ripple july to december 2013

8/13/2019 Ripple July to December 2013

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Swiss Agency for Developmentand Cooperation

Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Rice Research for Intensified Production and Prosperity in Lowland Ecosystems

www.irri.org/irrc

Food security and environmentallysustainable production of lowlandirrigated rice are a high priority

in most Asian countries. Terefore, it

is not surprising that several differentpartnerships and consortia are tacklingthese crucial issues. How then does thenew project, Closing Rice Yield Gapsin Asia with Reduced EnvironmentalFootprint (CORIGAP), link with otherdifferent regional initiatives? Te Irrigated Rice ResearchConsortium (IRRC) has been a flagship

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium

(IRRC) and CORIGAPa closely

integrated partnership By Grant Singleton

for promoting cross-country learningand collaboration in Asia since 1997.Te lead funding agency for the IRRCuntil 2012 was the Swiss Agency for

Development and Cooperation (SDC)and the tremendous effectiveness of theconsortium across economic, socio-cultural, capacity-building, and researchdisciplines has been objectively reviewedby Rejesus, Martin, and Gypmantasiri(see RIPPLE January-June 2013). TeInternational Rice Research Institute(IRRI), through the Global Rice Science

Whats insideSetting environmental footprint

indicators in rice production....3

The bubble that dries ....4

What farmers need....6

Strengthening participatory learning

in IRRC projects in Myanmar....8

Capturing farmers practices in

Myanmars rice granaries ....10

Training held on ecological

management of pests....11

CORIGAP baseline survey in Thailand

goes paperless....12

Chemistry in loveand life....13

Decision support for farmers....14

Partnership (GRiSP), continues to provide

strong support for the IRRC. SDC isnow funding CORIGAP, a program ofactivities that builds on the platformprovided by the IRRC. Other regionalactivities that are taking advantage ofthe IRRC umbrella are the SustainableRice Platform (SRP), initiatives on GoodAgricultural Practices for rice (Rice GAP),new projects on rice cropping systemsin Myanmar, and linkages with theAgricultural Competitiveness Project ofthe World Bank in the Mekong Delta of

Continued on page 2

Farmers in Myanmar are given an opportunity to select rice varieties with their chosencharacteristics through projects under the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium.

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Vietnam. Te SRP has strong stewardshiprom the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme and IRRI. In Asia, the IRRC continues to playa strong role in acilitating research and

development on rice-based croppingsystems and, in particular, osteringcross-country learning across manyscientific disciplines and developmentinitiatives. And, CORIGAP is a new majorprogram o research that builds on thelocal country partnerships and new riceproduction technologies developed overthe past two decades by the IRRC. In this article, we have coveredmany acronyms and different programson research and development. Te sea oacronyms may at first appear conusing,but the IRRC provides an effective

platorm or integrating many differentinitiatives. Te IRRC platorm thereoreadds value and provides effi cienciesthrough promoting partnerships acrossmany countries and diverse partners. otry to make the interlinkages clearer, weprovide a graph that shows how each othe programs/projects relates to others.

We are at an exciting phase ocooperation that strengthens regionalpartnerships. Tese cross-discipline

partnerships are essential i we areto ensure regional ood security overthe coming decades while promotingenvironmentally sustainable riceproduction in the ood bowls o Asia.

Te IRRC is not an exclusive clubit isopen to whoever wishes to be part o theexciting journey that we are on. Pleasecontact us i you wish to explore how youcan become part o the team.

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) and CORIGAPa closely integrated partnership

The CORIGAP Project builds on technologies and practices developed by the IRRC over the past twodecades that aim to reduce postharvest losses.

PhotobyMattyDemont

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he Closing Rice Yield Gaps inAsia with Reduced EnvironmentalFootprint (CORIGAP) Project

unded by the Swiss Agency orDevelopment and Cooperation aims toincrease the productivity o irrigated ricesystems while reducing the environmentalootprint. An environmental ootprint,according to Oxord Dictionaries, is theimpact o a person or community onthe environment, or the demand on

resources in the environment.Rices environmental ootprint, or

demand on the environment, includesland use, water use and quality, energy,ecological systems, and soil quality.However, or the Project to knowwhether it is successul in reducing ricesenvironmental ootprint, indicatorsneed to be identified. An indicator isa standard measurement: it representsan environmental process that can bemonitored over decades. Indicators atthe arm level could be profitability and

effi ciency in the use o water, nutrients,uel, and pesticide. At the landscapelevel, indicators could be water quality,biodiversity in plant and animalpopulations, global warming potential,salinity, and others.

