Rice Today Vol. 13, No. 1

8/13/2019 Rice Today Vol. 13, No. 1

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1Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014

www.irri.org

International Rice Research Institute January-March 2014, Vol. 13, No. 1

US$5.00ISSN 1655-5422

Vietnam turns back a

tsunami of pesticidesModernizing Asian rice production

Banking on Africa's rice potential

Rice self-sufficiency: A question of geography?


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2 Rice TodayJanuary-March 20142


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T

he Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)of the United Nations has declared 2014 as theInternational Year of Family Farming (IYFF;www.fao.org/family-farming-2014/en). TheInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI)applauds the goals of the IYFF, which are

to raise the prole of family farming and smallholder

farming by focusing the worlds aention on theirsignicant role in eradicating hunger and poverty,providing food security and nutrition, improvinglivelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting theenvironment, and achieving sustainable development, inparticular in rural areas. Certainly, these objectives mirrorwhat IRRI strives to help achieve as well.

As pointed out in the 4th edition of the Rice Almanacjust released, rice is grown on some 144 million farmsworldwide, mostly smaller than 1 hectare. Obviously, 2014will be a very special year for the millions of rice-farmingfamilies who depend on growing the staple for their daily

needs as well as their future. So, in our magazines rstissue for the year, we are pleased to bring our readersaention to the challenges that face smallholder farmerseverywhere.

For example, in this issues Grain of Truth, former IRRIDirector General M.S. Swaminathan explains the need fora beer understanding of what smallholder farmers needand the future of small-scale agriculture (page 42). BasBouman, director of the Global Rice Science Partnership(GRiSP), proposes a strategy to bring smallholder farmersin Asia out of poverty by increasing virtual farm size(pages 32-33).

InShaping the future of rice(pages 30-31), Rice Todays

managing editor writes of how public and private sectorinstitutions are coming together to nd solutions to thechallenges faced by the rice sectorin creating a beer lifefor both consumers and producers. Representatives ofthese institutions oer some interesting perspectives fordeveloping beer policies, technologies, and innovationsand, most importantly, improving collaboration amongstakeholders.

A great example of IRRIs partnership with both thepublic and private sectors in a single project is illustratedin the feature on pages 18-19, The bubble that dries.It tellshow the private company GrainPro Inc., the University of

The International Yearof Family Farmingand its relevance torice production

Hohenheim (UHOH) in Germany, and IRRI have workedtogether to develop an inexpensive grain dryer that willhelp small-scale farmers in the Philippines and elsewheredry their rice crop more eectively and eciently.

As we all know, improved varieties play a strong rolein producing more even in ood-, drought-, and salinity-prone areas. In Sowing their choices(pages 16-17), we learnhow farmers in Myanmar are deciding on the kind of rice

that they will plant in their elds. And, in his Rice Factsinstallment (pages 40-41), Sam Mohanty reports that manyfarmers in Odisha, India, have adopted an IRRI-developedood-tolerant Swarna-Sub1 not only for food but also as aworthy oering in their religious rites.

In addition to protecting the environment, helpingsmallholder farmers in Vietnam prot more is anotherreason why IRRI and other organizations are urgingfar less use of pesticides. K.L. Heong, a leading experton ecological engineering, shares how he has devotedmore than 25 years to weaning farmers from their heavydependence on pesticides and helping them improve themanagement of rice pests instead to reduce their crop

losses. (See Vietnam turns back a tsunami of pesticides onpages 12-13 andReducing pesticide use in Asias rice elds: the

job is far from nished on pages 14-15.)In Cameroon, the recent 3rd Africa Rice Congress

also focused on smallholder farmers. Congressparticipants recognized the need to scale up investmentsfor modernizing Africas rice sector and its R&D andcapacity building (see Banking on Africas rice potential onpages 34-35).

And, while on the subject of Africa, without a doubt,one of the prime movers of rice science on the continentis Papa Abduolaye Seck. A staunch advocate of research

for Africas development, his conviction that Africawould either develop through science and technologyor not develop at all has transformed the continents ricesector into a thriving industry that has yet to reach itsfull potential. Read about this pioneers contributions onpages 36-37.

Finally, the goal of helping smallholder farmersget out of poverty and secure their livelihood in asustainable way can be beer achieved by partneringbetween governments and institutes such as IRRI. Thisis made clear inMyanmar rises(pages 28-29). Over the lasthalf century, IRRI has been working with researchers,extension workers, and farmers in the country. Myanmar

President U Thein Sein recently visited IRRI headquartersto personally solidify the Myanmar-IRRI partnership tohelp his country regain its former stature as one of theworlds top rice exporters.

I hope you enjoy reading these and other features inthis issue and that you have a happy and prosperous yearahead.

Gene HeelRice Todayeditor-in-chief


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News


Scientists from the JapanInternational Research Center forAgricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)

and the International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI) have discovered arice gene that, in preliminary testing,increased production by 1336%in modern long-grain indica ricevarietiesthe worlds most widelygrown types of rice.

We discovered the gene, SPIKE,in an Indonesian tropical japonicarice variety, announced rice breederNobuya Kobayashi of the NationalAgriculture and Food ResearchOrganizationInstitute of Crop

Science in Japan. Dr. Kobayashi isa former IRRI scientist secondedfrom JIRCAS.Tropical japonicarice is mainly grownin East Asia andaccounts for onlyabout 10% of globalrice production.Incorporating SPIKEinto indica varietiesthat are very popularand widely used

R

ice Crop Manager is a free phone application thatallows extension ocers to give Filipino farmers

recommendations on nutrient, pest, weed, or watermanagement for specic varieties and eld conditions. Itis currently being eld-tested in ve provinces.

The app is expected to increase the productivity andincome of farmers by almost US$100 per hectare.

Rice Crop Manager was developed by theInternational Rice Research Institute in collaborationwith the Department of Agriculture-Philippine RiceResearch Institute. It is available at htp://webapps.irri.org/ph/rcmand the Google play store as RCM PH.

SPIKEis a rice gene that,

in preliminary testing,

increased production

by 1336% in modern

long-grain indica rice

varieties.

New gene could boost yield of indica rice

across 70% of globalrice-growing areascould signicantly

boost food security.The discovery

of SPIKE, which isnow published inthe scientic journalProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyof

SciencesoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica(PNAS), means that breeders cannow start incorporating the gene intopopular indica rice varieties. Thegene can improve plant architecturewithout altering grain quality orgrowth periods.

Breeders at IRRI are now usingSPIKEto boost the yield potential ofleading local rice varieties.

New Rice app to help Filipino farmersearn more

RICE BREEDERS such as Tsutomu Ishimaruare now using SPIKE to boost the yieldpotential of leading local rice varieties.

ISAGANISERRANO,

IRRI

THE RICE Crop Managerapp can increase farmers'productivity and income.

JPSINOHIN,

IRRI.


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INIA


Red rice is a weed thatinfests rice eldsworldwide and can reduce

yield and grain quality.Since 2005, Uruguayan

farmers have been usingCleareldRice ProductionSystem (BASF) in controllingred rice. The system, whichuses imidazolinone herbicides

and imidazolinone-resistantcultivars, has been eectiveagainst red rice in intensivelyused elds. It is also anexcellent part of an integrated weedmanagement strategy. Today, 7% ofUruguayan rice area is seeded withimidazolinone-resistant cultivars.However, gene ow from theimidazolinone-resistant cultivars tored rice has been reported producingherbicide-resistant red rice, which

The satellite-generated maps,developed by the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI)

in collaboration with sarmap andthe Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute(DA-PhilRice), have been releasedas part of ongoing work to track riceproduction in the Philippines.

The images show that oodinghas aected about 1,800 hectares

of standing rice crop across 15municipalities. Additional datareleased by DA-PhilRice and IRRIshowed that harvesting in the region,usually from September to October,

was done just before the typhoonhit on 8 November 2013. Extensivedamage to infrastructure, however,will have aected rice in storage,irrigation facilities, farm equipmentand, likely, planning and preparationfor the next rice-growing season.

The Department of Agricultureappreciates the timely release ofsatellite maps on rice areas aected

by Typhoon Haiyan, said DA

Undersecretary for Operations andNational Rice Program CoordinatorDante Delima.

Geographic information on thelocation and seasonality of rice can

help in quantifying rice productionand evaluate losses followingextreme weather events, but it canalso be used to plan proactively,said Andy Nelson, head of IRRIsGeographic Information SystemsLaboratory.

Leyte is one study site within the

Remote Sensing-based Informationand Insurance for Crops in EmergingEconomies project in which IRRI,sarmap, and DA-PhilRice work withGerman International Cooperation(GIZ), Allianz, and the Swiss Agencyfor Development and Cooperationto develop technologies that monitorrice-growing areas for food securityand crop insurance applications.

With the satellite maps, we areable to understand faster the extentof Typhoon Haiyans damage to rice

production and, hopefully, improveour response to the situation, saidPhilRice Deputy Executive Directorfor Development Eduardo JimmyQuilang.

Satellite images assessimpact of Typhoon Haiyan

on rice production

New technology to detect herbicide-

resistant red rice in Uruguay

threatens the sustainability of thetechnology.

