Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Rice Research for Intensified Production and Prosperity in Lowland Ecosystems

Volume 9, Number 2, 26th issue • July-Dec 2014www.irri.org/irrc

Supporting Women in Rice Farming: Where can we contribute?

What’s insideTargeting yield gaps in the heart of

Java....3

CORIGAP in rice value chain workshop....5

News Tidbits....6

The unlikely challenge....6

Helping farmers, all in....8

CORIGAP takes part in high-level ASEAN event...9

Participatory learning workshops on environmental sustainablity....10

First version of solar bubble dryer launched in the Philippines....11

Continued on page 2

In Myanmar, women are mainly involved during transplanting and harvesting of rice. Female laborers are also hired during these periods.

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By Pieter Rutsaert

Empowering women and establishing equality between men and women are prerequisites

to achieve social, economic, and environmental progress, as shown by research. Therefore, gender equity is taking a central role in agricultural development. Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), stated in a recent ‘Science’ article that BMGF will strengthen the necessary investments to empower women and reduce the inequality between sexes because they believe the payoff will greatly outweigh the increase in expenditures.

Despite its importance, addressing and measuring gender equity in a meaningful and practical manner remains a key

challenge for practitioners, donors, and researchers. To improve livelihoods in the long term, it is essential to understand the current situation of rural women and identify key areas in which empowerment needs to be strengthened. For example, control over income and resources is a major concern in Africa and South Asia, but what about Southeast Asia? How do local production practices influence the role of women in rice farming? What are the specific opportunities in different countries for the CORIGAP project?

By using the framework of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), we try to gain more insight on these different questions. In 2014, CORIGAP , with help from its country

partners, conducted qualitative studies in Myanmar (Bogale and Maubin) and Indonesia (Yogyakarta and South Sumatra), to identify the potential opportunities and areas of concern in the five domains of the WEAI: production, resources, income, leadership, and time allocation.

Household level gender equity

Where control over income and resources is seen as a main barrier for development in South Asia and Africa, this was not the case in our project sites. The focus group

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CORIGAP aims to empower both men and women. Project activities are targeted to help address their issues in rice farming. Trainings and workshops are also conducted to enrich their decision making skills in rice related issues in different levels.

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discussions showed that the income of the husband and wife is pooled as family income and is mainly managed by the wife. One woman said, “In the field, the rice is from my husband, but after harvest, it’s mine.”

Women make most of the decisions on household purchases, while major decisions about resources are made together. When it comes to farm activities, most women are content with the labor division as well as their level of decision-making in rice-farming activities. These findings indicate a strong equity on the household level.

Lack of extension support for women’s groups

Equity on a community level is a different story. In Yogyakarta and South Sumatra, many women are part of female farmer or credit organizations, but these groups lack support from extension services and have no voice in main community decisions, such as variety selection. Those decisions are made by the male farmer groups. “Most extension officers are men and they do not visit the female farmer organizations, while the women are

much more active and receptive to new information,” said a female extension officer.

In Myanmar, women also have very low access to information and there are very few initiatives among the women to organize themselves into active groups. In Bogale, however, which was hit very severely by cyclone Nargis in 2008, NGOs such as WHH (Welthungerhilfe) and GRET (Professionals for Fair Development) are putting a lot of effort in providing extension and support to local women.

Harvesting and planting are generally very busy periods, but most of the women are happy with those periods because of the additional income (as laborer or from the harvest). Although the work in the field is hard and can be a burden, it is generally preferred over the periods without work. The women also showed pride in their contributions. One woman in Myanmar shared, “After a long day of transplanting, we eat together and take a good night’s rest. The next day, we are again ready for work.”

One difficult aspect to deal with is the seasonal workload of rice farming. While in many places there are not enough hands during the labor peaks, such as crop establishment and harvesting, periods in between are characterized by a lack of economic activities. Labor-saving practices such as the use of combine harvesters, direct seeding with a drum seeder or the use of a mechanical transplanter, do not endanger the income of the wife (as income is pooled) and can lighten the work burden in peak periods. However, these activities do not solve the lack of other income-generating opportunities. Therefore, more investments are necessary and, in many cases, this is beyond the remit of the CORIGAP project.

