Women rice farmers labor to feed the world - adron.sr

contentsEDITORIAL ................................................................ 4Rice Today is growingNEWS ......................................................................... 5PEOPLE ...................................................................... 7CHANGING THE FACE OF RICE .............................. 10IRRI develops a new vision for future rice farming tocounteract threats to food securityMAKING DREAMS COME TRUE ............................. 12Dr. Shaobing Peng reveals how an unlikely choice topursue a career in agriculture turned out to be thebest choice he has ever madeBRIDGING THE GAP................................................ 14Good agricultural practices are sweeping across Asiaand improving technologies for better rice qualityEVEN GROUNDS ..................................................... 16Laser land leveling is fast changing the face oftraditional farming in South AsiaREADY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ............................. 18Farmers are fast adopting stress-tolerant varieties ofrice to head off yield lossesCOUNTRY HIGHLIGHT ........................................... 20IRRI in IndonesiaTHE PILLARS OF AFRICA’S AGRICULTURE ........... 22As more men seek greener pastures in the city, thewomen are left to farm and feed not just theirfamilies but the whole regionTHE HAND THAT ROCKS THE THRESHER ............. 26WHAT’S COOKING? ................................................ 29Ipoh Kway Teow SoupKIPING THE FAITH .................................................. 30The incredible edible art of LucbanFARMERS GET THEIR GROOVE BACK ................... 33Drum seeding finds its way back to Tamil Nadu asfarmers learn how to control weeds effectively andmaximize profits using the technologyTRT RICE AMERICAS CONFERENCE 2011 ............. 37BRED FROM LOUISIANA ........................................ 38The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station continues todevelop new varieties to sustain rice productionand supply in the U.S.HIDDEN TREASURE ................................................ 41OBITUARIES ............................................................ 42Remembering four “giants” in agriculture anddevelopmentRICE FACTS .............................................................. 44A sleepy rice market: the calm before the storm?GRAIN OF TRUTH ................................................... 46Breaking stereotypesOn the cover:A farmer from the Cordillera region in the Philippinescarefully checks her newly harvested rice—the fruits ofher labor. She is one of the many women who play a vitalrole in rice farming worldwide. Women provide 50–80%of the total labor input in rice production but culture andtradition have put them in the shadows, rendering theirsignificant contributions unrecognized and, oftentimes,unappreciated. Campaigns to empower women, however,are gaining ground, giving them due recognition aspillars of agriculture; hence, of global food and economicsecurity.Rice Today is published by The Rice Trader Inc. (TRT) in association with theInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI).TRT, for 20 years, has brought subscribers crucial, up-to-the-minute informationon rice trade through its weekly publication, The Rice Trader. Acknowledged asthe only source of confidential information about the rice market, this weeklysummary of market data analysis has helped both the leading commercial ricecompanies and regional government officials make informed decisions, which arecritical in today’s market.IRRI is the world’s leading international rice research and training center. Basedin the Philippines and with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous,nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and futuregenerations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes,while preserving natural resources. It is one of the 15 nonprofit internationalresearch centers supported, in part, by members of the Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR – www.cgiar.org) and a range of otherfunding agencies.Responsibility for this publication rests with TRT and IRRI. Designations usedin this publication should not be construed as expressing TRT or IRRI policy oropinion on the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or its authorities,or the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.Rice