rt vol. 5, no. 2 genuinely lao

7/31/2019 RT Vol. 5, No. 2 Genuinely Lao

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Rice TodayApril-June 2006 Rice TodayApril-June 2006

The story o

project tha

revolution

production

Lao PDR

by Adam Barclay and Samjhana Shrestha

Genuinely

In 1990, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LaoPDR) needed more food. The rice industry in par-ticular and agriculture in general were ready for

change. It had been a long time since the country hadproduced enough ricefrom which the average Lao

person receives around two-thirds of his or her caloriestofeed everybody. Something needed to happen, and soon.

History tells us that change did arrive that year,

along with the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) and the International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI). The Lao-IRRI Rice Research and Train-ing Project aimed to completely revitalize the Lao rice

industry. The next 15 years would see an enormoussurge in Lao PDRs research and training capacity as

well as the long, hard journey to rice self-sufficiency.

LaoPETERFREDENBURG(7)

SAMJHANASHRESTHA

DANIELEMARECHAL

DANIELEMARECHAL

LAO farmers tend vegetable

terraces on the Nam Khan

River near Luang Prabang.

Improved rice production

allows farmers to diversify

their crops, and therefore

their diet and incomebut

life throughout Lao PDR, seen

in the surrounding photos,

continues to depend on rice.


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25

Ty Phommasack, the vice minister foragriculture and forestry. At the sametime, IRRI arr ived with technolo-gies and know-how and SDC camein with long-term financial support.The governments support has beena big factor from the very start, andthe impact it has had on the Lao rice

industry really is unprecedented.Dr. Schiller adds that the min-

ister for agriculture and forestry,Siene Saphangthong, who spenttime at IRRI as a research scholarand served on the institutes boardof trustees in 1996-2001, stronglysupported the project in its earlystages, when he was vice minister.As a result, he says, we didnt suf-fer a lot of the work-related frustra-tions that other agencies faced.

It would be impossible to point

to a single measure of success ina project as broad as Lao-IRRI.Statistics, such as the amount ofland planted to Lao modern ricevarietieshigh-yielding varietiesdeveloped specifically for Lao condi-tions from the Lao-IRRI researchprogramstell part of the story(see Growing impacton page 27).

At the field level, one of the mostobvious impacts has been the releaseof the improved Lao rice varieties,says Dr. Schiller. In the MekongRiver Valley in 1990, only 5% of thelowland rice area was under improvedvarieties. By 2004, many provinceshad up to 80% of their lowland areaplanted to improved varieties.

The impact of these modernvarieties has been profound, playinga huge part in Lao PDR increasingrice production between 1990 and2004 from 1.5 million to 2.5 milliontons. From 1996 to 2004the periodduring which technologies were dis-

seminatedthe country saw a 79%increase in rice production with acorresponding increase in land areaplanted to rice of only 39%and mostof this increase was due to doublecropping of rice, not clearance of newland. The average annual growth ratein production for the 15-year dura-tion of the project is just above 5%and this increases to more than 7%since 1996. According to SengpaseuthRasabandith, head of the Food Crops

Department at the Lao National Ag-ricultural Research Center, Withoutthe Lao-IRRI Project, there would nothave been national modern varietiesto release. The project has createda rice revolution in the countr y.

At the same time, Lao farmerstraditional rice varieties are not be-

ing sacrificed. The project has aimedfor a well-balanced developmentof the countrys rice industry and,currently, around one-third of LaoPDRs rice-growing area is plantedto Lao modern varieties, one-thirdto other modern varieties (developedin other countries and at IRRI), andone-third to traditional varieties.

While the impact of improvedproduction is unquestionable, Drs.Schiller and Linquist agree that themost significant success has been

the growth of Lao PDRs agricul-tural research capacity. You cant goanywhere in Lao PDR and not bumpinto somebody whos benefited fromLao-IRRI, says Dr. Linquist. Ifyoure in the agricultural sector, therehave just been hundreds of peoplewho have been trained throughLao-IRRI. Training has been huge.

Sometimes thats workedagainst usrestructuring hasmoved a lot of people from ourprogram to higher positions becausetheyve been well trained. In thelong term, though, thats beneficialbecause as well as having traineesin the rice area, it filters throughto all areas of government.

Another area where Lao-IRRIhas made great progress is that ofgender equity. Improved technologiesdeveloped by the project are gender-neutral, meaning that male- and

female-headed households benefitequally. For example, average ratesof adoption of modern rice varietiesand subsequent yields are the sameregardless of whether householdsare headed by males or females.Monthathip Chanpengsay, deputydirector of research at the NationalAgricultural and Forestry ResearchInstitute and herself a beneficiary ofmany of the Lao-IRRI training pro-grams, points out that the project alsoensured that women had the sameopportunities for training as men.

Qualified women have had anequal chance of being selected in anyof the Lao-IRRI Projects trainingprograms, she says. There is no evi-dence at any level of discrimination intraining programs based on gender.

