RIPPLE_Sep_Dec_2011

September-December 2011 1RIPPLE

April 2006, Vol. 1, No. 2

www.irri.org/irrc

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Rice Research for Intensifi ed Production and Prosperity in Lowland Ecosystems

Increasing number of flatbed dryers benefits Myanma farmers

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Volume 6, Number 3, 19th issue • September-December 2011

Back in 2005, Myanma farmers had very few options to dry their rice; most of them relied only on the sun. Things have certainly changed.

Flatbed dryers (FBD) are now starting to arouse the interest of diff erent sectors.

The FBD, the simplest and most aff ordable type of mechanical dryer, dries wet grains by forcing heated air through the grain bulk. This heat is produced in a furnace that burns rice husk and gives off less ash and soot, making it carbon-neutral and more environmentally safe.

This all started when Dr. Myo Aung Kyaw, a partner of the IRRC’s Postproduction Work Group, joined training activities at IRRI and in Vietnam. He went back to his country fi red up with interest to lead the development of dryers in Myanmar (Learn more about Dr. Kyaw in the RIPPLE Jul–Sep 2007 issue). His associates from the Myanma Rice and Paddy Traders Association and from the Pioneer Post Harvest Development Group (PPHDG) did awareness campaigns on postharvest losses.

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2 RIPPLESeptember-December 2011

Rica Joy Florcontinued from page 1

kilogram on average, depending on quality. For badly dried grains—the consequence of dryers being unavailable and the weather not being favorable for sun drying—the price could dip to about half the normal price or around $0.21 per kilogram.

The availability of dryers means more options for farmers during the harvest season. Whether they dry their paddy under the sun or use the FBD, farmers would have to spend either on labor for sun drying or on drying fees. Farmers do not get a higher price by selling paddy dried by an FBD, but those who have used the FBD observed that they get more milled rice when they dry with an FBD. For every ton of FBD-dried paddy, farmers can get 100 kg more milled rice. If weather is favorable, there is no diff erence in the benefi ts obtained from using a diesel-fueled FBD or from sun drying. However, with an electric-powered FBD, there is an 8% increase in income.

According to Dr. Kyaw based on feedback from FBD users, in cases when the weather is not favorable—which often happens during the summer rice harvest— farmers will benefi t more from having more FBDs available. If millers do not have enough capacity to dry all the grains that they buy from the farmers, the price of rice would go down. Without other options, farmers could get only small net returns ($47/ha) or none at all if they cannot sell their grains because of damage. In comparison, farmers with access to a diesel-fueled FBD can get higher returns ($608/ha). Similarly, they can get net returns of $650/ha if they use an electric-powered FBD.

Thousands of Myanma farmers now have options to avoid crop losses with the introduction of fl atbed dryers. This successful partnership with the private sector indeed brings more benefi ts—reduced losses and bett er quality. The potential for Myanmar to increase its exports may now be realized in the near future.

Another private sector partner, Mr. Tin Oo, who was trained through IRRC support, helps with fabricating the dryers. Together, they were able to install the fi rst unit in 2006.

Raising awarenessThis private sector initiative

not only focused on the business of making dryers. They also made provisions for both hardware (the dryer) and software (technology) development. They empowered dryer owners and operators by training them on drying technology, economics, effi cient operation, and maintenance.

In 5 years, they have trained 10,000 people on postharvest management and the use of dryers in Ayeyarwaddy, West Bago, East Bago, Yangon, Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Sagaing, and Shan states.

The group’s promotional activities targeted policymakers, with whom they discussed potential benefi ts to farmers. Government staff were also invited to special meetings to update them on current activities and new technologies.

The PPHDG provided millers with updated information on postharvest and drying. More importantly, the group facilitated activities to bring farmers together to enable them to observe and discuss postharvest concerns.

Dryers by the numberAs of 2011, there are around

335 fl atbed dryers throughout the country. Of these, 135 were constructed under private sector partnership and were verifi ed to be operational. The dryers are mostly operated by private owners such as millers. Some are managed by farmer groups. The awareness campaigns have brought about signifi cant interest in fl atbed dryers. They sprouted all over the place carrying the original designs.