Today welcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Rice Todayassumes no responsibility for loss of or damage to unsolicited submissions, whichshould be accompanied by sufficient return postage.The opinions expressed by columnists in Rice Today do not necessarily reflectthe views of TRT or IRRI.The Rice Trader Inc.2707 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico, CA 95928Web: www.thericetrader.comInternational Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.org; www.irri.org/ricetodayWeb (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.orgWeb (Rice Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.orgRice Today editorialtelephone: (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725; fax: (+63-2) 580-5699or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: mia.aureus@thericetrader.com, l.reyes@cgiar.orgcover Chris Quintanapublisher Jeremy Zwingerassociate publisher Sophie Claytonmanaging editor V. Subramanianeditors Mia Aureus, Lanie Reyescontributing writers Gene Hettel, Trina Leah Mendoza, Samarendu Mohanty,Andrew Nelson, Alaric Santiaguel, Ma. Lizbeth Baroña, Bianca Ferrer, Mutya FrioAfrica editor Savitri Mohapatra (AfricaRice)copy editor Bill Hardyart director Juan Lazaro IVdesigner and production supervisor Grant Lecetaphoto editors Chris Quintana, Isagani Serranocirculation Lourdes ColumbresWeb master Darell Sisonprinter DHL Global Mail (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.International Rice Research Institute 2011This magazine is copyrighted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License(Unported). Unless otherwise noted, users are free to copy, duplicate, or reproduce, and distribute, display, or transmit any of the articles or portions of the articles, and to make translations,adaptations, or other derivative works under the following conditions. To view the full text of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.Rice Today April-June 20113

NEWSIRRI hosts farmers’ field dayMore than 650 farmers and2011 to showcase the latest and bestperformingIRRI rice varieties andtechnologies to help Filipino farmersproduce more rice.“One new IRRI-bred variety ondisplay that was released in 2010 withthe support of the Philippine RiceResearch Institute and the Department ofAgriculture (DA) is Tubigan 18 that is alsocalled NSIC Rc222 or IRRI 154,” said Dr.Robert Zeigler, IRRI director general.“In national experimental trials,IRRI 154 yields up to 10 tons per hectareand, on average, 6 tons per hectare,or 12–13% more than the popular andwidely used Philippine rice variety PSBRc82—also bred by IRRI,” he concluded.IRRI 154 was developed forirrigated lowland areas but was also oneof the best performers in rainfed areas,especially during the wet season, makingit widely suitable across the Philippines.IRRI distributed seeds of IRRI 154and two other recently released IRRIbredhigh-yielding varieties among thefarmers who attended.The Philippine DA Secretary andIRRI Board Member Proceso J. Alcalaalso attended and expressed his supportfor helping Filipino farmers increaserice production to help the countryinterviewed during the event shared thechallenges they face in rice farming andindicated their need for new varieties.ISAGANI SERRANO (3)A new vision for agricultureThe World Economic Forum (WEF),together with a coalition of businessentities, governments, and farmers,increase food production whileconserving environmental resourcesand spurring economic growth. Thegovernments of Tanzania, Vietnam,and the U.S.; 17 global companies;international organizations; andagricultural leaders plan to acceleratesustainable agricultural growth throughmarket-based solutions.On 28 January 2011, during the WEFannual meeting in Davos, Switzerland,Robert Zeigler, director general of theInternational Rice Research Institute(IRRI), joined other leaders in the publicU.N. secretary general, 1997-2006;Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania;Doug McMillon, CEO, Walmart Stores;Jeff Raikes, CEO, Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation; Jeffrey Sachs, The EarthInstitute; Rajiv Shah, administrator, U.S.Agency for International Development;and Robert Zoellick, president, TheWorld Bank Group) in a dialogue on howto leverage public-private investment.case studies of market-based multistakeholdercollaboration that can help usachieve the goals of this new vision,” saidDr. Zeigler. “This is just the beginning.”For more background, see the WEF’sRealizing a new vision for agriculture:a roadmap for stakeholders at http://snipurl.com/ag_vision.Rice Today April-June 20115