The Rice Research Program ofInstituto Nacional de InvestigacinAgropecuaria (INIA) Uruguaylaunched a novel Molecular DetectionService that can monitor red rice inelds where imidazolinone-resistant

cultivars are grown. It can iden-tify herbicide-resistant red riceusing a quick and inexpensivemolecular marker technology.Farmers or technicians bringfresh tissues from suspectedseedlings or owering plantsfor testing. Plants growingfrom positive points are thenthoroughly removed to prevent

herbicide-resistant red rice fromspreading its seeds.

This initiative has beendone through collaboration

among the National AgricultureResearch Institute of Uruguay, INIA,the National Agency for Researchand Innovation, BASF Uruguay,the Uruguayan Rice GrowersAssociation, and Solaris-Sembril.

Source: www.inia.org.uy


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I am very optimistic thatthis new regional hub will

substantially contributeto the development of therice sector in eastern and

southern Africa.Robert Zeigler,

IRRI director general

With the assistance of theInternational Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI), the government ofBurundi has established a regionalrice research and development

hub to improve food security ineastern and southern Africa. Thenew regional oce will focus ondeveloping and testing new ricevarieties matched to the dierentrice production environments acrosseastern and southern Africa. Theregional oce was inauguratedon 30 October 2013 as part of theIRRI Board of Trustees meeting inBujumbura, Burundi.

First Vice-President Busokoza

said that thegovernment ofBurundi sharesthe same visionas IRRI to providesustainable waysof growing rice inorder to improvethe well-beingof rice producersand consumers,reduce poverty, and preserve the

environment.Dr. Robert S. Zeigler, IRRIdirector general, said, I am very

Amachine that mills rice, cleans it, and separates thebroken grains from the good ones has been developedby the National Institute for Agricultural Research forDevelopment (IRAD) to improve rice growing in Cameroon.

Eddy Ngongkeu, coordinator of annual crops at IRAD,said that the machine could help reduce postharvest lossesof around 125,000 tons of rice.

If postharvest losses decline to 15%, this maycreate a greater eect than planting new varieties, saidNdindeng Sali Atanga, Africa Rice Center grain quality andpostharvest expert.

For this innovation to reach the farmers, however,an eective policy framework for the dissemination oftechnologies to farmers still needs to be in place.

Source: www.scidev.net

More rice for Africa, target of new research hub

optimistic that this

new regional hubwill substantiallycontribute to thedevelopment ofthe rice sectorin eastern andsouthern Africa,and build ourcollaboration withour partners inBurundi and the

greater region.

With advances in technology,we can expedite the breedingprocess to ensure that new rice

varieties are available every year

for the region, said Dr. AchimDobermann, IRRIs deputy directorgeneral for research. It is our visionfor Burundi to become a leadingregional hub for excellent, high-yielding rice varieties that also havegood grain quality.

Dr. Adama Traor, interimdirector general of AfricaRice,highlighted the importance ofAsia-Africa knowledge exchangethat has been made possible by the

CGIAR Research Program for Rice,known as the Global Rice SciencePartnership.

New machine can cut postharvest losses in Cameroon

RRAMAN,

AFRICARICE

IRRI'S EASTERN and Southern Africaregional office in Bujumbura, Burundi.

LOSSES CAN be reduced by usingsome postharvest technologies.

GLADY'SEBRON,

IRRI


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Books

Read the Almanac on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZC56TC


Since the first edition

was completed in 2010,

research partners in the ADB-

IRRI Rice Planthopper Project

have been conducting

routine monitoring as well

as evaluating repellents,

studying reversion of

resistance, and using

molecular techniques. Several

workshops were held to

compare results and discuss

the methods, analyses, andinterpretation.

The feedbacks were

the basis of this second

edition of the book. The

other update of this book is that Professor Z. Liu of Nanjing

University, now one of the authors, has contributed to beef

up the contents of this book. In fact, four more chapters are

added in this edition.

In general, this book provides step-by-step procedures

for readers to design experiments and use the program for

analyses. It describes insecticide resistance reversion and how

to use the resistance stability point as a steadier baseline for

comparing resistance. Also, it provides information on the use

of molecular tools to detect field resistance.

In a nutshell, this second edition of the book is now more

complete and provides readers the whole range of research

methods in toxicology and insecticide resistance monitoring.

Although all the methods described are applied on rice

planthoppers, the principles and methods can be mainly

applied to other test organisms.

Research Methods in Toxicology and Insecticide

Resistance Monitoring of Rice Planthoppers

(Second edition)

By K.L. Heong, K.H. Tan, C.P.F. Garcia, Z. Liu, and Z. Lu

Published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and

the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 145 pages.

TRAINING COURSES AT IRRI

For inquiries, contact [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]. Phone: (63-2) 580-5600 ext 2538 or +639178639317; fax: (63-2) 580-5699, 891-1292, or845-0606; mailing address: The IRRI Training Center, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines (Attention: TC Course Coordinator); Web site: www.training.irri.org.

Note: Fees and schedules are subject to change without prior notice.

Course title Date Venue

Basics of Rice Production (First offering) 1-3 April IRRI, Philippines

Rice: Postproduction to Market Training Course (First offering) 21 April-2 May IRRI, Philippines

SNP Data Analysis 5-9 May IRRI, Philippines

Rice: Research to Production 19 May-6 June IRRI, Philippines

Rice Production Techniques for Research Technicians (for African participants) 28 July-15 August IRRI, Philippines

Basics of Rice Production (Second offering) 9-11 September IRRI, Philippines

Scientific Writing Workshop 10-14 November IRRI, Philippines

The fourth edition of theRice Almanac continues

the tradition of the first three

editions by showcasingrice as the most importantstaple food in the world. Italso breaks new ground inits coverage of issues relatedto rice production, bothenvironmentalincludingclimate changeand itsimportance for food securityand the global economy.

It also further expands itscoverage to include 81 of the117 rice-producing countriesrepresenting 99.9% of theworlds rice production.

Published by GRiSP, the CGIAR Research Program on Rice,this book is a product of collaboration among key institutions.In addition to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), and International Center forTropical Agriculture (CIAT), other major partners in GRiSPinclude the Centre de coopration internationale en rechercheagronomique pour le dveloppement (Cirad), LInstitut derecherche pour le dveloppement (IRD, formerly ORSTOM),and the Japan International Research Center for AgriculturalSciences (JIRCAS).

The statistics presented are derived primarily from FAO,which include official country data (FAOSTAT), surveys, reports,

and personal communications; IRRIs RICESTAT database, whichis based on primary data from requests and questionnaires andsecondary data from statistical publications and internationalorganizations including the International Labor Organization andthe World Bank; and regional data from AfricaRice and CIAT.

For orders, send email to: [email protected] or visithttp://books.irri.org.

Rice Almanac (Fourth edition)

Published by the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP).

283 pages.


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The International Rice Congressis the largest gathering of ricescientists and experts whocome from all over the world

to share their latest research work.The upcoming Congress (IRC2014),which will be held on 27 October-1 November 2014 in Bangkok,Thailand, will focus on increasingthe food security of half the worldspopulation.

Why attend?IRC2014 is a forum for exchangingideas, experiences, and best practices,and learning about the latestdevelopments in rice science aswell as key issues in the riceindustry. But, it is also a greatopportunity for participantsto be part of a community fornetworking and contributingto trends and initiatives.

Participants will be

among 2,500 intelligent,innovative, and engagingplayers in global rice science andindustrysurely a rich learningand networking environment,said Bruce Tolentino, IRC2014 chairand deputy director general forcommunication and partnershipsat the International Rice ResearchInstitute.

Participants perspectives willbe broadened because IRC2014 willenable delegates to meet and interact

with a wide range of delegates,scientists, and other rice industryplayers, he added. This promotessynergy in meeting shared challengestogether.

What to expectWith its theme, Rice for the world,we are obviously looking at thewhole range of topics from growingrice in the deltas to looking atroot physiology, for example, or

Held every 4 years, the International Rice Congress brings together the brightest minds to discuss

the latest scientic ndings, industry trends, and changes in the marketplace

from climate-ready rice to real-time satellite mapping and remotesensing, said Mike Jackson, sciencechair of IRC2014.

The IRC2014 organizing teamwants to be quite innovative. Eachmorning and afternoon, there will bea plenary lecture given by speakerswho are not necessarily rice scientists.

We have invited severalspeakers who will bring new

Jackson. We want to encourage theparticipation of rice researchers andexperts everywhere, especially youngrice scientists, and give everybody achance to have their work presented.

Most rice researchers or graduatestudents for MS or PhD degreesworking in a relevant rice researchdiscipline under the age of 35are considered to beyoung ricescientists.

They should think seriously

about presenting their work atIRC2014, added Dr. Jackson. Theynever know; theirs might be selected

for the oral program. If not, theycan always present a poster.

However, those below 35years of age who received theirPhD degree before 1 January2012 will not be consideredin this category. Well, itspossible that someone likethis could be already on

their second postdoctoralfellowship, and wed like to eventhe opportunities somewhat,

explained Dr. Jackson.The Call for Papers and Posters-

Submission of Abstractswill beginin mid-January once the IRC2014website has been launched. For oralpresentations, young rice scientistsmust be thelead author. All abstractsfor oral presentations will be selectedon merit, and, if their abstracts arechosen, each young rice scientist

will receivea travel grant and freeregistration.