The PPHDG confi rms that 13,700 farmers are using the dryers that it constructed. Moreover, an estimated 35,000 farmers in total may be benefi ting from more than 300 FBDs installed all over the country.

Benefi ts from fl atbed dryersFarmers usually sell sun-dried

paddy that costs US$0.35–0.42 per

Increasing number of fl atbed dryers...

The training team, led by Dr. Myo Aung Kyaw, discusses the features of the fl atbed dryer with staff of Myanma government agencies.



The thriving rice sector of An Giang, Vietnam, the hub from which the One Must Do,

Five Reductions campaign started, shows that farmers, exporters, and the environment can get benefi ts from using best practices for the production of irrigated rice.

An Giang boomingTogether with neighboring

provinces Tien Giang and Dong Thap, An Giang is the premier rice-growing region of Vietnam, growing rice on more than 500,000 hectares. These three provinces provide a third of the rice produced in the Mekong River Delta and are important for the success of Vietnam’s rice export trade.

An Giang’s rice productivity has increased continuously in recent years, reaching 3.6 million tons in 2010—half a million tons more than in 2006. This advancement is partially att ributed to new technology options such as ecologically based rodent management, the Three Reductions, Three Gains program, and greater use of high-quality seed. However, many farmers still use too much seed, fertilizer, and pesticide, and experience high postharvest losses.

With strong support from the IRRC, Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and An Giang’s Plant Protection Department, the Mot Phai, Nam Giam (One Must Do, Five Reductions) program was introduced to An Giang farmers in 11 districts during the summer-autumn 2009 cropping season.

The One Must Do, Five Reductionscampaign is a high-profi le program that has been under way for fi ve cropping seasons in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The one “must do” is to use certifi ed rice seeds; the fi ve reductions pertain to eff orts to reduce the amount of seeds, pesticides, fertilizer, water, and postharvest losses.

Sharing through a high-profi leworkshop

On 31 August 2011, a half-

day workshop in Long Xuyen, An Giang, was sponsored by the IRRC to share key results and progress that had been made.

Forty-fi ve participants learned about the positive impacts of the program on smallholder farmers. Farmers involved in the program presented their impressions of the program and talked about the associated challenges.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Le Van Nung, vice chairman of the People’s Committ ee of An Giang Province. In att endance were Grant Singleton, IRRC coordinator, and Flor Palis, IRRI anthropologist.

Also present during the workshop was Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, deputy director general of the Plant Protection Department of Vietnam. He reported on fi eld experiments conducted in two provinces, indicating that the One Must Do, Five Reductions campaign led to signifi cant reductions in methane production. He suggested that the program now be changed to One Must Do and Six Reductions.

Progress on One Must Do, Five Reductions Campaign

The program was promoted through fi eld days, meetings, and training activities. Two thousand posters, 36,000 leafl ets, and 21,800 training manuals were distributed in farmers’ clubs, extension coff ee shops, and during fi eld days. Local newspapers, radio, and TV stations also featured the program.

As of the 2011 summer-autumn cropping season, 189 training activities have been held for 4,308 farmers working on almost 6,000 hectares.

Forty local technicians were also trained by the An Giang Plant Protection Sub-department in 2010 on key aspects of rice production. This made them more confi dent in implementing the program well.

Starting to see benefi tsAs farmers changed some of their

practices, they reaped benefi ts from

their actions. In the 2009-10 winter-spring cropping season, a year after One Must Do, Five Reductions was introduced, signifi cant diff erences were noted between those who used the technologies and those who did not. The 146 farmers interviewed revealed the following: farmer-users reduced their seed rate by around 40 kilograms per hectare, and lessened nitrogen use by 15 kilograms per hectare. They pumped irrigation water seven times instead of eight. Forty days after sowing, more adopters (70.5%) did not spray insecticide compared with nonusers (37.3%). Farmers who adopted the package of technologies increased their income to as much as US$250 per hectare from the 2010-11 winter-spring rice crop and $214 per hectare from the 2011 summer-autumn crop.

