through TIS ............................................6 Community-based seed banks promoted in

the Philippines’ National Rice Program .........8

Technology generation and validation

Training on weed management and safe application of herbicides held

in Cambodia ...........................................................9 Extending flood-tolerant rice varieties in Indonesia ...............................................................10 PRRC undertakes experiments on

submergence tolerance ...................................11 Submergence-tolerant varieties tested in

flood-prone areas ...............................................12 Improving food security for farmers of the

Mekong Delta .......................................................14

Building capacity for innovation Workshop on phenotyping for abiotic stresses

in rice held at IRRI ..........................................15 CURE learns the ropes on participatory video production ................................................... 16 Training of trainers on community-based seed

banks for upland rice held in Laos .................17 CURE hosts training workshop on

impact assessment ........................................18

TIDBITS .........................................................19

Project profile Submergence and salinity: battling a lethal

combination ................................................. 20

Knowledge-sharing resources A guide for a participatory way of breeding rice ................................................ 22

Profile: CURE movers Providing the balancing act.......................... 23

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Words from the field

Farmers in Arakan have shown their skills learned in producing good-quality upland rice seeds by bringing along with them samples of best quality rice seeds produced from their own

farms in a mini-seed fair during the Farmers’ Field Day in Arakan, North Cotabato, Philippines. The Arakan Valley complex is the key site for the upland rice work group of the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) led by Dr. Casiana Vera Cruz, together with key-site coordinator Dr. Edwin Hondrade of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, Cotabato. The farmers’ field day was organized by Dr. Hondrade in coordination with the local government unit of Arakan.

Arakan holds farmers’ field day Joel Janiya (IRRI)

The farmers’ field day is an annual event that brings together farmers and local agencies in Arakan and from neighboring towns. This year’s activities included a field walk at the experimental site where the Observational Nursery for Upland Rice Varieties, National Cooperative Testing of Upland Rice Varieties, and the Formal and Informal Mother Trial plots are. Farmers and guests freely roamed the site to inspect the plots and check the different upland rice varieties. “Arakan has been dubbed the ‘home of the exotic Dinorado’ and it serves as the field laboratory of upland rice production in Mindanao,” Dr. Rosa Fe Hondrade of USM said. “In the last two months, we received three batches of Upland Rice Production Training participants from Regions XI and XII to see firsthand the success achieved by the upland rice farmers of Arakan.” Arakan also has its community-based seed group called the Arakan Community Seed Bank Organization (ACSBO) that was

established by the farmers themselves based on a model derived from CURE. The Arakan Community Seed Bank now serves as a successful model for the AgriPinoy Program “Upland Rice and Lowland Quality Seed Production and Community Seeds Banks Establishment Training of Trainers” for areas the formal seed system is unable to reach. “ACSBO now serves as a success story on how farmers can be empowered to produce their own good-quality seed,” Dr. Edwin Hondrade said. “It is now being replicated with facilitation from the local government’s municipal agriculturist, Mr. Edgar Araña, and agricultural technician James Dulay, with full support from the local chief executive.” Each community seed bank group is registered with the LGU for monitoring, quality assurance, and local government support, such as the provision of free seeds to farmers for planting when there is crop failure due to calamities. Former PhilRice Executive Director Dr. Santiago Obien, who

was representing Dir. Dante Delima (Rice Program coordinator of the Department of Agriculture), and Mr. Enrique Layola of DA-Region XII graced the event. Representatives from IRRI were Dr. Vera Cruz (CURE work group leader for the uplands), Mr. Joel Janiya (senior associate scientist), Ms. Lanie Reyes (managing editor for IRRI’s Rice Today magazine), and Mr. Isagani Serrano (IRRI photographer), who documented the event.

“Arakan has been dubbed the ‘home of the exotic

Dinorado’ and it serves as the field laboratory of

upland rice production in Mindanao”

1. Farmers in Arakan attend the farmers’ field day organized by the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) and the local government of Arakan.

2-3. Farmers identify their preferred plant traits among several upland rice varieties planted.

4. Dr. Rosa Fe Hondrade addresses the attendees to the farmers’ field day.

5. Arakan’s traditional variety, the so-called exotic Dinorado, commands a high price in the market.

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This variety has medium bold grains that not all farmers in Bangladesh prefer and it has higher shattering losses than other popular varieties. But why are farmers increasingly

adopting BRRI dhan47? The answer is simple: farmers’ adoption behavior is based on their projected economic gains as BRRI dhan47 is so far the only salinity-tolerant variety available. Farmers in saline-prone areas of Asasuni Upazila (subdistrict) in Satkhira combine different varieties. They adopt BRRI dhan47, a salinity-tolerant variety, and plant other high-yielding modern varieties for various purposes to enhance their livelihoods. A discussion with 16 male and four female farmers and one agricultural extension worker indicated that farmers gain from BRRI dhan47, particularly in areas where no other rice crop can survive. Bangladesh is severely affected by salinity during the boro season, when salt-water intrusion is commonplace, leaving more than a million hectares of rice lands unproductive. BRRI dhan47 was conventionally bred, validated through the participatory varietal selection (PVS) approach by BRRI and IRRI, and released in 2007. It has been disseminated through partnerships and projects, such as Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA), the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF), CURE, and STRASA, and by the local government extension office. Farmers started growing the variety as early as 2008. During the boro season, farmers noted that popular and high-yielding varieties, such as BRRI dhan28, IET, and Jamaibabu, would become completely sterile and would not survive under high-salinity conditions. Only BRRI dhan47 has at least an 80% survival rate even under high salinity of 10–12 dS/m electrical conductivity (EC). Farmers also cultivate this variety for both the aman and boro seasons. It has good stand, and strong and sturdy culm, requires low input, and is tolerant of most pests and diseases in the area. BRRI dhan47 has medium bold grain and does not really command a good price in the market, especially when compared with BRRI dhan28, which has fine grain and good eating quality. BRRI dhan47 is also priced about 30% lower than BRRI dhan28. The price of BRRI dhan47 ranges from Tk 650 (US$7.94) to 700 ($8.55)/40 kg while that of BRRI dhan28 is Tk 1,000 ($12.22)/40 kg. BRRI dhan47, however, provides a yield advantage of at least 1.5 tons/ha compared with other popular varieties under salt stress. Under normal conditions, BRRI dhan47 yields an average of 6.58 t/ha compared with 5.39 t/ha of BRRI dhan28. The added production means additional income from rice and availability of rice on the table. According to the farmers, BRRI dhan47 contributes at least 90 days of additional supply of rice for consumption. In Satkhira, farmers have the common practice of laying their paddy on the field immediately after harvesting to properly dry the straw, an important component of livestock raising. However, this practice leads to high shattering losses

farmers gain from “salinity-buster” brri dhan47 Digna Manzanilla (IRRI), M. Akhlasur Rahman, M. Abdus Salam, and Nirmal Sharma (BRRI)

of up to 50% for BRRI dhan47. This can be avoided if farmers will follow the recommended harvesting at the maturity stage. Well-dried straw and high straw yield can give additional on-farm income. The value it adds to livestock raising can offset the losses incurred due to high shattering. One bunch of straw brings Tk 3 ($0.04), and, if farmers could easily get 1,000 bunches of paddy straw, this would give additional income of Tk 3,000 ($36.66). S.M. Ahsan Habib, a progressive farmer, said that he gained 50 bags (1 bag = 60 kg) of BRRI dhan47 last season from his 2 ½ ha of land. This is equivalent to 1.2 tons/ha grain yield. He sold 15 bags and used the money to pay for new appliances, house repairs, and the children’s education. He also sold 15 bags for maintaining his farming activities, such as the purchase of farm agricultural inputs and other expenses. The remaining 20 bags were retained for home consumption. “We are thankful for BRRI dhan47 since it has made our lands more productive,” Habib said. A woman farmer, Mrs. Jahanara, said that she gained 15 bags of BRRI dhan47 from her small piece of land, which she sold and used for house repairs while retaining some for consumption. The subassistant agricultural officer from the Department of Agriculture subdistrict of Asasuni, Md. Igbal Hossain, said that, among the varieties that they have promoted, BRRI dhan47 is fast becoming popular. “In 2009, when the district was affected by cyclone Aila, we distributed 5,500 kg of the seeds to 1,100 farmers,” Hossain said. “Note that other villages in Bangladesh prefer bold grains and where BRRI dhan47 is most popular.” In another upazila (subdistrict) of Tala, discussion with 11 women farmers and 17 men farmers similarly indicated farmers’ wide acceptance of the variety. With higher yield of 6.89 t/ha compared with only 5.4 t/ha for BRRI dhan28, BRRI dhan47 is their only alternative. No other variety can survive in high-salinity conditions. Popular hybrid varieties, such as Tia and Alloran, can get high yields but cannot tolerate saline conditions and their eating quality is not as good as that of BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan47. The farmers also expressed their concern over the shattering losses of about 20% with BRRI dhan47. They said, however, that they would sacrifice this amount of loss in favor of additional income from straw. “If breeders could provide a variety with less shattering losses, good eating quality, and high salinity tolerance, then we would be more than satisfied,” the farmers said. “We prefer varieties that are nonsticky, with slender grain, and that have good eating quality that can command high market value, so we can also earn high profit.” Research to combat the ills of high salt in rice fields is a continuing effort. To date, the Saltol QTL has been introgressed into BRRI dhan28 and pyramiding of quantitative trait loci for anaerobic germination (AG) and the SUB1 gene is currently being done to address the farmers’ need for improved varieties through collaboration between IRRI and BRRI.