NEWSNew rice beats coldAustralian scientists have developeda cold-tolerant rice variety, Sherpa,that can increase yields and improvewater use in rice-growing areas thatexperience cold temperatures.Rice production in Australia oftensuffers yield loss due to low overnighttemperatures at the critical stage ofpollen development. Farmers apply extrawater to the rice to effectively keep therice warmer and reduce yield losses.Sherpa has a 2 °C improvedtolerance of cold and should allow farmersto make more tactical water applicationswhile increasing yields by 2–4 tons perhectare. The team developing Sherpa isworking to increase tolerance to 7 °C,which could completely change the watermanagement of rice farming in Australia.Source: www.sciencealert.com.aubrieflyG. VILLAMORIRRI wins awardIRRI has won the 2010 BBVAFoundation Frontiers of KnowledgeAward (Development Cooperation) forreducing global poverty and hungerthrough rice research and farmertraining.The award honors work thatimproves the quality of life inand marginalization, and preserves thenatural environment.The €400,000 (US$550,000) prizemoney will go toward IRRI’s riceresearch and training work.IRRI goes to COP16At the United Nations ClimateChange Conference (COP16) heldin Cancún, Mexico, in December 2010,IRRI and the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organization held a sessionto summarize the technological andRUEBEN SESSA (right), FAO environment officer,and Reiner Wassmann, IRRI senior scientistand coordinator of the Rice and Climate ChangeConsortium, led the discussion during the“Marketplace Session” in Cancún, Mexico, inDecember 2010.New rice for NepalThree new drought-tolerant ricevarieties bred at IRRI have beenreleased in Nepal.The Sookha dhan varieties showa yield advantage of 0.8–1.0 ton perhectare over traditional varieties undersevere drought. Drought is a particularproblem for farmers in Nepal’s rainfedareas, which cover 45% of the total riceproduction area.Sookha dhan varieties were releasedin India as Sahbhagi dhan in 2009 andare expected to be released in Bangladeshsoon.economic viability of adaptation andmitigation projects in rice production,in view of the forthcoming post-2012agreements.As an outcome of an earlierworkshop in June on the same topic, apolicy brief will besynthesized from theproceedings to helppolicymakers andscientists understandand make “noregret” decisions tohelp rice producersreduce emissionsand adapt to climatechange. (See http://snipurl.com/climate_change_proc.)Africa supports GRiSPOn 7-10 March 2011, the Africa RiceCenter (AfricaRice) held its 31stboard meeting in St. Louis, Senegal.One of the key highlights of the eventAfricaRice’s lead role as representativefor the region in the Global Rice SciencePartnership (GRiSP) that was launchedlast year. This mega-program aims torice prices and to the reduction of globalpoverty by 10%.“As one of the main architects ofGRiSP, AfricaRice is committed tosupporting its goal to develop Africa’spotential to grow more rice,” the boardsaid.Apart from the endorsement, theboard also commended AfricaRiceDirector General Dr. Papa AbdoulayeSeck and the staff for their continuedeffort to push for the Center’sgrowth and sustain its high level ofperformance since 2007. Taking noteof AfricaRice’s initiative to redirectthe Center’s vision and strategy basedby its member countries, the boardexpressed keen interest in AfricaRice’snew research thrusts, including thedevelopment of new-generationclimate-resilient rice technologies andinnovative approaches, such as themarket-oriented value chain approachbeing adopted by the Center. AfricaRiceis also developing a new Strategic Planthat will be examined by the board inthe coming months.6 Rice Today April-June 2011