The benefi ts realized in An Giang show much promise. With strong policy support and a sound program in place, the Mekong Delta can expand its rice production in a sustainable way.

An Giang Outreach—a model for the Mekong Grant SingletonNguyen Van Toan

Trina Leah MendozaRica Joy Flor

More Vietnamese farmers now benefi t from the technologies promoted by the One Must Do, Five Reducti ons campaign.

IRR

I photo



Rica Flor

Government and NGOs lead LCC dissemination in Bangladesh

More than 500,000 leaf color charts (LCC) were distributed to farmers in Bangladesh

through a national program by the government and nongovernment organizations (NGOs). Years of working with national partners in Bangladesh triggered policy support in 2008 for wide-scale dissemination of LCCs. The technology had been developed in Bangladesh since 2000 through the support of several projects, including the IRRC, to help farmers increase income though more efficient use of urea fertilizer.

Local champions at workIn the early years, adaptive

research led by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) with technical support from IRRC scientists (including then IRRC postdoctoral fellow M. Murshedul Alam) produced recommendations for the use of a simple four-panel LCC to help farmers assess the nitrogen needs of their rice crop. Different projects in the country supported initial dissemination to farmers.

While ground work was being laid, the researchers knew this was only the beginning. The task of keeping media partners informed, inviting officials to meetings and programs, making informal linkages with NGOs, and translating evidence from research for policymakers was no easy feat. Much of this was accomplished through the advocacy of Dr. Hamid Miah, former director general of BRRI and IRRI liaison scientist. Even after the IRRC-supported activities ended, Dr. Miah helped facilitate the creation of a program to disseminate LCCs in his meetings with the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. He also kept NGO partners updated.

Stirring interest and actionThe Department of Agricultural

Extension (DAE) in 2006 proposed a program to disseminate LCCs nationwide. IRRI and BRRI scientists trained a total of 460 agricultural

extension staff and provided inputs to improve the extension materials produced by DAE. Also, the IRRC Productivity and Sustainability Work Group facilitated the importation of the LCCs from the Philippines. All initiatives, action, and funding for the nationwide dissemination, which ran from 2008 to early 2011, came from national partners.

Major NGOs in Bangladesh also took up the technology in their programs. BRAC, through its Seed Enterprise Project, and the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), through its microfinance project, bought 40,000 LCCs for dissemination to farmers. Altogether, a total of 619,000 LCCs were bought by government, NGO partners, and other projects in Bangladesh.

Reaching thousands of farmers Bangladesh is home to about 18

million farmers, many of whom are on different rungs of the poverty ladder. Reaching as many farmers as possible with a limited number of LCCs was another challenge. Training activities on how to use the technology benefited about 225,000 farmers.

In the distribution scheme, the

DAE used its network of offices to cover upazilas (subdistricts) where some 50,000–60,000 farmers are grouped in blocks and where extension officers provide services. In some areas, distribution was done through farmer groups, irrigation providers, or key farmers who would then introduce the technology to other farmers. BRAC disseminated LCCs through its network of seed dealers and subdealers who were in close contact with farmers. PKSF linked with 25 local NGOs in 14 districts to bring LCCs to farmers. Partners involved in dissemination efforts in Bangladesh said they have distributed to farmers a total of 612,000 LCCs out of the 619,000 LCCs bought.

Farmers using LCCIn July 2011, the IRRC Coordination

Unit assessed how the LCC reached farmers. Farmers from villages in seven districts gave feedback on their experience with the dissemination and use of LCCs. In each area, 2–31% of the farmers used the LCCs. In some locations, farmers said the LCCs given were used only by those who

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A young farmer from Myemensingh District describes to fellow farmers and IRRI staff how he got the leaf color chart (LCC) and how he uses it during an assessment meeting of LCC dissemination in Bangladesh.

Rica Joy Flor



received them. At other sites, groups of farmers shared the LCCs, and farmers who did not undergo training were taught how to use the chart by other farmers or extension staff .

