Ripple April-June 2008

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

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

April-June 2008, Vol. 3, No. 2

International Rice Research Institute

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

In this issue…

Waves of action .............. 2Ties that bind: ICOP meeting and workshop

Country-hopping in Southeast Asia

Summing up postharvest learning

Capturing IRRC’s impact in Asia

Research streams .............5Rice dryer study earns award

Ripples of change .............6Drum seeders pick up the beat in Myanmar

Field days cap farmers’ training in Pangasinan

Save water, save our rice!

An Giang, Vietnam—setting an example

Transcending tradition in Vietnam

Profiles .................................... 10Muhrizal Sarwani: Swimming in the tides of progress

Martin Gummert: The engineer at the helm

Publications and ............. 12upcoming events

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) is currently

in a third phase of 4-year funding with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) as its major donor. The IRRC currently has partnerships in 11 countries in Asia and provides an important platform for delivery to farmers and millers of technologies arising from collaborative research with national partners.

In October 2007, an external review team visited four countries, interviewed collaborators from four countries, and delivered

a review report to the In-ternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) manage-ment on 22 November 2007. IRRI was fortunate to be able to assemble such a high-caliber review team given the challenging requirement of providing 14 consecutive days of their time, and then to re-view progress in 11 countries over a spread of disciplines! The review team presented 14 recommendations in its thorough 46-page report. The review report and the response of the IRRC man-agement team were endorsed by IRRI in January 2008. For those interested in read-ing the report, an electronic

version is available (contact g.singleton@cgiar.org).

The review was very positive, with the review team excited by what it saw and heard. Apart from a detailed analysis of the performance of the IRRC during 2005 to 2007, team members also pro-vided excellent ideas on pos-sible future directions for the IRRC. One of their summary comments is very telling: “The review team recognized that the IRRC has helped IRRI pioneer the evolution and transfer of applied re-search to the research-exten-sion interface. We believe the IRRC should ‘stay the course’

> continued on page 2

IRRC Phase 4 recommended!

MORE REASONS TO SMILE: IRRC hopes to empower more farming communities, now that an external review team has recommended a fourth phase.

2Ripple April-June 2008

Waves of action

Ties that bind: ICOP meeting and workshop

The bonds of friendship and teamwork among the national partners

of three countries were strengthened as the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) held its annual review meeting and workshop of the IRRC Country Outreach Program (ICOP) on 4-6 February at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Nueva Ecija. PhilRice, the lead agency of ICOP in the Philippines, hosted this year’s event.

Top offi cials from Myan-mar and Indonesia graced the event to share the learning from ICOP in their countries

with their Philippine coun-terparts. Special guests were U Than Aye, deputy director general, Department of Ag-ricultural Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation; U Hla Myo, general manager, Extension Division, Myanma Agriculture Service; Dr. Muhrizal Sarwani, director, Indonesian Center for Agri-culture Technology Assess-ment for Rural Development; Dr. Hasil Sembiring, director, Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR); and Dr. Sudarmaji, head, Research Program and Evaluation, ICRR. They visited several farmers’ fi elds and met with

farmers’ groups in Central Luzon on 3 February.

Since the establishment of the ICOPs in 2006 in Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines, more national partners have started taking the lead in disseminating IRRC technologies in their regions. During the work-shop, participants from the IRRI, PhilRice, Philippine Council for Agriculture, For-estry and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Research, National Irriga-tion Administration, Agri-cultural Promotion Center, and Bulacan Agricultural State College described their

research and undertakings. The workshop ended with local partners presenting their strategies and fi nancial plans in upscaling and outscaling IRRC technologies in their respective areas. To capture the lessons learned from the three countries’ ICOP experi-ences, the IRRC will hold a Research-to-Impact Work-shop at the International Rice Research Institute on 23-27 September (More details on page 4). And, judging from the exciting stories and updates shared in February, it seems that September’s work-shop will be worth the wait.

Story and photos by Trina Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org)

Dr. Ruben Lampayan (right), IRRC Water-Saving Work Group leader, asks farmers in Nueva Ecija to share their experiences with alternate wetting and drying.

Engr. Evangeline Sibayan of PhilRice (right) explains their activities in promoting water-saving technologies in large irrigation systems to (l-r) ICOP counterparts Dr. Muhrizal Sarwani, Dr. Hasil Sembiring, U Hla Myo, and Dr. Sudarmaji. Not in photo is U Than Aye.

and build on the extension de-livery to rural communities.”

Some general com-ments of the external re-view team are as follows:

• We are convinced IRRC Phase 3 has made excellent progress in strengthening research and research-exten-sion partnerships and has made signifi cant contribu-tions to capacity building.

• The quality and impact of the research

IRRC Phase 4... from page 1 have been maintained at very high standards.

• IRRI-supported technologies, policy ad-vice, and networking are appreciated by partners.

• Farm community-level economic and social impacts were evident for all except the underpinning work of laser leveling, which is not yet adopted at the farm level.

• The limited spread of IRRC technology to regions remote from project sites implies that uptake by the

community will not be spontaneous but will require concerted effort.

• Most of the technologies developed and promoted by IRRC have potential applica-tion across huge areas of favorable rice-growing regions of Asia. If national extension systems can be strengthened by interaction with IRRC, the potential impact is enormous.

• We are impressed with the high caliber of the work group leaders, the spirit of

common purpose, and cooperation among them.

The IRRC consists of a tremendous mix of dedi-cated researchers, extension specialists, and R&D man-agers across our 11 partner countries. All those involved can refl ect on a job well done over the past 3 years. This has set a strong and exciting platform for an even better performing consor-tium in 2008 and beyond!