A workshop on settingenvironmental ootprint indicatorsrelating to rice arming ecology washeld on 18 November 2013 in Bangkok,Tailand, one o CORIGAPs partnercountries.

Mr. Chanpithya Shimphalee,director general o the Tailand Rice

Department, gave the opening remarks.Fify participants rom different bureauso the Rice Department, governmentoffi ces, Chainat Rice Research Center,Nakhon Sawan Rice Seed Center,Kasetsart University, and IRRI,attended the workshop. Grant Singleton,CORIGAP project coordinator, presented

Setting environmental footprint indicators

in rice productionBy Trina Leah Mendoza

project as well as the draf environmental

ootprint indicators or Tailand. Estela Pasuquin, IRRI environmentalscientist, summarized rice productionenvironmental indicators at the armand landscape level. Afer the discussiono appropriate indicators in ricearming ecology, the participants weregrouped to select priority indicators.wo groups included soil and water

CORIGAP coordinator Grant Singleton discusses yield gaps.

as part o the priority environmental

ootprint indicators. One group suggestedprioritizing all the indicators since theyare interrelated.

Ruben Lampayan, CORIGAPkey scientist or Tailand, and AlexStuart, CORIGAP postdoctoral ellow,discussed the work plan or Tailandin the upcoming dry season, includingprotocols.

IRRI environmental scientist Estela Pasuquin summarizes environmental indicators in rice production.

PhotobyRowellDikitanan


the overview, plans, and progress o the

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In typical Philippine villages, ricegrains spread out on open basketballcourts or even on roads to sun-dry

were a amiliar scene or Ana Salvatierra,an agricultural engineer and researcherrom the University o Hohenheim(UHOH) in Germany. Sun drying is the most commondrying method in the country, and alsoin Tailand, Cambodia, Laos, and India,among other tropical countries, becauseit is cheap. It uses the sun as the heatsource. But, it is laborious and unreliable.Farmers need to mix the grains at least

every hal hour or even drying. Teyneed to cover the grains when the sunis too hot to minimize cracking romoverheating and constantly keep animalsaway rom the grains. Obviously, overcastskies extend the drying period. And,when it rains, armers hurriedly collectthe grains to avoid getting them wet.

Engr. Salvatierra believed thatthe constant threat o rain made thetraditional practice o sun-dryinggrains a terrible waste o armers' hardwork. Certainly the quality o the grainsdecreases and postharvest lossescould increase around 20% or even more,"Engr. Salvatierra laments.

Building bubblesMeanwhile, om de Bruin, president oGrainPro Inc., a long-time collaboratorwith the International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI), and manuacturer o

IRRI Super Bags, was searching or otherways to use the sturdy polyethylene plasticmaterial o the Super Bags. Martin Gummert, head o the IRRIPostharvest Unit, supported the idea orepurposing the plastic to build dryersor rice grains. Engr. Gummert andGrainPro sought the technical expertise

o researchers rom UHOH in solardrying. Te project, Development andoptimization o a solar greenhouse dryeror drying rice, was unded by the FederalMinistry or Economic Cooperationand Development (BMZ), GermanInternational Cooperation (GIZ). Engr.Salvatierra became the lead projectresearcher. With IRRI as coordinator,UHOH, GrainPro, and local countrypartners were able to work together andaccumulate knowledge or the project. Field testing or a 1-ton-capacitydryer started during the dry season in

2011. Te dryer design underwent manychanges throughout its testing phase inthe Philippines. Te first prototype hada chimney and steel pipes that held upthe plastic sheet roo over the rice grains.echnicians who set up the dryer oundit diffi cult to pull the plastic sheet overthe steel pipes. Te chimney was not

The bubble that driesBy Rona Nina Mae Rojas-Azucena

The air pressure from the ventilators holds up the polyethylene plastic sheet over the rice grains.

Photo

byAnaSalvatierra

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very effi cient in drawing air through thedrying tunnel and it also toppled due tostrong rains and wind. "We recorded our observationsand collected data,says Engr. Salvatierra.

"Ten, we modified the design o the solarbubble dryer based on the results romour field tests. Ten the idea or a simple designcame in 2012. It is made o two plasticsheets, a black one at the bottom wherethe grains are placed and a transparentone as roofing. Both sheets are connectedby a zipper. It's called the solar bubbledryer (or SBD)"solar" because o theambient temperature that provided heatrom the sun or the dryer, and "bubble"because o the dome-like shape o thepolyethylene plastic roo when set up.

Te solar bubble dryer was evaluatedor drying effi ciency and grain quality. Initial results looked promisingand partia l data were presented duringthe Global Rice Science Partnershipconerence held at IRRI in October 2013.