Farmers reported good experience with LCC use. Many became interested, especially with the recent surge in urea prices. The removal of the government subsidy on urea resulted in an increase of US$0.20–0.33 per kilogram within months. With the LCC, effi ciency of urea fertilizer use has increased, enabling farmers to harvest more rice with fewer fertilizer

purchases. They also had higher yields. Although they could not exactly determine the profi t increase from the use of LCCs as fertilizer prices fl uctuate so much, they said the savings could be around $25 per hectare. A study done by PKSF found a total cost savings of $21 per hectare. No verifi cation on other factors, which may have aff ected yield, was done at this time.

Farmers were interested in the LCC but still many do not have access. Those who use LCCs have concerns on how to make adjustments when the varieties they use have either very dark green or very light green leaves. Some also had questions on other nutrients.

continued from page 4 Another constraint is the need to take LCC readings fi ve to ten times during a season. Although farmers do not pay for this labor, the use of this tool does require extra eff ort.

Through the hard work and commitment of local champions from the government and NGOs, Bangladeshi farmers are benefi tt ing from eff ective natural resource management technologies from IRRI and the IRRC.

Rona Niña Mae Rojas

As it nears the end of its fourth phase, external reviewers arrived at IRRI headquarters

to conduct an assessment of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) on 2-7 September.

The review aimed to evaluate the progress and future direction of the Consortium; identify areas to strengthen, modify, and refocus to enhance the IRRC’s mechanism and activities; assess the relevance and quality of research and extension done to meet farmers’ needs and identify the gaps; and review the eff ectiveness of IRRI-NARES

Phase 4 of Irrigated Rice Research Consortium assessed by external reviewers

collaboration, and partnerships of the IRRC with civil society groups and the private sector.

The review team is headed by Urs Scheidegger from Switz erland with members Karin Zbinden Gysin (Switz erland), Frits Penning de Vries (Netherlands), and Jonathan Banks (Australia). IRRC coordinator Grant Singleton led the preparations for the external review.

Dr. Singleton and the IRRC work group leaders Rubenito Lampayan (Water-saving), Roland Buresh (Productivity and Sustainability), Martin Gummert (Postproduction),

David Johnson (Labor Productivity and Community Ecology), Adam Sparks (Crop Health), and Reiner Wassman (Climate Change) presented the outcomes and impacts of the country programs.

IRRC scientists Flor Palis and Rica Flor discussed the social science activities and outcomes, while Donna Casimero focused on the adaptive research project done in Indonesia. The communication highlights and strategies of the Consortium were presented by Trina Mendoza and Rona Rojas.

The NARES partners in the Philippines had an opportunity to meet with and present their programs to the review panel. Jojo Lapitan, IRRI National Program Relations manager, discussed the role of the IRRC in the Philippine Food Staple Self-Suffi ciency Program.

The review team gave a preliminary report to the IRRC staff on 6 September. The fi nal report will be submitt ed to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and to IRRI management in October.

An initial assessment in Vietnam and Cambodia has been done by the review team. They then proceeded to Bohol Province in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Rona N

iña Rojas

The external reviewers presented a preliminary report to the IRRC staff on their last day in IRRI. Discussions on the report followed right aft er.



Martin Gummert Chris Cabardo Phan Van Tan

Vietnam is one of the major rice-producing countries and the second largest rice

exporter, with milled rice exports reaching 6.8 million tons in 2010. However, due to insufficient storage facilities and a lack of dryers, physical postharvest losses average 13.7%.

One main cause for the low quality of Vietnamese export rice is a postharvest system that cannot keep up with the rapid increase in national production and the requirements of quality export markets. A visit to processing and

storage plants conducted by an international expert team in July 2011 revealed that, when husking and polishing of rice are done separately, milling recoveries can be very low and head rice recoveries are only 40–45% due to problems with raw material quality, particularly with paddy harvested in the rainy season, improper drying, and storage.

A total of 54 postharvest stakeholders and 9 media personnel gathered for a workshop on paddy storage for the Mekong Delta to identify the problems in commercial rice storage in the Mekong Delta and discuss potential solutions and strategies for reducing losses in storage and processing and

improving the quality of milled rice. Dr. Nguyen Le Hung,

Nong Lam University (NLU) vice rector and coordinator of the Vietnamese component for the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-IRRI Postharvest Project, delivered the opening remarks.