The hot spell in August and September may have turned the land dry, but farmer Abdul Majid from Nilkantha in Rangpur Sadar upazila, northern Bangladesh, is not bothered.

Majid is among the 350 farmers who attest to the success of cultivating the recently released drought-tolerant rice varieties named BRRI dhan56 and BRRI dhan57. This dissemination of the newly released varieties was conducted under a three-year pilot project by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) during the aman season in eight northern districts. The successful release of these two new varieties is the result of a long collaboration between IRRI and BRRI. From 2008 onward, these lines were tested in participatory varietal selection trials as part of the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Based on their performance and farmers’ choice, these varieties were then entered in the national multilocation experiments, partly

Bangladeshi farmers welcome the release of drought-tolerant rice varieties

A board in Kushtia, Bangladesh, advertises the varietal testing and demonstration trials that included new drought-tolerant varieties.

Male and female farmers choose their preferred varieties in the field. The good performance of the varieties during the demonstrations and preferred traits expressed by the farmers led to their release.

Stephan Haefele (IRRI)

Project scientist Biswajit Karmakar explains the purpose and process of the participatory varietal evaluation to the visiting farmers.

funded by the IFAD project “Improving Livelihoods and Overcoming Poverty in the Drought-Prone Lowlands in South and Southeast Asia.” At the beginning of 2011, the National Technical Committee (NTC) recommended the breeding line IR74371-70-1-1 as BRRI dhan56 as a drought-tolerant variety for drought-prone ecosystems. In addition, the NTC also recommended the breeding line BR7873-5*(NIL)-51-HR6 as BRRI dhan57 as a moderately drought-tolerant/drought-escaping variety for drought-prone areas. Final approval by the National Seed Board followed later in 2011. “Since BRRI dhan56 is a short-term variety, I can easily cultivate another crop before going for boro cultivation,” local farmer Romesh Chandra said. According to Dr. Kalidas Deb Nath, additional director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of Rangpur, the success of the drought-tolerant varieties in Rangpur is a good sign amidst the increasing scarcity of water in the area. “Climate change is likely to increase extreme weather events, such as drought, in Rajshahi and some parts of Rangpur region,” Dr. Nath said. “With BRRI dhan56 and BRRI dhan57, however, farmers who had to look for alternative sources will surely feel relieved.” Dr. Abdul Bari, country manager of STRASA, said that both varieties have been introduced in drought-prone regions in India and Nepal. “IRRI’s success in the two countries has encouraged farmers in Bangladesh to cultivate the same varieties on about one lakh hectares during the aman season,” Dr. Bari added. RDRS Bangladesh Head of Agriculture and Environment Dr. M.G. Neogi also added that, compared with most rain-dependent rice varieties planted in the aman monsoon season, BRRI dhan56 and BRRI dhan57 remain healthy even toward the end of the dry season since they take less time to mature than other popular local varieties. “Since BRRI dhan56 and BRRI dhan57 can be harvested in October, it is hoped that they can also help address joblessness in the north,” Dr. Neogi added.B.

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tis Corner: reaChing out and learning-by-doing

The provision of technical innovation services (TIS) is important in validating, targeting, and delivering technological innovations that help improve the

livelihoods of poor rice farmers in IFAD investment program areas. This promotes learning alliances and sharing of experiences, materials, and technologies between IFAD grants and investment projects. In Nepal, the gains from the completed IFAD grant on managing rice landscapes in the marginal uplands for household food security and environmental sustainability and the current IFAD-funded Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) are being shared over a wider area through TIS. In partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and its Western Upland Poverty Alleviation Project (WUPAP), an IFAD-funded project implemented in the remote areas of far-western and mid-western development regions of Nepal, CURE tapped the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) and Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) to conduct participatory action research (PAR) and knowledge management in Bajhang District. NARC was tasked with the conduct of PAR and IAAS with training for farmers on PAR, community seed banks, and integrated crop management programs. A total of 83 farmers participated in these activities. The conduct of TIS activities highlighted the importance of strong linkages in increasing and intensifying the reach of developed technologies. It also helped in developing the institutional linkages among IAAS, WUPAP, ICIMOD, DADO-Bajhang, District Development Committee (DDC)-Bajhang, Local Development Fund (LDF), IRRI, CURE, and IFAD. The practical classes also forged stronger linkages among the seed groups of Bajhang and seed groups and cooperatives of Lamjung and Tanahun.

How the program startedA seed production program was conducted with four village development committees (VDCs) in Bajhang District with a total of 58 farmers on 2.7 ha, which produced about 10.3 tons of truthfully labeled seed. Varieties grown were Ghaiya-1, Sukha-dhan 2, Loktantra, Sunaulo sugandha, Ram dhan, Khumal-4, Khumal-8, and Khumal-11. Mid-hill farmers from up to 1,000 m were provided with 90 kg of different varieties by IAAS from the CURE project, whereas those from up to 1,500 m were supplied with 75 kg of Khumal series varieties from NRRP-Hardinath. Of the nine varieties, Ghaiya-1 and Sukha-dhan 2 were used for both upland and lowland conditions (sown as upland rice and transplanted as lowland rice) and the remaining varieties were used as transplanted rice. Farmers have very good scope for seed production around the Seti River basin. Moreover, the accessibility of the VDCs is an advantage in supplying seeds to neighboring VDCs

CURE shares knowledge in Nepal’s Western Uplands through TIS Bishnu Adhikari (IAAS) and Yadaw Rambaran (NARC)

and in other districts such as Baitadi, Dadeldhura, and Doti. Three seed producer groups were formed in the three VDCs in Parakatane, Bhairabnath, and Rayel for the conduct of a systematic seed production program at the local level. These seed producer groups have women members—three of the seven members in Parakatane, two of the seven members in Bhairabnath, and four of the seven members in Rayel. These seed groups will be registered in the District Agriculture Development Office in Bajhang to become eligible for government support, such as access to revolving funds, training, exposure visits, tools, equipment, and machinery. Seed growers stored the seeds for distribution as improved seeds for the next year. The seed producer groups will either sell these seeds to other new farmers or exchange them for other varieties with farmers. Three participatory varietal selection (PVS) trials on drought-tolerant upland rice varieties were conducted in three farmers’ fields in Bail Village in Bajhang District. In the preference ranking that followed, IR717710-78-2-2 and PR 26516 scored high because of their higher grain yield, tolerance of drought, resistance to diseases and pests, and good grain type. In another PVS trial conducted on paddy rice in Kuch Village in Bajhang District, the preference ranking that followed revealed the farmers’ preference for IR70215-70-CPA-3-4-1-3, IR77721-93-2-2-1-2, and IR75287-19-3-3-3 because of their higher yield, good grain appearance, and resistance to diseases and pests.

Combinations of Ghaiya-1 and groundnut and Ghaiya-1 and maize were followed in Bail Village to test whether combining upland rice with short-/long-duration leguminous crops will reduce the risk of crop failure and improve soil fertility. The test yielded positive results, with farmers favoring the combinations for their upland fields. The men and women farmers who participated in the rice-based, off-season vegetable training activities in IAAS-Lamjung were given hybrid seeds of cucurbits and some chilli, brinjal, and tomato seeds, polypots, and plastic sheets for the establishment of five community nurseries in three VDCs. Farmers reported that they produced seedlings in five nurseries and distributed these to farmers for their kitchen gardens.

Tangible benefitsLocal agricultural extension workers from DADO, social mobilizers, and trainees from concerned VDCs reported that their use of improved varieties led to an increase in rice

Women farmers actively take part in a meeting of a seed producer group.

A woman farmer shows off her vegetable garden.

Prof. Bishnu Adhikari meets with farmers.

productivity by 25–30% in 2011 compared with the previous year. The conduct of PVS showed that farmers prefer rice varieties that are short in duration and mature in 120–125 days, allowing them to grow three crops in Seti River basin areas within a year. The practice of spring rice cropping (planting in February-March and harvesting in June-July) can be introduced in Bajhang in the coming year with newly validated cultivars, such as Hardinath-1 and Sukha-dhan 2. Farmers have expressed interest in growing these varieties in their irrigated areas in the spring season next year. This is expected to increase the cropping intensity and productivity of rice in Bajhang. The seed producer groups are also able to produce seeds of other crops such as maize, wheat, grain legumes, and vegetables. The introduction of off-season vegetable farming provides a source of nutrition and additional income for the family. The program also contributed to increases in farm and household income. The clear organizational structure of the seed groups and the defined roles and responsibilities of their members have helped in the development of human capital and the empowerment of the members of the groups, adding to the capability of the community to produce seeds of improved varieties. The establishment of seed producer groups will not only sustain crop production by using quality seeds of improved varieties; it can also provide incentive to the farmers to establish linkages with the national gene bank for meaningful participation, mutual benefit, and for exercising their legal rights on their traditional/native cultivars. The TIS program encourages farmers to preserve their traditional varieties. The government of Nepal has given first priority to seed production through the District Seed Self-Sufficiency Program (DISSPRO). DISSPRO will be started in Bajhang District after the launching of the seed production and distribution program through the newly formed seed producer groups. After the establishment of the seed producer groups in Bajhang, local seed growers, seed promoters, development workers, traders, millers, the seed industry, and tertiary beneficiaries will also participate in the seed programs directly or indirectly in the coming years.