This is a huge event, stated Dr.Jackson. Imagine it as an excellentnetworking opportunity. There willbe more than 200 oral papers andperhaps as many as 800 or moreposters.

Interested parties can visit theIRC2014 website (hp://ricecongress.com/) for further announcements andthe latest information.

perspectives on agriculturaldevelopment issues relevant to ricescience, Dr. Jackson added.

We also want to add a great dealof value by carefully identifying the

best speakers, said Dr. Tolentino.They must have the necessaryexpertise, practical experience, andthe ability to engage audiences in aninteresting way.

Open invitation to youngscientistsWe are in the process of buildinga program that is broad in its scope,scientically very strong, andinteresting in its detail, said Dr.



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10 Rice TodayJanuary-March 201410 Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014

WONDER WOMEN. Officials ofthe Department of Agricultureof Sri Lanka strike a pose duringthe 17th Annual Meeting of theCouncil for Partnership on RiceResearch in Asia, co-hosted byIRRI at Hotel Thilanka, Kandy, SriLanka. These women provide thecouncil with a strong intellectualand political voice in influencingon important research and policyissues affecting the livelihoods ofrice farmers and consumers in thecountry.

IN THE company of twin giants. Sharlene Santos-Peralta, IRRIpublic relations staff, and Rice Todayare framed by the famedPetronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. At more than 450 metershigh, they are the tallest twin buildings in the world and a

symbol of Malaysias pride.

RICE BREEDERS taking a breather. Dr. Moussa Si, Africa Rice Breeding Task Force coordinator,and Dr. Iliyath Bello, rice breeder at the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin,stop by the Grotto of Our Lady of Arigbo. Built in 1954, after an apparition of the Virgin Mary,it has since become an important place of pilgrimage in Benin.

R.

RAMAN,

AF

RICARICE

BENPAMATMAT


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Ingredients

50 grams rice

1 cup water (for cooking rice)

3 cinnamon sticks

4 tablespoons sugar

1 liter water

150 grams of sliced pineapple, starfruit, or

any preferred fruit

Directions:

Cook rice in 1 cup of water. Add cinnamon

sticks for flavor.

When cooked, remove the cinnamon sticks

and put the rice in a blender.

Add sugar and 1 liter of water.

Blend until smooth.

To serve, put ice cubes in a glass and add

a few pieces of pineapple. Pour the rice

beverage over the ice cubes and pineapple.

Garnish with sliced starfruit.

Note:

Flavors can be combined with aromatic

herbs or different fruits. The most important

ingredient is rice.

Serves 4.

asato de arroz or freshrice beverageis acreamy, refreshingbeverage enjoyed

throughout Latin America. The drinkoriginated on the eastern plains ofColombia. Its original recipe has riceand sugar only. There, it is served atany time as a thirst quencher becauseof the relentless hot weather. To adda tropical touch, we usually usefruits such as pineapple and starfruitas garnish. We also serve it duringestas or any festivities and normallyin our homes, using a dierent fruiteach time.

This drink is best served with

cookies and breads. In Colombia,it is usually served with mantecada(Colombian corn bread) or almojbanas(Colombian cheese bread), amongother breads.

This recipe was submitted by the Latin

American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR),

which was established on 16 January 1995.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of various

rice producers associations from Brazil,

Colombia, Venezuela, and the International

Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

FLAR comprises a heterogeneousgroup of associations from both the private

and the public sectors, from Argentina,

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica,

Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras,

Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican

Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela, and CIAT.

FLARs team like to prepare Masato de

Watch Johanna Loaiza, a CIAT staff member, demonstrate how to prepare this delicious rice beverage in

a 3-minute video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/oQYNwhFw-9c.

Colombian freshrice beverage

M

arrozwhen they have special events

such as CIATs field day or Rice Research

Program field day, or when they are visiting

their colleagues in the eastern plains of

Colombia.

Whats cooking?


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For years, the entomologists atVietnams Southern RegionalPlant Protection Center inLong Dinh had tried to sell rice

farmers on the benets of reducingpesticide useto lile eect. So, in2001, they took a dierent tack: theychallenged 950 farmers to try forthemselves.

In one plot, the farmers grewrice using their usual amountsof seed and fertilizer, spraying

insecticide whenever they thoughtit was neededwhich was often.In a nearby plot, they didnt sprayat all for 40 days after planting andused less seed and fertilizer as well.To the farmers surprise, the yieldfrom the experimental elds wasas good or beer, while costs werelower, generating 810% more netincome. From then on, they wereconvinced, recalls Ho Van Chien, whocollaborated on the project.

The exercise, designed withcolleagues at the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) in LosBaos, Philippines, was the rststep in a campaign that Dr. Chiensays has led Mekong Delta farmersto cut insecticide spraying from vetimes per crop cycle to onceor evennone at all. Experts are now tryingto replicate that success throughoutSoutheast Asia.

Thanks to misunderstandings

about pest control and heavymarketing, Asias pesticide usehas skyrocketed in recent decades.Pesticide imports by 11 SoutheastAsian countries grew nearlysevenfold in value between 1990and 2010, according to Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)statistics, with disastrous results.Overuse indiscriminately kills

benecial as well as harmful insects,and decimates bird and amphibian

populations. Pesticides are alsosuspected of harming human healthand are a common means for ruralAsians to commit suicide.

Ironically, the main target ofthis chemical warfare, the brownplanthopper (Nilaparvata lugens), has

become increasingly resistant to it.Over the past 5 years, planthopperoutbreaks have devastated riceharvests throughout Asiabutnot in the Mekong Delta, says K.L.

Heong, an IRRI insect ecologist.Thanks to the more judicious use ofchemicals, natural predators helpedkeep planthoppers in Vietnam incheck (see Reducing pesticide use in

Asia's rice feldson pages 1415).

Clean as a swimming poolThe Green Revolution of the 1960sand 70s introduced sturdier plantsthat could support heavier grainloads resulting from intensive

Vietnam turns back a

TSUNAMI OF PESTICIDESConvincing Vietnamese rice farmers to use less pesticide

came down to letting them see the benefits for themselves

byDennis Normile

HOVANCHIEN


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fertilizer use. Rice production in Asiamore than doubled. But, it left farmers

believing more is beerwhether itsseed, fertilizer, or pesticides.

Rice farmers became accustomedto spraying soon after planting, whenthey rst saw signs of the leaolder,which appears early in the crop cycle.

That bug causes only supercialdamage that doesnt reduce yield.Worse, early spraying also takesout the frogs, spiders, wasps, anddragonies that prey on thebrown planthopper, whicharrives later and is far moredangerous. Instead of landingin a sea of sharks, planthoppersnd something as clean as aswimming pool, Dr. Heong says.Whats more, tests have shownthat killing planthoppers now

takes pesticide doses 500 timesgreater than in the past. Moreand more planthoppers surviveto suck sap from the young riceplants, causing them to wither.

As early as the 1980s, IRRIand the FAO convinced someSoutheast Asian governmentsthat, with integrated pestmanagement (IPM), naturalpredators could controlplanthopppers. In 1986, Indonesia

banned 57 pesticides andcompletely stopped subsidizingtheir use. But, progress wasreversed in the 2000s, whengrowing production capacity,particularly in China, unleashed atsunami of pesticides, says FAOentomologist Peter Kenmore. Evensome in the agrochemical industryconcur. We all agree that, inVietnam, farmers have overappliedpesticides in some productionenvironments, says Kee Fui Kon,

who oversees rice-related R&D at theSwiss agrochemical giant Syngenta.

Radio soap operaIn Vietnam, the Mekong Delta trialhelped change conventional wisdomamong farmers and agriculturalocials. The study led to the threereductions, three gains campaign, toconvince farmers that cuing the useof seed, fertilizer, and pesticide would

boost yield, quality, and income. Word

was spread through posters, leaets,TV commercials, and a serializedradio soap opera, broadcast in 2004,that featured a rice farmer whogradually became convinced of the

benets of IPM. It didnt hurt that a2006 planthopper outbreak hit farmersusing insecticides harder than those

who didnt.Recently, the Plant Protection

Center and IRRI have also beenencouraging farmers to grow owers,

okra, and beans on the banksof paddies, instead of strippingvegetation, as was typical. The plantsaract bees and a tiny wasp thatparasitizes planthopper eggs, whilethe vegetables diversify farm income.Dr. Chien says that few MekongDelta farmers now routinely useinsecticides, though many still use

fungicides.I think that there are signs

that things have gone prey well inVietnam recently, Dr. Kenmore says.Other experts are reserving judgment.I take the reports [of reducedinsecticide use] at face value, but asa scientist I would like to see data,says agroecologist Steve Wraen ofLincoln University in Canterbury,New Zealand. Geo Gurr of CharlesSturt University, Orange, in Australia,

who collaborates with Dr. Heongand Dr. Chien, says that they arenow crunching data from studieson pesticide use and the eects ofplanting owers and vegetables; apaper will be ready soon.

Syngentas Dr. Kon says thatinsecticides still have a role to play,

especially those targeting other pests,such as stem borers and the larvae ofseveral moth species that feed on riceplants. The companys internal data

show that yield gains of 21% canbe achieved with proper use ofpesticides, he says.