PETE

RFREDENBURG(2)

BRUCE LINQUIST talks tofarmers at a taste test o

candidate rice varieties. Aftetasting, the farmers vote theipreferences for eating quality

LAO upland farmers and trad-ers manhandle bags of Jobstears outside warehouses onthe banks of the Mekong atLuang Prabang. Most of the

harvest is shipped down theMekong to Thailand, where it

is used to brew beer.


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27Rice TodayApril-June 2006

Farm impact Farmers who grow Lao modern varieties have approximately US$42 per

hectareor 20%higher net returns than those who grow traditional

varieties and other modern varieties. Yield improvement is the main

reason for increased returns. Among surveyed households, 77% were self-sufficient in rice. Self-

sufficiency is higher among modern variety adopters (82%) relative to

nonadopters (58%). Overall, cash income from rice is 77% higher for adopters of modern

varieties than for nonadopters. Around 80% of surveyed households planted modern varieties on 69% of

rice area.

National impact Between 1990 and 2004, rice production increased from 1.5 million tons

to 2.5 million tons. The total investment of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

in the Lao-IRRI Project was approximately $15 million. The benefit-cost

ratio is 7:1for every dollar invested in the project, the Lao economy

is reaping a benefit of $7. The estimated gain in production for 2004 directly attributable to the

Lao-IRRI Project is 226,000 to 282,000 tons, corresponding to a value

of $2632.4 million at the farm-gate price of $115 per ton.

Institutional impact During the early phases of the Lao-IRRI Project, in 1990-95, infrastructure

such as access roads, buildings, and laboratories, was constructed and

research farms were established. Research and training facilities were

constructed in the Lao capital of Vientiane and in other regions. Lao-IRRI has established a network of research stations in all 17 provinces,

forming part of a functional national rice research system. Lao PDRs rice research and training capacity has been increased through

more than 4,600 training opportunities, including higher degree training,

on-the-job training, and participation in international conferences. The project has fostered collaboration between the national research system

and a range of national and international organizations. Project alumni

are now the main personnel collaborating with development agencies.

with farmers this way comparedwith past methods. They told us,We used to have to look for farm-ers. Now farmers are coming tous and asking to work with us.

The true success of the Lao-IRRI Projectwhich is set to end

in September 2006will only beknown years from now. But theimpact so far has been impres-sive, with much of the country nowself-sufficient in rice. Work remainsto be done, though, with the lessfavorable areas of eastern Lao PDRstill suffering from a rice deficit.

But the building blocks are inplace. According to Dr. Monthathip,the country now has the ability tocontinue improving on its own.There is, she says, a confidence thatsimply didnt exist 15 years ago.

The National Rice ResearchProgram is now sustainable, saysDr. Monthathip. Even if IRRI wenthome tomorrow, the rice industrywould be OK. But having IRRI in-volved has many benefits. It helps usnetwork with neighboring countriesand international agencies, and itgives us a broad overview that keepsthings moving along smoothly.

In just 15 years, Lao PDR hasprogressed from subsistence ricefarming to more intensive productionfarming, he says. With sufficientsupport, the country will move tothe next level of developmentcom-mercial farming and rice export. Thisstepwise approach to the developmentof rice-based economies has workedwell for Vietnam and Thailand.

The Lao-IRRI Project has

effectively nurtured Lao PDRsresearch system through its in-fancy. The system, which now hasa critical mass of well-trained sci-entists and research managers,has reached the point where it canoperate effectively on its own.

This is a tremendous and last-ing contribution to national andinstitutional development thatwill continue to pay handsomedividends well into the future.

GROWINGIMPACT

The capaci-ty is there for thefuture, agreesDr. Linquist.There are stronglinks establishedbetween IRRI

and the Lao na-tional partners.The big issue nowis thinking ofinnovative waysto continue theresearch. But thecapacity is there.

A fullyfunctional riceresearch systemis now a realityin Lao PDR. Thisincludes the es-tablishment of a network of researchstations and a well-trained cadreof research scientists and manag-ers. These people are now providingscientific and management leadershipto the countrys agricultural researchsystem, which has developed to astage where it can fully participatein regional research initiatives andnetworks. IRRIs faith in Lao re-

search capacity

can be seen inthe institutes re-quest to base itsGreater MekongRegional Officein Lao PDR. Dr.Jahn anticipatesthat Lao PDRwill play a pivotalrole in regionalagriculturalchallenges.

RICE PRODUCTION, area, and yield in Lao PDR, 1980-2004.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2004

Production and area

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Yield

Year

Production (000 tons)

Area (000 hectares)

Yield (tons/hectare)

SAMJHANASHRESTHAPANY VANMANIVONG (right), who

works for the Lao AgriculturalResearch Organization, interviewsa farmer from northern Lao PDRfor a survey on the impact of theLao-IRRI Project.

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