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Good availability of quality seeds can raise food security for farmers and the nation as well. Currently, more than half of the farmers in the Philippines use seeds from

their own harvests. Oftentimes, the same varieties are kept and planted over many years. This is particularly the case for farmers in marginal lowland and upland areas, where good-quality seeds and improved varieties are not commonly available. Formal seed systems, established to provide quality seeds, tend to be concentrated in favorable areas. Moreover, seeds produced are able to cater only to the demand of intermediary market chains and consumers. In recognition of the importance of seeds, the Philippine program on rice self-sufficiency was established to improve access to quality seeds by farmers through community-based seed banks (CSBs) organized, developed, and managed by farmers’ and irrigators’ associations. The program aims to support the establishment of CSBs in upland and lowland rainfed areas, as well as in irrigated ecosystems. It also gives priority support to marginalized communities of rice farmers who are not served by the current formal seed system; establishes partnership with local organizations/groups in organizing, maintaining, and expanding CSBs; and promotes seed exchange schemes. The program on CSBs is being funded under the Philippine program on rice self-sufficiency and it has two major elements—the training of trainers and the provision of starter, or registered, seeds that are provided free of charge to the involved groups. Participants in these training activities are expected to train the next group of workers who would be working directly with the farmers. The training of trainers was undertaken as a collaborative activity between IRRI-CURE and IRRI-National Programs Relations, together with the Department of

Joel Janiya

Agriculture’s national rice program, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM), and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). It aims to equip agricultural extension workers for seed health improvement, seed production technologies, and community-based seed banking. Resource persons for this training came from IRRI, PhilRice, and BPI. A technical working team, composed of Filipino scientists duly appointed by IRRI’s deputy director general for research, moves around the country together with other resource persons from government agencies. Members of the training group from IRRI are Joel Janiya and Digna Manzanilla from the CURE coordinating unit. They have been tasked to share CURE’s experience in community seed banking, particularly the Arakan experience. The training activities for upland CSBs were carried out at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, Cotabato, and in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; while lowland CSB training was done at USM, Butuan, Agusan del Norte; Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; Visayas State University, Baybay City; and Calabanga, Camarines Sur. The island-wide series of training activities had a total of 219 participants from the Department of Agriculture regional field units, Agricultural Training Institute Regional Centers, and 79 provincial government units throughout the country. From

these, 146 were males and 73 were females. At the end of the training, participants from each region were expected to prepare an action plan to train local workers and farmers in facilitating the establishment of CSBs in their areas of responsibility. Through this program, at least one CSB can be formed in each province in the first year of its implementation and can be expanded in each municipality thereafter.

Community-based seed banks promoted in the Philippines’ National Rice Program

teChnology generation and Validation

The phrase “one year of seeding equals seven years of weeding” succinctly illustrates the difficulties of controlling weeds in rice. With the change in crop

establishment method from transplanting to direct-seeding, weed control becomes critical to avoid losing substantial rice yields to weed competition. In the northern provinces of Cambodia, more than 80% of the fields are dry direct-seeded, whereas farmers in the southern provinces are increasingly sowing pregerminated seeds (wet seeding) on puddled soil where the water supply is available and adequate. Whether rice is seeded dry or wet, weed control is critical during the first 4 weeks after sowing. The ACIAR-funded project “Improving rice establishment and productivity in Cambodia” conducted a training on weed management and safe application of herbicides at CARDI Training Center on 30-31 May 2011. Extension workers and researchers from different partner agencies and institutions participated. Three of the 22 participants were women. This project is part of ongoing collaboration with the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI); NSW Industry and Investment (Primary Industries); Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies (ISST), University of South Australia; Charles Sturt University; Royal University of Agriculture; Department of Rice Crop, General Directorate

Training on weed management and safe application of herbicides held in Cambodia Joel Janiya

Trainees fill a sprayer with water for the sprayer calibration exercise.Participants collect weeds for identification.

of Agriculture (GDA); Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain Program (CAVAC); and IRRI. The training aimed to enable participants to (1) understand the range of weed control options available for use, (2) identify weed species commonly occurring in rice, (3) learn how to assess weed control treatments, and (4) be able to identify the correct herbicide to use and be able to apply it correctly and properly. The training included lectures and hands-on exercises on weed identification and herbicide application (i.e., sprayer calibration and herbicide calculation). Practical steps on how to apply herbicides correctly and safely were also explained. The training was conducted by David Johnson (CURE coordinator) and Joel Janiya from IRRI.

David Johnson helps the participants in identifying weeds collected from the field using the weed booklet.

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The frequency of flooding in Indonesia has increased in recent years and, whether or not this is due to climate change, it poses a serious threat to the sustainability of

national rice production. It is reported that almost 300,000 ha of paddy fields were flooded and about 60,000 ha were devastated, causing considerable losses to farmers. The Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR) has been collaborating with IRRI and CURE in flood-prone environments for the last five years. This has resulted in the release of six rice varieties that are well adapted to inland swamps and flooded conditions: Inpara 1 (B9852E-KA-66), Inpara 2 (B10214F-TB-7-2-3), Inpara 3 (IR70213-9-CPA-12-UBN-2), Inpara 4 (Swarna-Sub1), Inpara 5 (IR64-Sub1), and Inpara 6 (B10528F-KN-35-2-2). Accelerating seed distribution to allow for the wide adoption of these newly released varieties by farmers has become a major activity. ICRR and the Provincial Agriculture Institutes for Assessment of Technology (AIAT) have developed a network of seed providers for flood-prone areas. ICRR produced a total of 2.6 tons of seed from the three submergence-tolerant varieties from 2010 to 2011. The seeds were distributed to farmers to accelerate the adoption of submergence-tolerant varieties and to benefit more farmers. From January to August 2011, 1.1 tons of seed from the three submergence-tolerant varieties were distributed within 19 provinces through the provincial AIATs and the provincial agricultural services (Table 1). These were of different grades from breeder seed (BS) to extension seed (ES). These seeds will be further multiplied by AIATs and provincial seed producers and farmers already use them. The largest amount of seed was

table 1. Distribution of inpara 3, inpara 4, and inpara 5 seeds.

Seed-distributing locationInpara 3

(kg)Inpara 4

(kg)Inpara 5

(kg)Total(kg)

West Kalimantan 32 32 Bangka Belitung 55 55 Bengkulu Sumatra 15 15 Central Kalimantan 60 60 Central Sulawesi 26 26 AIAT DIY 25 25 East Java 10 10 Jambi Sumatra 1 100 101 Jambi 25 25 North Sulawesi 25 25 Papua 16 16 AIAT Riau 5 5 South Kalimantan 275 200 300 775 AIAT South Sulawesi 25 25 South East Sulawesi 2 2 AIAT West Java 200 5 205 AIAT West Kalimantan 60 60 Central Java 7 5 12 East Kalimantan 25 5 30 South Sumatra 7 7 total 398 400 713 1,511

Scientists at the Prachinburi Rice Research Center (PRRC) in Thailand recently completed a series of experiments on submergence tolerance, anaerobic germination, and

stagnant flooding. For submergence tolerance, 490 rice lines/varieties were screened in a deep pond. The results showed that none of the tested lines were as tolerant as FR13A. However, 27 lines showed good recovery after flooding (Table 1). Crosses between Swarna-Sub1, IR64-Sub1, and Thai rice varieties Bahng Tean and Prachinburi2 were also made—19 crosses for F

1 seeds, 22 crosses for F

2, 17 crosses for F

3, and

14 crosses for F4. PCR08032-3B (Prachinburi2/Swarna-Sub1),

PCR07064-4B-15, PCR07064-4B-11, and PCR07064-4B-49 (Bahng Taen/IR64-Sub1) showed good performance at recovery after submergence similar to Swarna-Sub1 and IR64-Sub1. Further screening for submergence tolerance is required, however, to confirm these results. The screening for anaerobic germination aimed to identify varieties able to germinate and emerge from under 15 cm of floodwater. Sixty rice lines were tested for germination. Dry seeds were sown on the soil surface and then covered with a thin layer of soil (0.5 cm). These were then flooded with 15 cm of water immediately after sowing. The percentage of plant survival and plant height was measured at 20 days after sowing. The results showed that the two standard checks—

Khao Hlan On and Khai Yan—had 77% and 70% survival, respectively. The entry GS.no.9360 grew up to 55 cm and was found to be the best, with 60% survival. Seventeen rice lines had only 30–40% survival. IR42, regarded as a susceptible variety, grew up to 40 cm tall and had 19% survival. Rice seeds were also subjected to another experiment to identify varieties that can tolerate a 15-cm-deep floodwater. The results showed that 26 lines had 53–90% survival. GS.no.9601 was the best, with 90%, while Khao Hlan On and Khai Yan had 60% and 65% survival, respectively. IR42 had 30% survival. In the dry season of 2011, 28 IRRI lines were tested. The rice plants grew well up to the tillering stage but most were unable to flower due to seasonal effects. No grain yields were estimated; however, five surviving lines were selected as having good submergence tolerance—IR09F185 (with 85% survival), IR09F164 (50%), IR09F229 (50%), IR09F291 (45%), and IR09F178 (40%). These lines will be used in PRRC’s future breeding program.

table 1. rice lines that showed good tolerance/survival of submergence.