Other countries are takingnote of Vietnams approach.In 2010 and 2011, massiveplanthopper outbreaks hit400,000 hectares of Thai riceelds, causing losses of about

US$64 million. Were startingto increase the awareness thatfarmers are losing a lot becauseof the misuse of pesticides, saysKukiat Soitong, an extensionspecialist with the Thai Ministryof Agriculture and Cooperatives.The Thai government is nowpushing the no spray in the rst40 days approach.

All of these initiatives, Dr.Heong says, have to overcome

very powerful marketingforces, such as bundlingpesticides in packages withseeds and fertilizer, oering

incentives for volume purchases,and hyping the benets. Here,too, Vietnam is taking action. Aproposed law calls for licensingpesticide dealers and governmentapproval of advertisements toprevent exaggerated claims. FAO pestmanagement expert Kevin Gallagherthinks that such regulation is needed

in the region. Farmers everywhereare inuenced by advertisements, hesays. There is a lot of misinformationeverywhere, all the time.

Mr. Normille is a contributingcorrespondent for Science.

This edited version of the article isreprinted with permission from Sciencemagazine and the author and should notbe reproduced without permission.

SYLVIA VILLAREAL

SPRAYING INSECTICIDES also kills

beneficial insects and other organismsthat help control rice pests.


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Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014

For more than 25 years, KongLuen K.L. Heong workedat the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) as

entomologist, trekking acrosssia to visit farmers and help them

mprove the management of ricests, thus reducing their cropsses. This IRRI principal scientist,ntil his retirement in late 2013,as responsible for research onthropod ecology and integratedst management (IPM). Henducted pioneering researchee The pesticide paradoxon pages-33 of Rice TodayVol. 7, No. 1)d won many awards, includinge 2006 T hird World Academyr Science Prize for Agriculture,r furthering IPM concepts and

ushing for greater understandingpest problems in rice among

rmers, extension personnel, andvernments alike. However, held the following anecdote durings recent pioneer interview to

mphasize that there is still muchore to do.

ucky farmer will still sprayext seasonn Thailand, I went to observeoutbreak in farmers elds of

e brown planthopper (BPH), thesidious insect pest that continuesdevastate rice harvests across Asia.

one village, a farmer experiencederious yield loss due to the BPHhile his neighbor just across thead had a good crop with virtually

o BPH infestation. Talking to boththem, I discovered that theyed the sa me variety, planted itthe same time, and applied theme fertilizer. What did they doerently? The farmer who suerede crop loss said proudly that he hadrayed eight times, but he still could

Reducing pesticide use in Asias rice fields:

the job is far from finished

not control the pest. His neighborwas almost too shy to tell me thathe actually didnt spray anythingbecause he had been in the cityand had just returned. So, I askedthe farmer who did not spray, whatlesson had he learned? He replied,I was just lucky; next season, I willdenitely spray.

Dr. Heong pointed out thatfarmers such as these are stuck ina broken system. They are reallyvictimspaying for pesticides thatthey dont need; yet, in the end,their crop is still severely damagedif not destroyed. They have no ideawhat happened to them! Sadly,this scenario is repeated too manytimes across Asia. There have beensuccesses in reducing pesticideapplications, especially in Vietnam(see Vietnam turns back a tsunami ofpesticideson pages 12-13). Here, theThree Reductions, Three Gainscampaign and radio soap operashave successfully helped change theconventional wisdom on pesticideuse among farmers and agriculturalocials. However, the pressure onfarmers to use pesticides continues tobe relentless.

New false reasons to spray:hybrid rice and climate changeMany farmers tend to rememberthe last thing they hear from anyone

with a convincing story, such as apesticide salesman, said Dr. Heong.For example, I have found farmerswho, after they had undergone16 weeks of training on how tomanage their crops without sprayingpesticides, started spraying againonly 2 months later! When I askedone farmer why, he s aid, Sir, wevebeen told that, since we are nowplanting hybrid rice, it is susceptibleto pests and we must spray ve

times. So, all those weeks of trainingwere wiped away by a wily salesmanwho told the farmers that hybridrice is somehow pest susceptible.Of course, it is not, but that doesntmaer.

Another tall tale: pesticidepushers are warning farmers thatclimate change is here and, with it,new pests are arriving on the scene,

which require insecticides to controlthem.

When an insecticide might beeffectiveDr. Heong said that an insecticide canbe eective only if the right chemicalis applied with the r ight equipmentat the right time and targeted to theright pest.

Otherwise, he said, it iseither completely wasted or, worse,

it may actually cause more trouble,such as creating a predator-freeenvironment in which the BPH canwreak its havoc on the rice crop. Inthe early stage of the crop (the rst40 days), chemical applications areabsolutely unnecessary. Towardthe later stage of the crop, theremight be an occasion during whicha eld is invaded by a pest f rom

an external source. A farmer thenmight eectively apply one, just one,targeted spraying to control such apest.

Myanmar: perhaps taking adifferent pathIn November 2013, just a few weeksbefore his retirement, Dr. Heongand his team went to Myanmar toconduct a symposium on ecologicalengineering in rice. The BPH

threat in Myanmar is real becauseits next door to Thailand, wherethe pest is a serious problem rightnow, he explained. The good thingabout this Southeast Asian nation,which has the potential to reclaimits title as a major rice exporter ifnot the top exporter in the next10 to 20 years, is that most of itsfarmers spray very lile becausethey have, up to now, been unable toobtain insecticides. However, withMyanmar opening up economically,many pesticide companies are, Iwould say, invading the country.These companies are queuing up atthe Department of Agriculture dailyto get their products registered.

This sudden inux of insecticidescoming into Myanmar couldpossibly make farmers start usingchemicals heavilyespecially ifthe countrys existing pesticidelaws and regulations are not wellsecured and implemented. If thishappens, the BPH will become avery serious threat, Dr. Heongpredicted. So, the symposium aimedto inuence the pathway of how pestmanagement in the country is tobe practiced, hopefully preservingecosystem services (i.e., predatorsand natural enemies of the pests)rather than relying on the pesticidetrap and addiction that has befallenmany farmers of Myanmars Asian

neighbors.Since insecticide resistance in rice

planthoppers is developing rapidly,Dr. Heong even rushed the printingof the greatly updated second editionof his book, Research methods intoxicology and insecticide resistance inmonitoring of rice planthoppers(seethe Book section on page 8) to haveit available during the symposium.We want to get to Myanma farmersand policymakers before the pesticide

THE IRRI PI

INTERVI

ConducteGene He

companies do, he said. IRRin a position to help Myanmbuild a dierent path towardsustainable pest managementhan the direction taken by ineighbor countries in the rsRevolution. Although it will challenge to stay a step aheadpesticide merchants, it will afascinating to follow this casin the making.

A quest after retirementAlthough Dr. Heong has retifrom IRRI, he will be pursuinpersonal quest over the nextI will focus on designing gostructures in countries such Myanmar, Vietnam, ThailanIndonesia, and others that wscientic technologiesbe thresistant varieties or new pramore sustainable and viable face of how pesticide compancleverly market their produche said. Although pesticideindeed a pest management topractice tends to overshadowthe other technologies that cafarmers.

Science and other logicamethods cannot compete wipesticide marketers unless ththat regulate these chemicalsenforced. Unfortunately, mocountries dont have the gov

structure required to do so,concluded Dr. Heong. I hopchange that.

To view some video clips f rom DHeong's Pioneer Interview, go tirri.org/ricetoday.

Gene Heel is a senior science e

historian at IRRI.

PLANTHOPPER OUTBREAKS, such as this one inIndonesia, can be triggered by high dependenceon or misuse of insecticides. Such a scenario iscertainly a threat to sustainable rice production.

IRRI


15/39


Soe Moe Kyaws family wasshing in a dierent villagewhen Cyclone Nargisdevastated their township in

2008. The result was grim. He losthis wife and child, and several of his

relatives. After this tragic loss, theremaining members of his familyabandoned shing and turned to ricefarming, vowing to always be closeto their homes and loved ones in caseanother catastrophe strikes.

However, their village in LabuaTownship is near the AyeyarwaddyRiver. During the summer, the waterof the river is so low that watersfrom the sea intrude into the riverand the water becomes brackishand unsuitable for growing crops.

Rice crops in the village could neversurvive during the summer. Mr.Kyaw and other farmers in somevillages in the lower AyeyarwaddyDelta can plant only one rice crop ayear because of the high salt contentin the soil. To make maers worse,the traditional rice varieties theycultivate not only produce low yieldsbut also take longer before they canbe harvested. As a result of theseconditions, farmers usually harvest

byTrina Leah Mendoza

an average of only 2.8 tons perhectare, compared with the 4.2 tonsper hectare in more favorable areas.

Taking charge of their livesReplacing the rice varieties they

plant is one solution available toMr. Kyaw and his fellow farmers.But, in the past, the choices wereusually limited to a few varieties thatwere introduced each year by seedcompanies and government agencies.Most of these were developedthrough conventional breedingprograms and tested at researchstations, which do not representfarmers elds. Although varietalrelease systems prioritize some traits,farmers often look for other traits

when choosing varieties.The International Rice Research

Institute (IRRI) has been workingwith Myanmars Department ofAgricultural Research (DAR),Department of Agriculture, andnongovernment organizations ledby Welthungerhilfe, Mercy Corps,and GRET to provide new optionsfor rice production along the coastalareas of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta.Funded by the United Nations Oce

for Project Services, the Livelihoodand Food Security Trust Fund Projectaims to improve food securityand livelihoods of rice-producinghouseholds, particularly in Labua,Bogale, and Mawlamyinegyun

townships.The 3-year project introducedfarmers participatory varietalselection (PVS) of high-yieldingvarieties for favorable areas andstress-tolerant varieties for salt- andood-prone areas.