Targeted extension support

With the CORIGAP project, we aim to strengthen empowerment of women by targeting both men and women in our extension activities such as training courses, workshops, and field days. In many of our country counterpart organizations, women have lead roles in research, extension, and management positions. We will be able to monitor and evaluate our progress and adapt where necessary by collecting gender-disaggregated data.

In 2015, we will expand our qualitative approach to Thailand, provide solar bubble dryers to Yogyakarta to improve drying practices, and step up our focus on Myanmar to investigate opportunities for rural women inside and outside of rice farming. This way, we hope to significantly contribute to closing rice yield gaps, empower both men and women in rice farming, and enhance regional and global food security.

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discussions on gender equity. He reported that the main source of labor during crop establishment came from women from farmer households within the village. Thus, the introduction of the drum seeder has the potential to reduce dependency on labor at critical times and reduce drudgery for women with minimal impact on landless laborers.

In addition to these activities, Budi Raharjo from BPTP South Sumatra travelled to Yogyakarta in September to provide training to farmers on the uses of hermetic storage, particularly the IRRI Super Bags, in improving grain and seed storage. Demonstration trials of IRRI Super Bags are ongoing.

In 2015, field days will be conducted to demonstrate CORIGAP field trials to local farmers and agricultural extension officers, and 60 farmers are recording their farm activities and inputs into farmer diaries to help us understand further their yield constraints. Our activities will align with a new Indonesian government initiative at the national level, GP-PTT, that is aimed to fast-track adoption of ICM and additional new technologies provided by CORIGAP.

consumption. In the wet season, the mean rice yield is 5.3 t/ha. Importantly, there is a 45% yield gap between the mean yield and the yield achieved by the top 10% of farmers (9.6 t/ha). This “best farmers’ yield” is a useful measure to identify the attainable yield that farmers can achieve in the prevailing conditions. With such a large yield gap, the big questions are, ‘What are the causes of this gap? What do top-yielding farmers do differently from the other farmers?’ To answer these questions, CORIGAP scientists are analyzing data to investigate differences in field characteristics, agronomic and postharvest practices, and socio-economic issues among the highest-yielding, the mean-yielding, and the lowest-yielding farmers.

Farmers identified their main constraints to be low prices at harvest time, neck blast and bacterial leaf blight diseases in the wet season, insufficient water in the dry season, rodents, tractor and labor shortage, and postharvest losses. To address these issues, adaptive research that involves strong farmer participation commenced in two villages to demonstrate best management practices and introduce new technologies.

In the 2014 dry season, field demonstration trials of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) were conducted to improve water-use efficiency. In December, at the start of the wet season, field demonstrations of AWD and the use of drum seeders for crop establishment were established in concert with Integrated Crop Management (ICM)—a package of best management practices promoted nationally to rice farmers, but with location-specific recommendations.

Dr. Pieter Rutsaert, CORIGAP socio-economist, also conducted focus group

Targeting yield gaps in the heart of Java By Alex Stuart

Agrowing population and a declining area of land planted with rice are just some of the

challenges Indonesia faces in its goal to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. However, the biggest challenge is for rice farmers to improve rice productivity and close yield gaps. With the aim to optimize productivity while reducing the environmental footprint of rice production, CORIGAP began research activities in Yogyakarta, Java, in 2014, in collaboration with Dr. Sudamarji (director, BPTP Yogyakarta), Arlyna Budi (plant pathologist), and other staff at BPTP Yogyakarta.

In April 2014, Drs. Grant Singleton and Alex Stuart conducted focus group discussions in Prambanang, Piyungan, and Berbah sub-districts, within Sleman district, to understand the current knowledge, practices, and needs of rice farmers. This was followed in June by a baseline survey of 180 farmers, led by Rowell Dikitanan. Rice farmers in the area grow 2-3 rice crops per year in an average farm size of 0.16 ha.

Because of the small farm size and low income, most farmers transplant, harvest, and thresh manually, while many farmers keep much of their harvest for home

A farmer using the drum seeder for the first time. CORIGAP project promotes using drum seeder as a direct seeding method.