No. Identity % survival No. Identity % survival

1 PCR07060-4B 75 16 PCR09023-2B 602 PCR07063-4B 77 17 PCR09026-2B 853 PCR07064-4B-11 80 18 IR85086-Sub-28-2-3-2 904 PCR07064-4B-12 60 19 IR85662-STG14-2-3 905 PCR07064-4B-15 92 20 IR09F185 856 PCR07064-4B-17 70 21 IR84002-160-1-1-1 807 PCR07064-4B-29 80 22 IR85086-Sub-37-1-1-2 758 PCR07068-4B 73 23 IR85086-Sub-37-1-3-1 759 PCR08030-3B 90 24 IR85088-Sub-19-3-2-2 6010 PCR08031-3B 85 25 IR85089-Sub-112-3-2-3 6011 PCR08032-3B 95 26 Paung Tawng 6012 PCR08034-3B 90 27 Prachinburi2 6013 PCR08038-3B 60 FR13A 10014 PCR08044-3B 85 Swarna-Sub1 9415 PCR08045-3B 60 IR64-Sub1 92

Extending flood-tolerant rice varieties in Indonesia Yudhistira Nugraha and Priatna Sasmita (ICRR)

The minister of agriculture inaugurated the National Swamp Week festival by harvesting Inpara 4 (Swarna-Sub1) and giving more than 800 kg of seed of Inpara 3, 4, and 5 to farmers.

distributed to the province of South Kalimantan. Distribution was undertaken at a national event held in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (see http://bbpadi.litbang.deptan.go.id/

index.php/en/news/exposure/438-pprn-1-2011). At this event, the minister of agriculture inaugurated the swamp festival by harvesting Inpara 4. More than 800 kg of seeds of Inpara 3, Inpara 4, and Inpara 5 were then given to the farmers to be planted in the swampy areas of South Kalimantan. It is assumed that AIAT and the provincial seed producers will produce more than 4 tons of seed sufficient for more than 67,000 ha of rice in the flood-prone areas in Indonesia.

PRRC undertakes experiments on submergence tolerance Udompan Promnart (PRRC)

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An experiment that aimed to determine the performance of Sub1 varieties was recently conducted at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Regional

Station in Rangpur under the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA)-Submergence project. Floods are known to be very common in Bangladesh, damaging rice crops that have little tolerance of submergence. With the recent development of the Sub1 lines, farmers in these flooded areas are now able to plant and harvest rice despite the regular occurrence of flooding. Sub1 lines/varieties, however, should be adapted to local conditions and conform to the varietal release system. As these lines/varieties perform differently under flooded conditions than existing varieties, standard management practices must be developed so that farmers can fully benefit from them. Three submergence-tolerant genotypes, along with five standard check varieties, were evaluated using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications under three planting conditions. Treatment 1 was completely submerged for 16 days inside a tank; treatment 2, the nonsubmergence check, was placed outside the tank; and treatment 3, with the double transplanting system (bolan), was placed outside the tank.

T1 was established in a submergence tank to observe tolerance, whereas T2 was established in rainfed conditions (check) outside the submergence tank. In submergence-prone or flood-prone areas, early flooding occurs during transplanting. Some farmers choose to transplant old seedlings after the floodwaters have receded. Bolan is also practiced in these situations. Seeds for the experiment were soaked and seed treatment was done before sowing using the fungicide Babistin (carbendazim) to avoid seed-borne diseases. Thirty-eight-day-old seedlings were transplanted for T1, T2, and the first bed for T3 having 2–3 seedlings per hill with a spacing of 25 × 15 cm. T1 was submerged to a depth of 80 cm by irrigating water in the tank for 16 days at 10 days after transplanting (DAT). Sanitation and weeding were done at 10 days after de-submergence. Weeding was also done at 15, 30, and 45 DAT for T2. For T3, weeding was done in the first bed at 30 DAT and in the second bed during the panicle initiation (PI) stage. The percentage of survival for T1 was counted based on the greenness of the stem or leaf. Other data were also collected at maturity stage for all the treatments. Fertilizers, such as triple superphosphate (TSP), muriate of potash (MP), and gypsum, were applied as basal at 125 (full), 67 (2/3), and 56 (full) kg/ha, respectively, at final land preparation for all the treatments. The first topdressing of urea

at 43.5 kg/ha was applied after sanitation and weeding was done 12 days after de-submergence. The second topdressing of urea at 43.5 kg/ha along with the remaining 1/3 MP (22 kg/ha) were applied at PI stage for T1. In T2, urea was topdressed after the first weeding. A second split of MP was applied along with the third topdress of urea at the last weeding. In T3, urea was topdressed after the first weeding in the first bed and a second split of MP, along with a third topdress of urea, was applied at the last weeding in the main field of bolan. Furadan (carbofuran) at 10 kg/ha was applied with the first and second topdress of urea to control stem borers and leaf rollers. Sheath blight was controlled by using Folicur (tebuconazole) at 10 mL per 10 liters of water for 0.02 ha and stem borer, leaffolder, and brown planthopper (BPH) were controlled by applying Fighter (lamda-cyhalothrin), Bipolar (cypermethrin + chlorpyrifos), and Admire (emida chloprid), as per the recommended rate. Standard agronomic management practices were followed for good recovery of the crops.

Comparing resultsExperiments conducted under different environmental and abiotic stresses could provide important information. Based on the experiments that were conducted, Sub1 rice genotypes give higher yield under bolan. On the contrary, yield decreased due to submergence compared with rainfed situations. In both situations, yield either increased or decreased among the different Sub1 genotypes. Growth

table 1. farmer-preferred traits.

Code # Genotype Farmer-preferred traits

PVS-3 IR85260-391-1192 Long plant, plant type showed better, good survival percent, fine grain quality, long panicle, nonlodging tendency, expectation of higher yield.

PVS-5 BRRI dhan52 (check) Good appearance, long plant, plant type showed better, good survival percent, fine grain quality, more tillering, expectation of higher yield.

Survival of Sub1 lines and check varieties after 16 days of submergence.

Farmers participate in PVS activity at BRRI, Rangpur.

Submergence-tolerant varieties tested in flood-prone areas M.G. Ali, K.M. Iftekharuddaula, M.E. Hoque (BRRI), A. Ismail, and D. Mackill (IRRI)

duration increased due to submergence and the practice of bolan, varying among the different Sub1 genotypes. Plant height decreased due to submergence and the practice of bolan compared to rainfed conditions. BRRI dhan51, BRRI dhan52, BR11-Sub1, and IR85260-391-1192 produced higher grain yield in all conditions. IR64-Sub1, with medium, fine, and slender grain quality, gave satisfactory yield and had shorter growth duration in all situations irrespective of all entries. Higher tillering and panicle ability were observed in BR11-Sub1 and BRRI dhan51 in all conditions. BRRI dhan52, BR11-Sub1, and IR85260-391-1192 also showed higher plant height.

Preference analysis of Sub1 entriesPVS activities were arranged on-station with the mother trial of the Sub1 entries in treatment 1 during aman production in 2010. A total of 30 farmers (20 males and 10 females) participated in the activity. Each farmer cast two positive and two negative votes for the best and worst entries, respectively. PVS-3 (IR85260-391-1192) was voted as the best material and PVS-6 (BRRI dhan33) as the worst genotype. The reasons given by farmers for favoring selected entries appear in Table 1. The experiment showed that Sub1 genotypes can perform satisfactorily under stress and normal conditions, such as submergence, rainfed conditions, and the practice of bolan. On the basis of preference analysis, flood-affected farmers prefer Sub1 genotypes. Fine grain quality and taller plants were the other preferred traits.

BR11-Sub1 (ck)

Bina dhan-7 (ck)

Bina dhan33 (ck)

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The Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) recently conducted a series of activities aimed at improving food security among poor farmers in Vietnam.