Grain yield is not the onlycriterion for selecting rice varieties;we also consider other factors such as

Sowing

theirchoices

A project in Myanmar is giving farmers a

say on what they want in a rice variety

SOE MOE Kyaw, a farmer from Kant Ba Lar Village,Labutta Township, shares his experiences and newknowledge after joining the participatory varietalselection.

T

RINAMENDOZA

ROMEOLABIOS(2)

FARMERS ALSO check the taste when choosingtheir preferred salinity-tolerant variety.


16/39


the results of grain quality preferenceanalysis and sensory evaluation ofPVS, explains Dr. Glenn Gregorio,deputy head of IRRIs Plant Breeding,Genetics, and Biotechnology Division.

Farmers choiceFifteen ood-prone and 12 salt-tolerant high-yielding rice varieties,as well as those that yield well infavorable conditions, were evaluatedin researcher-managed elds andcompared with the farmers variety atsix sites during the 2012 wet season,and at 15 sites during the 2013 dryseason. A total of 181 farmers joinedthe PVS preference analysis training

in the 2012 wet season. And, in the2013 dry season, 134 farmers joined asimilar activity.

The eating and cookingqualities of the four or ve mostpreferred varieties selected fromeld performance were then sensoryevaluated by 126 farmers in the 2012wet season and by 123 farmers in the2013 dry season. Notably, a quarterto more than half of the farmers whoparticipated in each of these activitieswere women.

PVS is useful for us because wecan now change our old traditionalvarieties for new ones that are higher-yielding or resistant to pests anddiseases and tolerant of stress, saysSoe Oo, a 51-year-old farmer fromMin Kone Village.

At ve of the six sites during the2012 wet season, Saltol Sin Thwe Lawas the consistent choice of farmersbecause of its good taste, color, gloss,softness, and cohesiveness, explains

Romeo Labios, IRRIs PVS consultantin Myanmar. At all sites, Saltol SinThwe La and Swe Ta Soke had thehighest average yield3.9 tons perhectare.

Based on yield and sensoryevaluation during the 2012-13 dryseason, ve rice entries produced thebest yield, ranging from 3.3 to 4.1tons per hectare. These are IR10T 107,IR10T 108, IR10T 109, IR10T 111, andCSR 36.

The seeds of these varieties arebeing multiplied at DAR in Yezin forthe large-scale farmer-managed trialsin the 2013-14 dry season, says Dr.R.K. Singh, IRRIs senior scientist who

is leading the varietal improvementprogram in Myanmar. Farmers willreceive 5 to 10 kilograms of seedsfrom three selected new varietiesto be planted in larger plots in theirelds. To sustain the availability ofgood-quality seeds in the community,selected farmerswill produce seedson their farms withtechnical guidancefrom our projectsta.

Knowledge flowsAside fromdiscovering newvarieties, the farmersalso learned beerpractices for growingtheir crop, suchas direct seeding,proper fertilizer, andweed and herbicidemanagement,

through PVS trials.This newknowledge brings changes in oldtraditions and farmer practices inrice cultivation.

I learned how to grow salt-tolerant varieties, says Mr. Kyaw.For our crops to avoid the harshsalt waters in March and April, we

need to plant in December insteadof Januaryone month earlier. If ourplot is successful, it will be good forthe whole region.

This will ensure that theirpreferred salt-tolerant varieties willbe harvested before the salinityof the river becomes too high,explains Madonna Casimero, IRRIsrepresentative to Myanmar. She andDr. Labios believe that adjusting thecropping calendar will allow farmersto plant another crop, one that is

more suitable than rice during thedry season. This will help them earnmore income.

The benets of PVS trials havespread to neighboring villages andimproved the food security andlivelihood of farmers through higher-yielding and stress-tolerant ricevarieties of their choice. Best of all,Mr. Kyaw and many other farmerswho used to struggle with makingends meet no longer have to leave

their loved ones behind in search of abeer life.

Ms. Mendoza is a senior communicationspecialist with the Irrigated Rice ResearchConsortium at IRRI.

SANAYLINNTUN

WOMEN FARMERS from Labutta Township in Myanmar evaluate and selecttheir most preferred varieties.

FARMERS VOTES on their most preferred varieties are tallied.


17/39


In typical Philippine villages,rice grains spread out on openbasketball courts or even on

roads to sun-dry were a familiarscene for Ana Salvatierra, anagricultural engineer and researcherfrom the University of Hohenheim(UHOH) in Germany.

Sun drying is the most commondrying method in the country, andalso in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,and India, among other tropicalcountries, because it is cheap. It usesthe sun as the heat source. But, it islaborious and unreliable. Farmersneed to mix the grains at least every

half hour for even drying. Theyneed to cover the grains when thesun is too hot to minimize crackingfrom overheating and constantlykeep animals away from the grains.Obviously, overcast skies extend thedrying period. And, when it rains,farmers hurriedly collect the grains toavoid geing them wet.

Engr. Salvatierra believed thatthe constant threat of rain made thetraditional practice of sun-drying

A low-cost solar bubble dryer has been developed to help

farmers dry their rice eciently.

grains a terrible waste of farmershard work.

Certainly the quality of the grains

decreases and postharvest lossescould increase around 20% or evenmore, Engr. Salvatierra laments.

Building bubblesMeanwhile, Tom de Bruin, presidentof GrainPro Inc., a long-timecollaborator with the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI) andmanufacturer of IRRI Super Bags,was searching for other ways touse the sturdy polyethylene plasticmaterial of the Super Bags.

Martin Gummert, head of theIRRI Postharvest Unit, supportedthe idea of repurposing the plasticto build dryers for rice grains. Engr.Gummert and GrainPro sought thetechnical expertise of researchersfrom UHOH in solar drying. Theproject, Development and optimizationof a solar greenhouse dryer for dryingrice, was funded by the FederalMinistry for Economic Cooperationand Development (BMZ), German

International Cooperation (GIZ).Engr. Salvatierra became the leadproject researcher. With IRRI as

coordinator, UHOH, GrainPro, andlocal country partners were ableto work together and accumulateknowledge for the project.

Field testing for a 1-ton-capacitydryer started during the dry seasonin 2011. The dryer design underwentmany changes throughout its testingphase in the Philippines. The rstprototype had a chimney and steelpipes that held up the plastic sheetroof over the rice grains. Technicianswho set up the dryer found it dicult

to pull the plastic sheet over the steelpipes. The chimney was not veryecient in drawing air through thedrying tunnel and it also toppled dueto strong rains and wind.

We recorded our observationsand collected data, says Engr.Salvatierra. Then, we modied thedesign of the solar bubble dryer basedon the results from our eld tests.

Then the idea for a simple designcame in 2012. It is made of two plastic

The bubble that driesbyRona Nia Mae Rojas-Azucena

THE AIR pressure from the ventilatorsholds up the polyethylene plastic sheetover the rice grains.

ANA

SALVATIERRA

(2)


18/39


sheets, a black one at the boomwhere the grains are placed and atransparent one as roong. Bothsheets are connected by a zipper.It's called the solar bubble dryer (orSBD)solar" because of the ambienttemperature that provided heat fromthe sun for the dryer, and "bubble"

because of the dome-like shape of thepolyethylene plastic roof when set up.

The solar bubble dryer wasevaluated for drying eciency andgrain quality.

Initial results looked promisingand partial data were presentedduring the Global Rice SciencePartnership conference held at IRRIin October 2013.

Domes of heatThe current design now has two

ventilators, in lieu of the steel pipes,placed at the air inlet at one endof the dryer to inate and holdup the polyethylene plastic sheet,thus providing the dome shape.The volume and air pressureare calculated so the dryer wontcollapseeven if it rains, explainsEngr. Salvatierra.

The ventilators also move theair inside the dryer, ensuring ahomogenous distribution of heat

and reducing the moisture content.

The drying air leaves the dryer atthe other end through an adjustableoutlet.

Computer software from UHOHwas also used to simulate the airowinside the dryer to study the dryersperformance and to further optimizeits design, to help overcome budget

and weather restrictions.On a typical sunny day, the

surface of the grains heats up somuch that users need to increase thefrequency of mixing the grains. Oneof the features of the solar bubbledesign is a rolling bar underneaththe dryer for mixing the grains. Ittakes only two persons to pull thehandles of the bar and roll it downthe whole length of the contraptionto mix the grains inside. The rollerhas an additional gadget aached to

it that enables it to mix grains moreeciently and evenly.

This low-maintenance,environment-friendly, hassle-free, andportable dryer also uses materialsthat are locally available, makingit economical to build. Introducinga low-cost drying solution into themarket is an important aspect thatcould encourage intended userssmall farmers, in this caseto adoptthe technology, according to Engr.

Salvatierra.

Engr. Gummert believes thatafter many aempts with morecomplex designs a low-cost dryer forfarmers might now become a reality.Yet, even at this stage, because of thepositive feedback from the 1-ton-capacity solar bubble dryer, someprivate millers from other countries

have requested units that canaccommodate 4 to 5 tons of grain.

