Food &Fertilizertechnology center

newsletter

sePteMBer 2012

177

Finding ways to solve the Asian water problems ......................................................... 2

Water management and rice culture in Japan ................................................................... 4

FFTC welcomes new director ............................................................................................. 5

Saving agri-products after a nuclear disaster .................................................................... 6

Training on citrus health management ............................................................................. 7

New publication ........................................................................................................ 8

Articles in this issue

Water talkCONSIDERED as life's most precious fluid, water in today's world is making its importance felt by way of its scarcity and superabundance. The recently held FFTC-RDA-PCAARRD

sponsored international workshop on water management technologies for crop produc-tion tackled serious water issues under the era of climate change. (page 2)

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Finding ways to solve the Asian water problems

FFtc director dr. yu-tsai huang (l) meets Mr. hyun chool Park (r), Administrator of the rural development Administration (rdA) of Korea during a formal courtesy call at Mr. Park's office. Both of them vow to further strengthen the FFtc-rdA collaboration and parrtnership.

Participants of the recently concluded seminar on "water Management technology for crop Production under climate change" in suwon, south Korea is composed of 13 speakers from eight countries, all of whom are water experts and agricultural engineers.

FFtc director dr. yu-tsai huang (2nd from l) looks at the advanced irrigation systems of the rural research institute of the Korea rural community corporation where participants of the water management technology workshop observe various technologies related to crop production.

THE PROBLEMS come in extremes and both scenarios are dangerous. When superabundant, massive flooding can occur. When scarce, expect intense drought. Indeed, water, one of life's basic elements, is making its importance felt more dramatically by way of natural disasters, food shortage, properties destroyed and thousands of lives lost. Compounding the problem is climate change where erratic weather conditions mess up crop production, resulting to a lesser quality of life among countless people. In the recently concluded seminar on "Water Management Technology for Crop Production under Climate Change," which was held in Suwon, Korea, the 13 speakers who represented eight countries agreed that the Asian water problem is a tangled web of complicated issues. As one scientist aptly said: "The problem cuts across the political, insitutional, technical, social and financial aspects of a nation's life."

water technologies for agriculture

Zeroing in on agricultural water management, particularly rice and upland crop production, speakers from different countries, most of whom are distinguished agricultural engineers, not only presented various water saving technologies that are supposed to make irrigation systems climate resilient, but also suggested ways to operate regulatory and monitoring-based mechanisms to prepare for disasters. One of the water management technologies discussed is the Alternate Wetting and Drying irrigation (AWD), a method of

irrigation where water is allowed to dry before the next irrigation.

This has been found to significantly reduce the amount of irrigation water input by as much as 35% without yield penalty. According to the speaker from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), this technology employs a field water tube which is used to monitor the water level below the soil surface. When the soil dries, and the water reaches 15 cm below the surface, then it is time to irrigate.

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the 2012 FFtc-rdA-PcAArrd international seminar on water management technology paved the way for exchange of information and experiences not just on agri technologies but water regulations as well.

FFtc director dr. yu-tsai huang, together with the workshop participants, is briefed on the current programs and projects of Korea's rural development Administration (rdA).

A Korean scientist points to the two Filipino participants the features of the automatic irrigation sensor using tensiometer under subsurface drip irrigated cucumber cultivation. looking on (leftmost) is rdA director dr. Jung sup lee.

Another technology discussed is the aerobic rice, a production system in which rice is grown in well-drained, non-puddled and non-saturated soils. The IRRI scientist reported that with appropriate management, the system aims for yields of at least 4-6 tons per hectare. Compared with flooded lowland rice, aerobic rice requires 30-50% less water.

sharing of experiences and information

The international workshop, which was organized by a triumvirate of organizations, FFTC, Korea's Rural Development Administration (RDA) and the Philippine Council

The workshop yielded two major recommendations: 1) The constant updating of water regulation data and other pertinent information in order to support facts presented to the policy makers of different Asian governments and 2) A regular inter-regional meeting among water experts in Asian member countries in order to update, share and exchange experiences regarding water management strategy and technologies for crop production. The participants from Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea also had a one-day educational tour where they observed different and advanced irrigation facililites and other water improvement projects in the countryside areas of Suwon. n

for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) became a venue for sharing of information and exchange of views on proper water management technologies and policies in Asia. In Japan, experiments showed that capacity of canal design, delays in transplanting and growth control by deep flooding management in rice culture form part of the larger integrated crop management techniques. On the other hand, the lack of irrigation funds led to the development of conservation-based farming in catchments area in Indonesia. A speaker from Taiwan who discussed the use of geographic information system and spatial decision support system dovetailed his talk to water rights allocation and spoke of communication among stakeholders as a vital key to unite various water sectors to shift part of agricultural water rights to domestic and industrial use. In flood-prone areas like the Philippines, part of the preparedness program entails investing in better flood forecasting systems and equipment, inspection and repair of aging facilities and integration of information communication technologies.