CLRRI has been collaborating with CURE in developing new salinity-tolerant and submergence-tolerant rice varieties that, combined with management strategies, will help improve farmers’ productivity and reduce risk. These solutions are also likely to become increasingly relevant with the changing climate. Collaboration to date has helped develop a more systematic understanding of the problems facing farmers in target areas and has also introduced and facilitated the testing of salt-tolerant rice varieties to overcome these problems. The partnership with CLRRI is part of the network of scientists across Asia established to develop, validate, and outscale options for farmers in stress-prone areas. This network also contributes to training of farmers and researchers in relevant technologies to ensure sustainability of the aforementioned activities. As part of the collaboration between CLRRI and CURE, rice lines received through the International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER) are regularly evaluated and compared with local check varieties, such as OM 4900, during the wet and dry season. These rice lines are also evaluated in farmers’ fields with participatory varietal selection (PVS) as well as on-station at CLRRI. Having a mother trial comprising a range of varietal durations is a particular challenge. The target rice stage for conducting preference analysis is 80% of the ripened rice grain. At a time when the short-duration variety is ripening, the long-duration ones remain green. Evaluation therefore needs to account for this with repeat visits. The first round of the preference analysis with farmers was conducted in the 2010 wet season in the Mekong Delta. The wet season starts in June and water levels start to rise in the

Twelve countries in South and

Southeast Asia and Africa were represented at the training course on phenotyping for abiotic stresses in rice held at IRRI from 27 October to 10 November 2011. This first offering of the course at the Institute is an attempt to train young rice scientists in the most recent phenotyping approaches through a series of lectures and hands-on laboratory and field exercises. Scientists who attended this course came from Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines) and Africa (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal) and are involved in developing rice genotypes and sustainable management practices for better yields in areas affected by several abiotic stresses. The course was designed to equip them with the necessary phenotyping skills to help complement the recent advances in genetic and genomics tools and to cope with the anticipated adversities of climate change. Through the course, the participants developed a better understanding of the major abiotic stresses affecting rice production, such as drought, flooding, salinity and other problem soils, and heat stress. They were introduced to the approaches used to quantify these abiotic stresses and to the recent developments in the physiology of tolerance of each condition. International experts from the University of Western Australia and University of Copenhagen, together with IRRI scientists and support staff, provided lectures and guided hands-on training in different relevant aspects of the course. Screening protocols for phenotyping were learned through practical exercises, in both the field and laboratories to evaluate the responses of rice to each stress. The participants gained experience in using modern equipment and techniques to quantify these responses. This practical know-how is useful for identifying specific traits associated with tolerance of each stress. It also serves as a basis for proper

selection during various stages of germplasm improvement and for diverse breeding strategies. Some countries face increasing risks of salinity, drought, and flooding, seriously affecting rice production as a result of climate change. Participants from South and Southeast Asia and Africa found the course contents helpful to them in their effort to develop local rice varieties that integrate multiple

tolerance genes for submergence, drought, and salinity stresses. “It was a good opportunity to learn more about the protocols and other aspects of submergence, especially with the current condition in Thailand, where the central part experiences immense flooding,” said Udompan Promnart of the Prachinburi Rice Research Center in Thailand. The training emphasized the importance of good phenotyping in identifying traits and genes that are important to cope with the pressing effects of climate change. It also provided access to available experts and facilities, which proved especially helpful to participants from areas where resources for research are limited. The course was spearheaded by Dr. Abdelbagi M. Ismail, principal scientist at IRRI and CURE work group leader on submergence-prone environments, with the cooperation of resource scientists from IRRI and abroad. “We look forward to having more participants in the future,” Dr. Ismail said. “We are hoping that the training will set the groundwork for and strengthen partnership and collaboration between IRRI and institutions involved in rice research, as well as strengthen the ties with the governments of participating countries.” The course was organized with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), The Crawford Fund, Generation Challenge Program, Africa Rice Center, and IRRI.

building CapaCity for innoVation

Fig. 3. Extension staff members listen intently in a training activity.

Improving food security for farmers of the Mekong Delta Nguyen Thi Lang (CLRRI)

later growth stages of the rice to reach a peak, often with a period of stagnant flooding in October. It is therefore critical that the timing of the preference analysis be such that all the plants are in the field, before the shorter plant varieties are submerged. Otherwise, the short-duration varieties would be overripe. The preference analyses in the Mekong Delta helped to determine differences in the farmers’ preferred varietal traits (Figs. 1 and 2). “Baby trials” consisting of the farmers’ selections from the mother trials were conduted in 4 submergence-prone and 10 salinity-prone areas. Another 24 baby trials were carried out by the provincial seed center with seeds distributed from CLRRI. CLRRI has hosted a successful series of training activities/workshops on rice technology transfer systems in the Mekong Delta for key extension people to expose them to new options for farmers and ideas for transfer to farmers (Fig. 3). This training has considerable potential to be expanded to a wider group of rice-growing communities.

Fig. 1. Farmers choose their preferred varietal traits for the dry season at Vinh Long.

Fig. 2. Farmers choose their preferred varietal traits for the wet season at Tra Vinh.

Workshop on phenotyping for abiotic stresses in rice held at IRRI Rexie Jane Parreño (IRRI)

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Farmer-to-farmer video production

A team led by participatory learning and

extension specialist Dr. Paul Van Mele conducted training on producing farmer-to-farmer videos from 1 to 14 July 2011 in Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) in Rangpur, Bangladesh. The training aimed to develop the capacities of extension service providers in using digital video for enhancing their efficiency for capacity-building programs. The training had a total of 14 participants—seven from Bangladesh, four from India, two from Nepal, and one from the Philippines. All of the participants came from different organizations and had diverse backgrounds. All were also male except for the author. “Sending our communication and extension specialist to this training is in line with CURE’s efforts in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills in using the audiovisual medium,” David Johnson, CURE coordinator, said. “This is a means to document field-level experiences in developing and disseminating rice technologies in stress-prone environments, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.” CURE is making every effort to strengthen its NARES partners’ knowledge and skills in capturing and communicating lessons learned, case studies, and good farming practices in support of raising productivity in unfavorable rice areas. This training forms part of the preparations for the participatory documentation of farmers’ indigenous rice farming practices, their use of modern technologies, and other best management practices. The two-week hands-on training provided the participants with the opportunity to work with farmers as they produced their videos from concept development up to editing. Participants also tried working on voice-overs. Aside from the technical skills that the participants acquired from the training, they were also expected to have acquired the (a) methodological background on developing regionally relevant and locally appropriate training videos with farmers

with links to discovery learning; (b) tools and tips for producing learner-centered videos, including script research, script writing, interviewing, filming, and editing; (c) opportunity to develop a farmer-to-farmer training video; (d) opportunity to value the benefits of working in partnership and building on complementary skills of team members; and (e) opportunity to interact with course facilitators on matters related to

local language productions and mass dissemination. The farmer-to-farmer video production course was able to release three full-length videos on different topics—dry direct seeding of rice, flood-tolerant rice, and fish food in rice-fish systems. These videos, done in English, were translated into Bengali, Hindi, and Nepali.

The Digital Green approach to participatory documentationImmediately following the intensive training in Bangladesh, CURE linked up with Digital Green for an exposure trip to villages where it works. Digital Green is an India-based innovative group that aims to raise the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the developing world. Headed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate Rikin Gandhi, the group works with existing people-based extension systems through grass-roots-level partnerships and takes advantage of the wide availability of low-cost video recorders and editing software to produce agricultural information in video format. These videos are produced in a participatory manner and are disseminated through local facilitators whose role is to engage the audience with discussion and capture feedback. After a meeting with Avinash Upadhyay, regional program coordinator, and his team in Bhubaneswar, the author was immediately brought to Jashipur for a series of visits to Digital Green partner organizations and villages. The first visit was with the group called Voluntary Association of Rural Reconstruction of Applied Technology, or VARRAT, a voluntary organization working on issues such

as primary education, community health, social awareness, environment, vocational training and skills formation, gender and development, and community organization through credit linkage and promotion of self-help groups. After a dialogue with VARRAT Project Manager Mr. Naba Kishore Mishra and his staff members about their partnership with Digital Green, a trip to Badapadiapasi Village followed, where villagers and extension workers were filming the application of hormone in chilli. There was also a video dissemination program in which women farmers participated. They all confirmed the effectiveness of video in disseminating information. Compared with flip charts, videos present techniques in a highly visual manner. Farmers can see how things are actually done since the subjects move, as opposed to flip charts’ still images. The women farmers are united in saying that they would choose videos over any other extension tool. The next visit was with PRADAN, or the Professional Assistance for Development Action, a voluntary organization engaged in enhancing the livelihood capabilities of the poor and giving them access to sustainable income-earning

A community seed bank is a system in which farmers

themselves can take active roles and communities can have wider access to seed sources. It is also a means for communities to preserve traditional varieties that have characteristics that are important to them. In response to requests from NARES partners, CURE’s upland rice working group conducted a training of trainers on community seed banks (CSB) for upland rice on 23-27 May 2011, in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The CSB training was held in coordination with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) and had 18 participants from the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO), Northern Agriculture and Forestry Research Center (NAFReC), World Vision-Laos,

Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Productivity Enhancement (SNRMPE) Project, and Rice and Cash Crop Research Center (RCCRC). Two of the participants were females. The three-day training of trainers program aimed to capacitate development partners with a mandate for supporting rural development in the marginal uplands. The program is specifically intended for areas of comparatively low agricultural potential,

with less fertile soils and lower and more variable rainfall, commonly known as the CDR. Headed by CURE Work Group leader for upland rice environments Casiana Vera Cruz, the training team was composed of Digna Manzanilla, Joel Janiya, and Isabelita Oña.

