Nepal: Training on rice-based farming systems held in Kathmandu

Twenty IRRI staff attended Rice-based farming systems, a 5-day (10-14 September 2012) training program held in Kathmandu. The program sought to familiarize participants with rice-based farming under different ecosystems in Nepal and Bangladesh. Rice, the staple food of the Nepalese people, is grown in various physiographic conditions, from the terai (plains) to areas of about 3,000 feet above sea level.

Resource persons presented papers on the characterization and analysis of past and current farming in different ecosystems (terai or plains, low hills, mid-hills, and high hills).

Topics presented also included production management, mechanization, and postharvest technologies in rice-maize, rice-wheat, rice-vegetables, rice-livestock, rice-poultry, and rice-fish systems. Problems, constraints, and opportunities in each of these systems were elaborated. Cross-cutting issues on rice-based farming systems between the two countries were hot topics in the discussions.

The participants were also taken on a tour of the research stations of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council in Kathmandu that showcased technologies as applied in rice, maize, vegetable, and pulse, particularly in the mid-hills. They also learned about trout-farming at Kakni, in Nuwakot District.

The training was organized by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia and IRRI-Nepal. 


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Training on mass metrology held for IRRI staff

A training-workshop, Technical requirements for calibration and measurement traceability of weighing instruments and meter sticks, was held at IRRI on 12 September 2012 to enhance accuracy and traceability of data collected using the weighing balance and the meter stick.

The workshop was held in two parts: a lecture on technical calibration requirements and traceability, and a hands-on session on calibration of electronic weighing balances and meter sticks. It was attended by 55 staff from IRRI's various laboratories.

Proper calibration of weighing instruments will ensure that measurement data are accurate and traceable to international weight standards. Previous calibration workshops were held in December 2010 and July 2011.

Resource for the workshop was Roxan de Luna Roxas, quality and technical manager of Metrologie Concepts Solutions, Inc. in the Philippines.

The workshop was organized by IRRI's Risk Management Quality Assurance unit.


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South Korea: Training held on rice technology transfer systems

The two-week training course on rice technology transfer systems in Asia was held on 30 July-10 August 2012 at the International Technology Cooperation Center of the Rural Development Administration (RDA) in Suwon, South Korea.

The course was attended by 15 participants from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao-PDR, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam and is on its twelfth offering. It has now  trained more than 160 middle-level research and extension officials from 18 countries.

The course was jointly sponsored by RDA and IRRI and aims to (1) show an example of a systematic technology transfer mechanism linking multiple stakeholders; (2) provide participants from Asian countries exposure to different models of technology transfer in rice and analyze components of successful research-extension linkages; (3) explore contemporary issues in the maintenance of effective technology transfer processes; (4) prepare participants to emulate selected models and experience rice technology transfer; and (5) create awareness of Korean development programs in each of the participant countries.

Resource persons were Noel Magor, David Shires, and Achu Arboleda from the IRRI Training Center and Kim Jung Gon, Young-Chan-Cho, Hyundong Lee, and Je-Kyu Kim from RDA.


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Rice breeding course ongoing in IRRI

Twenty-one participants from 10 countries came to IRRI to attend the annual Rice Breeding Course, one of IRRI's most popular training courses, on 1-16 August 2012.

Topics covered in the course include fundamentals of rice breeding (theory and practice), screening for biotic and abiotic stresses, experimental design and data analysis, and DNA marker-assisted selection. Attending the course is also an opportunity for participants to see methods currently used in IRRI's various breeding programs and learn about recent developments in rice science.

Participants were from PhilRice; the IRRI offices in Tanzania, Burundi, and India; and Meghalaya State in Northeast India. Those from Meghalaya will become the state’s first rice breeders and will be in IRRI until mid-September to undertake more rice breeding training.


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Bangladesh: CSISA holds training workshop on rice technology adoption

A training workshop on rice-based cropping systems and adoption of rice production technology was held in Khulna for rice-related service providers.

The workshop was organized by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD), with the assistance of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension (DAE), and was held on the CSISA-IRRI Khulna Hub premises on 19 July 2012.

Eighteen local service providers from remote areas in 6 upazilas in Khulna, Satkhira, and Bagerhat districts attended as participants. The service they provide include supplying seeds of new high-yielding, salt-tolerant, and other rice varieties, and of other crops; fertilizers; pest and disease management; irrigation; and crop management.