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water management and rice culture in Japan

Field trials in Japan show that shifting cropping season can be effective to reduce water consumption and increase water use efficiency. Delaying transplanting date could reduce the area suffering from water shortage.

dr. Motohiko Kondo, the project leader of the rice yield physiology project of the institute of crop science, national Agriculture and Food research organization, delivers his paper at the recently concluded water management workshop in Korea.

EXPERIMENTS IN IRRIGATED RICE cultivation at the Institute of Crop Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan aim for three things: increase productivity; mitigate Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and stabilize grain quality with sustainable water and resource use. Dr. Motohiko Kondo, who spearheads these experiments, said the overall goal is to enhance water use efficiency under climate change. In his paper entitled "Water and Resource Management, Coping with Climate Change in Rice Culture," Dr. Kondo presented the findings of his study to a group of Asian agricultural engineers and water experts at the recently concluded workshop on "Water Management Technology for Crop Production under Climate Change" in Suwon, Korea. The paper presented several strategies for irrigated rice cultivation in Japan with the following objectives: 1) to minimize high temperature damage on grain quality by water and nutrient management; 2) to mitigate GHG emissions through improved water and fertilizer management and 3) increase water use efficiency through improved water and crop management.

Agronomic techniques

According to Dr. Kondo, there are two agronomic techniques to reduce high temperature damage causing chalky and fissure grains in rice. These are reducing canopy temperature and enhancing plant tolerance. As the Japanese scientist wrote in his paper: "The most sensitive period to high temperature is the first 20 days after heading for chalky grains. Field trials demonstrated that cool water irrigation at this period is effective to reduce the occurrence of fissured grain.

Lowering temperature, especially panicle temperature, is crucially important to avoid deterioration of grain quality." In terms of nutrient management, Dr. Kondo explained that maintaining appropriate plant nitrogen status during ripening is important to reduce white-black and white-base grains. Early top dressing at panicle initiation stage has positive effect to increase spiklet number but this may also induce the occurrence of milky white grain. He said early top dressing generally induces lodging by elongating lower internodes. Late top dressing, on the other hand, during and after meiosis are effective to increase nitrogen

international technology cooperation center (itcc) director of rdA dr. suh sae-Jung (rightmost) interacts with the rest of the other participants from eight countries who shared their experiences in water management strategies and technologies.

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dr. yu-tsai huang, former deputy Minister of taiwan's council of Agriculture, is FFtc's new director.

today's rice culture, according to dr. Kondo, aims to increase productivity, mitigate greenhouse gases (ghg) emissions and stabilize grain quality with sustainable water and resource use.

content in leaves during ripening, but it generally leads to higher protein content. As for maximizing water use efficiency (WUE), Dr. Kondo said their field trials show that shifting cropping season can be effective to reduce water consumption and increase WUE. Delaying transplanting date could reduce the area suffering from water shortage."Early transplanting generally increases water demand due to increased evaporation from water surface in early stages," said Dr. Kondo. On the topic of GHG emission, Dr. Kondo said timing and placement of nitrogen must be optimized in order to minimize N2O emission derived from applied nitrogen. Keeping standing water for a week after nitrogen fertilizer application, top dressing can be effective to reduce N2O emissions. In this era of global warming, the Japanese scientist said the new challenge in rice culture is coping with rising temperature and fluctuating climatic conditions. n

FFtc director dr. yu-tsai huang observes the marketing of agricultural products in a supermarket in suwon, Korea when he attended the workshop on water management. with him is FFtc's Korean economist, Mr. ho-Kyum lee.

FFTC WELCOMES its new Director, Dr. Yu-Tsai Huang, who started his new post at the Center last July 2, 2012. Dr. Huang used to be the Deputy Minister of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan, ROC, a position he held from 2008-2012. Dr. Yu-Tsai Huang's career started in 1984 when he finished his PhD in Food Science at the Cornell University, USA. Returning to Taiwan, he started as a Senior Specialist of COA, a position he held for five years. From there, he rose from the ranks and became the Chief of Agricultural Marketing Division, Deputy Director of the Food and Agricultural Department and subsequently, it's Director General until 2001. The next seven years, Dr. Huang held three more posts at the COA: Director of the Taiwan District Agricultural Improvement Station (2001-