Dr. Phan Van Tan, deputy director of the Southern Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Postharvest Technology (SIAEP), reported on the outcomes of an assessment of silo storage facilities throughout the Mekong Delta by

a team led by Dr. Phan Hieu Hien of NLU.

“Most of the existing silo storage facilities are not being used because they are outdated, not matched to humid conditions, or lack components like ventilation systems that were not installed to save costs. Also, silo operators and managers have little knowledge of cereal storage

technology,” says Dr. Tan. He added that state-owned milling plants do not purchase paddy but buy brown rice supplied by small rice millers. Smallholder farmers of the Mekong Delta produce many different varieties, and therefore it is difficult to get sufficient crop to feed the processing plants and fill large-scale storage bins with the same variety.

“Users of silos in Vietnam say that the tropical climate causes moisture condensation and yellowing in storage bins,” says Martin Gummert, IRRC Postproduction Work Group leader. “From our field visits and interviews with silo users, we can conclude that in most cases, the climate is most likely not the

Workshop on paddy storage for the Mekong Delta

reason.” Most of the silos in Vietnam are loaded with paddy or brown rice with too high moisture content (MC). One manufacturer of silos recommends 13% MC, IRRI 14% as maximum storage MC, while all plants covered by the assessment store at 15% or higher. This leads to condensation and yellowing caused by grains heating up from respiration.

One reason for this is that the postharvest chain in Vietnam does not follow best practice postharvest management, which involves combine harvesting, drying paddy within 24 hours at 14% MC, storage as paddy in bulk, and milling at 14%. In the Mekong Delta, wet paddy is often husked in one enterprise close to the production at MC up to 20%, then transported as wet brown rice to the re-processing plant where it is polished and dried to 15% for storage as milled rice. Sometimes, the milled rice is dried with direct-fired dryers, which can potentially lead to rejection in high-quality markets. There are many delays in the chain, which lead to deterioration and development of cracks. With such a system, one just cannot produce good quality, and significant investment is needed to go back to best practice management.

Proper drying is one pre-condition for safe storage and superior quality milled rice. Dr. Phan Hieu Hien explained that Vietnam already has drying technologies such as the locally produced flatbed dryer, or more recently, the reversible airflow dryer, which are urgently needed devices to help solve these problems. There are already 6,000 flatbed dryer units in the Mekong River Delta but more are needed. Large processing plants also need more advanced technology such as continuous flow dryers with high capacity. Researchers in Vietnam have already studied in-store drying and proven its feasibility

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Postharvest experts Martin Gummert and Phan Hieu Hien are interviewed by a news reporter from a local TV station.

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PUBLICATIONS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Internati onal journalsSavary S, Nelson A, Sparks AH, Willocquet L, Duveiller E, Mahuku G, Forbes G, Garrett KA, Padgham J, Pande S, Sharma M, Yuen J, Djurle A. 2011. Internati onal agricultural research tackling the eff ects of global and climate changes on plant diseases in the developing world. Plant Disease (48):1-40.

Conference ProceedingsSavary S,Duveiller E, Aubertot J. 2011. Why do we care about crop losses? Proceedings of the APS annual meet-ing, 6-10 August 2011, Hawaii, USA. Phytopathology 101:S223.

Willocquet L, Nelson A, Sparks A, Laborte A, Savary S. 2011. Crop losses in highly populated areas: a global per-specti ve. Proceedings of the APS an-nual meeti ng, 6-10 August 2011, Hawaii, USA. Phytopathology 101:S223.

Quicho ED, Lampayan RM, Sibayan EB, Flor RJB, Palis FG. 2011. Adopti on of alternate wetti ng and drying technol-ogy: the Philippine experience. Paper presented at the 7th Asian Society of Agricultural Economics Conference, Ha-noi, Vietnam, 12-16 October 2011.