Yield gaps in Indonesia can reach up to 45% between the mean yield and the best farmers’ yield. The CORIGAP project is now undertaking solutions to help close the yield gap in Indonesia.

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Myanmar Learning Alliance: A year of lessons and progressBy Reianne Quilloy and Rica Joy Flor

The air pressure from the ventilators holds up the polyethylene plastic sheet over the rice grains.

T wo village-level Learning Alliances (LA), facilitated by IRRI in Myanmar, discussed progress at its current learning cycle, and revisited previous cycles to track how the Alliance has learned and changed.

Varieties, quality improvement, and markets: Maubin Learning Alliance

The Maubin LA started in December 2013 initially to learn about improving quality and new varieties linked with the project’s participatory varietal selection (PVS). One year after, at its 4th LA meeting held in Maubin township, the Alliance saw changes in the topics being shared and the activities implemented.

In previous learning cycles, the Alliance explored which varieties and quality would be acceptable in markets that provide premium price for quality (see RIPPLE Vol. 9, Number 1, January-June 2014 issue). They also explored possible seed sources. As a result, some farmers bought seeds at the Hmawbi Seed Farm. They chose one variety from the PVS (Sin Htwe Latt), and another variety that has a good selling price in Yangon wholesale markets. The varieties were grown over the monsoon season, where rice postharvest operations could be delayed because farmers need to establish pulses for summer crop.

For this meeting, participants assessed Sin Htwe Latt based on management, yield, and marketability. The farmers who planted it also noted its short-duration trait, hence, allowing them to plant pulses on time. Farmers also had ample time for rice postharvest operations. Linking this with improved rice quality and higher

price, some farmers were interested to see whether good quality sold at the right time would indeed provide better profits. To support this interest, a 1-ton capacity mobile mechanical dryer was set-up in Nga Gyi Gayat village. At the time of the meeting, one farmer had tried the dryer. He will also try to store and sell when the price is higher.

Another option to improve quality was the use of a portable lightweight thresher. This can allow farmers to thresh immediately in the field after harvest rather than piling the cut crop in the field for weeks before threshing. Postharvest specialists Christopher Cabardo, Yan Lin Aung, and Myo Aung Kyaw demonstrated how this can help reduce postharvest losses. LA members also provided feedback on how to improve the equipment.

Dryers, quality rice, and markets: Bogale Learning Alliance

In December 2013, Learning Alliance members in Bogale wanted to learn more about paddy drying. To support this, a dryer was established in Kyee Chaung village for farmers in eight neighboring villages, including Kyee Chaung. In its 5th LA meeting in Bogale Township, LA members revisited the area to see the progress made in the past year and from the current learning cycle.

Members previously shared that the market visit raised awareness on rice paddy quality sold in export and wholesale markets, and the different trading links that operate in their area. They also learned about the market performance of Bogale-produced rice in terms of purity and eating quality. They also realized how paddy quality affects milled rice quality. Taking off from these, some farmers tried mechanical drying using the IRRI flatbed dryer,then

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Learning alliance members tested the IRRI lightweight thresher to speed up postharvestoperation and deter postharvest losses.

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storing hermetically at the Professionnels du developpement solidaire (GRET) communal storage for 3 months. After which, they sell in bulk, at US$17/ton, in Bogale and Moulamyinegyun, and realized the benefits of selling good quality paddy in bulk. GRET is a NGO partner.

In the next harvest season, some farmer members want to use a lightweight thresher, dry mechanically, store in the communal storage, and sell to a Yangon wholesale trader. They also discussed other payment schemes to support the use of dryers by farmers who may not have cash available for drying fees at harvest time. They would also like to raise more

awareness about drying and encourage more farmers to sell in bulk.

Expanding the learning agenda

“The Learning Alliance concept applied at the village level is a powerful tool to connect different value chain actors and empower farmers by linking them to alternative markets. It (village-level LAs) can serve as a model for other villages in Myanmar,” says Martin Gummert, IRRI scientist of the Postharvest Unit and lead facilitator of the Learning Alliance.

