Gender in focus in GRiSP forum

A gender forum featuring several speakers from country partners and non-government organizations was held at IRRI headquarters on 14 March.

The forum, titled Bringing better lives to women: Experiences from the field, was organized by Bas Bouman, director of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), and Thelma Paris, IRRI senior scientist and gender specialist.

Topics and speakers were:

• Improved weed management practices and benefits to women in Nepal by Jagat Ranjit, Senior Scientist and Chief of Agronomy Division, NARC, Nepal;
• Promoting quality seed preservation and dissemination with women farmers in southwest Bangladesh by Momotaz Khatun, Executive Director, Ashroy Foundation;
• Women in ecological engineering in South Vietnam by Monina Escalada, University Professor of Visayas State University, Philippines; Women in the rice value chain in West Africa by Matty Demont, Rice Value Chain Analyst, Social Sciences Division, IRRI;
• Changing the livelihood of tribal men and women due to drought-tolerant rice varieties in Mayurbani District, Odisha, India by Matthew Karikulam of Balasore Social Services Society (BSSS);
• Dissemination of drought-tolerant rice varieties with women farmers in India by Manzoor Dar, Senior Associate Scientist, IRRI and
• Participatory varietal selection (PVS) with men and women farmers in South Asia by Thelma Paris, Amelia Cueno, and Donald Villanueva of Social Sciences Division, IRRI.

Discussions on the presentations were led by a panel composed of Gelia Castillo, rural sociologist and IRRI consultant; Uma Lele, independent scholar and former senior advisor at the World Bank; Bhagirath Chauhan, IRRI weed scientist; and Rakesh Kumar Singh, IRRI plant breeder.

 The GRiSP Gender Strategy was also presented by Thelma Paris, IRRI senior scientist and gender specialist. The strategy was reviewed by Dr. Castillo, Dr. Lele, and Jacqueline Ashby, CGIAR senior advisor for gender and research.

Several recommendations were made to revise and strengthen the implementation of the Gender Strategy that involves IRRI, AfricaRice, and CIAT covering Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Dr. Lele also gave an IRRI Seminar, Structural transformation and implications on women’s labor participation in agriculture, on 14 March.

These activities were conducted in celebration of March as International Women’s Month, with the theme, “Gaining momentum.”


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Laos rice policy report released

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic Rice Policy Study, an in-depth study of the Lao PDR rice sector including the prevailing policy environment and recommendations to meet future needs, has been published at the FAO website. 

The Lao government-commissioned study report, a collaboration of the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and IRRI, sought to support evidence-based policy decisions by the Lao government. This is seen as the first step in defining a comprehensive food security policy for the Lao PDR.

The report confirms that the structural transformation of the Lao rice sector started a decade ago. This transformation is led by:

a) continued GDP growth from mineral and hydropower exports;
b) increasing job opportunities in the non-agriculture sector;
c) ageing farm population and shortages in labor;
d) increasing urbanization and changes in consumption patterns;
e) stabilization of aggregate national rice consumption as result of declining population growth rate; slow diversification of diet away from rice; and
f) emergence of private-sector driven cash crops (coffee, rubber, bananas, maize, cassava) production and the gradual movement of rice growers away from rice.

The report holds that Laos has moved from rice deficit to production of sizable surplus, which are diffusely distributed in the major rice-producing regions. Rice shortages still occur, but they are more localized, hence the focus of attention should shift from attaining food security to assuring nutritional balance for the well-being of the people.

The report suggests that improved nutritional outcomes will increasingly be dependent on policies that promote higher household incomes, and education on and awareness of better uses of foodstuff.

It recommends that the Lao government support the rice sector by:

a) facilitating trade;
b) strengthening rice and food crops reserves;
c) improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public investment; and
d) strengthening the rice seed sector.


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New project on closing rice yield gaps holds inception workshop

Country partners from six rice bowls in Asia and IRRI scientists met for the inception and planning workshop of the new project Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia (CORIGAP) last week (12-13 March) at IRRI Headquarters.

CORIGAP aims to generate improved food security and livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of people in Asia, while minimizing the environmental footprint of rice production. It is an initiative under the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) and is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

In his welcome remarks, Bas Bouman, Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) director, highlighted new components of CORIGAP that will add value to the IRRC’s work, such as modeling tools and software to measure environmental impact.