Fast experimentsThe development of the solar bubbledryer was fast because of IRRIspartnership with a private company,says Engr. Salvatierra. GrainPro waswilling to invest in a product theybelieved would further help smallfarmers.

Engr. Salvatierra welcomesthe challenge of conducting fast

experiments under dierentenvironmental conditions as thesecond phase of the project isunderway. She says that more testswill take place in other regions of thePhilippines. IRRIs partners in othercountries (Myanmar, Vietnam, andCambodia) are also being tapped totest the dryer, whereas GrainProspartners are testing the solar bubbledryer for commodities such as coeeand maize.

The research team has also lookedinto using solar panels to providepower to the baery of the ventilators.This enables operation of the dryer inareas where no electricity is available.Typically, a well-loaded baery canrun up to 48 hours when chargedby solar power, enough to cover adrying time of 23 days under rainyconditions, when traditional sundrying is not an option. When notused for drying, the solar panels canbe used to produce electricity for other

purposes, an additional feature forvillages without a grid connection.

It is a maer of adaptingdierent engineering techniques ina technology, Engr. Salvatierra says.And technology, such as the solarbubble dryer, was adapted to theneeds of the farmerscome rain orshine.

Ms. Azucena is a communicationspecialist at IRRI.

THE NAME solar bubble dryer comes from the useof ambient heat from the sun and the bubble-likeformation of the plastic sheet.


19/39


Southeast Asia is the hub ofthe worlds rice economy. Asa region, it has been a netexporter of rice for most of the

past 110 years (the exception beingsome years between 1967 and 1978). Itcontains two of the worlds top threeexporters, but also two countriesthat, from time to t ime, have each

been the largest rice importer in theworld. Why are some countries inthis region self-sucient in rice whileothers are not?

Rice exporters vs. importersSelf-suciency is achieved whenproduction exceeds consumption, solower rice consumption should givea country a head start in achievingrice self-suciency. Yet, people in thetraditional rice-importing countries

(Indonesia, the Philippines, andMalaysia) eat less rice.On the supply side, each

exporting country in SoutheastAsia (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar,Cambodia, and Lao PDR) has moreproduction per person than each ofthe three rice-importing countries.But, surprisingly, the reason forhigher per capita production in theexporters is not higher yield. Infact, the importing countries havehigher overall yield than do the

exporting countries, because a higherpercentage of rice land is irrigated inthe importing countries. Rather, theexporting countries have much morerice area per person.

In theory, the reasons why theexporting countries might have morerice area per person could be thattheir land is more suited to growingrice (as opposed to other crops),cropping intensity (the number ofcrops planted per unit of agricultural

Why are some countries in Southeast Asia self-sucient in rice but others not?

area) is greater, more land is used foragriculture, or more land is availableper person (low population density).

Empirically, the proportionof total crop land devoted to rice,which is a measure of the suitabilityof land for growing rice, explainsrice production per person acrosscountries almost perfectly (the R2of

a simple linear regression is 0.92; seeFig. 1). Thus, the importers are all tothe lower left of the gure, while theexporters are to the upper right.

Other variables are lessimportant. For example, the amountof land available per person is similarfor many pairs of importers andexporters: in Indonesia and Thailand(0.76 and 0.74 hectare per person,respectively), in the Philippines andVietnam (0.33 and 0.36 hectare per

person, respectively), and in Malaysiaand Myanmar (1.18 and 1.37 hectaresper person, respectively).

The geography of rice productionA common feature of the ve rice-exporting countries (in the upperright of Fig. 1) is that they are all onthe Southeast Asian mainland, whilethe countries to the lower left areislands or peninsulas. Why mightlocation make a dierence to net tradestatus? Well, the countries on the

mainland have dominant river deltasthat provide ample water and atlands, which make it easier to controlthe water. Such an environment issuitable for cultivating rice.

The importance of geographycan also be seen at subnationallevels: southern Thailand, a narrowpeninsula, produces insucient rice tofeed its population and must importfrom the rest of Thailand, whileCentral Luzon in the Philippines, fed

by the Pampanga River, producesmore than enough rice for its ownneeds and exports rice to Manila.

600

500

400

300

200

100

00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Kilograms of paddy per person

Percentage of total crop area harvested to rice

y = 774.33x 8.1522R

2= 0.92

Mainlandexporters

Thailand

Lao PDRCambodia

Vietnam

Myanmar

Indonesia

Philippines

Malaysia

Island/peninsular

importers

Fig. 1. Rice production per person versus share of crop area devoted to rice, ASEAN countries.

Rice self-sufficiency:

byDavid Dawe

A question of geography?


20/39


Other key rice importers in Asiaare also islands or peninsulas: Japan,Korea, and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh isthe exception that proves the rule. It islocated on the mainland and devotesa large share of its crop area to rice,but the country is a small net riceimporter because of its extraordinarilyhigh population density, more thantriple that of the Philippines, (whichhas the highest density of the eightcountries studied here).

Thus, in terms of achieving riceself-suciency, island countrieshave a natural disadvantage. Less oftheir land is suited to growing rice.As a result, they cannot compete atthe margin with the mainland riceexporters. On the best land, operating

Fig. 2b. Net trade status, consistent rice exporters, 1904-2010.Source of raw data: Rose (1985)

1; FAOSTAT, 2013; USDA, 2013.

Percentage

Year

20

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

50

70

80

Myanmar Thailand Indochina

1904

1908

1912

1916

1920

1924

1928

1932

1936

1940

1940

1948

1952

1954

1960

1964

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2004

2008

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

10

Percentage

Year1904

1908

1912

1916

1920

1924

1928

1932

1936

Indonesia Philippines Malaysia

1940

1940

1948

1952

1954

1960

1964

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2004

2008

Fig. 2a. Net trade status, consistent rice importers, 1904-2010.

with the best technology, farmersin dierent countries are similar.But, the importing countries simplyhave less of that land than do theexporting countries.

In addition to this geographicpaern is a consistent temporalpaern. Malaysia, Indonesia, and thePhilippines have been importing ricefor more than a century, while theother countries have been exportingfor most of that time (Fig. 2a and 2b).Of course, some exceptions exist forboth groups, but these exceptionswere due to revolutionary events.

The Philippines and Indonesiaboth became self-sucient for a timein the 1980s, and even exported smallamounts of rice. This achievement

was due to the Green Revolutionpackage of high-yielding varieties,irrigation, and fertilizer, which wasadopted earlier in these two countriesthan in the exporting countries. Onthe exporters side, Vietnam wasa rice importer in the 1960s, 70s,and 80s due to the war and highlyrepressive farm policies.

Strategy for rice importersShould the rice-importing countriestry to mimic the exporting countriesand increase the proportion ofcropped area devoted to rice? Theproblem with such a strategy is thatthere is a very good reason why fewerfarmers grow rice in the importingcountries, namely, other crops aremore protable. Forcing farmers togrow rice will reduce their income,

which will work against householdfood security.Thus, rice importers face a trade-

o between national self-suciency(which is often equated with nationalfood security) and household foodsecurity. The policy of restrictingimports to achieve national self-suciency and reduce reliance onthe world market raises domesticprices, which reduces household foodsecurity because most of the poor haveto buy their rice in markets and are

hurt by higher prices. Higher domesticprices also result in other costs, suchas reduced farm diversication, poorernutrition, and less competitiveness inother sectors of the economy. Thesecosts should be considered in thedesign of national policies.

Note: Values shown are lagged ve-yearmoving averages in order to smoothuctuations. When imports exceedexports (+), net trade status is expressedas a percentage of consumption. Whenexports exceed imports (), net tradestatus is expressed as a percentage ofproduction. This convention avoidsreporting values greater than 100% (inabsolute value). Gaps indicate missingvalues.

Dr. Dawe is a senior economist in theAgricultural Development EconomicsDivision of the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations.1Rose B. 1985. Appendix to the Rice Economy of Asia, Resources for the Future. Washington DC. 404 pp.


21/39

Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014odayJanuary-March 2014, Vol. 13, No. 1

Readyfor transplanting.Carryingthe seedlings of anheirloom rice variety Balatinow for transplanting,a youngfarmer of the Kankanaey tribe,in the Cordillera regionin northernPhilippine

bundof the rice terraces.The rice terraces were hand-carvedout of the mountainslopes by his ancestors 2,000years ago. (This photoby Dave Leprozo,Jr., publishedin the Manila Standardon1

"Agriculture Photoof the Year" prize duringthe 7th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards.)


22/39


23/39

26 Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014Rice TodayJanuary-March 201426

Once upon a time, about1,700 years ago, there wasa girl named Shimchung.Unfortunately, her mother

passed away while giving birth toher.

Shimchungs father, who wasblind, was forced to beg for milk fromthe mothers around the village to

keep his infant daughter alive.The people in the village tookpity on Shimchung and her fatherso they gave them food to survive.When Shimchung was older, she wasgiven some menial tasks so she couldearn a living. She took care of herblind father from the time she was alile girl.

Shimchungs

offeringThis tale from Korea is about a

daughter who will do everything for

her father, whatever the cost may be

Retold and illustrated by

Jeehyoung Shim-Chin

Rice fables: Korea


24/39

27Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014 27Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014

One day, a Buddhist monk froma nearby temple told Shimchungthat an oering of 300 sukof rice toBuddha could restore her fatherssight. Unfortunately, this was toomuch for Shimchung because 300 sukof rice is about 43 tons!