The topics identified by members for the next learning cycle include: a message

design workshop on best practices in postharvest, documented comparisons on costs and effectiveness of the practices from drying to selling, better integration with activities of NGO partners (e.g., credit schemes), other drying options (e.g., solar bubble dryer), and technologies that will help the minority of farmers who do not fit the ecological conditions common in their village. LA members conduct small group learning trials based on their topic of interest. The lessons are shared with others, with the idea of expanding the reach of the projects by exploring relevant topics through participatory activities that involve different stakeholders.

CORIGAP in rice value chain workshop By Rowell Dikitanan and Reianne Quilloy

Rowell Dikitanan, agricultural economist of the CORIGAP Project’s Agricultural Economist,

conducted a training on using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) software—Surveybe— during the “Food value chain analysis: tools and applications for economists/social scientists in the national systems” at Hyderabad, India, from 8–12 December 8 to 12, 2014.

Together with Mr. Dehner De Leon, a database coordination specialist of the Social Science Division at IRRI, a Surveybe training session was conducted to train 34 social scientists in data collection. Participants experienced hands-on practice in building a questionnaire and collecting data from the field using the CAPI software.

Surveybe allows enumerators to enter survey data during the interview, which reduces the time and cost spent in data encoding. It has real-time validating features, making the data relatively more accurate.

The next step is to explore CAPI software as a tool in experimental value chain research wherein the respondents themselves will key in their response through an interactive interface.

CORIGAP project has started Surveybe in Thailand and other countries. Using this tool in value chain research could optimize data gathering and validation in real time.

Photo by Christopher Cabardo

CORIGRAP also supported the attendance of Ms. Kunjanut Parpol from the Bureau of Rice Product Development, Thailand.

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News Tidbits

Pieter poses with his 5-month old daughter, Renée, on one of their trips. Traveling around the Philippines and in Asia with his wife, Julie, and daughter is one of Pieter’s favorite things.

T hough he comes from a non-rice eating country, Pieter Rutsaert surely has had a lot

of experiences, both academically and professionally, in matters related to rice and its consumption.

He smiles at the irony of it, and admits he finds it all very challenging.

Pieter, a native of Belgium, is a relative newcomer in IRRI, having joined the CORIGAP project in the latter part of 2013.

Talking to him about the various research work he has done in the past, you’d be hard-pressed to label him into just one category. For his undergraduate degree in bioscience engineering, he opted to specialize in agricultural economics at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He found that studying consumer behavior and its link to the economic side of making

profits captured his interest. Pieter pursued this by doing his master’s thesis on consumers’ willingness to pay for quality rice in Senegal, Africa.

His master’s thesis earned him a lot of praise, which soon led to a PhD in Ghent University. This time, his focus shifted to social media behavior in food risk and benefit communication, particularly on how communicators ought to behave or act—in the midst of all the available social media outlets and technologies—in times of food crises.

Perfect timing

When a job opportunity that could allow him to apply everything he has worked for came by, he immediately grabbed it.

“The timing was perfect. The job came just as I was finishing my PhD. So, when the chance to come to the Philippines opened

The unlikely challengeBy Rona Niña Mae Rojas-Azucena

Good luck Trina!

T he CORIGAP rojects bids goodbye and good luck to long-time senior communication

specialist Trina Leah Mendoza. Trina has been with IRRI, under the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium, since February 2006 to September 2014. She has now embarked on another challenge—that of being an assistant professor at her alma mater, the College of Development Communication-University of the Philippines Los Baños. Joining the academe and pursuing a teaching career has been a dream of Trina.

Announcement

The second Annual Review and Planning Meeting of CORIGAP will be held in Guangzhou, China, on 12—14 May 2014.

New video: How to conduct SWOT Analysis with a Strategic Orientation Round

A new video is out! It shows a participatory method of conducting a stakeholders’ workshop using a technique that uses an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) combined with a strategic orientation round (SOR). The workshop topic is on developing strategies to make the rice sector in one’s country more sustainable.

Watch the new video at Youtube (IRRC-CORIGAP playlist).

