Philippines: Stakeholders forum held on heirloom rice

A stakeholders forum was recently held in the Cordillera region of northern Philippines to bring together groups and institutions involved in the 'heirloom rice' value chain and establish linkages among them.

Stakeholders who attended were traders; producers; market facilitators; and representatives of farmer groups, NGOs, the regional, provincial, and municipal agricultural offices, and the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments project.

Heirloom rice represents the culture and tradition of the Cordillera region and other mountainous parts of the Philippines and is thus not an ordinary rice commodity. The rigor of producing traditional rice in terraced-fields is the 'lifeblood' of farming in the Cordilleras, home to an indigenous culture that includes preservation of farming practices that help maintain diversity of rice in the northern Philippine region.

Agriculture officers from Kalinga, Benguet, Mt. Province, Apayao, and Ifugao provinces presented drafts of heirloom rice enterprise development plans at the provincial and municipal levels for validation of the stakeholders.

The forum was organized by the Second Cordillera Highlands Agricultural and Resources Management Program, or CHARMP2, which CURE has been partners with 2011 under the Technical Innovation Services component of the project.

Digna Manzanilla introduced CURE and its role and activities in helping partner farmers groups in the Cordillera attain higher yields from some premium heirloom rice varieties that are traded in local and international markets.

Other presentations were on marketing trends in organic rice products, quality assurance policies and standards, and marketing arrangements.

Revitalize Indigenous Cordillera Entrepreneurs (RICE, Inc.), an NGO supporting the farmers’ link to the international market, and rice traders registered with the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines also shared their activities and strategies in raising the income of farmers.

After the forum, a buyers-sellers meeting was held.

Also present from IRRI and CURE were Joel Janiya, Annette Tobias, Patria Gonzales, and Isabelita Ona.

Evelyn Gergon from PhilRice also participated as a member of the CURE-TIS team.

The forum was held at Pines View Hotel in Baguio City on 8–9 May 2013. 




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New country rep for Bangladesh

Paul Fox

IRRI welcomes Paul Fox, who is joining IRRI as representative for Bangladesh starting 1 August 2013.

Dr. Fox is currently an IRRI consultant serving as regional program leader for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) based at the Southeast Asia office in Vietnam.


He was research program manager for crop improvement and management at the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (2007–11). He also worked in the private seed and biotechnology industry (2000–06) and was a breeder, crop informatics specialist, and project leader at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (1982-2000).

As IRRI representative to Bangladesh, Dr. Fox will be reporting to deputy director general for research and work with IRRI's partners and donors in the country.

Presently, Tim Russell serves concurrently as IRRI representative for Bangladesh and chief of party for the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia.

Zainul Abedin remains as a consultant for IRRI, reporting at the IRRI Bangladesh office. 


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Benin: Gender in rice research reviewed

A workshop held recently at AfricaRice in Cotonou, Benin, reviewed gender in rice research and development, specifically the findings of the study Gender and climate change in stress-prone rice environments in Asia and Africa.

Through the workshop, participants also sought to strengthen research capacity in the region on gender issues and how these may be integrated into the processes of rice research and in technologies.

Attendees of the workshop were gender focal points in AfricaRice member countries Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Gambia, Tanzania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Centrafrique, Chad, Cote d’ Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea, and Niger, who all crafted work plans for implementation this year under the African component of the GRiSP Gender Strategy Plan 2013-14. 

The workshop, held on 6-10 May 2013, was opened by Papa Abdoulaya Seck, deputy director general of AfricaRice. It was held with support from the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP).

Resources for the training component of the workshop were Thelma Paris, senior scientist (socioeconomist-gender specialist) and leader of the Gender Team of GRiSP and Joyce Luis, both from the Social Sciences Division of IRRI.

The event was organized by Aliou Diagne, program leader for innovation systems, policy, and impact assessment; and Rita Agboh-Noameshie, socioagronomist and gender task force coordinator—both of AfricaRice. 


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Asian forestry students come to IRRI for learning visit

Delegates from the International Forestry Students
Association learn about IRRI's work from Bruce Tolentino,
IRRI's head of communication and partnerships.

Thirty-seven delegates from the International Forestry Students Association’s (IFSA) visited IRRI on the second day (21 May 2013) of IFSA's 4th Asia Regional Meeting (ARM). The delegates come from several countries around Asia.