2002); Director General, the Central Region Office (2002-2004) and Director General, Agriculture and Food Agency (2004-2008). A Bachelor in Agricultural Chemistry graduate from the National Taiwan University in 1972, Dr. Huang took his postgraduate degrees from 1980 to 1984. In his first staff meeting, Director Huang says he hopes to learn a lot about the goings on in international agriculture from the FFTC staff and its institutional partners in Asia and the Pacific Region. Dr. Huang replaced Dr. Jen-Chyuan Lee who resigned as FFTC Director effective June 30.n

FFtc welcomes new director

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saving agri-products after a nuclear disaster

soon after the tragic Fukushima earthquake, high concentrations of radionuclides were detected in cultivated green leafy vegetables caused by the direct deposition of radioactive materials.

THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS of the Fukushima nuclear disaster after the tragic strong earthquake off the Eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 still hangs in the air to this day. When radioactive materials released during the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station started to affect the farmlands in Fukushima and its neighboring prefectures, contaminating soil and agricultural products, food safety experts immediately began looking at ways to mitigate the effects of food contamination. Soon after the accident, high concentrations of radio nuclides were detected in cultivated green leafy vegetables and fresh raw milk, caused by the direct deposition of radioactive materials. Shipment of crops from the affected areas was immediately restricted. After the early phase of direct contamination, scientists began to investigate the possibility of rice being tainted through the uptake of radioactive cesium through plant roots from the contaminated soil. How did experts approach the problem? What were the measures done to mitigate the effects of food contamination? These and more were part of the lecture delivered by Dr. Kiyotaka Miyashita, President of the National Institute for Agro Environmental Sciences (NIAES) in Japan at the recently concluded 21st Technical Advisory Committee Meeting of FFTC. In his lecture entitled "Minimizing the Contamination of Agricultural Environment Towards Food Safety--with Primary Focus on the Fukushima Disaster," Dr. Miyashita told a group of agricultural experts that in order to estimate the actual contamination conditions for farmland soil, a map showing the concentration distribution of radioactive cesium in farmland soil was created. A long-term problem is soil contamination by

radioactive cesium, particularly by 137Cs with a half-life of 30 years. He also discussed in length the agriculture countermeasures done by Japanese experts, some of which were also employed during the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine where practices like long-term monitoring of radionuclides in foodstuffs were undertaken in many European countries.

international and national radiological data

According to Dr. Miyashita, most of the environmental countermeasures are driven by relevant international and national radiological criteria. The International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) is an international academic society of experts that makes recommendations about radiation protection. The ICRP states that in case of emergencies, radiation control standards differ from the ones used during normal times. It also suggested that emergency situations should be classified into two phases: an emergency phase and a rehabilitation phase with the following protective measures as guidelines:

1. Normal time: the dose should be limited to 1mSv less in a year (the sievert (symbol: sv) is the International System of Units (SI) derived unit of equivalent radiation dose, effective dose, and committed dose.)

2. Rehabilitation phase after the accident settles down: the dose should not exceed 1-20 mSv in a year.

3. Rehabilitation phase after the accident settlers down: the dose should not exceed 1-20 mSv in a year.

dr. Kiyotaka Miyashita, President of the national institute for Agro environmental sciences or niAes delivers a lecture on "Minimizing the contamination of Agricultural environment towards Food safety--with Primary Focus on the Fukushima disaster" at the recently concluded FFtc's 21st technical Advisory committee meeting.

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in his lecture, dr. Miyashita tackled the process of cleaning up the contaminated soil through the removal of its surface layer.

training on citrus health managementA NEW BATCH of trainees form part of this year's "International Training Course on Indexing Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) and Virus Diseases and Health Management of Pathogen-Free Nursery System." Under the tutelage of Professor Hong-Ji Su of the National Taiwan

remediation of contaminated soil

Dr. Miyashita also tackled the process of cleaning up the contaminated soil through the removal of its surface layer. This is possible, he says, because the fact that radiocesium enters soil by deposition, is fixed at the surface of the soil, and moves downwards to lower layers only means the soil can be cleaned up. In 2001, there were three methods used to test the remediation of soils in the heavily contaminated fields of Fukushima prefecture's Lidate village, located in an extended nuclear evacuation zone. These are the following:

1) Top soil removal: The top 2-5 cm soil in which radiocesium is concentrated was removed. Surface soil was crushed by a power hallow, collected by tractor equipped with an ear blade. This method has been found to generate highly contaminated soil.