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up, we (my wife and I) didn’t hesitate,” says Pieter.

His diverse academic background proved to be useful with the different aspects of research he is currently handling. “I had the right background for it,” he adds.

With CORIGAP, he is looking into the factors that influence farmers’ adoption of the natural resource management technologies from a social standpoint. Another aspect of his work innvolves gender studies, particularly on understanding the local situations of male and female farmers. He cites his work in Indonesia project areas as an example.

“Female farmers are organized but they do not get as much extension support, unlike the male farmer groups. The female farmers mainly do postharvest work. So if you were to conduct postharvest extension, then the focus should be on women. Basically, we get to know the situation and then see what could be done to improve it,” explains Pieter.

The third aspect of his work with the project involves the market and value chain. He is looking whether there is a market for products that are produced under certified Good Agricultural Practices, or produced with a lower environmental footprint. “How do we sell it? Should we say that it is good for the environment? For farmers? Or for consumers’ health? And how much more are consumers willing to pay for these products?” All questions of which, Pieter is hoping to answer as he steps up research work in Vietnam in 2015.

Achieving the unexpected

Pieter finds excitement in learning about new things, being relatively new to working on gender and technology adoption.

“Right now, gender is becoming my

Dr. Zhong (center) holds an imprompto meeting with farmers in Yangdong Country, Guangdong China.

main interest. You want to safeguard the relations between men and women in a region. Nevertheless, it is still possible to improve their agricultural practices without changing their role division too much.”

He points out his experience in Africa, where men worked in the fields and the women were in charge of postharvest activities. Because women had no access to the rice fields, most of the income went to the men. Instead of focusing on giving women access to the rice fields, Pieter looked at how they can earn more from postharvest activities. So he worked with them towards product labeling and producing high-quality rice with no impurities.

From aiming to produce high-quality rice, an unintended, but beautiful, result came out of the study. “We first didn’t set out to empower women. We just wanted to improve the quality of rice. But then, we saw that local women were the key to upgrade quality. As a result of that research, they are now paying more attention to quality rather than quantity, and to packaging and market evaluation.”

Strong partnerships

Pieter is grateful for the amount of freedom he has to build his own research. Though he still has to work within some bounds, he appreciates the space he is given to learn and expand.

Also, he is amazed at the extensive network and strong partnerships the project has established since IRRC. It

allows him to do meaningful research work in a short time frame. “When I go to CORIGAP sites, I have immediate access to the people I need. It would not be possible without the partners and network we have. I get to talk to the right people with the right connections in every country.”

And, speaking of strong partnerships,

Pieter is all praises in how his wife has handled the changes since moving to the Philippines. Two weeks after they moved to the country, they found out they were having a baby.

“I’m proud of my wife for being able to build up her life in a new country. It’s not easy adapting to a completely different environment. The shock is greater for the spouse, but she was able to adapt, even with a new baby,” Pieter beams.

With all the new challenges he is taking on, Pieter is keen on finishing what he started and getting his work published. Along the way, he is happy and content knowing that he is helping small farmers improve their livelihood and increase their income. “It feels nice, it makes you feel good about what you do.”

Planting rice is no joke. With his fellow Padiwackers, Pieter toils the rice field for one whole cropping season during the IRRI Rice Survivor challenge.

The unlikely challenge

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Helping Farmers, All InBy Reianne Quilloy and Jean Claire Dy

S he enters the busy room just in time for the start of the workshop. Walking in a hurried but elegant

pace, she finds her seat, settles, then listens intently to the workshop facilitator so she could give a fair translation for the farmers present. She even went the extra mile and recorded farmers’ responses. As co-facilitator, she tries to draw out farmers’ issues on sustainability. In between breaks, she meets with IRRI scientists to refine the protocol for the Field Calculator trial. In less than a day, she has worn a few varied hats, and it’s but a normal day for Nguyen Thi My Phung, or My Phung—full and productive, and she enjoys every moment of it.