Grant Singleton, CORIGAP coordinator, gave an overview of the project and facilitated discussions on issues such as links with rice breeding programs and the Sustainable Rice Platform.

IRRI scientists Ruben Lampayan, Martin Gummert, and Bhagirath Chauhan presented opportunities and new research in their respective fields: water use efficiency and productivity, postharvest, and crop establishment and weed management.

Takahiro Sato, cropping systems analyst, introduced the field calculator approach, while soil chemist Sarah Beebout discussed how the project can collect evidence of it being able to reduce ecological footprint of intensive lowland irrigated rice systems.

Digna Manzanilla, associate coordinator of the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments, talked about how gender can be mainstreamed into project activities, while value chain specialist Matty Demont discussed business models and pathways to better market models.

Communication specialists Trina Mendoza presented communication activities in 2013, while Reianne Quilloy guided participants on using the CORIGAP project Google site. The participants were also given a demonstration on using WebEx for web-based meetings.

Partners from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and China developed and presented activity plans for 2013.

In his closing remarks, David Johnson, Crop and Environmental Sciences Division head, said that not all national programs of South and Southeast Asia may be involved in CORIGAP, but achieving tremendous impact in these six countries would mean a great deal in improving farmers’ livelihoods, food security and environmental sustainability in Asia.


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Vietnam: Climate change and land use project makes plans for 2013

The second annual review and planning workshop of the Climate Change Affecting Land Use in the Mekong Delta: Adaptation of Rice-based Cropping Systems (CLUES) Project was held at Can Tho City, Vietnam, earlier this month.

The project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), started in March 2011 and will end in February 2015.

Reiner Wassmann, CLUES project leader, presented about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rice and their significance, measurement, and options for mitigation.

Database management, data-sharing, and linkages among project theme activities; information dissemination; publication; and outreach were considered very important at this stage of the project.

Workshop participants visited field and greenhouse experiment sites at the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI).

IRRI scientists involved in the annual review and workshop were Dr. Wassmann, To Phuc Tuong, Abdelbagi, Russell Reinke, Romeo Labios, and Ngo Dang Phong.

Other attendees were Bennet Macdonald and John Ward of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; Chu Thai Hoanh of the International Water Management Institute; and Geoff Morris and Vu Thi Hai Hau of ACIAR Vietnam.

The workshop was held on 12-13 March 2013.


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China: Green Super Rice project launches second phase

The Green Super Rice (GSR) Project formally launched its second phase in a meeting opened by David Bergvinson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Dr. Bergvinson cited the project's expanding partnerships and stated the main goal of the meeting, which was to develop a sound seed road map, or SRM, for each country covered. The project aims to benefit 500,000 resource-poor farmers from China, other parts of Asia, and Africa.

Participants came from Chinese institutions, the BMGF, AfricaRice, IRRI, and NARES in Asia and Africa and were welcomed by Jiayang Li, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), which hosted the meeting. “The more people involved, the greater the achievements will be,” Dr. Li said.

The meeting brought project stakeholders onto a common platform to improve interaction and cooperation; assess achievements, identify strengths, and address challenges in Phase I; draft a comprehensive work plan for Phase II where stakeholders are fully involved, resources realigned, and approaches for capacity building determined; lay out strategic seed road maps for Asia and Africa; and organize field trips for viewing of newly developed GSR materials.

Zhikang Li, director of the GSR Project, gave the overall report on Phase I.

Phase I reports on Asia and Africa were given by Jauhar Ali, senior IRRI plant breeder, and Baboucarr Manneh, senior scientist at AfricaRice, respectively. Dr. Ali announced the release of the first GSR variety (weed-tolerant rice 1 in Vietnam) and the second GSR hybrid (BSHS GSR6) in Indonesia.

The meeting was held in Sanya, Hainan Province, on 12-14 March 2013.



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GRiSP to host young scientists in Asia Forum

The second gathering of the IRRI young scientists will be held along with the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) Asia Forum on 14-18 October 2013 at IRRI Headquarters in Los Baños.

This year, GRiSP will feature a forum for young scientists to interact and share scientific insights with top scientists from around the world on topics related to the 6 GRiSP research themes. It will be a good opportunity for young scientists to become familiar with ongoing research under the various GRiSP institutes across Asia.

