Monday, March 25, 2024

IRRI Rice Crop Manager team eyes stronger Indonesia partnerships

Medan, Palembang, Jakarta and Bogor (1-8 March 2024) - As part of the International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) commitment to advancing agricultural innovation in Indonesia's rice farming sector, team members of IRRI’s Rice Crop Manager team from the Philippines, India, and Indonesia met with various national partners across North Sumatra, South Sumatra, and West Java to advance field evaluations, knowledge sharing, dissemination and usage of the digital tool by local farmers.

Rice Crop Manager, known locally as Layanan Konsultasi Padi or LKP, is an agricultural web application developed by IRRI to help rice farmers maximize yields and profit with personalized and actionable fertilizer management guidelines based on Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) principles. LKP version 2.0, launched in Indonesia last October 2023, is an upgraded application with an improved user interface, accessibility to field-level information, and an optimized questionnaire for the generation of field-specific crop management advice.

The meetings included technical discussions with Indonesian scientists from national agencies and visits to rice-growing areas within rainfed and swampy agroecological zones, in alignment with the government’s plan of increasing rice production in these areas.

The RCM team met with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian (BSIP) to discuss collaboration and support for the field evaluation component of the project and the ongoing upgradation of LKP, with a focus on swampy agroecological zones. Agreements were made to collaborate for knowledge sharing and increased number of field evaluation trials in swampy areas.

The team also met with the Badan Penyuluhan dan Pengembangan Sumber Daya Manusia Pertanian (BPPSDMP) Kementerian Pertanian / Agricultural Extension and Human Resource Development Agency of Ministry of Agriculture in Jakarta, to explore potential collaboration between IRRI's LKP and BPPSDMP's SIMLUHTAN, both digital tools designed to provide information to farmers and extension agents on good agricultural practices. While LKP offers site-specific nutrient and water management guidelines for rice production, SIMLUHTAN serves as a comprehensive platform for agricultural extension workers, facilitating data management and monitoring of extension activities, including subsidized fertilizer distribution. From the meeting, BPPSDMP concluded it will be beneficial to the extension agents and farmers if LKP is integrated with CYBEX.ID, the BPPSDMP-developed information system for sustainable agricultural extension.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Hasil Sembiring, MSc., IRRI Indonesia Liaison Scientist, elaborated the potential synergies between the two digital tools, saying “The potential collaboration between IRRI and the Director of Extension regarding these digital tools holds significant promise for the dissemination of agricultural technology. Extension workers, serving as frontline advocates for agricultural technology adoption and widely dispersed across Indonesia, play a crucial role in introducing new technologies to farmers. By providing extension workers with knowledge about LKP, there is a high likelihood that farmers will also adopt the LKP recommendations. This synergy has the potential to boost rice production and improve environmental sustainability.”

Another meeting of the RCM team was with the Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian Tanaman Pangan (BSIP-TP) / Agricultural Instruments Standardization Agency for Food Crops in Bogor. There were discussions on several key areas, including the status of ongoing trials in West Java and other provinces. Furthermore, discussion also included topics on LKP upgradation, dissemination, and monitoring and evaluation components. In particular, the user access levels for LKP version 2.0 were discussed in addition to the plans for the implementation of endline surveys.

The RCM Indonesia Project is being implemented by IRRI in collaboration with Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture - BSIP, and other local partners, with funding support from South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

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Tuesday, March 12, 2024

IRRI Regional Director for Asia explores opportunities to strengthen partnerships with stakeholders in Bangladesh and Nepal

21-26 January 2024, Bangladesh and Nepal: 

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Regional Director for Asia, Dr. Jongsoo Shin, visited Bangladesh and Nepal from 21 to 26 January 2024 to strengthen IRRI’s partnership with major stakeholders in Bangladesh and Nepal. 