CURE learns the ropes on participatory video production

Elenor de Leon

Elenor de Leon

opportunities. Mr. Surjit Behera, team leader for the PRADAN Mayurbhanj Project in Karanjia, provided a brief overview of PRADAN’s work and how the partnership with Digital Green has amplified their work. A meeting with farmers in Deuli Village, Karanjia Block, Mayubhanj District, followed, at which other issues on the use of videos in disseminating information on different farming practices were raised, such as the collection of fees to sustain the production of videos.

More training and videosThe training in Bangladesh and the visits in India perfectly complemented each other. The former provided the technical skills, whereas the latter allowed for the potential uses of videos to be witnessed in the field. To make use of the skills and insights gained from these trips, CURE has included in its plans the training of its partners. This will form part of CURE’s plan to maximize the potential of videos in encouraging and capacitating both farmers and extension workers to produce their own participatory videos that not only document their best practices but can also be used in helping others learn from their experience and knowledge.

Training of trainers on community seed banks for upland rice held in Laos

Khamla Phanthaboun of NAFReC explains how weed sampling is actually done using a quadrant.

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The Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE), in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), hosted a

Training-Workshop on Social Sciences Concepts and Tools for Technology Assessment and Research Evaluation and Impact Assessment on 25 July to 6 August 2011 at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines. The training-workshop aimed to equip participants with knowledge and skills to evaluate agricultural research, assess the impact of development and adoption of new technologies, and capture field-level experience through participatory process documentation and systematization. The 23 participants came from CURE and ACIAR partner organizations in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam. Debbie Templeton (ACIAR) and Digna Manzanilla (IRRI) co-coordinated the training. Resource persons from IRRI and the University of the Philippines Los Baños introduced the participants to methods used in research evaluation and to basic concept tools and data needs and sources for impact assessment. Participants were also introduced to the Digital Rice Information Gateway and IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank. The participants acquired knowledge on how to apply the Dynamic Research Evaluation for Managers (DREAM) model. This DREAM software is an impact assessment tool that enables analysts to readily calculate the size and distribution of the economic benefits from agricultural research and development activities using a range of market model options. For technology evaluation, participants were engaged in a participatory varietal selection (PVS) exercise as applied in rice, particularly in stress-prone environments. PVS is a selection

method for testing released varieties in farmers’ fields, eliciting farmers’ feedback on their preferences for varietal traits, and determining the most preferred varieties at a given locality. A brief lecture preceded the field exercise in IRRI’s Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment field. Other activities were a rice sensory evaluation for rice cooking and eating qualities in cooperation with the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center and a visit to the International Rice Genebank. A field visit to Bay, Laguna, was also organized on the sixth day of the training (30 July). Participants, along with members of the community, were divided into three groups; each group had the opportunity to practice field data collection methods, such as the problem tree analysis, focus group discussion, and cropping/seasonal calendar. Farmers were invited, giving the participants actual experience in data collection and participatory rural appraisal techniques. The training-workshop was held back to back with the training module on process documentation of field experiences and a meeting of representatives from NARES members of CURE who are handling the socioeconomic aspects of the project. The participants are expected to apply the social sciences concepts and tools that the workshop imparted to them in the conduct of impact assessments as part of activities in their home institutions. The six participants from CURE partner organizations are specifically expected

to have gained the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake and evaluate agricultural research, assess the impact of the development and adoption of new technologies, and capture field-level experience through participatory process documentation and systematization. They will now constitute the pool of experts and researchers that can take the lead in socioeconomic-related activities of CURE, joining the other trainees from past similar training activities of IRRI.

TIDBITSPublicationsAlam R, Rahman MS, Seraj ZI, Thomson MJ, Ismail AM, Tumimbang

E, Gregorio, G. 2010. Investigation of seedling-stage salinity tolerance QTLs using backcross lines derived from Oryza sativa L. Pokkali. Plant Breed. 130:430-437.

Angaji S, Septiningsih EM, Mackill DJ, Ismail AM. 2010. QTLs associated with tolerance of anaerobic conditions during germination in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Euphytica 172:159-168.

Bailey-Serres J, Fukao T, Ismail AM, Heuer S, Mackill DJ. 2010. Submergence tolerant rice: SUB1’s journey from landrace to modern cultivar. Rice 3:138-147.

Ella ES, Dionisio-Sese ML, Ismail AM. 2011. Application of silica at sowing affects growth and survival of rice following submergence. Philipp. J. Crop Sci. 36(2):1-11.

Ella ES, Dionisio-Sese ML, Ismail AM. 2010. Proper management improves seedling survival and growth during early flooding in contrasting rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes. Crop Sci. 50:1997-2008.

Ella ES, Dionisio-Sese ML, Ismail AM. 2011. Seed priming improves crop establishment of rice in flooded soils. International Rice Research Notes (IRRN) Volume 36, http://irri.org/knowledge/publications/international-rice-research-notes.

Fuentes RG, Baltazar AM, Merca FE, Ismail AM, Johnson DE. 2010. Morphological and physiological responses of lowland purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) to flooding. Ann. Bot. PLANTS 2010: plq010, doi:10.1093/aobpla/plq010.

Haefele SM, Konboon Y, Wongboon W, Amarante S, Maarifat AA, Pfeiffer EM, Knoblauch C. 2011. Effects and fate of black carbon from rice residues in rice-based systems. Field Crops Res. 121:430-440.

Haefele SM, Ismail AM, Johnson DE, Vera Cruz C, Samson B. 2010. Crop and natural resource management for climate-ready rice in unfavorable environments: coping with adverse conditions and creating opportunities. In: Climate change: ‘no regret’ options for adaptation and mitigation and their potential uptake. IRRI Limited Proceedings No. 16. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. p. 9-18.

Knoblauch C, Marifaat AA, Pfeiffer EM, Haefele SM. 2011. Impact of black carbon on trace gas production and turnover in soils. Special issue of Soil Biology & Biochemistry 43:1768-1778.

Mackill DJ, Ismail AM, Pamplona AM, Sanchez DL, Carandang JJ, Septiningsih EM. 2010. Stress tolerant rice varieties for adaptation to a changing climate. Crop Environ. Bioinforma. 7:250-259.

Nakhoda B, Leung H, Mendioro MS, Mohammadi-nejad G, Ismail AM. 2011. Isolation, characterization, and field evaluation of rice (Oryza sativa L., Var. IR64) mutants with altered responses to salt stress. Field Crops Res. 127:191-202.

Plett D, Cotsaftis O, Johnson AAT, Walia H, Wilson C, Ismail AM, Close TJ, Tester M, Baumann U. 2011. Root-specific transcript profiling of contrasting rice genotypes in response to salinity stress. Mol. Plant 4(1):25-41.

Reddy JN, Sarkar RK, Patnaik SSC, Singh DP, Singh US, Ismail AM, Mackill DJ. 2010. Improvement of rice germplasm for rainfed lowlands of Eastern India. SABRAO 13th International Congress, Cairns, Australia.

Shakley SJ, Carter S, Knowles T, Middelink E, Haefele S, Haszeldine S. 2011. Sustainable gasification–biochar systems? A case study of rice husk gasification in Cambodia. Part II. Field trial results, carbon abatement, economic assessment and conclusions. Energy Policy. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.023.

Singh N, Dang TTM, Vergara GV, Pandey DM, Sanchez D, Neeraja CN, Septiningsih EM, Mendioro M, Tecson-Mendoza EM, Ismail AM, Mackill DJ, Heuer S. 2010. Molecular marker survey and expression analyses of the rice submergence-tolerance gene SUB1A. Theor. Appl. Genet. 121:1441-1453.

Thomson MJ, Zhao K, Wright M, McNally KL, Rey J, Tung CW, Reynolds A, Scheffler B, Eizenga G, McClung A, Kim H, Ismail AM, de Ocampo M, Mojica C, Reveche MY, Dilla CJ, Mauleon R, Leung H, Bustamante C, McCouch SR. 2011. High-throughput SNP genotyping for breeding applications in rice using the BeadXpress platform. Mol. Breed. doi: 10.1007/s11032-011-9663-x.

Thomson MJ, de Ocampo M, Egdane J, Rahman MR, Sajise AG, Adorada DL, Tumimbang-Raiz E, Blumwald E, Seraj ZI, Singh RK, Gregorio GB, Ismail AM. 2010. Characterizing the Saltol quantitative trait locus for salinity tolerance in rice. Rice 3:148-160.

Widodo, Broadley MR, Rose T, Frei M, Pariasca-Tanaka J, Yoshihashi T, Thomson M, Hammond JP, Aprile A, Close TJ, Ismail AM, Wissuwa M. 2010. Response to zinc deficiency of two rice lines with contrasting tolerance is determined by root growth maintenance and organic acid exudation rates, and not by Zn-transporter activity. New Phytol. 186:400-414.