PEOPLEAwards and recognitionRobert Zeigler, IRRI directorgeneral, received a Doctor of Science(honoris causa) from Sardar VallabhBhai Patel University of Agriculture andTechnology, Modipuram, Uttar Pradesh,India, on 23 February 2011. Dr. Zeiglerwas recognized for his outstandingcontributions to rice research and help inimproving the livelihood of millions ofrice farmers in the developing world. Hewas also honored for providing excellentleadership for a global rice programgrowers worldwide.AchimDobermann, IRRIdeputy directorgeneral for research,and JoJo Lapitan,IRRI nationalprograms relationsmanager, wererecognized at the 4thRice Congress held2010 in Sri Lanka.Dr. Dobermannand Mr. Lapitanwere cited for their contributions i to thedevelopment of the country’s rice sector.Gurdev S. Khush, member of theU.S. National Academy of Sciences;adjunct professor, University ofCalifornia, Davis; and former headof IRRI’s Plant Breeding, Genetics,and Biotechnology (PBGB) Division,received a Doctor of Science (honoriscausa) from Indira Gandhi AgriculturalUniversity on 20 January 2011. Dr.Khush played a key role in developingmore than 300 rice varieties, includingIR36, while he was at IRRI. His workhelped avert famine and land degradationacross Southeast Asia.Rowena Oane,assistant scientistprize in the annual2010 OutstandingThesis in Biologyand Allied Fieldscompetition for herMS thesis Transcription i factor ‘noapical meristem’ (NAM): a candidategene in the large-effect QTL forrice yield under reproductive-stagedrought stress. The award was givenby the Philippine Council for AdvancedScience and Technology Research andDevelopment of the Department ofScience and Technology.AppointmentsJonathanWadsworth hasbeen appointed asexecutive secretaryof the Fund Counciland head of theCGIAR Fund. Dr.Wadsworth’s topfour priorities will beto (1) help the Fund Council provide goodgovernance and management of donorfunds; (2) offer the Fund Council chairsound advice and analysis for consensusdecision making; (3) represent the FundCouncil to CGIAR stakeholders; andCouncil’s operational arm, particularlycoordinate its activities with those of theConsortium, donors, and others.Keeping up with IRRI staffRolando Torreswas promotedto senior associatescientist in the Cropand EnvironmentalSciences DivisionR. Torres(CESD). Otherpromotions inCESD were AmeliaHenry (scientist)and TristramBatoto, Leo AngeloOcampo, andRowena Castillo(assistant scientists). A. HenryJoselito Villa andDonald Villanuevawere promoted toassociate scientist inPBGB and the SocialSciences Division(SSD), respectively.Marian HannaT. BatotoNguyen joined as anR. CastilloD. Villanuevaassociate scientist and Arma KristalMalijan as a researcher in PBGB. TsungWei Lai came on board as an economistin the Grain Quality, Nutrition, andPostharvest Center. Kamala Gurungjoined as a consultant and ChristianGenova II as an associate scientistin SSD. Samart Wanchana is a newconsultant in CESD.Taznoore Samina Khanam joinedassistant scientist under the projectTracking Change in Rural Poverty inHousehold and Village Economies inSouth Asia. Ashok Sharma joinedassociate for delivery and adoptiveresearch at the Punjab Hub, whileNatarajan Kumaran at the Tamil Nadu Hub. Both are underthe Cereal Systems Initiative for SouthAsia.D. MackillS. PengIRRIbids farewellto DavidMackill,programleader forRice for PoorFarmers inAfrica andSouth Asia andrainfed riceproduction,and toShaobingPeng, seniorcrop physiologist in CESD.Other departing staff membersare Helal Uddin Ahmed and WeiZhou, postdoctoral fellows; NikolaosTsakirpaloglou, visiting researchfellow; and Jing Tan, consultant. senior researchmanager, and Krishna Murari,research associate, have also left theRice Today April-June 20117

PEOPLETR AINING COURSES AT IRRICourse Title DateRice: Research to Production16 May-3 JuneBasic Bioinformatics Course (BBC)24-25 MayRice Breeding Course8-23 AugustMolecular Breeding Course3-14 OctoberBioinformatics for Candidate Gene Discovery (BCGD)18-20 OctoberWriting a Research Article for International Publications28 November-2 DecemberTraining Novice Authors to Write Scientific Articles for International Publications5-7 DecemberIntercultural Thesis Supervision: Strategies for IRRI (and other centers)8-9 DecemberFor the complete list and information about the 2011 IRRI Training Courses, visit http://snipurl.com/training_courses.For inquiries, email IRRITraining@cgiar.org, call (63-2) 580-5600 loc 2538/2824/2437, or send a fax to (63-2) 580-5699; 891-1292; 845-0606.1231. BENVENUTO! Mary Hensley (left), president of theEighth Wonder company that markets heirloomrice in the U.S., and Rowena Sawil, a farmer andseed keeper from the Cordillera region of thePhilippines, glowed with pride as they sharedtheir cover story on Rice Today (Vol. 9, No. 4) atthe Slow Food’s Terra Madre Conference in Turin,Italy, last October 2010.2. FARMERS’ DAY. Proceso