Story and photo by Grant Singleton (g.singleton@cgiar.org)

3Ripple April-June 2008

Country-hopping in Southeast Asia

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) team started

the year with an almost month-long expedition on 3-25 January around project sites in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. IRRC Coordinator Grant Singleton, Labor Productivity Work Group leader David Johnson, and Postproduction Work Group leader Martin Gummert took to the skies on 2 January and began their journey in Laos.

Lowlands of LaosThe three scientists

from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) enjoyed their tour around the rice bowl of Laos. They visited Savannakhet and Champasak Plain with Dr. Khamouane Khamphoukeo, deputy director of the Na-tional Rice Research Program (NRRP) of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), and Dr. Bounneuang Douang Boupha, director of the Horti-cultural Research Center and national coordinator of crop pest management at NAFRI, to determine the research and technology needs of the low-land agroecosystem of Laos.

Savannakhet is the main rice-growing region in Laos (with 23,000 hectares of irrigated rice), followed by the Vien-tiane Plain and the Champa-sak Plain. They also discussed postharvest issues in the up-lands and visited upland sites of a new IRRC rodent project.

They gained better ap-preciation of the rice-crop-ping systems in the lowlands, which have far less monocul-ture agriculture than in other rice-growing areas in South-east Asia. They noticed a signifi cant forest area among the lowland cropping areas.

The Lao government’s priority for poverty allevia-tion has led to the identifi ca-tion of 47 poverty-stricken districts, which are priority districts for agricultural as-sistance. Some of these are in the lowlands, with three of these districts in the Cham-pasak Plain. A collaborative project with the Lao NRRP and IRRC in the lowlands could provide an important opportunity for IRRI through the IRRC to help the Lao government to achieve its goals in agricultural develop-ment while at the same time fulfi lling its poverty allevia-tion mandate. Grown in the lowland areas is a combina-

tion of rainfed and irrigated rice crops; IRRC linkages with the Consortium for Un-favorable Rice Environments (CURE), particularly with drought- and submergence-tolerant varieties and associ-ated natural resource man-agement of these crops, have high potential for impact.

Thailand’s Rice Department

The IRRC group visited Thailand and met with Direc-tor General Prasert Gosalvitra and senior staff of the Rice Department. Thailand’s Rice Department has 3,000 staff members. Of these, 1,000 are permanent government employees. It was established in early 2006 and is strongly supported by the Royal Fam-ily. The Thai government aims to increase productiv-ity by 20% (to 33.4 million tons) over the next 5 years. Some key constraints are droughts, fl oods, and weedy rice (which has infested 30,000 hectares already).

The Rice Department is keen to forge strong partner-ships with IRRC scientists. It is particularly interested in postharvest technolo-gies, combating weedy rice, and the research-to-impact pathway. Our highly suc-cessful visit was arranged by

Dr. Kukiat Soitong, direc-tor of the Extension System Development and Technol-ogy Transfer Unit. Further exchanges between IRRC/IRRI scientists and staff from the Rice Department are planned for May and June.

Valuable Vietnam voyageDr. Singleton traveled

alone to Vietnam and met with several representatives from the Field Crops Research Institute, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hanoi Agricultural Univer-sity, the Plant Protection Division (PPD), and World Vision. He also made a fi eld visit to An Giang Province, the highest rice producer in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

He talked with Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, direc-tor, An Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan, deputy director general, PPD. The former said that he is very impressed with the fi eld trials that have been conducted to validate IRRC technologies at a 30-hectare demonstration site in An Giang. Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan and the provincial government are now eager to expand the technologies of the IRRC in An Giang and make

> continued on page 4

Female workers rest inside a rice mill in Nakornluang District, Ayutthaya, Thailand. The Thai government aims to increase productivity by 20% (to 33.4 millions tons) over the next 5 years. (Photo by A. Javellana)

With the IRRC’s continuous efforts to work with the Lao NRRP, children in Laos will have better chances of improving their lives. (Photo by G. Singleton)

4Ripple April-June 2008

Summing up postharvest learning

Country -hopping... from page 3

the province a model for best practice in rice production. (More details on page 8).

Cambodia canThe poor living condi-

tions of rural smallholders make it crucial for the IRRC to explore ways to improve rice R&D in Cambodia. A promising route to take would be having one or two local “champions” who will actively lead IRRC projects. Such is the role being played by Dr. Pyseth Meas, a partner of the IRRC Postproduction Work Group (see his profi le in RIPPLE Vol. 3, No. 1, 2008).

The Cambodian govern-ment aims to raise rice pro-duction by 2 tons/hectare, but there are hurdles to conquer. Dr. Men Sarom of the Cam-bodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute re-vealed that Cambodia’s main

problems in rice production are fl oods and droughts, infer-tile soil, pests, and diseases, weeds, and labor shortage (which has resulted in greater use of direct seeding).

The Postproduction Work Group continues to progress in Cambodia. When the IRRC team visited Battambang, the Provincial Department of Agriculture had organized a farmers’ congress for key farmers from pilot villages of the Asian Development Bank project. Farmers shared infor-mation and their experiences with postharvest technologies with their peers from other villages, and interacted with provincial extension workers.

All these activities were jam-packed at the start of 2008, a sure sign that the IRRC is gearing up for more undertak-ings in 2008 and beyond.

Trina Mendoza and Grant Singleton

Capturing IRRC’s impact in Asia

Imagine having to produce 90% of the world’s rice. Seven

out of ten Asians depend on your harvest to have their staple food on the table. You plant irrigated rice on half the land you have, which yields three-quarters of all the rice in the world. Now imagine needing to harvest more while your land steadily shrinks, water supply dwindles, costs skyrocket, and laborers decrease. This is the huge task that Asia’s rice farmers labor at every day. And this is why the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) was established 11 years ago.