My Phung’s involvement with IRRC and CORIGAP goes back to her early days at the Plant Protection Sub Department (PPSD) in An Giang province of Vietnam where she was subject matter specialist on integrated pest management and other related training courses. In line with her plant protection background, she chose to do research on the ecological management of rodents for her doctorate in plant protection and field ecology at the University of Queensland in Australia. After earning her Ph.D. degree in 2012, she went back to Vietnam, worked for the PPSD, and later moved to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) where she is now deputy director.

“The most exciting part of my work is being able to apply knowledge from my Ph.D. in the work,” My Phung shared. “I also like assisting junior staff in their work.”

As one of CORIGAP’s key collaborators, she took interest in the implementation of the ‘One Must Do, Five Reductions’ (1M5R) program, a package of practices technology that helps farmers improve their rice cultivation practices through

reduced environmental pollution, reduced production cost, improved rice yield and quality, and better profit. The package’s “one must do” is the use of certified seeds; the “five reductions” pertain to the amount of seed, nitrogen applied, chemical pesticide use, water use, and postharvest losses.

My Phung believed in 1M5R so much that she became an advocate for it in the rice-growing areas, even helping produce information materials about the package. In 2014, she led the revision of the 1M5R manual in Vietnamese. She is also involved in the development of field calculators in Vietnam.

Currently, she helps the CORIGAP research team conduct field experiments, surveys, and focus group discussions that help optimize the use of field calculators as a decision-making tool.

“I hope to use the field calculator in my

experiments, especially in An Giang Province,” My Phung said. “It’s a good assessment tool to help find out more on the environment.”

On her aspirations as deputy director of An Giang Provincial DARD, My Phung said she wants farmers in An Giang and in the Mekong Delta to apply the programs such as 1M5R. “I want farmers to see the benefits of the program and how it can help alleviate their lives as well as help reduce environmental pollution.”

As the price of rice is highly unstable, she added that farmers need to understand that there is a way by which they can have stable profit without adding harm to the environment.

“I am very passionate about doing field demonstrations for farmers. It is quite a challenge,” My Phung shared, adding that she believes her job is a step-by-step process to show farmers how new

My Phung facilitates the groupwork during the Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis Workshop.

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technologies and programs could help them. “I also like working in the field because I can experiment and try new things and find out the result. That’s what makes it fulfilling.”

When not juggling tasks at work, My Phung enjoys window shopping. “That’s my hobby,” she said with a giggle. “It’s a lady thing. I like clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and earrings.” She also spends her free time with her family watching action movies—their favorite way of bonding with each other. “One of my favorite films is The Fast and the Furious. It’s fun!” she enthused. During her free time, My Phung enjoys window

shopping and a stroll around town.

My Phung is the epitome of an effective multitasker, someone who can wear several hats at any given time, what with her many involvements, and yet still come through with grace under pressure and, most of all, results.

Helping farmers, all in

The CORIGAP Project was featured in an exhibit during a series of high-level meetings

with the ministers and senior officials of the ASEAN Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) on 20-26 September in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.

IRRI was one of a select group of international agencies invited to address the meetings and set up an exhibit that featured the Institute’s work and impact in each ASEAN country.

IRRI calls on ASEAN to build a new generation of rice scientists and extension professionals. According to V. Bruce J. Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and partnerships, these efforts will help ensure secure and stable rice supplies across ASEAN and the world. The proposal calling for more support for science education and extension was presented at the said event.

Through science education, the aim is to: (1) produce at least 80 ASEAN PhDs,

CORIGAP takes part in high-level ASEAN event

IRRI was one of a select few international organizations invited to set up an exhibit during the high-profile event. CORIGAP and IRRC activities and impacts were prominently featured. The booth was manned by IRRI communication specialist Rona Niña Azucena (left), IRRI-Myanmar country representative Madonna Casimero (center), and IRRI Riceworld curator Paul Hilario (right).

(2) 45 resident scientists, (3) 50 ASEAN participants in a Rice Breeding Academy, and (4) launch the ASEAN food security forum for senior-level policy- and decision-makers.

Development of extension professionals would be through (1) advanced extension courses for at least 3,000 extension

professionals, (2) development of country-specific rice information platforms, and (3) development of an online rice crop forecasting system for ASEAN.