Alcala, agriculturesecretary of the Philippines, and Dr. RobertZeigler, IRRI director general, enjoy a good readof Rice Today, while spending a day with farmersat IRRI headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna,Philippines.3. ALL IN THE FAMILY. Newly married sons of IRRIPrincipal Scientist J.K. Ladha (far left), Anuj(third from left) and Anupam (fourth from left),celebrate their double wedding in Orchha, India,with Rice Today. Among their honored guests fromthe IRRI family are Director General Robert Zeigler(second from the right), Deputy Director Generalfor Research Achim Dobermann (far right), andformer IRRI scientist V. Balasubramanian (secondfrom the left).8Rice Today April-June 2011

Changing the faceof RICEby Sushil PandeyIRRI develops a new vision for future rice farmingto counteract threats to food securityARIEL JAVELLANAWhat does it take to attainglobal food security? Thisis a question for which riceprovides part, if not most,of the answer. Rice—a staple food forthe world’s poor—is grown on more than155 million hectares and accounts forthe past decade, changes such as rapideconomic growth, especially in partsof Asia, rising wage rates, increasingchange, and a greater integration of thefood economy with other sectors of theglobal economy, including both energyto shape the way rice is producedtoday and will be produced in thefuture.Faced with more challengesin the years ahead, the world nowneeds a new vision for future ricefarming to position investments inrice research, technology delivery,and designs for policy reformsstrategically. Food security hasrisen in prominence on globalleaders’ agenda as the food crisis of2008 rocked not just the market butalso social stability, and, recently,IRRIthere has been a rising concern thathistory will repeat itself.Such a vision has been developedin a new book, Rice in the GlobalEconomy: Strategic Research and PolicyIssues for Food Security, published byanniversary. This edited volume, whichconsists of 18 chapters co-authored byRice Congress held in Hanoi, Vietnam.The book is forward-looking and variousscholarly contributions lay out a richmenu of options for enhancing the overallperformance of the global rice economyto reduce poverty and hunger.challenges confront scientists andpolicymakers: meeting global foodsecurity needs by providing an affordableand stable supply of rice, managingstructural change successfully, enhancingreducing environmental footprints, andimproving productivity in the laggingregions such as Africa.Challenges to attainingsustainable food securityA major challenge is sustaining theglobal rice supply to meet risingconsumption demand up until2025 and beyond. Even if totalconsumption decreases somewhatbeyond 2025 due to increasingincreases must be sustained tomake up for the area lost to othercrops as agriculture becomes moreto cope with the negative impactsof climate change.manage price volatility for globaland national food security—a10Rice Today April-June 2011

necessary strategy in the faceof increasingly frequent andsevere shocks caused by waterscarcity, higher energy prices,and climate change.Asian agriculture ispoised to undergo majorstructural changes asnonagricultural sectors expandwith economic growth. Aslabor moves out of agriculturein the course of economicgrowth, an immense challengeis striking a balance betweenconsumer and producerISAGANI SERRANOinterests and managinggrowing rural-urban income disparities.As the world’s resources becomemore limited, farmers must be able todo more with less, with fewer inputs inall aspects of rice farming and along thevalue chain. This means cutting costs,water, fertilizer, and pesticide use.will help to reduce the environmentalfootprints of rice production. Beyondthe plot level, the challenge will be tobetter manage rice-based ecosystemsto reduce water pollution, soil erosion,and downstream silting, while savingland and biodiversity. Globally, ricesystems can contribute strongly to themitigation of global warming throughreduced emissions of greenhouse gases,especially methane and nitrous oxide, aswell as through increased sequestrationof atmospheric carbon in soil organicmatter.For poverty reduction, it isparamount to help the lagging regions,especially in rainfed areas of both Asiaand Africa, where rice productivityremains low and poverty is concentrated.These regions also face many challenges,including a lack of infrastructure, poorinstitutions