Then Shimchung heard thatsome merchants were looking for animmaculate virgin to sacrice to theYongwang, the god who rules thewater (rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, andwater creatures), to keep their voyagesafe as they sail from Korea to China.Because Shimchung loved her fatherso much and desired nothing morethan to give back his sight, she soldherself to the merchants for 300 sukof rice.

Her father protestedthathe would not let her go. But,Shimchung had already made upher mind out of love and sacrice

that she was even willing to give hervery life. As Shimchung sailed withthe merchants, she could still hear herfathers dissuasion and wailing.

When the ship was somewherein the west of the sea called InDhang Soo, Shimchung and themerchants encountered a powerfulstorm and wild waves. It was time

for Shimchung to sacrice herself toYongwang. As she wished for herfathers sight to return, Shimchungthrew herself into the wild waves.Soon after, the storm disappearedand the sea became calm and gentle.

Under the sea, a turtle ledShimchung to Yongwang, whowas deeply moved by her sacriceand devotion to her father and he

decided to let her live. He wrappedShimchung in a large lotus ower,which then oated to the surface of InDhang Soo.

The wind carried the lotus owerto a far-away land.

The people found the mysteriouslarge ower and brought it to theemperor. Inside the palace, thegiant lotus ower opened to revealShimchung before the emperor. Theemperor immediately fell in love withher and decided to marry her.

After the wedding, Shimchungtold the emperor that she wantedto see her father. So, the emperorthrew a big ball at the palace for allblind people. Shimchung excitedlysearched for her father among the

guests. Finally, she heard her fathersvoice at the gate. He arrived latebecause he had helped gather all theblind people and bring them to thepalace.

She ran to him and greeted herfather, who was still blind. Her fatherwas bewildered for a moment butsoon realized it was his daughter.He hugged her while his tearsrolled on his cheeks. He touchedher face again to make sure itwas indeed Shimchung.

Shimchung also cried whenshe saw her father. When her tearstouched her fathers blind eyes, in aninstant, his sight was restored! And,for the rst time in his life, he sawthe face of Shimchung, his beautifuldaughter who was willing to sacriceher life because she loved him somuch.

Ms. Shim-Chin was a preschool teacherin South Korea. She temporarily gaveup her job in Korea to join her husband,IRRI plant breeder Joong Hyoun Chin,and her children in the Philippines. Someof her free time is devoted to painting.


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When President UThein Sein visitedthe InternationalRice Research

Institute (IRRI) headquarters inthe Philippines in December 2013,he commended the decades-longpartnership between IRRI and hiscountry.

Since 1965, IRRI has beeninvolved with researchers, extensionpersonnel, and farmers in Myanmar

in introducing rice breedingmaterial, hybrid rice technology,and locally adaptable designs of ricetransplanters and threshers. Therice variety IR8, which marked thebeginning of the Green Revolution,was introduced in Myanmar in 1967.

But, given todays challengesand opportunities that abound forthe country that could emerge as thenext major rice producer in the world,President Sein called for an even

Myanmar is all set to regain its former stature as the worlds top rice exporter

stronger partnership, seing the tonefor years of future collaboration.

Myanmar has 60 million peopleand grows rice on 7.6 million hectaresper year. The major rice-producingregions are in the delta, includingAyeyarwaddy, Bago, Yangon, andMon states. These four areas make upmore than half of the monsoon crop.The countrys major rice ecosystemsare rainfed lowland rice, deepwatersubmerged rice, irrigated lowland

rice, and rainfed upland rice.In 2011, production was

approximately 29 million tons, theseventh highest in the world, behindVietnam and Thailand.

A president and a farmerAs someone who starts his daychecking on his farm before aendingto aairs of the state, PresidentSein said that he came to IRRI aspresidentand as a farmer who

knew rsthand the problems in thecountrys rice sector.

Our country has dierenttopography and agroecologicalzones, the president said. Weneed rice varieties that respondto challenges from these dicultenvironments. He asked IRRIto develop more improved ricevarieties suitable for the unfavorableenvironments of the hilly and dryregions in the north, and the wet,

frequently ooded areas in thesouthern part of the country.

Flooding is a serious problemin Myanmar, aecting 14% of allour rice areas, said Daw Tin TinMyint, director of rice research at theMyanma Department of AgriculturalResearch. We have releasedsubmergence-tolerant Swarna-Sub1 toour farmers, but we also face anotherproblem during monsoon seasonssalinity. With the help of IRRI, we are

myanmar

risesbyMa. Lizbeth Baroa-Edra

ISAGANISERRANO

PRESIDENT U Thein Sein (right), with keygovernment officials, came to IRRI in Decembe2013 to strengthen research ties with theInstitute, here represented by Achim Dobermandeputy director general for research.


26/39


trying to develop varieties that cantackle both ooding and salinity.

IRRI in MyanmarTo date, IRRI has released 69improved rice varieties in Myanmar.Most of these are suited for rainfedand irrigated lowlands. Others arefor the upland ecosystem and areasprone to drought, deep water, andsalinity.

IRRI is also sharing bestmanagement practices to helpfarmers improve crop nutrition andproductivity, crop establishment andweed control, and rodent and water

management. Since 2006, 33 sites haveused the alternate weing and dryingtechnology to conserve irrigationwater.

IRRI has provided training tomore than 400 Myanma agriculturalscientists and extension workers.Today, these scientists hold keypositions in Myanmars agriculturalresearch agencies.

Partnerships with the privatesector have resulted in the adoption

of more than 50 IRRI-developedatbed dryers across the country.Around 7,500 farmers are benetingfrom these dryers for beer ricequality that commands higher prices.

United collaborationThe president also asked IRRI to helpMyanma rice farmers develop cropmanagement technologies that willhelp achieve higher yield.

We are self-sucient in rice, sowe export our surplus to help ourneighboring countries, he said. But,the president expressed Myanmarshope to once again become a leadingglobal player in the rice market.

IRRI, being the premier riceresearch facility in the world, andconsidering how much help thecountry has received in termsof technology, I think IRRI canreally help Myanmar, said PutuKamayana, head of the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) ExtensionMission in Myanmar. ADB workswith IRRI and Myanmar nationalpartners to promote sustainable pestmanagement, particularly in thearea of ecological engineering (see

Reducing pesticide use inAsia's ricefeldson pages 1415).

Rice is Myanmars mostimportant crop, said Nick Austinfrom the Australian Centre forInternational Agricultural Research(ACIAR). ACIAR and IRRI areworking with farmers in the countrysupper delta to help raise theirproductivity. We believe that thereare exciting research opportunities tohelp smallholder rice farmers grow

more rice and diversify into othercrops to improve their prot.

Tin Htut, director of YezinUniversity in Myanmar, and one ofthe 2010 outstanding IRRI alumi, alsobelieves IRRI can contribute a lot toMyanmars transformation.

Weve been working together

for decades, and IRRI has a lot ofsupport here in Myanmar, said Dr.Htut. Our strong relationship can begleaned from the fact that 80% of thecountrys rice areas are grown withIRRI-bred varieties.

A determined nationIn the coming months, IRRI andpartners from the Ministry ofAgriculture and Irrigation willnalize the Myanmar Rice SectorDevelopment Strategythe road

map to Myanmars plan to become aglobal player in the rice market. Thestrategy was developed in September2013 when the Myanmar governmentgathered its partners in Nay Pyi Taw,a government center about six hoursfrom Yangon.

IRRI, along with donors and na-tional agricultural agencies, discussedpoints of collaboration in mapping outa strategy to revive Myanmars ricesector, and regain its former stature

of some 50 years ago when it was theleading rice exporter in the world(1960-63). Other partners in Myanmarare the Consortium for UnfavorableRice Environments-International Fundfor Agricultural Development, ClosingRice Yield Gaps in Asia-Swiss Agencyfor Development Cooperation, theLivelihood and Food Security Trust,and the United States Agency forInternational Development in projectsled by IRRI scientists Grant Singletonand Madonna Casimero.

This strategy is built aroundsuccesses that have already beenachieved in the country, as well ascurrent and emerging problemsdue to climate change, and themanagement of diminishing naturalresources. All these point towardimproving rice farmers livelihoodand increasing their income.

Ms. Baroa-Edra is a public relationsspecialist at IRRI.

MAPBY:NELGARCIA

Naypyidaw

Myanmar

1 dot = 10,000 hectares of rice


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How will we create a beer lifeand a beer future for rice?How can we do much more,with less?These were the

questions posed by Tobias Marchand,head of the Asia Pacic region, Bayer

CropScience, to 200 rice experts andpolicymakers during the Rice FutureForum on 8-9 October in New Delhi,India.

These questions are not rhetoricalbut practical. Mr. Marchand andthe forum participants agree on theissues surrounding the rice industry.Increasing global population,rising demand for rice production,malnutrition and poverty, threats ofclimate change, limited resources(farm land, water, and labor), and

gaps in technology were the naggingissues that reverberated duringthe forum. And it was said thatunderstanding the problem is halfthe solution.