Building bridges between national agricul-

tural research and extension systems and the Interna-tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the IRRC helps irri-gated-rice farmers raise their profi ts, ensure food security, and strike a healthy balance with the natural environment, while achieving economic progress. The IRRC Country Outreach Programs (ICOPs) have disseminated tech-nologies to member countries such as Indonesia, Myan-mar, and the Philippines.

With Phase 3 in full swing, it is time to cap-ture and document IRRC’s progress in Asia through a workshop entitled “Research to Impact: Case Studies for Natural Resource Manage-ment of Irrigated Rice in Asia.” Country case studies

to be presented are those of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chi-na, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The workshop will be held at IRRI in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, on 23-27 September. Delegates will discuss how learning took place within their ICOP experience, from the realm of research to the real world of extension, where rice is managed as a natural re-source. This learning, when documented, will pinpoint which research and extension work has the greatest impact, and which innovations future partnerships must focus on.

The expected outputs are as follows: (1) learning from ICOPs and associ-ated research activities on natural resource manage-

ment (NRM) in rice captured; (2) learning processes documented; (3) enablers, blocks, and effective pathways identi-fi ed; and (4) proceedings of papers published.

With this workshop, the IRRC hopes to in-crease outputs by IRRI and national partners by fi ne-focusing strategies for research and extension. In addition, knowing the new ways that NRM technolo-gies get adopted will help the IRRC blaze a trail toward its next phase in its research to impact mission.

For more infor-mation, please e-mail Dr. Grant Singleton at g.singleton@cgiar.org.

Lorelei Dela Cruz (l.delacruz@cgiar.org)

The Postproduction Work Group (PPWG) will be having its “Lessons Learned Workshop” on 6-8 May in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, with stakeholders

from Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

With collaborators from the IRRC and the Asian Development Bank project, this workshop aims to docu-ment the status of technology validation and dissemination in each country. It plans to serve as a platform for cross-country learning and set the scene for the planning of Phase 4 of the PPWG and other postharvest initiatives.

The three-day workshop seeks to produce a document that will capture the process of learning, technology adaptation, and dissemination in the rice postharvest improvement projects, and the supportive and inhibiting factors, key partnerships, and successful methods. Posthar-vest profi les of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia will be updated, and the profi les of the other countries will be compiled.

With this workshop, the status of adoption of posthar-vest technologies will be assessed, which will guide priority setting and making recommendations for Phase 4 of the IRRC.

5Ripple April-June 2008

Rice dryer study earns awardResearch streams

Ramchandra Bhandari received the VDI Förderpreis 2007

award for his master’s thesis on the evaluation of rice husk-fueled box-type paddy dryers in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Mr. Bhandari’s study was supported by Mr. Budi Raharjo of the Agricultural Institute of Assessment Technology (AIAT) in Palembang, the South Sumatra Forest Fire Management Project (SSFFMP) led by Dr. Karl Heinz Steinmann, Mr. Djoko Setijono, Mr. Gerald Hitzler, and IRRC Postproduction Work Group leader Martin Gummert. VDI or “The Association of German Engineers” is a nonprofi t organization of 132,000 engineers and natural scientists. Founded in 1856, the VDI is Western Europe’s largest engineering association today.

In South Sumatra, the fi rst box-type paddy dryer

(also called fl at-bed dryer) with 3.3-ton capacity and rice husk furnace was installed in 2004 at a farmers’ coop-erative in Upang Village by the AIAT with support from the SSFFMP. Because the mechanical dryer produced better-quality milled rice than traditional sun drying, more than 30 mechanical dryers have been installed by private users in Muliasari, Upang, and Upangceria. The individual drying capacity of each dryer varies from 3.5 to 10 tons of harvested paddy per batch, accounting for a total drying capacity of about 214.5 tons per batch.

The study assessed the performance of the dryers, determined the effect of mechanical drying on rice quality, and assessed its eco-nomic viability. It also aimed to compare rice quality from mechanical dryers with that from traditional sun drying.

The experiments were done in April 2007. Three box

The fi gures above show rice quality and milling yield for a box dryer and sun drying.

*Exchange rate as of 30 April 2007.

dryers were chosen and a total of eight experiments were carried out with commercial operation of the dryers using the operators’ paddy. Key parameters were measured every hour and were used to compare the box dryers with sun drying in terms of drying performance, rice quality, and economics of drying.

In terms of head rice, under the same working

conditions of the milling unit, the quality of rice from the box dryer was always higher than that from sun drying.

Mechanical drying also yielded more whole grains

(grains larger than 85% of full size) than sun drying. In South Sumatra markets, the separation of whole grains from broken grains is one of the most important economic indicators in determining the selling price of rice. Milled rice from mechanical dryers also commanded a higher price than sun-dried rice.

The study concluded that the milling yields of box-dried and sun-dried paddy did not differ signifi cantly.

However, paddy dried in a box dryer had better qual-ity than that from sun-dried paddy. The study recom-mends using the box dryer to increase farmers’ profi t when they sell their high-quality rice, provided that there is a market for it and that operat-ing conditions are good.

Trina Mendoza (adapted from a report by M. Gummert, R.

Bhandari, and H. Gaese)

RICE QUALITY

52.5

37.3

78.2

52.5 55.7

28.8

6.7 7.9

4.0 8.