and governance, and fragilesoils. Many are also vulnerable to theeffects of climate change.Productivity growth in laggingregions must be attained while continuingto invest in raising productivity inirrigated areas that account for over 70%of total global rice production. We needto improve productivity and livelihoodsin the lagging regions, especially inrainfed areas where some of the poorestpeople are concentrated.Global solutions to futurechallengesThere is no single solution to the challengeoptions are available to sustainablyimprove rice systems and enhance theoverall performance of the global riceeconomy to reduce poverty and hunger.Priorities will clearly differ greatly amongcountries and even within countries.They need to embrace a wide range oftechnological, policy, and institutionalneed global solutions, but they must beGlobally, rice science is characterizedby pervasive underinvestment. Substantiallyincreasing investments in researchand development for the future is urgentlyneeded to assure the future food securityof the poor. There are tremendousfarm-level productivity by raising theyield potential of both inbred and hybridrice and even radical engineering of riceplants. Similarly, modern biotechnologytools can be used to reduce yieldinstability caused by climatic shocksthat are likely to become more frequentmanagement practices can similarly leadto an agronomic revolution that will helpraise system-level productivity whilereducing any adverse environmentaleffects.Also, policies and institutionalreforms are needed to achieve and sustainproductivity growth while ensuring astable supply of affordable rice for thepoor. Policy reforms to liberalize bothdomestic and international rice marketsand to encourage privatetrade. A stable food supplyfor the future will requiremore, not less, trade.Scaled-up safetynet programs that arecountercyclical to priceshocks and well targetedto the most vulnerable areessential in order to improveinstitutional arrangements tobetter manage and coordinateirrigation, promote collectiveactions for improving systemproductivity, explore opportunitiesfor value addition through improvedpostharvest management, and promoteare likewise important for improvingfood security for the future.Dr. Pandey is a senior economist atIRRI.A more detailed version of this articleis available as a mini review in IRRI’sonline technical journal, InternationalRice Research Notes, at http://irri.org/irrn. The book can be ordered atRiceworldBookstore@cgiar.org anddownloaded online at http://irri.org/books. View video clips shot during theInternational Rice Congress at http://snipurl.com/1rlh9k.Rice Today April-June 201111

Making dreamscome trueby Bianca FerrerDr. Shaobing Peng reveals how anunlikely choice to pursue a career inagriculture turned out to be the bestchoice he has ever made“My story of going intoagriculture is like anirony of ironies,” Dr. Pengrecalls. “In 1979, whenI took the university entrance exams,which were given every summer inChina, my score wasn’t high enough. Itwas just a little above the passing mark.”Since his parents were not welleducated, the future Dr. Peng soughtadvice from his classmate’s father. Hesaid he remembered asking, “Uncle,with my score, what university shouldI apply for?” Without hesitation, hiselder replied, “You go to an agriculturaluniversity.”“That came to me as a big shock,”Dr. Peng recounts fondly. “I neverconsidered going into agriculture.” Hisclassmate’s father told him that thiswas his best chance if he wanted to beaccepted by a major university.Back then, Dr. Peng said that hedreamed of going to bigger cities wheremajor universities were located and herealized that, indeed, that was his bestchance to live his dream. “So, I choseagriculture, got accepted, and studiedat Huazhong Agricultural University inWuhan.”Joining IRRIYears later, Dr. Peng received his master’sdegree at the University of California(UC), Davis, where he met KennethCassman, who became his thesis adviserand, later on, also became one of thedivision heads at the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI). When Dr. Pengand was doing 15 months of postdoctoralwork at the Citrus Research and EducationCenter at the University of Florida, Dr.Cassman sent him a letter encouraginghim to apply for a job at IRRI.“It wasn’t an easy decision tomake,” Dr. Peng says. “I had to decidewhether I wanted to stay in America orgo to the Philippines. I couldn’t makean outright decision but, nevertheless, IPhilippines.”He arrived in the country in earlyJanuary of 1991. During his interview, heCHRIS QUINTANA (3)12 Rice Today April-June 2011