“Why do we need a new generation of rice scientists and extension professionals? Our farmers are getting old,” Dr. Tolentino said. “In agricultural universities, only a few young people are taking agriculture courses.

“We need modern blood to get into rice science for a sustainable future. We need to promote focus on agricultural science education to meet the current and future challenges that threaten our long-term food security goals,” he added.

ASEAN cooperation in the agriculture sector dated back as early as 1968, with cooperation in food production and supply. The partnership between IRRI and the ASEAN member-states has been very productive over the past decades and the region has benefited greatly from the research conducted by IRRI.

The 2014 AMAF meetings were hosted by the government of Myanmar.

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Participatory learning workshops on environmental sustainability conducted in Vietnam and ThailandBy Reianne Quilloy

Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprint (CORIGAP) project

which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to improve food security and gender equity, and alleviate poverty through optimal and sustainable irrigated rice production systems, with minimized environmental footprint. For its first phase, from 2013 to 2016, the project is supporting a participatory and iterative learning process through a learning alliance (LA). The LA involves a network of researchers, extension agents, policy-makers, and relevant rice value-chain partners to develop and adapt innovations.

To begin the LA activities in CORIGAP project sites, a Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis (PIPA) workshop was

conducted in Thailand and Vietnam, two of the six major rice granaries in Asia where the project is being implemented. The PIPA is a tool to guide representative stakeholders through a participatory design of impact pathways. This helps identify suitable entry points for technologies as well as target identified needs at different levels. CORIGAP project staff Martin Gummert, Sarah Beebout, Reianne Quilloy, and Rica Flor, facilitated the PIPA workshops.

Measuring Ecological Indicators in Thailand

A PIPA workshop was conducted in Thailand last September 8- 9, 2014. About 30 participants from 12 different Thai organizations attended the event. The workshop is aligned with CORIGAP’s objective to measure environmental

footprint, using ecological indicators, from rice farming. By bringing varied stakeholders together, the project aims to facilitate coordinated collection of landscape level data such that these can be used meaningfully to inform policy. This was emphasized by Mr. Chanpithya Shimphalee, the Director General of the Thailand Rice Department, who remarked that “…we need to gather ecological indicators to help us identify rice farming practices that are environmentally safe and profitable.”

Group exercises were developed to gain a deeper understanding of how various stakeholders are linked (or not), in data collection on ecological indicators, what data they collect, and where the project could provide support.

The group identified topics of interest related to measuring ecological indicators for discussion in 2015. “It was important to start thinking about sustainability and ecological indicators, although currently there is limited interest for it within Thailand,” according to Dr. Sombat Thiratrakoolchai from the Thai Chamber of Commerce, “some companies will do everything to meet the demands of foreign markets. We could wait for foreign markets to force us (to comply with related policies), or we could plan ahead.”

Environmental sustainability in Vietnam

In Can Tho Vietnam, a PIPA workshop was conducted last September 30 and October 1, 2014. About 40 participants from different sectors including research, contract or export companies, input

Thai Rice Department partners participated in the PIPA workshop. They tracked the actors in their network relevant to ecological indicators data collection.

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companies, policy, extension and farmers gathered to discuss issues around sustainability and develop impact pathways to promote environmentally sustainable practices in rice production.

Dr. Pham Van Du, Deputy Director of the Crop Production Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), shared that as Vietnam increases its rice production to meet the global market demand, they encounter challenges relating to environmentally sustainable practices. “Recognizing these challenges to sustainably produce high quality rice,

establishing strong relationship among stakeholders is important. This (PIPA) workshop, a bottom up approach, could be an effective method to help us take the steps to reach our target for Vietnam,” he added.

Groups in four sectors, research, policy and extension, private sector and farmers did several exercises to examine issues and opportunities, identify shared vision towards sustainability and map the present rice value chain actors in Vietnam. The participants brought these together and developed change pathways noting strategies where the CORIGAP

project could help.

The PIPA approach has been used in Postharvest projects led by Martin Gummert from 2009. Five years since then, the 12 PIPA workshops launched national, regional, and village-level LAs in Cambodia, Philippines, and Myanmar (see related story onMyanmar Learning Alliance: first year of lessons learned and progress).