8

8.2 15

.5

40.8

54.8

17.8

38.7

36.2

55.7

0

20

40

60

80

100

Box dryer Sun drying Box dryer Sun drying Box dryer Sun drying

Muliasari Upangceria Upang

Percentage

Whole grainsLarge brokensSmall brokens

MILLING YIELD

63.8

63.6 69

.8

70.0

63.0

62.5

18.6

17.8

9.5 9.5

21.3

22.0

17.0

18.8

20.3

20.0

15.0

14.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

Box dryer Sun drying Box dryer Sun drying Box dryer Sun drying

Muliasari Upangceria Upang

Percentage

Rice

Bran

Husk

6Ripple April-June 2008

Drum seeders pick up the beat in Myanmar

Ripples of change

“The performance of the drum seeders is quite

satisfactory and economically effi cient,” says Dr. Tin Hla, national coordinator of the International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) offi ce in Myanmar. This he reported after an intensive demonstration of Vietnamese plastic drum seeders in January in the townships of Hlegu, Taikkyi, and Htantapin in Yangon Division, and in Letpadan, Oakpho, Thayarwaddy, Minhla, and Pyay in West Bago Division in February.

IRRI has been working with the government of Myan-mar in developing improved technologies to increase rice production. A memorandum

of agreement was signed on 29 June 2006 between IRRI and Myanma Agriculture Service (MAS) to develop and promote technologies in rice production through the Irrigated Rice Research Con-sortium (IRRC) in Ayeyar-wady, Bago, Yangon, Mag-way, Mandalay, and Sagaing divisions. An increase in rice production in Myanmar is needed to feed the country’s 56 million-and-growing population, and to earn extra income by exporting rice.

One of the IRRC technol-ogies being promoted is the drum seeder. The IRRC La-bor Productivity Work Group, led by weed scientists David Johnson with Joel Janiya, introduced the Vietnamese plastic rice drum seeders in

the country. They are work-ing actively with MAS work group leaders and regional extension staff in testing the machines with participating farmers. The fi rst batch of 25 IRRC-funded Vietnam-ese drum seeders arrived in Myanmar on 29 November 2006 and a second batch of 30 seeders followed on 22 August 2007. Dr. Tin Hla is closely monitoring the project and facilitating increasing activity with MAS senior offi cials and is also involved in farmers’ training, fi eld visits, and demonstrations.

With more farmers be-ing satisfi ed with the drum seeders, the machines were thus widely distributed in the summer rice-growing season of 2008. “Compared with

broadcasting, about 50–60% less rice seed is needed, there are savings in labor cost, and these machines are easier to use in operations such as weed control, pest manage-ment, interrow cultivation by a push weeder, and harvest-ing,” says Dr. Tin Hla.

Some of the farmers and private entrepreneurs (Myanma Rice Millers’ As-sociation) expressed their willingness to use this plastic drum seeder in more areas in the near future. More-over, there is a big potential for intensively using these seeders during the irrigated summer rice-growing season.

Tin Hla (irri.mya@mptmail.net.mm) and Trina Mendoza

The IRRC bids farewell and good luck to Dr. Deborah

(Debbie) Templeton, and welcomes Lorelei (Bing) Dela Cruz.

Dr. Templeton is an economist/social scientist and impact assessment specialist of the IRRI Social Sciences Division. She served as a mentor to Are-

lene Malabayabas and Aibee Rodriguez of the IRRC in assessing the impact of IRRC technologies, specifi cally site-specifi c nutrient manage-ment in Vietnam and direct seeding of rice in India and Bangladesh. Her signifi cant contribution to the IRRC and warm personality will be sorely missed. We wish her luck and success as she

returns to her native Austra-lia to resume her post at the Australian Centre for Interna-tional Agricultural Research.

Meanwhile, the IRRC welcomes Lorelei Dela Cruz to the Coordination Unit. She joined on 24 March to help develop communication and extension materials for the IRRC. She holds a master’s degree in development com-munication and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of the Philippines.

Best wishes, Debbie; welcome, Bing!

It is easier to use a push weeder for interrow cultiva-tion when rice is sown in rows using a drum seeder.

More farmers are saying yes to drum seeders in Myanmar because they benefi t from using less seeds and labor, as well as the ease drum seeders bring in operations such as weed control and pest management.

Dr. Templeton tries threshing rice in Vietnam. (Photo by M. Gummert)

7Ripple April-June 2008

Field days cap farmers’ training in Pangasinan

On 15 and 25 February, IRRC staff attended farmers’ fi eld days

in Mangatarem and San Jacinto, Pangasinan, in the Philippines. The fi eld days were organized by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the Department of Agriculture (DA), and local government units, with support from the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) as part of the IRRC Country Outreach Program (ICOP) in the

Philippines. PhilRice has been involved in training these farmers for 2 years on IRRC technologies such as site-specifi c nutrient management (SSNM) and direct seeding using a drum seeder, and will now monitor these towns to test whether the technologies will be sustainable.

“PhilRice usually col-laborates with different LGUs for 2 years only, then slowly disengages,” says Engr. Leo Javier, program leader of the Knowledge

Pangasinan farmer Ponciano Munar shows off his healthy plants and shares his experiences in using IRRC technologies in his ricefi eld. (Photo by T. Mendoza)

Farmers receive diplomas for completing the two-year training on direct seeding using a drum seeder and SSNM under PhilRice. (Photo by R. Flor)

Management and Promotion Division of PhilRice. “Hope-fully, the municipal agricul-tural offi ces will continue and extend these technolo-gies to other barangays.”

Both fi eld days began with a visit to some farm-ers’ fi elds. Participants were then asked to choose which rice variety they liked best among several that were planted in one farmer’s fi eld.