Presentati onsSrinivasachary S, Beligan G, Willocquet L, Savary S. 2011. Assessing the ge-neti c basis of resistance to rice sheath blight. Poster presented at the APS an-nual meeti ng, 6-10 August 2011, Ha-waii, USA. Phytopathology 101:S170.

Magculia NF, Savary S, Lore JS, Kumar J, Singh S, Karthikeyan A. 2011. A network of fi eld tri-als to test the suscepti bility of rice mega-va-rieti es to sheath blight. Poster presented at the APS annual meeti ng, 6-10 August 2011, Hawaii, USA. Phytopathology 101:S112.

Faronilo JE, Lampayan RM, Tuong TP, Hosen Y, Bouman BAM, Lafarge T, Cabangon RJ. 2011. Demysti fying old rice seedlings: crop growth, grain yield and water producti vity in irrigated lowland rice. Paper presented at the Crop & Environmental Sciences Division Seminar, IRRI, Laguna, Philippines, 20 September 2011.

Cabangon R. 2011. How green is green: chlo-rophyll meter-based nitrogen management of rice under alternate wetti ng and drying irriga-ti on. Paper presented at the Crop & Environ-mental Sciences Division Seminar, IRRI, Laguna, Philippines, 27 September 2011.

EventsCoordinati on Unit and Work GroupsIRRC Steering Committ ee Meeti ng, IRRI, Los Ba-ños, Laguna, Philippines, 5-6 October 2011

Crop HealthVisit of on-farm trials in Nakhon Nayok, Prachin-buri, and Suphanburi, Thailand, and Hanoi, Viet-nam, 17-22 October 2011

Review workshop and training on the stati sti cal analysis of data from on-farm trials and surveys in Can Tho, Vietnam, 21-25 November 2011

Postproducti on Rice: Post-producti on to Market Training Course, IRRI, Laguna, Philippines, 17-28 October 2011

Training on the Reversible Dryer Technology and Hermeti c Storage Systems for Farmers and Extension Workers, Agusan del Norte, Philip-pines, 11-12 October 2011

Learning Alliance Meeti ng, Agusan del Norte, Philippines, 13 October 2011

Video Producti on Workshop for Learning Alli-ance Partners, Agusan del Norte, Philippines, 14 October 2011

Postharvest Seminar and Laser Leveling Dem-onstrati on, Batt ambang, Cambodia, 12 Novem-ber 2011

ADB Annual Project Review Workshop, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia, 14-15 November 2011

Rice Storage Assessment in Cambodia: A Semi-nar, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia, 16 November 2011

Nati onal Grains Postproducti on Summit, Que-zon City, Philippines, 24-25 November 2011

2nd Nati onal Learning Alliance Meeti ng, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Philippines, 6-7 Decem-ber 2011

Water-SavingMeeti ng with the Rice Research Insti tute of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Vietnam, 12-16 October 2011

Parti cipate in the Lao PDR-IRRI consultati on meeti ng/workshop, Vienti ane, Lao PDR, 26 Oc-tober 2011

Parti cipate in the Climate Change Adaptati on and Miti gati on in Rice Environments meeti ng, Vienti ane, Lao PDR, 27-28 October 2011

Internati onal workshop on “Alternate wetti ng and drying for resource conservati on, environ-mental safety and increased rice producti on,” Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 2011

to ensure grain quality in fi nal drying inside the storage bin.

Prof. Werner Mühlbauer, former head of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics of Hohenheim University, Germany, presented state-of-the-art warehouse storage and silo technology and shared his experiences with grain storage in temperate and tropical countries. Prof. Mühlbauer recommended introducing round steel silos in which the paddy is completely protected from rodents, birds, and insects. Based on his experiences, there is no technical reason why silos should not work for paddy

continued from page 6

if they are built, maintained, and used properly. He also strongly advised using an accurate quick-test moisture meter for paddy to make sure that only paddy with moisture content of less than 15% is stored.

Mr. Wang Qaun Bryan from Muyang, a Chinese silo manufacturer, stressed that existing paddy storage silo plants in Vietnam and Malaysia installed by his company do not have any of the problems described above if the recommendations to store at 13% MC are followed.