The event is being organized by the Association of Fellows, Scholars, Trainees, and Residents of IRRI (AFSTRI) and GRiSP.

For full information, visit the conference website or send an email to a.radanielson@irri.org.


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IRRI staff honored by Philippine crop scientists

Achim Dobermann, deputy director general for research, was given an Honorary Fellow Award by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines (CSSP) during the 22nd Scientific Conference of the Federation of Crop Science Societies of the Philippines.

Dr. Dobermann was cited for his valuable contribution to rice research and development and to food self-sufficiency efforts of the Philippine government. Julian Lapitan, head of IRRI's National Program Relations, received the award on Dr. Dobermann's behalf.

Evangelina Salcedo-Ella, IRRI associate scientist, received the CSSP Achievement Award for Research for her contribution to the understanding of the physiology and genetics of flood tolerance in rice.

Ramon Oliveros, executive assistant to IRRI's deputy director general for communication and partnerships, was elected president of the CSSP for 2013-14. Other IRRI staff who were elected for the same period were Ma. Rebecca C. Laza as secretary and Reneeliza Jean Melgar as board member.

The conference was held at Cagayan de Oro City on 11-16 March 2013.


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Second annual rice hackathon to be held at IRRI Headquarters

The next big tech push for rice is slated to come on 31 August-1 September 2013 as the International Rice Research Institute gears up for the Bigas2 Hack—the sequel to last year's hugely successful BigAs Hackathon—an event for developers and programming aficionados who are willing to use their highly sought skills to benefit the world.

IRRI’s hackathons bring together young IT whizzes to spend two days developing an IT-based solution to a rice research problem. Last year’s event involved 57 developers from the Philippines. This year, the plan is to engage more people from the Philippines and beyond.
 

Bigas2 Hack is co-organized by Smart Communications, Inc. and Smart DevNet.
 
PhilRobotics, the winning team in 2012, came up with Envilog, a portable device that can take readings of temperature, rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, amount of sunlight, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and water height in rice fields.

Bigas2 Hack comes as part of the list of activities lined-up by IRRI towards rice sector development and in celebrating 2013 as the National Year of Rice.

This year's hackathon will formally allow interested participants to incubate their ideas longer, and then take it even further by developing prototypes.
  
There are two kinds of challenges which teams can choose from:

• Short-term challenges - developers can work on a project during the event timeframe (this would likely target a farmer/consumer audience, and
• Long-term challenges - developers will choose one of the three specific challenges identified by IRRI and may begin working on the project immediately upon registration (this would likely be a research-based product

Developers who are interested to work on problems within 24 hours of the event will be provided with data that can be plugged in relatively easily to complete their product.

For those interested in working on problems which require an extended period of time before the event, developers  would be provided with a comprehensive background before Bigas2 Hack.

The event charges no admission fee, but registering online is required and opened on 26 June 2013. A free bus ride from Makati will be provided to hackers coming from Manila. Though yet to be finalized, prizes may range from the latest gadgets, internship, and/or gift certificates for the winning teams, who compete for any one of these titles: Best Farmer Advice App, Best Delivery App (for consumers or game apps), Best Research Optimization App (runner-up), and Best Research Optimization App (winner).

Beyond the hackathon, the  innovations that arise out of Bigas2 Hack will have continued opportunity to develop into scalable prototypes. .

"Bigas2 Hack will be an opportunity for the hacker community to have a dip or do a deep dive into the world of ICT in agriculture," said IRRI Chief Information Officer Marco van den Berg.

"Join us to see how we're making sure that your rice bowls remain full and affordable using state-of-the- art technology, and tell us how we can make better use of technology that you are familiar with. Whether you're a geek, a nerd, a foodie, an aggie, we'd love to have you over! We'll even allow a quota of 'normal' people," he added.

“We also see this as an opportunity for any IT student to make use of their skills in helping out farming communities,” said Katie Nelson and Nicola Wunderlich, who are both part of the organizing team at IRRI for Bigas2 Hack.

Interested? Learn more about IRRI for potential Bigas2 Hack ideas.

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Bangladesh: Workshop seeks to enhance seeds cooperation with India

A workshop, Rice production in Bangladesh and collaboration between India and Bangladesh on seed issues, was held in Dhaka on 17 February 2013 as a means to review and identify priority areas to enhance collaboration between India and Bangladesh, as coordinated by IRRI.