Farmers’ graduation ceremonies after the 2-year training under PhilRice were another highlight in both events. In Mangatarem, 28 farmers received their diplo-mas. About 75 guests and

participants gathered in Ba-rangay CBN, including IRRC communication specialist Trina Mendoza, DA offi cials, and representatives from the fi nancing nongovernment organization Alalay sa Kaun-laran, Inc. In her message to farmers, Ms. Mendoza said that IRRI and the IRRC will continue to provide technical assistance through PhilRice, sharing the lessons learned from working across 11 Asian countries. She said that the challenge for the IRRC is to continue working with farmers to sustain the use of innovative technologies.

Trina Mendoza

Save water, save our rice!

For the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), “Rice is Life.”

But we all know that without water, there is no life. Rice farmers today struggle to produce enough rice for a growing population with less and less water available, so they need to use technologies designed to optimize the use of water. IRRC partners make sure that these technologies reach the farmers.

This is precisely why experts on water-saving technologies convened on 26-28 March at IRRI. En-titled “Workshop on Adoption

and Impact of Water Sav-ings in the Philippines,” the 3-day event brought together partners of the Water-Sav-ing Work Group of the IRRC in a discussion on the status of extension and adoption of water-saving technologies implemented in different areas all over the Philippines.Represented were Bulacan Agricultural State College, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Bureau of Soils and Water Management, National Irrigation Administration (including representatives from its offi ces in Quezon City, Bohol, Region VII-VIII, > continued on page 8

Bulacan, Tarlac, Tacloban City, UPRIIS-Cabanatuan City, and Ilocos Norte), Pro-vincial Irrigation Administra-tion-Bohol, Central Luzon State University, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Re-sources Research and Devel-opment, and the Casecnan Project in Nueva Ecija.

In the plenary session, participants presented the activities done on validation and dissemination of alternate wetting and drying (AWD), one of many important water-saving techniques. Research done on adoption and impact of water-saving technologies at some of the sites was also

discussed. Delegates freely contributed to discussions on the cases presented, which re-vealed important insights into the different issues involved. The participants discussed how far the technologies have gone in terms of dissemina-tion and adoption from par-ticipatory experimental plots to farm and irrigation system levels. The water-saving im-pact-pathway experiences that sprang from the discussions were documented, includ-ing local success stories.

In the workshop, the dele-gates were grouped into teams to brainstorm and plan further actions. Their main concern

8Ripple April-June 2008

In early February, the IRRC and IRRI received letters from

the People’s Committee of An Giang, in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. This group requested that the IRRC work closely with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of An Giang Province and the Plant Protection Department (PPD) to assist with the application of technologies to raise the productivity of rice cultivation. Together with neighboring provinces Tien Giang and Dong Thap, An Giang is the premier rice-growing region of Vietnam. These three provinces together provide a third of the rice produced in the Mekong River Delta and are important for the success of Vietnam’s rice export trade.

In late February, Dr. Grant Singleton, IRRC coordinator, visited An Giang and met with Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong (direc-tor, DARD), Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan (deputy direc-tor general, PPD), Dr. Mai Thanh Phung (deputy director, National Agricul-ture Extension Center), and Mr. Nguyen Huu Ang (An

Giang sub PPD). In An Giang, the DARD currently has 30 hectares under best practice (Thoai Son District), with plans to expand to 10,000 hectares and 15,000 house-holds by 2010. If successful, it is expected that diffusion of best-practice technologies will be rapid beyond 2010 through diffusion from one farmer commune to another, and from farmer to farmer.

The aim is to develop An Giang as a model province for best practice for rice produc-tion. The IRRC will provide technical assistance by advis-ing on the training of trainers, developing a business plan for the use of laser leveling and postproduction tehnolo-gies, provide technical advice on an integrated approach to best practice management of lowland irrigated rice, and assist with document-ing the learning from this initiative and document-ing the impacts on farmers. The learning is essential for developing a national strategy for scaling out best management practices for the production of irrigated rice.

This initiative will be overseen by a national advisory committee of the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development

(MARD). This committee will ensure outreach of the lessons learned from this initiative to other provinces. The committee will report directly to a MARD vice minister and this is a proven pathway for dissemination of technologies, through sub PPDs, provincial departments of agriculture, local media, and links with nongovern-ment organizations such as World Vision (through their area development programs).

Dr. Singleton visited demonstration sites for vari-ous IRRC technologies at two locations in An Giang. The fi rst was in Chau Thanh Dis-trict, a site laser-leveled three years ago. Alternate wet-ting and drying (AWD) was

introduced 2 years ago and the farmer is very pleased with the savings in fuel costs (water is pumped; previously irrigated 7–8 times, now 5–6 times, with less water each time). Also, because of leveling and AWD, she has had a 1 ton/hectare (t/ha) increase in production (now 8 t/ha). She also has saved on seed and fertil-izer costs and uses a drum seeder to establish the crop.

The second site was in Tri Ton District, a 15-ha site that was laser-leveled in early 2007. The farmer, Nguyen Loi Duc, was trained through an IRRC-coordinated initia-tive to laser-level. He is very impressed with the results of the laser leveling—reduced fuel costs and fertilizer use; better control of weedy rice, golden apple snail, and rats. Mr. Duc commented that yields have increased from 5.3 to 6–6.5 t/ha.

These are exciting developments in An Giang. Future issues of RIPPLE will report on developments and progress with the scaling out of IRRC technologies to smallholder farmers in the Mekong River Delta.