Participants learned to identify information needs of farmers against the type of information provided by them and the technological packages recommended by the NARES and CSISA-BD project for the area. They determined the gap between what is available and what is sought, and discussed ways to overcome this gap.

M.A. Aziz, DAE deputy director in Khulna District, encouraged the participants to provide services appropriate to a community and emphasized the judicious application of fertilizer and other farm inputs.

Timor-Leste: IRRI holds report-writing and presentation skills training course

The first batch of participants in the Report Writing and
Presentation Skills Course held in Timor-Leste.

Second batch

Sixty-eight participants from the Seeds of Life program of Timor-Leste's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) attended the Report Writing and Presentation Skills Course held in Dili on 26 June-13 July 2012.

The course was offered in three batches to accommodate the number of participants, who were a mix of researchers, extension workers, and administrative personnel. It aimed to help participants write reports more effectively, develop confidence in articulating and sharing their ideas about their work and research, and deliver effective presentations.

Third batch

Topics included report writing, preparing visuals, and presentation, conducted through lectures and hands-on exercises.

Achu Arboleda and Lanie Quinto, both of the IRRI Training Center, conducted and facilitated the course, respectively.

IRRI holds training on presentation skills for local staff

IRRI's Human Resource Services (HRS), in partnership with Guthrie-Jensen Philippines, held the Effective Presentation Skills (EPS) training for the second time on 17-19 July 2012 at IRRI headquarters.

Eleven HQ-based nationally recruited staff attended the 3-day workshop facilitated by Ralph Guzman, managing consultant at Guthrie-Jensen.

EPS is an 11-module program that aims to develop and hone the presentation skills of participants. This interactive training continues to receive positive participant feedback since it was held for the first time in 2011.

For inquiries or reservations on upcoming learning and development programs, please contact HRS's Annabelle Aquino (a.aquino@irri.org or IRRI extension 2824).

Philippines: Season-long rice farming training program starts for African agronomists

An 18-week season-long rice farming training program for extension agronomists from African countries commenced at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, on 25 June 2012.

The program, now in its second offering, has 26 participants from 6 countries: Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone. It is a joint undertaking between the Government of Japan, through its Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and IRRI and runs from 25 June to 26 October 2012.

It will contribute to a greater and sustainable harvest of quality rice in each country and will demonstrate that the application of up-to-date rice farming practices and farm mechanization will result in increased food security and improvement in the livelihoods of rice farmers and their families and communities.

The program introduces a model of effective extension by a team of extension agronomists that are supported by researchers and research technicians that effectively incorporate the latest crop management technologies into farm practices. Extension agronomists are skilled in technology transfer to farmers.
               
The course includes participatory technology demonstration and the farmers' field school, conducted in partnership with Philippine farmers.

Also within the program, IRRI will hold meetings in collaboration with the participating organizations in Africa and follow up on participants’ implementation of a small project applying knowledge and skills acquired from the training in their own country. 

The course is led by Noel Magor, IRRI Program 6 leader and Training Center head; Joseph Rickman, East and Southern Africa program coordinator; Eugenio Castro, Jr., project coordinator/facilitator; Takahiro Nakamura, JICA-Japan; David Shires, consultant; and Zakaria Kanyeka, training coordinator in Africa.

Thailand: Young socioeconomic researchers undergo methodology and data management training

The Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) organized a training-workshop on methodologies and data management for socioeconomic studies for young researchers on 11-13 July 2012 at the Nakhon Ratchasima Rice Research Institute (NRRC) in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand.
 
Eleven researchers and assistant researchers (8 women and 3 men) from the NRRC participated in the training-workshop, which aims to enhance the skills of CURE’s NARES partners in the conduct of socioeconomic surveys, data management, and in the use of systematic data entry.

Digna Manzanilla, social scientist and associate CURE coordinator, and Leo Angelo Ocampo, assistant scientist of CURE, conducted the training-workshop, which covered the socioeconomic aspect of research, the survey questionnaire, and good practices in the conduct of surveys.

The training-workshop kicked off the conduct of surveys in the two villages of Srapatoom and Nongbuan in Nakhon Ratchasima. It was organized with support from the IFAD project Improving livelihoods in the drought-prone lowlands of southeast Asia in collaboration with Varapong Chamarerk, senior scientist and CURE keysite coordinator in Thailand; Sommai Lertna of NRRC, and the Ubon Ratchathani Rice Research Center.

The activity was graced by Duangjai Suriya-Arunroj, NRRC senior scientist, who represented the center director.