The workshop, jointly organized by the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture and IRRI, aims to widen of the scope of the seed system to benefit various stakeholders, particularly farmers, from both countries.

Ashish Bahuguna, India's secretary of agriculture and cooperation, led the Indian delegates; Matia Chowdhury, Bangladesh minister of agriculture, and Monzur Hossain, secretary of agriculture, led delegates from Bangladesh.

V. Bruce J. Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and partnerships, represented IRRI.

In his welcome message, Dr. Tolentino cited IRRI's close working relationship with both India and Bangladesh, emphasizing the need for these two countries to work together on seed issues to benefit not just their countries but the whole of South Asia. He offered all possible help from IRRI in this endeavour, which he termed, "rice diplomacy," a phrase that became popular during the workshop.

Presenters were Abdelbagi Ismail, STRASA project coordinator; Wais Kabir, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC); and Umesh Singh, who enumerated points of collaboration between the two countries.

Anwar Faruque, additional secretary and director general of the Seed Wing of BARC, also proposed harmonization of seed laws, legislations, and protocols to make the collaboration in the seed sector more effective. 



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India: Symposium on sustainable rice production held in Cuttack

J.K. Ladha, IRRI representative to India and Nepal,
on the podium.

A 4-day international symposium, Sustainable rice production and livelihood security: challenges and opportunities, was recently held at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Cuttack.

J.K. Ladha, IRRI representative for India and Nepal, in his message highlighted the importance of CRRI as a partner, citing its involvement in 20 out of 24 collaborative projects between the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) and IRRI for 2013-16.

Dr. Ladha urged participants to identify knowledge gaps in two key areas—genomics and marker-assisted breeding—with an opportunity to identify and transfer genes for complex target traits and find ways for more efficient input use through nanotechnology.

The opening of the event was attended by Devi Prasad Mishra, minister for agriculture of Odisha; and Swapan Kumar Datta, deputy director general (crop science) of ICAR; E.A. Siddiq, former DDG of ICAR; Dr. Ladha; T. Mohapatra, director of CRRI;  K.S. Rao and Sanjoy Saha, president and secretary, respectively, of the Association of Rice Research Workers (ARRW).

Other attendees from IRRI were Ajay Kohli, K.K. Jena, R.K. Singh, Thelma Paris, Abdelbagi  Ismail, Sam Mohanty, and M. Alam.

The ARRW organized the symposium jointly with CRRI-Cuttack, ICAR, the National Academy of Agricultural Science, and IRRI. It was held 2-5 March 2013.



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IRRI staff and thesis student recognized by pest management body

Joel Janiya of IRRI (third from left).

Joel Janiya, senior associate scientist (extension agronomy) at IRRI's Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD), received the Pest Management Award in Extension and Community Services during the Annual Conference of the Pest Management Council of the Philippines (PMCP). He was recognized for his achievements in training and transfer of the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) and the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) technologies across Southeast Asia and East Asia.


Dr. Janiya is a member of the IRRI-Philippines Rice Self-Sufficiency Technical Working Team that helps the Philippine government build capacity and transfer technologies for irrigated, rainfed, and upland rice to Filipino farmers. These efforts are made in collaboration with the Agricultural Training Institute and PhilRice, both under the Philippine Department of Agriculture. 

Joel has been conducting training activities and technology demonstrations on weed management, pest management, and rice production for IRRC and upland rice weed management and community-based seed banking for CURE.

Kevin Salamanez (center).

Also from CESD, Kevin Salamanez won the PMCP Best Paper Award in Weed Science for his work, Effect of propyrisulfuron on growth and acetolactate synthase activity of three rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars and five weeds.

Kevin is a chemistry student at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) who did his master’s thesis at the Weed Science Screenhouse and Laboratory under the guidance of David Johnson, CURE project leader, and Abdelbagi Ismail, STRASA project leader. 

In UPLB, he is advised by Evelyn Rodriguez, a professor at the Institute of Chemistry, Aurora Baltazar, adjunct professor in weed science at the Crop Protection Cluster.

The PMCP is composed of entomologists, plant pathologists, weed scientists, household pest control practitioners, and representatives of the pesticide industry. The PMCP conference was held in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, on 5-8 March 2013. 