Grant Singleton

Save water... from page 7

is how to disseminate AWD to a wider reach of farmers. They also tackled questions on how to promote AWD at the policy level. They shared experiences on the extent of adoption of AWD in their areas. Research gaps were also identifi ed, in the hope of refi ning the research process. Delegates also voiced sugges-tions on how to disseminate

the technologies on a large scale. The workshop was under-

taken by the Water-Saving Work Group of the IRRC and the project “Developing a System of Temperate and Tropical Aerobic Rice (STAR) in Asia” under the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF).

More about the workshop in RIPPLE’s July-September issue!

Lorelei Dela Cruz and Rica Joy Flor (r.fl or@cgiar.org)

Dr. Yas Hosen explains their research on the effects of AWD in relation to greenhouse gas emissions. Preliminary fi ndings suggest the positive effect of AWD in minimizing methane release from rice plants. (Photo by R. Flor)

An Giang, Vietnam—setting an example

VIETNAM

AN GIANG

9Ripple April-June 2008

Transcending tradition in Vietnam

Rural Vietnam, like the rest of this culturally rich country, is a

showcase of tradition. The growing demand for rice, however, has encouraged farmers to explore new agricultural technologies that promise better results than traditional methods. To fi nd out how certain technologies from the International Rice Research Institute are affecting the Vietnamese farming scene, Divina Gracia Rodriguez and Carlito Balingbing of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) visited Hanoi and the provinces of Nam Dinh and Long An from late February to early March.

In Hanoi, they met with Dr. Nguyen Thi Duong Nga and other faculty members of the Hanoi University of Agriculture. Together, they laid out the fi nal plans for upcoming impact assessment activities of the IRRC project with the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (ADB-JFPR) called “Improving Poor Farmers’ Livelihoods through Improved Rice Postharvest Technology.” These activi-ties will take place in Nam Dinh and Long An prov-inces from June to July.

Next on their itinerary were meetings with Dr. Tran Thi Mai and Ms. Hoang Thi Tuat of the Vietnam Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Postharvest Technol-ogy in Nam Dinh Province’s Yen Phong Village and Mr. Vu Cong Khanh, head of the Food Processing Division of the Southern Sub-Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Postharvest Technology, in Long An Province’s Nhon Ninh and Hau Thanh Dong communes. There they tested evaluation questionnaires among benefi ciary farmers to refi ne the instrument that will measure impact of the ADB-JFPR project. In their fi eld visits, the team witnessed how these technologies are faring in the different villages.

Hermetic storage systemThe 50-kilogram IRRI

Super Bags are airtight containers that protect grain from pests and moisture from the humid environment. In the villages of Yen Phong and Yen Khang in Nam Dinh, group discussions showed that farmers greatly appreci-ate the Super Bag. However, Yen Khang farmers often overfi ll the bags to as much as 70 kilograms, and use them without the protective

outer sack lining that prevents scratches and punctures. Ap-parently, farmers there need more technical assistance on the proper use of the bags.

In Long An Province, farmers use the Super Bags correctly and appreciate the principle of hermetic storage. They claim that the bags pre-vent insect and rodent infesta-tion and jack up germination rates to 85%, up from the usual 50% using traditional storage. In Hau Thanh Dong in Tan Thanh District, germi-nation rate is even higher at 90%, up from 20% or lower using traditional storage.

Meanwhile, the 5-ton Volcani Cube proved impractical in Nam Dinh because of the small amount of paddy stored, but it was a big hit among rice farm-ers in Hau Thanh Dong.

Mechanical/fl at-bed dryer (FBD)

In Yen Phong and Yen Khang villages in Nam Dinh, farmers widely used both the smaller capacity (1-ton) dryer and the low-cost 500-kilogram dryer, although the dryer required coal and electricity. The dryer is used

mostly during bad weather; otherwise, solar drying is still used. Meanwhile, the 4-ton dryer benefi ted Long An farmers in Nhon Ninh commune, who attested to the better milling quality of FBD-dried grain. In Hau Tanh Dong Village, farm-ers are building a second 4-ton dryer next to the fi rst.

Quality kit/IRRI moisture meter

This gadget helps prevent grains from being over- or underdried, cutting farm-ers’ losses and maximizing their profi ts. Unfortunately, in Nhon Ninh Village, only fi ve out of 12 units were functional, and none in Yen Phong. In Han Tanh Dong, all units are regularly used.

Hopefully, these tech-nologies, when used properly, will help boost the quality and quantity of rice produced to feed our hungry world.

Story by Lorelei Dela Cruz, photos by Divina Gracia Rodriguez

Dr. Nga (extreme right) conducts interviews with selected farmer participants and extension workers iin Nhon Ninh Village, Long An Province.

Site visit to a rice mill owned and operated by one of the project’s trainees.

10Ripple April-June 2008

Profi les

Swimming in the tides of progress

Soft-spoken and unassuming, Dr. Muhrizal Sarwani

seems the perfect epitome of a stereotype scientist hiding away in his laboratory. He describes himself as in between an introvert and an extrovert, taking time to know someone before he warms up to them. And yet his role as the new director of the Indonesian Center for Agriculture Technology Assessment for Rural Development (ICATAD) demands that he face people day in and out.

ICATAD is a national organization with 79 em-ployees based in Bogor, Indonesia. It coordinates 32 smaller research-extension facilities each called Assess-ment Institute of Agricul-tural Technology (AIAT) or Balai Pengkajian Teknologi Pertanian (BPTP) in Bahasa, with one AIAT per province. About 84 employees work in each AIAT, and there are almost 835 researchers and 264 extension special-ists in all the AIATs.