Domes of heatTe current design now has two

ventilators, in lieu o the steel pipes,placed at the air inlet at one endo the dryer to inflate and holdup the polyethylene plastic sheet, thus

providing the dome shape. "Te volumeand air pressure are calculated so thedryer won't collapse even i it rains,"explains Engr. Salvatierra. Te ventilators also move the airinside the dryer, ensuring a homogenousdistribution o heat and reducing themoisture content. Te drying air leaves the dryer at theother end through an adjustable outlet. Computer sofware rom UHOHwas also used to simulate the airflowinside the dryer to study the dryer'sperormance and to urther optimize

its design, to help overcome budget andweather restrictions. On a typical sunny day, the suraceo the grains heats up so much that usersneed to increase the requency o mixingthe grains. One o the eatures o the solarbubble design is a rolling bar underneaththe dryer or mixing the grains. It takesonly two persons to pull the handles o

the bar and roll it down the whole lengtho the contraption to mix the grainsinside. Te roller has an additional gadgetattached to it that enables it to mix grainsmore effi ciently and evenly. Tis low-maintenance,environment-riendly, hassle-ree, andportable dryer also uses materials that arelocally available, making it economicalto build. Introducing a low-cost drying

solution into the market is an importantaspect that could encourage intendeduserssmall armers, in this casetoadopt the technology, according to Engr.Salvatierra. Engr. Gummert believes that afermany attempts with more complexdesigns, a low-cost dryer or armersmight now become a reality. Yet, even atthis stage, because o the positive eed-back rom the 1-ton capacity solar bubbledryer, some private millers rom othercountries have requested units that canaccommodate 4 to 5 tons o grain.

Fast experiments"Te development o the solar bubbledryer was ast because o IRRI'spartnership with a private company," saysEngr. Salvatierra. "GrainPro was willingto invest in a product they believed wouldurther help small armers."

Engr. Salvatierra welcomes thechallenge o conducting "ast experiments"under different environmental conditionsas the second phase o the project isunderway. She says that more testswill take place in other regions o thePhilippines. IRRI's partners in othercountries (Myanmar, Vietnam, andCambodia) are also being tapped to testthe dryer, whereas GrainPro's partners

are testing the solar bubble dryer orcommodities such as coffee and maize. Te research team has also lookedinto using solar panels to provide power tothe battery o the ventilators. Tis enablesoperation o the dryer in areas where noelectricity is available. ypically, a well-loaded battery can run up to 48 hourswhen charged by solar power, enoughto cover a drying time o 2-3 days underrainy conditions, when traditional sundrying is not an option. When not usedor drying, the solar panels can be used toproduce electricity or other purposes, an

additional eature or villages without agrid connection. 1t is a matter o adaptingdifferent engineering techniques ina technology," Engr. Salvatierra says. Andtechnology, such as the solar bubble dryer,was adapted to the needs o the armers,come rain or shine.

The name solar bubble dryer comes from the use of ambient heat from the sun and the bubble-like

formation of the plastic sheet.

PhotobyAnaSalvatierra

The bubble that dries

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he lower Ayeyarwaddy Delta inMyanmar is prone to floodingduring the monsoon season and

to salinity during the summer, resultingin low rice productivity. Farmers in some

villages can plant only one rice crop peryear because o the high salt content in thesoil and the long duration o traditionallow-yielding varieties. Other villages aremore ortunate to have access to reshwater all year and can grow two crops orice per year. Farmers usually harvest an average

o 2.8 tons per hectare in these conditions,compared with 4.2 t/ha in more avorableareas.

IRRI, through the Livelihoodand Food Security rust Fund (LIF)Project unded by the United NationsOffi ce or Project Services (UNOPS), hasintroduced armers participatory varietalselection (PVS) o high-yielding varietiesor avorable areas and stress-tolerant

varieties or the salt- and flood-proneareas. Te PVS approach provides a major

opportunity to the ultimate clientsarmersto select varieties on their ownterms as they require, rather than onterms imposed by researchers, explainsR.K. Singh, IRRI senior scientist who isleading the varietal improvement programin Myanmar.

Fifeen flood-prone and 12 salt-tolerant high-yielding rice genotypes, aswell as those that yield well in avorableconditions, were evaluated in researcher-managed fields and compared with thearmers variety at six sites during the2012 wet season and at 15 sites during the

2013 dry season.A total o 181 armers (81 women)

and 134 armers (32 women) joined thePVS preerence analysis training in the2012 wet season and 2013 dry season,respectively. Tey visited the field andassessed varietal perormance during thegrowing season.