y Trina Leah Mendoza and Grant SingletonGood agricultural practices are sweeping across Asia and improvingtechnologies for better rice qualityIn 1997, as a reaction to the growingconcerns of consumers, British foodretailers working with supermarketsin continental Europe decided toharmonize their different standardsand procedures on product safety,environment, and labor. This initiative,called Global GAP (good agriculturalpractices), developed “good practices”in conventional agriculture, whichhighlighted the importance of integratedcrop management and a responsibleapproach to worker welfare.According to the Food andAgriculture Organization of the UnitedNations, GAP are “practices that addressenvironmental, economic, and socialsustainability for on-farm processes,and result in safe and quality food andnonfood agricultural products.”attracted more and more producers andretailers around the world as globaltrading emerged. This is recognizedinternationally and hasbeen in place for manyyears, particularly forvegetable and fruitcrops. GAP for rice,however, is still inits infancy.FIELD WATER tubes are used in alternatewetting and drying technology to help farmersobserve the water level in their fields.Raising the barAlthough appropriate adoption andmonitoring of GAP will help improvethe safety and quality of food and otheragricultural products, there are somechallenges, especially for small-scalefarmers. These farmers are highly atrisk of not meeting export standards,organized by their government and otherpublic agencies.The International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI), through the IrrigatedRice Research Consortium (IRRC),strives to give small-scale rice farmersa chance to join export markets byproviding them with best rice-growingpractices to be able to pass GAPstandards.In VietnamThe IRRC has been working closely withVietnamese colleagues to develop bestpractices for lowland rice production asprovincial governments in the MekongDelta are now offering a guaranteed 20%premium for rice produced under Globalof them coming from An Giangthe farmers’ adoption of the MotPhai, Nam Giam (One Must Do, FiveReductions) program—a platform forproduction of lowlandirrigated rice.The program buildson Vietnam’s ThreeReductions, Three Gainspolicy that encouragesfarmers to reduceseed rate,fertilizer use,pesticideuse, waterGRANT SINGLETONBILLBOARDS OF the MotPhai, Nam Giam (One MustDo, Five Reductions) programare spread across An Giang,Vietnam.use, and postharvest losses. Thesepractices build on the “one must do,”now, the program has conducted 108training courses attended by 2,518farmers, who have applied the newtechnologies to 3,360 hectares of theirfarmland.Farmers who apply the technologiesget the same yield as nonpracticingfarmers, but save more in productionseason). For the summer-autumn crop,this amounts to almost a 25% increase inreduced input use of farmers, particularlyof pesticides, also reduced the risk ofenvironmental pollution and of pestoutbreaks.With the success of the An Giangrice GAP model, plans are being madeto further scale out the technologies to12 other provinces in the Mekong Delta.Farmers in these provinces generallyhave substantially lower rice yields thanin An Giang, so the IRRC expects theextension of new technologies under MotPhai, Nam Giam to increase yields asIn IndonesiaThe 2008 rice price crisis led theIndonesian government to launcha national program to increase the14Rice Today April-June 2011

Even groundsby Bianca FerrerLaser land leveling isfast changing the faceof traditional farming inSouth AsiaFew countries in Asia arefamiliar with precision landleveling or laser land leveling,but, in India, the technologyhas already been adopted in manystates and it has almost become anindispensable tool in agriculture.Through laser land leveling, farmersare able to save water and reduce theirirrigation cost because laser-leveledallow better water coverage and moreAround 7,000 Indian farmers nowown 10,000 laser land levelers and closeto 1 million hectares of land in India havebeen laser-leveled.