“AIAT’s role is to spread technologies to the farmers,”

says Dr. Sarwani. “We have to adapt the technology to the local and social condi-tions of a province before bringing it to the farmers.” He cites an example of rice preference in West Sumatra to emphasize his point. “In West Sumatra,” he says “they do not like glutinous rice. If you start giving them rice varieties, even though they are high-yielding, without knowing their preference, there will be lower adoption because the farmers do not like the rice.” He realizes that technology dissemination is the bottleneck in transferring technologies in Indonesia, and how to make things simple

for the farmers. “This is why we built the AIAT,” he says.

Aside from the AIAT, which has been around for about 12 years, Indonesia now has the Prima Tani program, a model they use to bring technologies to villages faster. Dr. Sarwani is passionate about AIAT because he was a researcher in an AIAT in Central Kalimantan. Dr. Sarwani, a soil and water scientist, used to study tidal wetland rice in swamp areas in Central Kalimantan, where there is not much irrigated rice.

Growing up in tidal wetland areas eventually inspired him to study soil science. “I lived near the riverbank,” he narrates. “Our river was very big, about as big as the Mekong, about 1-kilometer wide. I learned how to swim when I was 5.” He pursued his MS in soil fertility at the Wageningen University of Research, Netherlands, and his PhD in soil management at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

A pivotal moment in his career was his appoint-ment as head of the AIAT in Central Kalimantan after 20 years as a researcher. This was his turning point from being a scientist in the laboratory to a coordi-nator out in the fi eld. For him, learning to organize

and work with local govern-ment units was a memorable time in his career. In fact, he admits that had he not been a scientist, he would have wanted to be a social worker.

But for now, he is en-joying his new role as the director of ICATAD, hav-ing been in the position only since December 2007. His new job has stationed him in Bogor, where he lives with his wife, Mahrita. His three sons, Siraj, 22, Fajri, 20, and Zaki, 16, are all living on campus, far from Bogor, but Dr. Sarwani does not seem to worry. “Sooner or later, they will all get married,” he explains lightheartedly.

He does remember, though, that when he was studying for his PhD in Malaysia, he used to take his three boys swimming every weekend. Dr. Sarwani could then swim 20 laps in an Olympic-sized pool. With his swimming days behind, he relaxes by reading mostly motivational books or novels. He confesses to being a rock music fan in his younger days, having grown up with an un-cle who listened to the famous rock band Queen. Now, he listens mostly to soothing mu-sic from the 1960s and ’70s by singers like Frank Sinatra.

Clearly, his quiet de-meanor does not mean that he simply stood by the sidelines and waited for good things to come his way. He has this to say to today’s youth: “If you want to achieve something, do it well and be focused and serious about it. If some-one asks something of you, you give more than what is expected, and you will get more in return. Share your talents with others, and don’t keep them to yourself.”

Trina Mendoza

THE DOCTOR IS IN: Dr. Sarwani (extreme right) checks a demonstration plot on integrated crop management in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, which was visited by crowds, including the president and the ministry.

ONE BIG, HAPPY FAMILY: Dr. Sarwani and wife Mahrita with sons Fajri, Siraj, and Zaki.

11Ripple April-June 2008

The engineer at the helm

Rice-growing has never been an easy task: planting at

the right time with good-quality seeds, giving the right amount of water and fertilizer, protecting the crops from pests and diseases. You’d think that after you’ve harvested healthy plants, you can let out a sigh of relief and relax. But no, the job isn’t fi nished yet, not even close. You have to mill the grains, dry them, and store them well until they reach the markets and get sold. But most farmers fi nd it hard to take care of the grains after the harvest, mostly because of delay in drying, poor storage, poorly maintained or old rice mills, and losses to pests. Indeed, a rice farmer’s life is a hard life.

But people like Mar-tin Gummert are trying to make their lives a bit easier. A postharvest development specialist at the International Rice Research Institute, Engr. Gummert works with part-ners in various countries to develop new technologies and methods for everything that is done with rice after the harvest until it is sold in the market. “For example, using a mechanical rice dryer instead of drying the paddy in the sun keeps it safe from chickens eating it or from the rain,” he says. “The family can now send their kids to do their homework because they don’t have to watch the sun-dried paddy anymore and the farmers can sell healthier paddy with better quality for a higher price. With dry-ers and other postharvest technologies, we therefore help farmers and their families have better lives.”

Engr. Gummert fi nds his job at IRRI rewarding,

meeting exciting and out-standing people who do their share in moving their coun-tries toward a better future. “The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC),” he says, “is part of that network because it focuses on improv-ing the lives of farmers and rice consumers by getting good research results out to them. I really enjoy contrib-uting as a facilitator of the Postproduction Work Group. And it is good fun working with the multidisciplinary ‘Dream Team’ of the IRRC.”

He was with IRRI from 1993 to 1997 and, since 2003, he has been working in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indone-sia, Vietnam, and the Philip-pines. He got into postharvest development by accident while designing a combine harvester test rig at Hohen-heim University in Germany. During his professional ca-reer, he has also worked as a team leader of an industry promotion project in Indone-sia, as a freelance consultant for donor-funded development projects, and for fi rms in elec-tronics and software develop-ment in his native Germany. His interest has remained in agricultural engineering in general, but he was drawn to and stuck to postharvest be-cause many people, especially

the farmers, relied on it. And, because of the high losses in the postharvest chain, every new develop-ment was rewarding.