EventsStress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) Project

MeetingIndia: April 11-13, 2012 Bangladesh: April 15-16, 2012

Farmers’ Field Day CURE-CHARMP2 Partnership for the Cordillera RegionMarch 7-9, 2012IRRI, Los Baños, Laguna, and PhilRice, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

IFAD-Philippines Fourth Annual Country Programme Review (ACPoR) November 28-December 1, 2011Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Participatory Video Documentation Training November 24-25, 2011 Tabuk, Kalinga, Philippines

5th Knowledge and Learning Market (KLM5)Gender and Youth: Innovative Waves in Rural DevelopmentOctober 18-20, 2011Quezon City, Philippines

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) Phase 4 (2009-12)External ReviewAugust 29-September 10, 2011IRRI, Los Baños, Laguna

Strategic Gender Framework Formulation Workshop with IFAD Projects and Partners

August 24-27, 2011 Baguio City, Philippines

and athttp://asia.ifad.org/web/cure • http://asia.ifad.org/web/drought

Visit CURE on www.facebook.com/CURE.IRRI

CURE hosts training workshop on impact assessment Leo Angelo Ocampo (IRRI)

Participants visit IRRI’s experimental plots for the participatory varietal selection exercise.

Participants in the training workshop on impact assessment.

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proJeCt profile

Rice farmers in South Asia have been plagued

by submergence and salinity. Both can affect rice plants at any stage. In Bangladesh and India, farmers lose 4 million tons of rice per year because of flooding. The average rice productivity of submergence-prone areas in India is only 0.5 to 0.8 t/ha vis-à-vis 2.0 t/ha for favorable lowlands. Salt-affected soils occur across continents and under almost all climatic conditions. Among South Asian countries, India has the largest salt-affected area (6.73 million ha), followed by Bangladesh (1 million ha). Many of these salt-affected areas are either barren or have very low and unstable productivity, particularly in coastal deltas. The incidence and severity of poverty in these areas are higher as farmers suffer from various economic, social, and political disadvantages. The economic costs of submergence and soil salinity/sodicity alone are immense. Poverty increases during flood years as a result of crop failure. The disruption and hardship caused by crop failure are well known but the crop losses themselves are only part of the economic costs of submergence. Farmers adjust their production practices (e.g., Bolan or retransplanting in Bangladesh and some parts of India, or the very limited use of inputs) to reduce the risk and impact of floods when they occur. These practices have an economic cost during good years, however, as farmers lose opportunities for possible good harvests. A large proportion of areas affected by high salt concentration is not cropped in India and Bangladesh, particularly during the dry season, when salinity becomes high. In recent decades, rising sea levels in the Bay of Bengal have encroached on vast tracts of agricultural land in southern coastal Bangladesh and the coastal areas in West Bengal and Orissa in India, and have undermined rice production. Agriculture in these environments is mainly subsistence-oriented and average farm households commonly lack the capacity to acquire food, even at low prices, because of the low productivity of rice and limited employment opportunities. Increased efforts and well-planned actions are crucial to overcome the constraints in these environments to reduce the persistence of poverty. To help overcome these problems, IRRI started a

project in 2011 titled “Improved Rice Crop Management for Raising Productivity in Submergence-prone and Salt-affected Rainfed Lowlands in South Asia.” The project aims to improve and stabilize household food security and reduce the poverty of poor farmers in inland and coastal areas with salt-affected soils or submergence-prone lowlands in South Asia through the

combination of stress-tolerant rice varieties and the adoption of improved management technologies. The project, with IRRI as the lead institute, concentrates on three countries in South Asia: Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. A strong network of national agricultural research and extension system (NARES) partner institutions that includes research institutes, agricultural universities, and NGOs from the participating countries make up this project to ensure its effective implementation and coordination. Major activities under this project include downstream research for the rapid promotion of stress-tolerant varieties along with appropriate management technologies to enhance and stabilize productivity and increase the income of resource-poor farmers in flood-prone and salt-affected rainfed lowland areas in South Asia. Under components 1 and 2 is the development of suitable crop management options for stress-tolerant varieties to exploit their maximum potential under stress conditions. An appropriate farmer-centered seed production and delivery system linked with business models, on the one hand, is to be developed and validated under components 3 and 4. Different approaches for the rapid and targeted dissemination of technological packages are being compared and validated to determine the best possible strategy, which could be location-specific. Under component 5 are training events, exposure to the technologies, and exchange visits, which all aim to enhance NARES capacity and produce a critical mass of scientists for generating future innovations for problem soils and submergence-prone lowlands. Inception and planning meetings were held back to back with the STRASA meetings in April 2011 in Delhi, Dhaka, and Kathmandu. For the first component (Development and

validation of improved crop management technologies) and the second component (Development and validation of site-specific nutrient management technologies for salt-affected and submergence-prone rice-based cropping systems), 15 key experimental field sites have been identified after a thorough discussion with partners. A survey document has been circulated to all partners for a short system characterization of all sites and to prepare inventories of the most promising stress-tolerant lines and existing nutrient management recommendations for target areas. The on-site experiments (on crop establishment, nursery management, bio-compost application, and nitrogen management for quick recovery after submergence) and on-farm experiments (on crop establishment, nutrient management, evaluation of tolerant varieties under different stress environments, and different crop establishment options (direct-seeded rice/puddled transplanted rice)) have been specifically designed to harness the maximum potential of stress-tolerant varieties. Eleven partners, consisting mainly of NGOs, were identified in the three target countries to conduct activities under the third component (Development and establishment of farmer-centered seed multiplication and delivery systems) and the fourth component (Improved technology access through adequate business models for technology dissemination). Three experiments for development and validation of effective farmer-centered, location-specific strategies for rapid seed multiplication and dissemination of stress-tolerant varieties and technologies have been planned and are now being conducted in all three countries through these partners. Information materials for stress-tolerant varieties and good management practices for submergence-prone and saline environments have been developed and distributed to farmers for these experiments. As part of component 3, the success of the Bangladesh SEEDNET model is being replicated in Nepal. Under the fifth component (Enhanced NARES capacity and a critical mass of scientists for generating future innovations for sodic/saline soils and submergence-prone lowlands), a range of opportunities for broad-based capacity building through exchange visits, informal and formal training, collaborative activities, and through “mutual

learning” among the various stakeholders will be explored with partners as part of the ongoing project. A considerable number of farmers visited project activities and jointly discussed crop management options for stress-prone environments in the 2011 wet season. Local media conducted interviews and filmed project activities at several sites, which were then printed or broadcast. In addition, a range of scientists visited the project sites. Flood-affected plots of Swarna-Sub1 in Nimapara Block of Puri District were visited by the members of IRRI’s Board of Trustees, including Director General Robert S. Zeigler, Deputy Director General for Research Achim Dobermann, STRASA Chief Coordinator Abdelbagi Ismail, and South Asia Regional Coordinator for STRASA Umar Shankar Singh, along with Mr. R.S. Gopalan (director of agriculture from the government of Orissa) and several other senior agricultural officials of the respective states. Given that the potential of boro (rabi) rice cultivation has yet to be fully exploited in eastern India, a few experiments were established in the current boro season. At Canning Town in West Bengal, an experiment targeted improved crop establishment and nutrient management practices to raise the productivity of rabi rice in coastal salt-affected soils, whereas a varietal evaluation for boro rice after submergence-prone kharif rice was conducted at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi. Similarly, in Bangladesh, two experiments to raise the productivity of coastal saline areas were established at Putualkali during the current dry season. One experiment is related to improved nutrient management practices and the use of soil amendments, whereas the other tests different crop establishment options. A one-day workshop partly funded by IFAD on the “Development of SEEDNET in Nepal” was held in Kathmandu on 23 December 2011 to formalize strategies on the assessment of demand and the multiplication and supply of breeder seeds for stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) in Nepal. Forty-six delegates from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, Nigeria, and IRRI participated in the workshop and shared their expertise and country experiences for developing a network of various seed actors, including research institutions, public- and private-sector seed companies and corporations, community groups/cooperatives, and farmers to strengthen the seed multiplication and delivery system for breeder seeds of STRVs in Nepal.

Submergence and salinity: battling a lethal combination Sudhanshu Singh and Stephan Haefele (IRRI)

The IFAD team with Dr. Stephan Haefele, Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, Dr. Buddheswar Maji, and Dr. B.K. Bandopadhyay poses at the IFAD experimental site at CSSRI, Canning Town, West Bengal, India.

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Dr. Y.P. Singh, principal scientist, explains to Dr. Stephan Haefele the nursery management experiment on the Sewar experimental farm at CSSRI-Lucknow, India.

Farmers during a field day on an experimental farm of Naima Agro Ltd., Noakhali, Bangladesh.