V. Bruce J. Tolentino, IRRI deputy director general for communication and partnerships, welcomed the IFSA members to the Institute and gave a presentation about IRRI’s work in rice science and climate change, themes that are in line with the ARM’s theme for 2013—Forestry Mega-Trends in the Asia Pacific.

Dr. Tolentino also discussed the latest developments in IRRI that might be interesting to the IFSA group, composed mostly of students, such as the use of Smartphone applications for extension agents and farmers, research on healthier rice, and scholarships for young scientists in rice research. 

IFSA is a nonpolitical and nonprofit organization of forestry students from around the world that aims to broaden knowledge and understanding about the forest sciences. To strengthen its network and activities in the Asia-Pacific region, IFSA conducts ARM, which involves Asian future foresters who aspire for the improvement of forestry education worldwide.

The ARM participants were from Indonesia (11), Taiwan (8), Japan (3), Australia (1), Slovenia (1), South Korea (6), and the Philippines (7), all of whom were undergraduate and graduate students in various university programs related to forestry, the environment, and natural resources. They were accompanied by an organizing team.



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Former genetic resources head is guest in May researchers' lunch

Mike Jackson, OBE (center, in blue),
with some of IRRI's budding scientists.

Mike Jackson, OBE, former director of program planning and coordination and head of the Genetic Resources Center at IRRI, was the guest in this month's Young Researchers Lunch.

Dr. Jackson met with IRRI researchers Lenie Quiatchon-Baeza, Tahir Hussain Awan, Pogs Manalili, James Quilty, Kai Wang, and Zilhas Ahmed Jewel on 6 May 2013, sharing stories from the course of his career that started at the International Potato Center in Peru, before the CGIAR was even formed.

He discussed issues pertaining to intellectual property and genetic resources with the group, to whom he left these words: "To be successful at IRRI, you only need to know 5 words—please, thank you, and well done."

The Young Researchers Lunch is a monthly meeting of IRRI scientists who are in the early stages of their career, providing an opportunity for discussion with senior scientists on a range of science topics, and others including career paths.


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Rice pathology workshop held for East and Southern Africa

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) partnered with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to organize the 5-day (6-10 May 2013) Rice Pathology Workshop that attracted 23 participants from the 7 countries of the East and Southern African (ESA) region—Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi.

The workshop was opened at Burundi University in the Burundian capital of Bujumbura by Freedom King, dean of the university's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.

The participants, who were welcomed by Joseph Bigirimana, plant pathologist and IRRI coordinator for East and Southern Africa, visited disease hotspots, collect diseased samples, and isolated and purified rice pathogens for molecular and pathogenic characterization.

The workshop was also an opportunity for pathologists from both IRRI and AfricaRice to report and discuss with one another their respective plant pathology activities in ESA. Their efforts support the development of rice material with useful resistance traits for use in the region.

Plant pathology specialists Drissa Silue (AfricaRice) and Casiana Vera Cruz, Ricardo Oliva, and Bo Zhou (IRRI) were the resource persons for the workshop.



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IRRI holds Ambassadors' Day, opens bird exhibit

To further strengthen its linkages with the international community, IRRI held Ambassadors’ Day on 3 May 2013 at its headquarters in Los Baños.

Forty-three guests that included ambassadors, consuls, and representatives from donors, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Los Baños Science Community came for the day-long event.

Robert Zeigler, IRRI director general, welcomed the guests with a presentation on IRRI’s research, after which they viewed exhibits thatshowcased the extent of IRRI’s research, with emphasis on rice breeding, agronomy, and grain quality. The guests also toured IRRI’s experiment station.

Late in the afternoon, the guests proceeded to Riceworld Museum for the opening of Feathers in the Fields: The Birds of IRRI, a photo exhibit showcasing the many bird species that frequent IRRI’s research farms. The exhibit runs until 27 September 2013 and is open to the public. Admission is free.

The research exhibit, tour of research facilities, and the bird exhibit was an opportunity for IRRI's scientists and other staff to interact and discuss the Institute's mission and work with the envoys, most of whom represent IRRI's partner countries. 

More photos from Ambassador's Day
Video from the bird exhibit opening | Bird exhibit video playlist


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Indian senior agricultural research official visits IRRI

Arvind Rana Kaushal, additional secretary of India’s Department of Agriculture Research and Education and secretary of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, came to IRRI on 29-30 April 2013 to learn more about IRRI’s work and discuss expansion of the IRRI-India collaboration.