In Bangladesh, Dr. Shin met the newly appointed Agriculture Minister Dr. Md. Abdus Shahid, and congratulated him on behalf of IRRI on his prestigious appointment as the Minister of Agriculture. He briefed the Agriculture Minister about  IRRI’s research and development activities in Bangladesh and acknowledged the government’s strong support for IRRI. The Agriculture Minister appreciated IRRI’s significant contribution to increasing rice production in Bangladesh. The minister identified some challenges in Bangladesh's agri-food system such as the increasing population, scarcity of land and water, climate change, food price inflation, inefficient value chains, etc., and requested IRRI’s continued partnership to increase rice production in the future.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

IRRI visits Central Java, Indonesia: promoting partnerships and field trials

(SEMARANG, Indonesia, 22 February) - Rice Crop Manager (RCM) Indonesia Project team members from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian (BSIP) Food Crops, and Balai Penerapan Standar Instrumen Pertanian (BPSIP) Central Java visited key partners in Central Java, Indonesia, to discuss the progress and challenges in project implementation of the IRRI-developed digital app, locally known as Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP).

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

IRRI and Rikolto Collaborate To Equip Indonesian Rice Farmers with Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP) 2.0 for Sustainable Crop Management

(SURAKARTA, Indonesia, 20 - 21 February) - The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partner organization, Rikolto, are committed to improving the welfare of Indonesian rice farmers. In line with this, IRRI and Rikolto organized a two-day training program on LKP 2.0 (Layanan Konsultasi Padi) for 30 farmers representing four farmer’s organizations from Central Java and East Java. Among those 30 farmers, there were youth to support regeneration in the agriculture sector and women who play an important role in gender aspects to implement LKP recommendations. 

Friday, February 16, 2024

IRRI Burundi turns over seeds of improved rice variety to INERA to boost seed production in the Democratic Republic of Congo

03 September 2023 (South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo) – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Burundi transferred 300 kilograms of pre-basic seeds of Mugwiza rice to the National Institute for Agronomic Study and Research (INERA) to boost the production of quality foundation seed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Promoting sustainable rice farming in Burundi through high-quality seeds and good agricultural practices

Bujumbura, BURUNDI (14 November 2023) – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) conducted a training of trainers (ToT) on quality rice seed production and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to improve rice production and promote sustainable practices among farmers in Burundi, The program was a significant opportunity to enhance the trainees' skills and empower them to impart valuable knowledge to more farmers.

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Women farmers in Bangladesh trained on quality seed production to build a pool of instructors for peer-to-peer learning

by Muhammad Ashraful Habib, Swati Nayak, & Md. Ahadat Hossain

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partners hosted quality rice seed production training for women farmers to facilitate peer-to-peer learning among women-led groups in Bangladesh. 

Held on 07 February 2024 at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute Regional Station in Barisal, the program trained 40 women from the Maddha Rakudia IPM Club Women’s Group and the Islampur Women Development Cooperative on rice seed production, processing, storage, and certification. The objective was to enable the participants to become master trainers who will coach new women trainers with less experience in quality rice seed production. 

The training was created with the help of several women-focused initiatives to provide women farmers with a conceptual and practical understanding of the various aspects of rice seed production, marketing, seed licensing, and seed registration. 

The participants also visited the seed conditioning system and lab equipment and received hands-on training in the use of power tillers in the field.

Because women are involved in rice production, training them is an effective way of developing entrepreneurship and promoting seed security. Building on this, IRRI initiated the Community-based Rice Seed Entrepreneurship Model (CBRSEM) in Bangladesh to develop their communication skills, social relationships, and decision-making abilities as well as rice production.  

CBRSEM helps women’s farming groups pool their resources and use their expertise to create resilient community-level seed systems that increase their access to quality seeds that lead to higher yield, better livelihood, and empowerment. A noteworthy accomplishment in the dissemination of better varieties through informal or semi-formal women-led social networks is the successful seed-production enterprises by women farmers’ organizations

Additionally, IRRI Bangladesh and complimenting initiatives will promote new varieties through farmer networks conduct seed production of promising varieties, and organize cluster demonstrations through women farmers' groups formed by IRRI's networking partners in Bangladesh. 

The activities are supported by the CGIAR Seed Equal Initiative and IRRI’s One Rice Breeding Strategy. 

For more information, please contact:

Muhammad Ashraful Habib is the Lead Specialist in seed System & Product Management at IRRI Bangladesh. Email: m.habib@irri.org;  Md. Ahadat Hossain is a Field Technician Barisal region at IRRI Bangladesh. Dr. Swati Nayak is a Scientist and South Asia Lead for Seed Systems in IRRI and Global Lead for cereal seed systems in the CGIAR initiative, SeedEqual.

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