Te eating and cooking qualities othe our or five most preerred varietiesselected rom field perormance wereassessed through sensory evaluation by126 armers (74 women) in the 2012 wetseason and by 123 armers (55 women) inthe 2013 dry season.

What farmers needBy Trina Leah Mendoza

Romeo Labios, PVS consultant in Myanmar, inspects the rice crop in a farmers field in Labutta for

preference analysis.

Labutta farmers get ready to choose their most preferred varieties.

At five o the six sites during the2012 wet season, Saltol Sin Twe Latt wasthe consistent choice o armers because oits good taste, color, gloss, tenderness, andcohesiveness, explains Romeo Labios,IRRIs PVS consultant in Myanmar. Atall sites, varieties Saltol Sin Twe Latt

PhotobyRomeoLabios

PhotobyAungMyat

hu

,

T

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and Swe a Soke had the highest averageyield3.9 t/ha.

Te five best rice entries based onyield and sensory evaluation duringthe 2012-13 dry season produced yieldsranging from 3.3 to 4.1 t/ha: IR10 107,IR10 108, IR10 109, IR10 111, andCSR 36. Te seeds of these entries are beingmultiplied at DAR in Yezin for the farmer-managed trials in the 2013-14 dry seasons,to be established on a larger scale, saysDr. Singh. Farmers will receive 510

kilograms of seeds from the selected oneto three new varieties to be planted inlarger plots in their fields. o sustain theavailability of good-quality seeds in thecommunity, selected farmers will produceseeds on their farms with technicalguidance from our project staff. Somefarmers from Labutta ownship, a regionthat experiences saltwater intrusion

Young women, both farmers and extension

workers, get a chance to choose the best

varieties for them.

IRRI Myanmar researcher Aye Aye Thant

prepares the seeds for distribution to farmers

to use in the baby trials.

These farmers from Bogale give check marks for a variety they like.

Dr. RK Singh, IRRI senior scientist,observes the seed farm at the Department of AgriculturalResearch in Yezin. The seeds will be distributed to farmers for the baby trials.

and floods, shared their insights andexperiences about one season of PVS. PVS is very useful for us becausewe can now replace our old traditional

varieties with new ones that are higher-yielding, tolerant of stress, or resistant

to pests and diseases, says Soe Oo,a 51-year-old farmer from Min KoneVillage. Soe Moe Kyaw, 38, from Kant Ba LarVillage, preferred one variety that had fullgrains and outlasted all the other varietiesdespite the highly saline conditions ofhis field. He and Man San Win, 32, fromHtin Pone Kwin Village, both realized

that these varietiescould survive if plantedearlier in the nextseason. Meanwhile,Khin Mar Kyi, 44, fromMin Kone Village,preferred varieties

IR10 103, IR10108, and IR10 107because she said theywere high-yielding,had good tillering,and smelled and tastedwell. Aside from

discovering new varieties, the farmers alsolearned best practices in growing theircrop through the PVS trials, such as directseeding, proper fertilizer application, andweed and herbicide management. I learned how to grow salt-tolerant

varieties, says Soe Moe Kyaw. If our plotis successful, it will be good for the wholeregion. Te benefits of PVS trials have nowspread to neighboring villages to reachmore farmers and improve their foodsecurity and livelihood with higher-yielding and stress-tolerant rice varietiesof their choice.

PhotobyRomeoLabios

PhotobyRomeoLabios

PhotobyNaireenAizaVispo

PhotobyRomeoLabios

What farmers need

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impact pathways for the introduction ofnew technologies, it also helps to generateownership for project activities, newinitiatives, and co-funding.

Learning alliances establishedat the village levelAt the end of each PIPA workshop,participants discussed forming a

village-level learning alliance foractivities on specific topics. Te learningalliance is composed of members ofa multistakeholder network that willidentify, share, and adapt good practices. Te learning alliances startedfocusing on improving quality andlinking with better markets. Differentgroups explored options for suitable riceand pulse seeds; threshing, drying, and

storing grains; and better links withmillers. According to IRRI postharvestspecialist Martin Gummert, Alliances atthe village level will provide an open andflexible platform for sharing, allowing forfaster feedback on what works or does notto a wider network of actors from differentstakeholder groups. It can also serve as acoordination mechanism to link variousstakeholders implementing different butrelated activities.

Learning alliance meeting

In December 2013, the learning alliancein Bogale met again to monitor the firstround of activities planned in July. Bythen, a mechanical dryer unit had beeninstalled successfully in Kyee ChaungVillage. Initial discussions on businessmodel and coordination on joint use hadbeen started by small groups within thealliance.