Most participants cited the high cost of credit as one reason for the lack of investment, and called for an enabling government policy for processors who want to

invest in postharvest equipment.As an example of how the

government can help, Mr. Doan Ngoc Pha, vice director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in An Giang Province, explained how his province helps support increasing the quality of paddy by introducing good agricultural practice (GAP), which can provide market-driven incentives to produce bett er quality.

Recommendations for strategies were developed to improve postharvest processing and storage to minimize losses. These would ensure food security and increased quality for local consumption and exports.



Rona Niña Mae Rojas

Volume 6, Number 3September-December 2011

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

Materials in this newsletter do not necessarily refl ect the offi cial views of IRRI, SDC, or collaborating institutions of the IRRC.

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION TEAM

IRRC Trina Leah Mendoza, Grant

Singleton, Rona Niña Mae Rojas, Jennifer Hernandez

CPS Tess Rola, Bill Hardy

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Martin Gummert, Phan Van Tan, Nguyen Van Toan, Chris Cabardo,

Reianne Quilloy, Rica Flor, Chris Cabardo

Please direct further correspondence, comments, and contributions to

Trina Leah MendozaSenior Communication Specialist

International Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777

Metro Manila, PhilippinesEmail: [email protected]: www.irri.org/irrc

IRRC scholar examines amphibian biodiversity in IRRI

It’s when the sun goes down and fi eld workers retire aft er a hard day’s work

that Natalie Walton starts her “day.” It’s when amphibians, specifi cally frogs, become more active, venturing around the rice fi elds in search of food.

Natalie’s fascination with amphibians started in her undergraduate years as a zoology major at the University of Leeds, England. She is now completing her master’s degree in wildlife management and conservation at the University of Reading in England. Her research is centered on sustainable agriculture—which involves biodiversity conservation—and the choice of the Philippines came naturally because of the country’s diverse frog species.

Natalie, an IRRC research scholar, had set up pitfall traps to collect frogs in the lowland and upland farms in IRRI. These traps are open drums buried deep in the ground with a plastic barrier strategically positioned at one side of the drum’s opening. Though the pitfall traps are effi cient, she fi nds it more fun to catch frogs by hand with the help of her fi eld workers.

Every morning and evening, Natalie dutifully visits the pitfall traps to gather data on the location, species, and breeding condition, and to make measurements of the frogs. Aft er the measurements and aft er assessing their reproductive state, the frogs are released back into the rice fi eld.

The data revealed a diverse collection of unusual frog species on the farm land of IRRI. Since frogs are very sensitive to pollution and fertilizers, their presence in farm-based systems is a good indication of the health of the environment.

Natalie believes that there is a need to pay att ention to the

Natalie Walton enjoys her nocturnal encounters with her amphibian friends.

IRRC holds annual Steering Committ ee meeti ng in IRRI

The annual IRRC Steering Committ ee (SC) meeting was conducted on 5-6 October at

IRRI, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.The SC members visited

fi eld experiments on long-term continuous cropping, insect-host plant resistance, and other facilities such as the Genebank, the postharvest facility, and the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center laboratory rooms. IRRC Work Group leaders and communication specialists presented their activities, outcomes, and plans until December 2012.

In September, the IRRC went

through an external review. In the same SC meeting, the fi nal review report and key elements were discussed through a Web conference with Urs Scheidegger, head of the external review panel. Program 2 leader Bas Bouman chaired a closed session of the SC business meeting.

U Aye Tun, general manager of the Projects Planning, Management and Evaluation Division, Myanma Agriculture Service, replaced U Maung Maung Yi on the SC. As an SC member, U Maung Maung Yi was committ ed to helping ease Myanmar’s rice-growing problems.

conservation of agricultural areas or farm land because these are becoming an alternative habitat for water-dependent animals, especially frogs. Small changes in management practices can make a big diff erence to biodiversity conservation eff orts.

“Conserving amphibian biodiversity is very important because they can control pests and can be a sign of a less polluted environment,” Natalie adds.

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