2) Separation of clay faction: Used in paddy fields, the soil surface was agitated and suspended under waterlogged condition. Soil suspension was transferred to "ponds" or large vessels for precipitation, and left there. Sediments were collected as contaminated waste and supewrnatant, which was almost free from contaminates, was discarded. The amount of waste soil generated was less than that by simple top soil removal.

3) The turning village (skim and burial): Contaminated topsoil

Professor hong-Ji su's (leftmost) new batch of trainees on citrus health management came from the Philippines and taiwan n

n

and non-contaminated subsurface soil was mixed. Highly contaminated waste soil was not generated. However, soil fertility was disrupted because the fertile topsoil (plow layer) was buried deeper.

Dr. Miyashita reported that the results of the above tests were promising. In fact, it has been found that there was 70 to 95% reduction of radiocesium concentration in soil. The effectiveness varied depending on soil types and conditions.

University (NTU), two Filipinos and three Taiwanese form part of this year's batch who were trained on the rudiments of production of pathogen-free seedlings through shoot tip grafting, improved grafting techniques and management of nursery, indexing of HLB and other citrus viruses, antibiotic injection technology, etc. The training was a combination of lectures and practical hands-on exercises on laboratory techniques on citrus health management. The five trainees are Ms. Juanita G. Calibo and Ms. Ma. Queenie S. Tabur, agricultursist of the Philippines' Bureau of Plant Industry, Los Baños National Crop Research and Development Center, Mr. Cheng-Fang Hong of the Fengshen Tropical Horticulture Experiment Station of Taiwan Agriculture Research Institute, Mr. Wu Hsuan-Yi of Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and Ms. Chiau-Wen Huang of Chiayi Agricultural Station. The whole training course ran for nine days (September 10-19) at the laboratory of Professor Su in NTU. The two Filipino trainees also had an exposure trip to the citrus farms in Chiayi country, Taiwan where they were able to visit the Citrus Foundation and saw for themselves the field demosntration on HLB management using the antibiotic injection technology.

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The Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) is an international agricultural information center for small-scale farmers in the Asian and Pacific region. It collects and disseminates information on improved low-cost technology, with the aim of helping farmers obtain better yields and a higher income. Articles in this Newsletter may be translated, quoted or reprinted, provided credit is given to the source.

Food and Fertilizer Technology Centerfor the Asian and Pacific Region

5th Fl., 14 Wenchow St. Taipei 10648, Taiwan ROC Tel. (886 2) 2362 6239 Fax (886 2)

2362 0478 E-mail: info@fftc.agnet.orgwebsite: http://www.fftc.agnet.orgissn: 1010-0628

FFtc Quarterly newsletter

new publication

risk Assessment & risk Management of Mycotoxins for Food safety in Asia

Almost one-third of the world's food supply is suspected tohave been contaminated with mycotoxins, those toxic anddangerous chemicals potentially present in foods, feeds andagricultural materials. They can have adverse impact on humanhealth as well as negative economic impacts on agriculture and itsallied industries. Asia is said to be an epicenter of mycotoxinscontamination of important crops such as corn, peanuts,and spices, since climatic and crop storage conditionsin this region are frequently conducive to fungal

growth and mycotoxins production. The war waged against mycotoxins has been an ongoingbattle for many years, but it was only recently that people beganto take the issue seriously. Part of the reason was when foodsafety became one of the hottest topics in agriculture and thedangers that mycotoxins pose on human health became a glaringthreat to peoples around the world. Experts felt there is a need to have an assessment andset the record straight. At the same time, there was also aclamor to wrap up what has been studied and make this available to fellow mycotoxin researchers all over Asia. The result is a collaborative internationalworkshop between FFTC and Thailand's Kasetsart University(KU). Entitled "Risk Assessment and Risk Management ofMycotoxins for Food Safety in Asia," the said workshopgathered food safety experts all around Asia and included topicson the status of mycotoxin damages in agricultural crops inAsian countries, risk assessment of mycotoxins includingvarious analytical and monitoring technologies for mycotoxindetection in both food and feed commodities and other riskmanagement and regulatory issues. Both FFTC and KU hope that this publication will serve as areference material for people who are involved in one way oranother in mycotoxins research The organizers of the workshopalso hope all the information presented in this publication willbe useful not only to academic researchers but to the differentmembers of both the government and private sector in thedifferent countries of Asia Hopefully, this will steer morediscussion and inspire more people to do further research onmycotoxins. The 15 scientific papers written and presented by food safetyexperts from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam,Malaysia and Indonesia are now published by FFTC in aproceedings book bearing the same title of the workshop All of 143 pages, the book also contains the executivesummary of the whole workshop as well as the speeches of the organizers.n

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