Te event opened with ademonstration of the mechanical dryerand discussion on how it operates. In thelearning alliance meeting, 46 participantswho were NGO staff, millers, male and

female farmers, as well as project staffjoined. Tey were divided into two groups:dryer operators and users. Te operatorsdiscussed their technical questions onoperations with IRRI scientists and thedryer manufacturer. Tey also discussedmanagement issues. Te users discussedinterest in using the dryer, particularlywith the target of making the serv ice

Learning alliance members examine the flatbed dryer in Kyee Chaung Village during a demonstration.

available to farmers in eight surroundingvillages. Tey also discussed initial fees tosustain dryer operation, options so thatfarmers will have an incentive to dry and

get higher quality grains, scheduling andcoordination on use, and informationneeds. For the next learning cycle, farmersfrom Kyee Chaung will try dryingmechanically, storing in different ways,and then examining the results. GRE, akey NGO partner in the village, wi ll helpcoordinate some activities. Tere will a lso

be training and orientation for operatorsand millers, and a learning activity onmoisture content before milling. Teseaim to help alliance members learn about

good-quality rice and encourage priceincentives for it. Te learning al liance willmeet again in the next harvest season toupdate and review what happened. Tese participatory activities inMyanmar are in support of the LIFand ACIAR projects to involve a widestakeholder network and obtain supportfor technology change and impact.

Strengthening participatory learning in IRRC projects in Myanmar

A group representative shares the change pathways identified by the private-sector group.

Photo

bySo

PyayThar

Photo

bySo

PyayThar

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More than 60% of Myanmarstotal rice production andhalf of its rice harvest area

are located in the Ayeyarwaddy regionand the Central Dry Zone. Some areasare highly favorable with freshwater allyear, but generally, the lack of inputsand poor knowledge of best practicesfor rice production lead to substantiallylower yields than comparable delta areaselsewhere in Asia. Other areas are flood-

prone and affected by salinity or drought.

Capturing farmers practices in Myanmars

rice granariesBy Arelene Julia Malabayabas and Trina Leah Mendoza

Surveys were conducted in farminghouseholds in freshwater, brackishwater, and saline areas in Bogaleand Mawlamyinegyun in the lowerAyeyarwaddy Delta, and in saline- anddrought-prone areas in irrigated andrainfed areas in Tazi and Ye-U inthe Central Dry Zone. A total of 240respondents were interviewed. Arelene Malabayabas, agriculturaleconomist of the Irrigated Rice Research

Consortium, led the survey withassistance from staff of the Department ofAgriculture, Department of AgriculturalResearch, and IRRI-Myanmar offi ce. Ms.Malabayabas trained them in collecting,cleaning, and analyzing data.

Initial results in the lowerAyeyarwaddy DeltaMost farmers in Bogale andMawlamyinegyun grow rice for familyconsumption. Te mean cultivated areasfor rice in both townships were 1.9 and 4.2

hectares in the monsoon season and 2.7and 3.1 hectares in the summer season,respectively. Farmers from the saltwater-prone areas cannot grow rice during thesummer. In both townships, rice yield ishigher in the summer. Te averageyield in Bogale is 2 tons per hectare inthe monsoon season and 3.7 t/ha inthe summer. In Mawlamyinegyun, theaverage yield is 2.6 t/ha in the monsoonseason and 3.4 t/ha in the summer.

Te use of material inputs is verylow for both townships due to farmerslack of capital. During the monsoon,70% of Bogale farmers directly seed theirrice crop, while 87% of the farmers inMawlamyinegyun transplant rice. In thesummer, all of the farmers in Bogale and94% of the farmers in Mawlamyinegyunpractice direct seeding of rice.

Based on household

surveys, more than 50% of farmers inAyeyarwaddy and West Bago in 2006,and East Bago in 2012, used insecticides,whereas very few farmers used fungicides,rodenticides, and herbicides.

IRRI is now working withnational partners and nongovernmentorganizations to raise the livelihoodsof rice farmers and reduce risks in riceenvironments in these regions. Troughthe Livelihoods and Food Security rustFund (LIF) projects funded by theUnited Nations Offi ce for Project Services,best pre- and post-harvest management

practices, and different rice varieties willbe provided as options. Baseline surveys were conducted tofind out the current rice managementpractices, and income and costs incurredin rice production of farmers at projectsites. Tese surveys will serve as a guide inmonitoring and evaluating the impact ofthe projects.

Initial results in the CentralDry ZoneTe average area cultivated for rice inTazi in the Mandalay Region during themonsoon season is 1.2 hectares for saline

areas and 1.6 hectares for nonsaline areas.Farmers in Tazi are not able to grow ricein the summer due to drought and salinityproblems. In Ye-U, Sagaing Division,the average rice farm area during themonsoon is about 1.2 hectares for rainfedfields and 1.9 hectares for irrigated areas.