Improved technologiesIndia Agriculture Commissioner

J.S. Sandhu acknowledged the roleof the development of agriculturaltechnologies for improving thegrain industry. For the last 60 years,

Public and private institutions have come together to fnd solutions

to the challenges faced by the rice sector

Indias food grain production hasincreased from 50 million tons in1947 to 250 million tons in 2012-13which made India an exporter of foodgrains, including rice. He aributedthe increase in grain production,

particularly in the 1970s, to high-yielding varieties developed duringthe Green Revolution, and the recentadvances in research and developmentin agriculture.

For B.C. Viraktamath, projectdirector, Directorate of Rice Researchof the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR), Increasingproductivity through partnershipsin R&D is the way to go. He citedmany research programs and projectsof ICAR in partnership with the

International Rice Research Institute(IRRI), among other organizations.Examples of these projects areStress-Tolerant Rice for Africa andSouth Asia (STRASA) and the CerealSystems Initiative for South Asia(CSISA).

Hybrid rice, noted for helpingincrease production in China, is setto reach an average yield of 16 tonsper hectare there. Other technologiessuch as those of stress-tolerant rice

varieties help improve productivity inunfavorable conditions.

A five-point planBas Bouman, director of the GlobalRice Science Partnership, the CGIAR

Research Program for Rice, proposeda ve-point plan to modernizethe Asian rice sector, whichconsists of (1) land consolidation,(2) mechanization, (3) makingfarmers modern entrepreneurs, (4)strengthening the whole value chain,and (5) sustainableintensication(seeModernizing Asian rice productionon pages 32-33).

Most rice farmers are poor,Dr. Bouman pointed out. Even witha farm of 2 hectares and growing

two crops a year, many farmers earnonly US$1,2002,000 per year. Evenif their productivity is doubledincreasing their annual income to$2,4004,000it is not sucient to

bring them out of poverty.He argued that it is not a question

of whether rice farming is protableor not. Land consolidation is neededto increase the farm size of marginalfarmers, Dr. Bouman said. The farmsize of most farmers is too small for

haping the future of ricbyLanie Reyes

LANIEREYES,

IRRI


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them to aain an income above thepoverty line.

Solutions to limited resourcesDr. Bouman, among other speakers,sees hope in mechanization forsolving the problem of labor shortage

because of the migration of farm

workers to cities. Satoshi Ida, deputygeneral manager of R&D, KubotaCorporation, shared that they have

been designing farm machines tosolve the problem of insucient laborin Asia. He reported that many Asianrice farmers have been using thesemachines, thus saving on labor costand time.

Dr. J.K. Ladha, IRRI principalscientist, highlighted the challengesfacing rice systems in Asia, whichinclude shortages and untimely

availability of water and labor.Manual transplanting is highlylabor intensive and requires 2550person-days per hectare. He stressedthat rice consumes about 50% of thetotal irrigation water in Asia andon average 2,500 liters of water areneeded to grow a kilogram of rice.

Dr. Ladha recommended drydirect-seeding technology, withwhich the seed is manually broadcastonto the soil and then incorporated

either by plowing or by harrowingwhile the soil is still dry. In this way,puddling and transplanting can beavoided.

He said that much progresshas been made in perfecting thistechnology and in developinga package of practices. Asidefrom saving water and labor, thistechnology allows crop residuerecycling (otherwise residue is

burned), reduces methane emissions,lowers energy use, and increasesfarmers prot. He added, Avoidingpuddling improves soil structure,which is needed for the succeedingcrops such as wheat, maize, andvegetables.

The importance of policiesIn addition to technologies, policieshave played a vital role in thedirection of the rice industry acrossthe globe. Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra,director of the Central RiceResearch Institute in India, sharedhow policies helped increase riceproduction in the country. The policyof bringing the Green Revolutionto eastern India allowed Odisha,which had the lowest average riceyield among the eastern states, to

increase its average yield from 1.7tons per hectare in 2007-08 to 2.3 tonsin 2012. Dr. Mohapatra aributedthis to large-scale demonstrations oftechnologies. Eventually, this jump inrice had a domino eect nationally.The countrys rice production rose tomore than 104 million tons in 2012-13.From this, about 8 million tons ofadditional rice came from the easternstates.

Looking at the four or ve

decades after the Green Revolution,Sam Mohanty, head of IRRIsSocial Sciences Division, noted thatgovernment policies on rice havefocused on reducing price riskand reducing the cost of inputs forfarmers. Surprisingly, many rice-importing countries such as Malaysiaand China have food securitythrough self-suciency as a policydirection.

According to Dr. Mohanty, ifevery country wants to achieve foodsecurity through self-suciency, wemight be in big troublegloballyspeaking. This will make thevolume of the market smaller. If wehave a bad year, the price of ricecould skyrocket. He added that

there might be a need for a policyintervention at the global level, not

just domestically.

Public-private partnershipThe problems that the rice sectorfaces now cannot be solved byone institution alone. The publicand the private sectors must worktogether. But, for the partnership to

be sustainable, it should go beyondthe usual sharing of the socialresponsibility fund by the private

sector, said Richard Rogers, seniorprogram ocer of the Bill & MelindaGates Foundation. He pointed outthat both the public and the privatesectors should prot from thepartnership.

This public-private partnershipwas beer understood when speakersfrom private companies such asKellogg, Bayer CropScience, and TigaPilar Sejahera Food shared concreteexamples of how these companies

work together with governmentinstitutions and with farmers acrossthe rice value chain while mutually

beneting each other.Lastly, Christel Weller-Molongua,

division head, Rural DevelopmentAgriculture of the GermanInternational Cooperation (GIZ),reminded all participants that aswe nd solutions to the challengesin the rice sector, let us not forget theimportance of preserving biodiversityand environmental sustainability.

Indeed, the forum, organizedby Bayer CropScience in associationwith ICAR and IRRI, has stimulatedfresh perspectives on topics thatrange from research and newinnovations to government policies,collaboration among stakeholders,and sustainability across the ricevalue chain.

Ms. Reyes is the managing editor of RiceToday.J.S. Sandhu Tobias Marchand B.C. ViraktamathB

AYERCROPSCIENCE(3)


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Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014Rice TodayJanuary-March 2014

In 1968,Sicco Mansholt(1908-95), theEuropeancommissioner for agriculture,sent a memorandum to the

ouncil of Ministers of the Europeanommunity concerning agriculturalform.This plan became popularly

nown as the Mansholt Plan.The plan noted that, despite

stly policies of price and marketpport, and despite increases inoduction, farmers standard of

ving was still way behind that ofher sectors of society.

uropes farm reformationt that time, the average farm size inurope was 11 hectares. Two-thirds ofe farms were less than 10 hectares,ough it was noted that, withodern techniques, one man can cultivateto 40 hectares of crop land. Labord steadily been migrating out ofriculture and half of the persons

ho run a farm are more than 57 years ofe. There was a lot of concern abouthether young people would still beilling to keep farming.

The plan also recognized somesues on the changing role ofomen: Elsewhere, every eort hasen madeto liberate women from theore onerous and unpleasant forms oforkyet the farmers wife nds mored more that she has to do a mans full-

me job!

Thus, Mr. Mansholt suggestedat production methods changeey should be modernized, and

mall farms should increase in size.he laer was the cornerstone of hisan: The new structure envisaged rests,sentially, on enterprises of adequatee.

Between 1970 and 1980, thean faced controversy becauseencouraged nearly ve millionrmers to give up farming so that

byBas Bo

In recent years, labor migrationfrom rural to urban areas hasaccelerated tremendously in manyparts of Asia. Usually, the able-bodiedyoung men migrate while the womenand the old stay be hind. But, despitelabor outmigration, farm size hasbeen geing smaller and the numberof farms is increasing.

So, just like Europe in the1960s, we have to wonder about thefuture of rice farming in Asia. Sinceprospects of earning a decent incomefrom rice farming are few, who willwant to produce our rice tomorrow?

A proposal for modernizationSo, maybe its time to develop aMansholt Plan for Asias ricesector. The structural transformationwere witnessing in Asia oers greatopportunities for rice farming tobe vibrant and protable. Manyexamples of progress are alreadythere, but these need further support.

ConsolidationIncreasing farm size (consolidation)will have to be the cornerstone ofany transformation. Even if yieldsincrease dramatically, no one canobtain a decent livelihood fromfarming 1 to 2 hectares of rice area.However, many land markets in Asiaare locked, so dierent optionsfor puing more land into singlemanagement units (besides buying orrenting) must be explored.

Some ways of increasing

virtual farm size are already inprogress. For example, China isexperimenting with somethingcalled village farming. Vietnamis exploring a concept of individualfarmers managing large tracts ofland together in their small farmers,large farm program. Mechanizedfarm operations are increasinglyoutsourced so that large tracts of landcan be run by contractors. In this way,economies of scale are realized.

MechanizationThe use of farm machines haincrease for higher labor eor at least make it on a par wproductivity in other sectorseconomy. In Asian rural areis becoming scarcer, which gwith having more costly labmakes investing in mechanimore aractive. Alr eady, wesee a rapid rise in mechaniztransplanting, sowing, land and harvesting. Some new bmodels of the private sectorthe introduction and operatifarm machines.

IntensificationFinally, yields and resource-eciencies simply have to gWith resources (water, energand labor) becoming scarcerparamount to produce morless. Yields need to go up tothe ever-rising demand for fwithout bringing new land iproduction. In addition, we come up with a

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