When he’s not busy working with harvesters or dryers, he might be out building boats. He enjoys sailing and traveling with his wife and two daugh-ters, and he likes vintage motorcycles, scuba diving, skiing, and listening to mostly 1970s music. “Dur-ing the ‘spring’ break, I plan to tour around the Mountain Province (Philippines) on motorcycle, and every year when I go home to Germany, I tour Europe on my 1,000cc BMW motorcycle,” he says.

For now, though, he has a lot of work on his plate. His work group has piloted and verifi ed harvesters, dry-ers, and storage systems with farmers in the fi eld and shown the benefi ts from using them. They’ve also worked with the private sector in improving their milling and processing systems. Lately, they’ve introduced village market information systems in Cambodia and shown that making markets more transparent can help farm-ers increase their incomes.

His group is also look-ing at new approaches to get

the message out to users by working with the IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank group and national extension systems: “I strongly believe that farmers are able to make their own decisions as long as they are provided with good informa-tion about the options they have,” he explains. “If we are going to buy a car, we want information on color options, performance, fuel consump-tion. What we don’t want is a salesperson telling us ‘this car is the best for you and you can’t get another one’.”

As for goals that he still wants to achieve, he says, “Well, it’s diffi cult to say, could be coming up with a product that really makes a difference in many people’s lives, but generally speaking, since our job is to help people and countries develop their own capacity to solve their problems, I guess my ultimate goal in my professional life is to work myself out of the job. If our clients don’t need me anymore because they can do the job themselves—mis-sion accomplished.”

Trina MendozaEngr. Gummert makes sure farmers’ produce is in top shape until it is sold in the market.

SAILING IN SATISFACTION: Martin built this boat with his kids last year. The boat is called an Optimist, designed in 1947 by Clark Mills. Martin’s idea of a perfect vacation is sailing on a yacht with friends and wife Mavic, and daughters Miriam, 13, and Kata, 10.

Upcoming events (April -September 2008)Workshops and conferences

5th International Crop Science Conference, Jeju, South Korea, 13-18 April 2008.

Lessons Learned Workshop of the IRRC Postproduction Work Group and ADB Post-harvest Project, Mekong Del-ta, Vietnam, 6-8 May 2008.

IRRC stakeholder meeting for Phase 4. Vientiane, Lao PDR. 10-11 June 2008.

Research to Impact: Case Stud-ies for Natural Resources Management of Irrigated Rice in Asia, IRRI, 23-27 September 2008.

PostproductionWork Group

Seed and grain quality training for extension staff, Yangon, Myanmar, May 2008.

Qualitative impact assess-ment of postharvest activities, Battambang and Prey Veng, Cambodia, 9-22 May 2008.

Focus group discussions and key informant interviews to gather qualitative data on postharvest technologies, Cam-bodia, 10-22 May 2008.

Follow-up economic im-pact assessment survey, Prey Veng and Battambang, Cam-

bodia, 1-12 June 2008.

Impact assessment survey in Nam Dinh Province, Viet-nam, 22 June to 3 July 2008, and in Long An Province, Vietnam, 20-31 July 2008.

Postharvest training for Africa, 30 June to 11 July 2008.

Productivity and Sustain-ability Work Group Meetings in the Philip-

pines to revise and fi nal-ize release of the Nutrient Manager decision system, April to early May 2008.

Field visit to eastern India

and Bangladesh, May 2008.

Meetings in Vietnam on the development of the Nutrient Manager deci-sion system, May 2008.

Labor ProductivityWork Group

Visit to South and South- east Sulawesi to initiate col-laboration and fi eld activities on ACIAR project entitled “Improving rice productiv-ity in South and Southeast Sulawesi,” April 2008.

Visit to Myanmar to review fi eldwork and make plans for 2008 wet season, May 2008

Paper presentation at PMCP

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION TEAM

IRRC: Trina Leah Mendoza, Grant Singleton, Lorelei Dela Cruz, Jennifer HernandezCPS: Tess Rola, Bill Hardy

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Tin Hla, Rica Joy Flor

Conference, Palawan, Philip-pines, 6-9 May 2008.

Discussion with BAPC on results of season trial and future plans, Bohol, Philippines, May 2008.

PublicationsBook

Riches CR, Harris D, Johnson DE, Hardy B, editors. 2008. Improving agricultural pro-ductivity in rice-based sys-tems of the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 215 p.

Book chapterThis can be found in the book cited above.

Johnson DE, Haefele SM, Rathore AL, Pane H. 2008. Direct seeding of rice and op-portunities for improving pro-ductivity in Asia. p 201-215.

International journals

Arthur AD, Pech RP, Single-ton GR. 2007. Cross-strain

protection reduces effectiveness of virally-vectored fertility con-trol— results from individual-based, multi-strain models. J Applied Ecology 44:1252-1262.

Chauhan BS, Johnson DE. 2008. Seed germination and seedling emergence og giant sensi-tive plant (Mimosa invisa). Weed Sci. 56: 244-248.

Huang J, He F, Cui K, Buresh RJ, Xu B, Gong W, Peng S. 2008. Determination of optimal nitrogen rate for rice variet-ies using a chlorophyll meter. Field Crops Res. 105:70-80.

Palis FG, Singleton GR, Sum-alde Z, Hossain M. 2007. The social and cultural dimensions of rodent pest management. Integrative Zoology 2:174-183.

Thuy NH, Shan Y, Bijay-Singh, Wang K, Cai Z, Yadvinder-Singh, Buresh RJ. 2008. Nitrogen supply in rice-based cropping systems as affected by crop residue management. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:514-523.

Team

Participants in the Workshop on Adoption and Impact of Water Savings in Rice in the Philippines, held on 26-28 March 2008 at IRRI. (Photo by R. Panaligan)