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IRRI staff wins international award

Hiram Gomez, Jr., senior manager at the IRRI Supply Chain Services, was awarded Supply Management Professional of the Year by the Philippine Institute for Supply Management (PISM) at the Supply Link 2013 International Conference.

This is the highest individual award in the supply management profession, with the board of judges coming from the private sector, the academe, and the government.


Hiram won over other finalists for the award that included Goodyear Tires' ASEAN logistics director Accenture's head of procurement.

Because of the award, Hiram becomes a member of the Society of Fellows in Supply Management and was conferred the title of Diplomate in Supply Management. The group serves as a resource for the government in implementing trade policies, such as the National Single Window program, in preparation for ASEAN Free Trade Area.

The awarding event was held on 6 March 2013 and was attended by Cesar Purisima, Philippine secretary of finance, and Thomas Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management in the USA.



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Max-Planck-Institut scientist is guest in March researchers' lunch

The Young Researchers Lunch for March hosted Dirk Hincha, head of the Central Infrastructure Group (transcript profiling) of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie in Potsdam, Germany.

Dr. Hincha entertained questions about analyses including metabolite profiling and RNA sequencing and shared his views on the importance of conducting hypothesis-driven experiments rather than doing studies involving more and more measurements in search of some significant differences.

Participants were Nelzo Ereful, Ranee Mabesa, Samir Ebson Topno, Deacart Arreza, and Shanta Karki.

The Young Researchers Lunch is a monthly meeting for NRS and AFSTRI scientists who are in the early stages of their career.  The purpose is to provide an opportunity for discussion with senior scientists on a range of topics on science and career paths.



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Bangladesh: 'InfoLadies' undergo training to help rural women use agri technologies

The USAID-funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project in Bangladesh held a 3-day training for 'InfoLadies' that sought to transfer agricultural technologies to rural farmers, particularly women who face social, economic, and cultural challenges, through the use of information technology.

An InfoLady is a rural woman entrepreneur trained and equipped with a bicycle, netbook, and other accessories. She travels from village to village and from household to household to provide ICT-based services to rural women who lack access to basic information on health, agriculture, and education. The InfoLady also provides information assistance on legal advice, job search, market linkages, government services, and others.

The InfoLady model was set up in 2008 by a development organization called D.Net, with other community organizations, with the aim to reach women in Bangladesh, most of whom face mobility constraints and cannot access opportunities to improve their lives. The InfoLadies are trained for three months on how to use computers, printers, cameras, and the Internet.

The 17 InfoLadies are located mainly in the Rangpur Hub, although some of them who participated in the activity come from the Jessore and Khulna hubs.

CSISA-BD aims to tap into this resource of lively women who can help transfer improved technologies methods to a wider audience for wider production and food security as well as generate income from marketing the technologies.

The training program covered the following topics: improved and intercropping cropping systems, fertilizer management, maize varieties, management and application, rice-based postharvest technologies,basic aquaculture and pond management, cage aquaculture, horticulture, and and nutrition education.

It also included field visits to showcase the application of the technologies. The program ended with a day-long session on entrepreneurship development including bookkeeping, business plan, andcustomer satisfaction. Further income earning and business options from the use of the leaf color chart and moisture meter, cage-making, and quality mini-packet vegetables seeds were also introduced and provided to the women.

The training event was a collaboration of 3 CGIAR centers—IRRI, CIMMYT, and WorldFish—and was held at the Spandan Training center in Mymensingh on 26-28 February 2013. 



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Residents along Laguna Lake benefit from medical mission

Nearly a thousand residents of Brgy. Tadlac along Laguna Lake in Los Baños were recipients of IRRI's community health education (CHE) and medical mission in February 2013.

Counseling was provided the residents on nutrition, prevention of basic illnesses, child care, reproductive health among mothers, and other topics by volunteer health practitioners from the Army General Hospital of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Taguig.

Free medicines and vitamins donated by the United Laboratories (UNILAB) and IRRI were given out. Gardenia, the largest bread bakery in the Philippines, also donated loaves of bread that were distributed by HCCRO to the families.

IRRI maintains this monthly CHE and medical mission as part of the fulfillment of its social responsibility, to contribute to wellness and well-being of its partners in the communities. 


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