Mr. Kaushal's 2-day visit included touring the Institute's research facilities (ecological intensification site, C4 screenhouse, Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, International Rice Genebank, and STRASA project sites).

Mr. Kaushal was particularly impressed with the International Rice Genebank and Nutrient Manager, about which he said, “I’ve seen similar applications in India, but what impressed me with this application was the simplicity. It presents to a farmer the best amount of inputs he should apply for growing rice in the most optimum manner."

He also acknowledged IRRI as an excellent training facility where students and professionals from India who are engaged in agriculture can benefit from.


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Myanmar: ACIAR sponsors postharvest management training

A training course on postharvest management for improved quality of rice grain and seed was held in Daik-U Township in the Bago Region of Myanmar on 2-4 May 2013.

Thirty-five participants from the Department of Agriculture (DoA) in Pathein, Maubin, Daik-U, and Pegu townships; IRRI Myanmar Office; NGOs such as GRET, WHH, and Mercy Corps; and local farmers from IRRI-managed project villages attended.

The training course was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research through its project with IRRI, Diversification and intensification of rice-based systems in lower Myanmar, and is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar.

Training topics included harvesting, threshing, drying, milling, hermetic storage, grain and seed quality analysis, and rodent management. The participants were also introduced to the moisture meter and the Super Bag—two IRRI-developed technologies.

Aye Ko Ko, DoA regional director in the Bago Region, said the training was crucial, because farmers focus mainly on improving rice production but usually neglect postharvest management, which often causes losses in income.

Resource persons for the training were postharvest experts Martin Gummert (IRRI), Chris Cabardo (IRRI), Tin Ohnmar Win (DoA), and Myo Aung Kyaw (consultant); and rodent experts Grant Singleton (IRRI) and Nyo Me Htwe (DoA Plant Protection Department). The course was facilitated by IRRI Myanmar Representative Madonna Casimero. 

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India: Research and extension workers get training on technology transfer systems

A 4-day training workshop, Rice technology transfer system (RTTS) for stress-prone environments in South Asia, was held jointly by IRRI and the Faculty of Agriculture of Annamalai University in India.

Twenty-five researchers and extension workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, and India participated in the workshop, which was held at the Annamalai University campus in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, on 29 April–2 May 2013.

R.M. Kathiresan, dean of the university's Faculty of Agriculture, cited improved dissemination of rice technology among farmers and quality seed production as crucial for successful adoption of a rice variety.

U.S. Singh, regional coordinator for South Asia of the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project, reported that IRRI is developing new genotypes that can sustain multiple stresses and transferring the stress-tolerant gene in the background of popular varieties to stabilize rice productivity in stress-prone areas covered by the project. He also reported that Swarna-Sub1 was overwhelmingly successful in Tamil Nadu, while CR1009-Sub1 and Samba Mahsuri-Sub1 will soon be introduced in the state.

Julian Lapitan, manager of IRRI's National Programs Relations and coordinator of the training, said that dissemination and transfer of affordable and sustainable technologies need speeding up in order to improve productivity of farmers.

Seeds of the newly released variety CR1009-Sub1 was distributed to more than 20 farmers from nearby areas during the event.


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Indonesia: CCARA holds third annual review and planning meeting

The Climate Change Adaptation in Rainfed Rice Areas (CCARA) project held its third annual review and planning meeting on 28-29 April 2013 in Bali, Indonesia. Research results were reviewed, issues discussed, and a work plan and experimental protocol drafted.

The importance of information-sharing and collaboration with other projects was a guiding theme for the activity, affirmed by David Johnson, CCARA project leader, and Tomoyuki Kawashima, program director for natural resource management of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences.

Thirty collaborators and observers from Laos, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines attended as participants.

Researchers and scientists from the Indonesian Agroclimate and Hydrology Research Institute, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development, Indonesian Center for Rice Research, and Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology in Bali were also invited as presentors on the role of potential stakeholders in CCARA’s impact pathway. 

The CCARA project is an IRRI-Japan collaborative research project that aims to increase yield in rainfed rice areas through adoption of weather forecast systems, decision support systems, and improved varieties. 

 

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