All the farmers in Ye-U and 92% ofthe farmers in Tazi transplant their ricecrop. Aside from rice, Tazi farmers growchickpea, green gram, groundnut, andsesame, while farmers in Ye-U grow onlychickpea and groundnut. During the monsoon, the average

yield in rainfed freshwater areas in Taziis 1.8 t/ha, whereas the average yield inYe-U is 4 t/ha in irrigated areas and 3.4 t/ha in rainfed areas. In the summer, riceyield in Ye-U is 4.4 t/ha.

We will return toward the endof 2014 to conduct follow-up surveysto monitor changes in practices andthe income of farmers, says Ms.Malabayabas.

Farmers transport 45-day-old rice seedlings by

boat for planting in Bogale, Ayeyarwaddy Delta.

IRRI Myanmar researcher So Pyay Thar

interviews a farmer in Meiktila Township,

Mandalay, in the Central Dry Zone.

A bullock cart passes by a golden stupa,

a place of worship in Myanmar.

PhotbyAreleneMalabayabas

PhotobyAreleneMalabayabas

PhotobyAreleneMalabayabas

o

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he Central Plains o Tailand isthe main rice bowl o Tailand.In late November 2013, a baseline

survey was conducted in key villages inNakhon Sawan Province. Te household

surveys provide key baseline inormationor planned field activities in thecentral plains region under the ClosingRice Yield Gaps in Asia with ReducedEnvironmental Footprint (CORIGAP)Project.

Rowell Dikitanan, CORIGAPagricultural economist, developeda questionnaire using Surveybe, acomputer-assisted personal interviewingsofware used in collecting data. A keyadvantage o using the sofware is that itallows enumerators to enter survey dataduring the interview, which reduces the

time and cost spent in data encoding,explains Mr. Dikitanan. Also, it has real-time validating eatures, making the datarelatively more accurate.

Aside rom questions on armerspractices, costs, and income, thequestionnaire, designed or CORIGAPcountries, has questions on crop residueand environmental indicators (see

CORIGAP baseline survey in Thailand

goes paperlessBy Trina Leah Mendoza and Rowell Dikitanan

related story on Setting environmentalindicators on page 3), and on theknowledge, attitudes, and practiceso armers on key rice managementtechnologies.

Mr. Dikitanan and Pornsiri Senakas,chie o the Rice Crop ProtectionDivision, Bureau o Rice ProductionExtension (BPRE), undertook the surveywith assistance rom offi cers rom the

Duangporn Vit hoonjit, agricul tural research offi cer of the Chainat Rice Research Center, enters

farmers data directly into the digital questionnaire.

Rice Department, Land DevelopmentDepartment, Nakhon Sawan Rice SeedCenter, Chainat Rice Research Center, andstudents rom Kasetsart University.

Eighty-five armers rom our villagesin akhli District were interviewed, mosto whom were emale.

Initial results indicate that armerscommon method o planting rice was bywet direct seeding using a seed sprayer.Most armers pumped water to irrigate

their fields and did not pay irrigation ees.Tey usually sell all o their harvestedresh paddy to the government and therest to millers. Teir average household size is ourmembers, who consume about 1 kilogramo rice per day. Te area o their largestrice parcel ranges rom 2.13.7 hectares,with mean yields o 4.55.6 tons perhectare. Mr. Dikitanan is now processingthe data rom the baseline survey, andwill conduct ollow-up surveys in the

coming years to monitor the progress oCORIGAP activities in Tailand. abletcomputers will be used or survey tools inTailand and other CORIGAP countries.

The survey team reviews the data collected and problems encountered after interviewing farmers

in a village.

PhotobyEstelaPasuquin


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IRRIphoto

Sarah Johnson-Beebout, soil chemistat IRRI, is about to give us a glimpseinto a field that not too many tread

even in a research setting. ake, orexample, this table, she starts. You canexplain the composition o this table in aundamental way.

Sarah goes on about the table andsegues into an impassioned spiel aboutchemistry: You can take anything inront o you and determine its chemicalpropertiesfind out what makes it hard,or i it echoes, things like that. Chemistryexplains everything around us.

As a young student, Sarah has alwaysbeen ascinated with science. In ninthgrade, however, her science teacher helpedspark in her a whole new level o interestor chemistry. It came rom the way myteacher explained things. And then, westarted doing experiments. What wasmere like or her then has turned into alielong passion.