First version of solar bubble dryer launched in the Philippines By Carlito Balingbing and Reianne Quilloy

G rainPro Philippines, a private corporation and partner of the

IRRI Postharvest Unit, has launched the first version of the Solar Bubble Dryer (SBD). About 40 representatives from Philippine government agencies (Philippine Postharvest Center for Mechanization, Philippine Rice Research Institute, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority); the nongovernment organizations (Floridablanca and Lubao Organic Farmers’ Association, Kooperasi Agrobelantik from Malaysia); private sectors (Malaysia’s University of Kabangsaan, Subic Bay Development Management Center, Hohenheim University); media (Philippine Daily Inquirer and Manila Bulletin); and, the US Food and Agricultural Services attended the event on 30 September 2014 at the GrainPro Manufacturing Plant in Subic, Zambales, Philippines.

The SBD, the latest technology from GrainPro, is used to dry agricultural

commodities and preserve its quality despite unexpected rain and overcast skies. The 1-ton capacity dryer made of UV-resistant polyethylene forms a

dome-like shape tunnel and is inflated by small electric blowers that are driven

Ana Salvatiera-Rojas (third from left) developed the Solar Bubble Dryer through a research partnership between IRRI, GrainPro, and Hohenheim University. It is now currently tested under local conditions in different countries in South East Asia.

Participatory learning workshops on environmental sustainability

Continued on page 12

Photo by Nguyen Van H

ung

Volume 9, Number 2July-Dec 2014

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

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

EDITORSGrant Singleton,

Rona Niña Mae Rojas-Azucena, Jean Claire Dy

COPY EDITORS Priscilla Grace Cañas

LAYOUTJean Claire Dy

CIRCULATIONJennifer Hernandez

Please direct further correspondence, comments, and contributions to

Jean Claire DyCommunication Specialist

International Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777

Metro Manila, PhilippinesEmail: j.dy@irri.org

Web: www.irri.org/irrc

by photovoltaic panels and a battery. It underwent rigorous testing through a research and development partnership between IRRI, GrainPro, and Hohenheim University (see the Bubble that dries, RIPPLE Volume 8 No.2, July-December 2013) and was tested in different locations in Asia to adapt it to local conditions. “SBD is a cost-efficient drying technology that protects commodities from unpredictable weather. Farmers can now dry without delay and maintain quality of crops. The SBD helps them maximize production and increase their income,” Tom de Bruin, GrainPro president, said during the launch..

Carlito Balingbing, senior associate scientist of the CORIGAP Project, talked about the collaboration between IRRI, GrainPro, and Hohenheim University in the development and testing of the first version of SBD. He stressed that, “the SBD will help farmers in remote areas with no access to electricity dry their crops and preserve its value during storage so that they may sell at a better market price.” Though the dryer was found to work in some favorable environments, it needs further testing in other less favorable areas. IRRI will continue working on adaptive trials in other sites and scale up collaboration with IRRI’s national partners.

First version of solar bubble dryer launched in the Philippines

Publications Htwe NM, Singleton GR. 2014. Is quantity or quality of food influencing the reproduction of rice field rats in the Philippines? Wildlife Research 41, 56-63.

Rodenburg J, Demont M, Sow A, Dieng I. 2014. Bird, weed and interaction effects on yield of irrigated lowland rice. Crop Protection 66, 46-52

Lampayan R, Rejesus R, Bouman BA, Singleton GR. (2015). Adoption and economics of alternate wetting and drying water management for irrigated lowland rice. Field Crops Research 170, 95-108. Stuart AM, Prescott CV, Singleton GR. 2015. The population ecology of the Asian house rat (Rattus tanezumi) in complex lowland agro-ecosystems in the Philippines. Wildlife Research (In press)

Belmain SR, Htwe NM, Kamal NQ, Singleton GR. 2015. Estimating rodent losses to stored rice as a means to assess efficacy of rodent management. Wildlife Research (In press)

The solar bubble dryer was tested under different environmental conditions, like in Myanmar, to optimize its design, its management, and minimize investment cost.

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