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Adopting participatory approaches to technology development, validation, and dissemination is one of CURE’s guiding principles. To operationalize this, CURE

adopts participatory varietal selection, or PVS. Conventional plant breeding approaches were responsible for the Green Revolution in Asia, and these have been most successful in favorable rice areas. These are areas that are irrigated and where predictability of crop performance is ensured. But, for areas that are rainfed or those where uncertainty is high in the timing, duration, and intensity of rainfall, broad recommendations from conventional methods are not usually suited or very useful. Faced with multiple abiotic stresses, farmers in these areas are said to be slow in adopting new technologies. Aside from their limited access to information and seeds of new and improved varieties, plant breeders often conduct variety testing only on-station, which does not necessarily represent the situation in farmers’ fields in unfavorable areas. Moreover, farmers’ opinions may be sought only toward the end of the process. This runs the risk of a mismatch between farmers’ needs and preferences and the characteristics of new varieties. This mismatch has been addressed by the development of a Guide to participatory varietal selection for submergence-tolerant rice, which was developed and published with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. According to Dr. Thelma Paris, IRRI’s social scientist and gender expert and one of the authors of the book, the inclusiveness of participatory varietal selection, or PVS, makes it easy for plant breeders and agronomists to learn which varieties perform well on-station and on-farm.

KnoWledge-sharing resourCes

“PVS closes the gap between farmers and plant breeders by facilitating communication between them,” Dr. Paris said. PVS is defined as the selection of released or prereleased advanced lines and local or traditional varieties by farmers on-station and in their own fields. It is done when conditions on-station are very different from on-farm conditions. PVS trials grown on-farm and under the management of farmers provide information about the performance of new varieties under the real conditions that they face. “PVS is especially useful in stressed environments since these are the ones where you can find a range of environments with multiple stresses, such as drought, salinity, and prolonged submergence,” said Dr. Digna Manzanilla, one of the authors of the book and assistant coordinator for CURE. “These are environments that are very diverse and where adoption is understandably difficult.” IRRI’s experience in working with national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) has proven PVS as an effective means to accelerate the dissemination of stress-tolerant varieties. Aside from plant breeders and agronomists, social scientists also find PVS very useful since it requires information on the social, economic, and cultural dimensions in the varietal selection process. “PVS provides us social scientists with the means to determine which varieties are preferred by farmers, including their reasons,” Dr. Manzanilla explained. “And, this is where the importance of gender roles comes in.” Contrary to what most people think, the opinion of women also matters a lot in plant breeding. “They are, after all, the ones who cook the rice,” Dr. Paris said. “Migration has also left most women to manage both the household and the farm as the men find work in other places.” The PVS guide has been complemented by various training programs given by IRRI for plant breeders, agronomists, and extension workers engaged in rice varietal development and dissemination. Collaborators for the guide were Gerlie Tatlonghari, Romeo Labios, Amelia Cueno, and Donald Villanueva.

“There’s a ’human face’ to technology generation and

diffusion,” says Digna Manzanilla. For her, it’s not enough that new rice varieties and better management options are developed and distributed to national programs. She sees the need to go to the villages and listen to the “voice” of the farmers and what their needs and aspirations are. Information gathered from these interactions forms the crucial part of the work at IRRI and she is pleased that her work contributes to this work vision. Digna, or Digs to some, juggles two hats—one as CURE’s associate coordinator and another as a social scientist. As associate coordinator, she minds the flow of information between IRRI and NARES partners to support the effective operation of CURE. She develops training modules and capacitates partners and collaborators on various topics, and helps identify means to support the fast-track delivery of well-targeted technologies to CURE partners and farmers. As a social scientist, Digna spearheads the baseline and adoption studies conducted by CURE. In these, she employs participatory approaches to better understand and analyze farmers’ situations and determine the acceptability of new varieties to men and women farmers. Seeking to work closely with farmers helps her to better understand adoption behavior, and assess outcomes and contributions to food security and poverty reduction. “Adding a ‘human flavor’ to research and dealing with partners from different cultures, disciplines, professional backgrounds, and working environments to achieve multiple objectives at the same time requires diplomacy, an open mind, and compassion,” Dr. Manzanilla said of her work with CURE. “Both in terms of discipline of partners in developing needs-based products of CURE and in terms of the variety of activities that link research to farmers’ access to technologies.”

Close to heartThis kind of work is not something that she has merely chanced upon: “Agricultural and rural development,” Digna

says, “have always been close to my heart.” Digna’s academic training, complemented by her long professional experience in agricultural and natural resource research and management, has led her to work with people at the grass roots. She also prefers being out in the field as opposed to being behind a desk. She recalls a recent experience with three female colleagues in which they had to negotiate long hours of risky roads and climb up steep mountain trails just to meet with farmers in a remote village. “I am happy that I work where I can contribute to rural transformation, for which the delivery mechanism is crucial,” she said.

Before joining IRRI, Digna worked as a division director at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), where she led activities in agricultural and resource management. She earned her PhD in environmental science in 2001 from the University of the Philippines Los Baños as a PCARRD/DOST scholar and MS degree in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Hawaii, under an East-West Center Graduate Scholarship Grant. Before joining CURE in 2010, she was first involved with the IRRI-Japan MOFA project on the dissemination of submergence-tolerant varieties in Southeast Asia, in which she was a postdoctoral fellow for two years. The knowledge that she gained in applying participatory and qualitative approaches to technology validation and getting feedback from farmers came in handy when she joined CURE.

Challenges of farming in unfavorable environmentsCURE’s work in unfavorable rice areas presents different challenges, including limited funding and limited government attention. “This becomes especially problematic when it comes to the continuity of research efforts,” Dr. Manzanilla explained. Rice farming in unfavorable areas requires extra effort to bring new and innovative solutions to the target beneficiaries, who are often the poorest among the poor. Some decision

Elenor de Leon

Elenor de Leon

Providing the balancing act

With the women farmer-members of a seed producers’ group in Nepal.

A guide for a participatory way of breeding rice

Preference analysis with men and women farmers conducted in Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.

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CURE Matters, Volume 2, Number 1, April 2012

This newsletter is produced by the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). CURE is a regional platform for partnerships among institutions from South and Southeast Asia. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), as the host institution, provides the coordination function. Scientists from IRRI and the national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) of partner countries work together to help raise productivity and contribute to improved livelihoods in unfavorable rice ecosystems.

Materials in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official views of IRRI, IFAD, or collaborating institutions of CURE.

www.irri.org/cureEDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION TEAM

CUREDavid Johnson, Digna Manzanilla, Elenor de Leon

CPSBill Hardy (Editor)Grant Leceta (Layout)

Contributing authorsDigna Manzanilla, Elenor de Leon, Joel Janiya, Stephan Haefele, Yudhistira Nugraha, Priatna Sasmita, Udompan Promnart, Nguyen Thi Lang, M.G. Ali, K.M. Iftekharuddaula, M.E. Hoque, A. Ismail, D. Mackill, Leo Ocampo, Sudhanshu Singh, Rexie Jane Parreño, M. Akhlasur Rahman, M. Abdus Salam, and Nirmal Sharma

Please direct further correspondence, comments, and contributions to:Digna Manzanilla, Scientist (Social Sciences) and Associate CURE Coorcinator, Email: d.manzanilla@cgiar.orgElenor de Leon, Communication and Extension Specialist, Email: e.deleon@irri.org

makers give little attention to these stress-prone areas but others who are in collaboration with CURE are proving them wrong. “CURE is special in the sense that it brings together national programs, local organizations, and scientists to bring possibilities to agricultural areas that have received scant attention in the past from experts who have not dared invest their time and resources in,” Dr. Manzanilla explained. She is quick to clarify, however, that CURE merely supports local efforts to help farmers in unfavorable rice areas to better cope at a faster pace. “CURE is concerned with enhancing farmers’ access to new information, the mechanism of diffusion, the eventual factors of adoption of technologies in target areas, and the contribution of technologies to raising livelihoods and enhancing food security,” Dr. Manzanilla explained. “It is also concerned about identifying what could be a stumbling block to adoption and feed this information back to breeders, biological scientists, and policymakers.” CURE sees the need to continuously review policy and program initiatives that will fast-track farmers’ access to new technologies and build the capacity of NARES and partners in generating technologies, packaging new information that will bridge the gap in research and extension, and building a new cadre of scientists and technology and knowledge managers. Digna believes that there is so much work to be done for CURE

Light moments in between meetings with farmers.

to reach the hundreds of thousands of potential users of improved options, varieties, and products. Her commitment to continue searching for modalities to enhance farmers’ access to new technologies and varieties has already led her to start working on community seed systems, partnerships, and other technology delivery mechanisms. She believes that, with CURE’s intervention and facilitation, communities stand a better chance of being more self-reliant. “The work has just begun,” Dr. Manzanilla said. “New tolerant varieties have to reach the farming communities. This is what I see as crucial at this stage of CURE. This is where we have to strengthen capacities, strategies, mechanisms, and partnerships. And, this is where I see that millions of farmers are waiting to get the attention they most deserve as we continue facing the challenge of raising productivity in fragile environments, contributing to livelihoods, and reducing poverty.” For her, the most heart-warming experience is when women from difficult rice areas hug her and make her feel that

she represents change and hope for them. “To know that my work is being appreciated by the farmers is more than enough ‘reward’ for me,” she said. “My task is difficult and risky but very fulfilling as I feel that in my own little way I can contribute to creating change in rice farming communities.”

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