The soil chemistAfer graduating summa cum laudeinchemistry rom Wheaton College at

Illinois, USA, Sarah specialized in soilchemistry or her M.S. (exas A&MUniversity) and Ph.D. (Cornell University)degrees.

Sarah also nurtures a long-heldinterest in environmental issues, and ispassionate about helping people who areaffected by environmental pollution. Incollege, she made sure she knew whatwas going on in the rest o the world,particularly on how people were trying toimprove their livelihoods.

As one o the scientists involvedin the Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia

with Reduced Environmental Footprint(CORIGAP) Project at IRRI, she isresponsible or developing landscape-level indicators o sustainability. Teseindicators aim to measure the overalleffect on the environment o armersadoption o improved agriculturalpractices.

Chemistry in loveand lifeBy Rona Nina Mae Rojas-Azucena

Te particular study that Sarah leadsdistinguishes itsel rom other watershed-scale research in that it categorizes landaccording to crop production practicesinstead o the usual classification o land

as either agricultural or nonagricultural.Te method helps researchers determinewhether a specific agricultural practiceor arming system has led to betterenvironmental outcomes or armers andothers living in the area.

Water quality, biodiversity, ertilizerbalance, and greenhouse gas emissionswill be measured or estimated amongarms that ollow the same environmentalpractice within a geographical area. Datawill then be compared with that gatheredrom other arms in the same area thatollow a different practice.

Were putting systems in place tocollect that data, Sarah said o workthat has already begun in Vietnam andTailandtwo o CORIGAPs countrypartners.

Tug of musicSarah had been playing the violinsince she was six, and throughout high

Dr. Beebout (second from left) visits a substation of the Indonesian Center for Rice Research

in Pusakanegara, Indonesia, with plant breeders and the station manager.

PROFILE

school. Her all-time avorite piece isMendelssohns Violin Concerto in Eminor.

Tere was a point in time in Sarahslie when her love o music almost took

her down another path. In college, shehad to decide whether to go proessionallyinto music or science. Te schedule ochemistry laboratories coincided withorchestra practice. My conductor toldme that the group did not want to denychemistry majors participation in theorchestra and that I could come in late toevery rehearsal. But chemistry won over. Sometimes,especially during special events at IRRI,Sarah gets to perorm and relive this otherpassion. It may not be as grand as thesymphony orchestra she used to play with

in college, but the audience is enthrallednevertheless.

From 2 to 10, and countingSarah knew early on that she wanted tocontribute more to the world as a scientist.Although she was keen on working in adeveloping country, she had planned to

Continued on page 14

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stay or only two years in the Philippineswhen she started working at IRRI as apostdoctoral ellow. Tat was ten yearsago.

Te opportunity to work with

a team o talented scientists and theinterdisciplinary culture at IRRI wereactors that led to her two-turned-ten-yearstay. It seemed to me that Filipinos were

very good at adapting to any culture. Teywere interested in different cultures andknew a lot about these, too. Tey werewelcoming o oreign nationals. Tat wasmy first impression, she confides.

Dr. Beebout strongly believes inIRRIs mission, and it gives her prideto have her research work applied tosomething important.

Its nice doing research or anotherpurpose besides getting a degree, orhelping someone earn a degree. In IRRI,people rom different disciplines can worktogether on the same challenges and see itrom different perspectives, Sarah muses.It is not easy, though.

The family womanBesides being able to pursue at IRRI whatshe loves to do, Sarah has also oundlove here. I met my husband here in LosBaos, shares Sarah, with a huge smile.

Sarah Beebout enjoys quality time with her husband Jason and daughters Miriam (4 years old) and

Christine (4 months old).

Chemistry in loveand life

here is a stereotype that manyhold o computer systems expertsworking alone and intently in an

offi ce and, at first glance, akahiro Sato

might fit the image. But a conversationwith him proves us wrong.

aka, a postdoctoral ellow at theCrop and Environmental SciencesDivision o the IRRI headquarters in thePhilippines, first became interested inworking in a developing country whenhe traveled to India. He was then a youngcomputer systems engineer working in

Decision support for farmersBy Trina Leah Mendoza

PROFILE

At the lobby o Chandler Hall, to beexact.

Jason Beebout, her husband o sevenyears, was an M.S. degree student at theUniversity o the Philippines Los Baoswhen they met ten years ago at a culturalevent in IRRI, right afer Sarah perormedin a skit that depicts the Americanculture.

Tey soon ound out that they bothgrew up in Iowaa two-hour drive rom

each others childhood home. It took atrip halway around the world or themto meet. Tey now have two daughters,4-year-old Miriam and 4-month-oldChristine.

Raising two daughters is one o themost important things that Im doingright now, she declares. Now, morethan ever, Sarah has more sources oinspiration to continue her work toward abetter and sustainable environment.

Niigata, Japan. His interest became adecision afer he went to anzania in EastArica as a member o the Japan-anzaniaYouth Mission, when he saw rural villages

in a oreign country or the first time.I knew then that I wanted to work

with people in villages like these, butthey did not even have electricity, and theonly technology I knew had to do withengineering, recalled aka. I I wantedto work with these people, I realizedthat I may need to change my field odiscipline.

He decided to study agriculturalscience and earned a second bachelorsdegree rom Utsunomiya Universityand M.S. and Ph.D. degrees rom Kyoto

University. While doing his Ph.D., hespent nearly two years in the rural areas oNorthern Syria as a member o the JapanOverseas Cooperation Volunteer. Once adeveloper o databases and inormationmanagement systems in his old company,aka shifed to studying the relationshipbetween water and plants, such as droughttolerance in the tamarind tree and

IRRIphoto

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Te field calculator is a computer-based decision-support tool or comparingarmers current practices with a newtechnology and determining the trade-off among their various aspects. Te

tool will help researchers visualize theeconomic and environmental impacts o anew technology or rice production i thearmer decides to adopt it.

I we want to introduce laser levelingin a arm community, or example, watereffi ciency could increase but costs couldalso increase, he explains. Te fieldcalculator can show that. Te field calculator, he cautions,does not try to provide recommendationsor accurate estimates, but only average

values to estimate impact. Tis iscalculated rom survey data that he and

other CORIGAP scientists had collected.Te tool becomes more accurate i moredata becomes available. For aka, though, more datacollection does not sound to him likemore work as he eels happiest talkingwith armers and conducting fieldinterviews. He ofen wishes he could staylonger in the vil lages and learn the locallanguage. He had the chance to do thispreviously, and learned to speak Arabicand amil. In the countries where theCORIGAP Project works, aka knows

that learning the local languages wouldgreatly help him communicate with thearmers.

Outside o work, aka likes to relaxby playing with Hana, his 15-month-old daughter with his wie, Akiko. Heloves the sea and hopes to get his divinglicense soon so that he can start exploringthe Philippines spectacular underseaattractions.

Te field calculator is at its earlystages o development and testing, andaka expects a lot o challenges in thecourse o its advancement. But through

CORIGAP, he is keen on one day makinga huge difference or poor armers whentheir arm practices can be properlyassessed through the field calculator.

I I can think together with thearmers through this tool, that is whatuels my interest, he declares.

change in land use in amil Nadu, India.Te combination o a computer

engineering background and a growingknowledge o the agricultural sciencesbrought him to the International RiceResearch Institute in April 2012. Asa postdoctoral ellow, he is currentlyworking on developing a field calculatoror use under the CORIGAP (ClosingRice Yield Gaps in Asia with ReducedEnvironmental Footprint) Project.

optimal irrigation timing or spring breadwheat.

akas computer engineeringbackground did not go to waste, however.Nor did he abandon it. It proved to bean asset when he started developingsofware or use in agriculture. Healso set up databases on agriculturaland rice production statistics coveringmainland Southeast Asia and developedan application that was used to analyze

Taka spends some quality time at home with his daughter, Hana.

Taka conducts a field survey in Can Tho, Vietnam.

IRRIphot

o

PhotobyHaMinhTam

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Volume 8, Number 2

July-December 2013

This newsletter is producedby the CORIGAP Projectunder the Irrigated RiceResearch Consortium (IRRC)with support from the SwissAgency for Developmentand Cooperation (SDC) andIRRI. The IRRC promotesinternational links amongscientists, managers,communicators, and farmersin lowland irrigated riceenvironments.

Materials in this newsletterdo not necessarily reect theofcial views of IRRI, SDC, orcollaborating institutions of theIRRC.

EDITORSGrant Singleton, Trina Leah

Mendoza,Rona Nia Mae Rojas-Azucena

COPY EDITORSMaria Leah Baroa-Cruz,

Bill Hardy, Priscilla Grace Caas

LAYOUTEmmanuel Panisales

CIRCULATIONJennifer Hernandez

Please direct furthercorrespondence, comments, and

contributions toTrina Leah Mendoza

Senior Communication SpecialistInternational Rice Research

InstituteDAPO Box 7777

Metro Manila, PhilippinesEmail: [email protected]:www.irri.org/irrc

Ecologically based rodent management is one of the best management practices

promoted through the CORIGAP Project (Photo by Chris Cabardo).

ripple july to december 2013

Documents