“For traditional agriculturalpractices of the rice-wheat farmingsystem, pump irrigation is common,”says Raj Gupta, regional facilitator ofthe Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) forthe Indo-Gangetic Plains. “Electricityconsumption from pumping undergroundper year and leveling the land could helpsave up to US$65 million annually.”“Laser leveling allows us to usebecomes scarce,“ he added. “Also,compared with unleveled or traditionallysave 18 centimeters of water. With about1 million hectares of land that has beenlaser-leveled, this translates to 2 cubic“Laser leveling not only allowseven distribution of water so that it canhelps give us a much better crop stand,”he concludes.Leveling the land using lasersystems has also become a source ofincome for farmers as they rent the unitsto fellow farmers at 500 rupees ($1) anhour. Sometimes, these farmers hire outthe system to three to four other farmers“The laser land levelers give the farmersan extra source of income aside fromhelping increase their productivity,” citesDr. Gupta.similar to those enjoyed by farmers inVILLAGERS HELP a local service provider,who rents out a laser land leveler tofarmers, do land surveys.RAJ GUPTA, RWC (3)A LASER land leveler plows a field in thevillage of Matiala, western Uttar Pradesh.upon the technology.In 2002, the RWC team visitedfrom the farmers,” explains Dr. Gupta.because it helped them save water, getextra income from renting out the unitsto other farmers, and increase theirproductivity. So, we decided to introducelaser land leveling in India.”In the same year, a laser landlevelingunit was supplied by SpectraPrecision, Inc., a dealer in Hyderabad,in Haryana for testing. However, thetechnology was not a success because thefurther improvements. It did, however,provide two important lessons: thatthe unit’s automatic hydraulic scraperavailable materials and that local serviceproviders had to be able to handle defectsagricultural engineer at the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI), to16 Rice Today April-June 2011

Story and photos by Mutya FrioFarmers are fast adopting stress-tolerant varieties of rice tohead off yield lossesRam Behal Maurya (right), 54,coughs as he settles himselfslowly on a run-down cot justoutside his house. In 10 days’time, he and his sons will be harvestingrice from a small piece of land heinherited from his father. Unfortunately,Uttar Pradesh in India, where crops cana poor farmer tilling less than a hectareof land planted mostly with rice andwheat, he reaps an average of 1.6 tons ofrice per hectare, barely enough to feedhis extended family of 13 members untilthe next harvest. But this season, he hashigh hopes of getting a higher yield.A growing number of subsistencefarmers as well as seed growers are nowplanting “climate-change-ready” ricein the rice bowl state of Uttar Pradeshand the speedy uptake is unprecedented.The improved varieties are capable ofsurviving even under harsh environmentspredicted to get worse with climatechange or in problematic soils withhigh salt content that may become morewidespread as sea levels rise becauseof climate change. The climate-changereadyrice has been bred into localmega-varieties that are high-yielding andwidely grown by farmers.Breeding for farmersThe International Rice Research Institute(IRRI), together with its partners,develops improved rice varieties thatare tolerant of various environmentalstresses, helping farmers curb yieldlosses, particularly those who farm onstress-prone farmlands.Through IRRI’s research, plantconfers tolerance of submergenceand chromosomal regions that confertolerance of drought and soil salinity.The result is a rice variety that is resilientto a particular environmental stress, ishigh-yielding, and retains other desirablequalities of the original variety, suchas good grain quality and palatability.Under the IRRI-led project Stress-Asia and Africa (STRASA), farmersThousands more in India and parts ofSouth Asia have been adopting stresstolerantvarieties at unprecedented rates.Seeing is believingAbout 78 kilometers away from Mr.Maurya’s farm is Rampur Village, whereKamalawati Ramkeval (see photo onpage 19) is happy with her harvest. Bothfarmers suffer from annual harvestlosses caused by incessant rains andthat the SUB1 gene confers tolerance ofsubmergence. They bred the SUB1 geneinto the mega-variety Swarna, a highyieldingvariety widely grown in Uttarby at least 1 ton per hectare. In 2009,planting by the government of India.Mr. Maurya and Ms. Ramkeval eachkharifor monsoon season. Although his cropMaurya was able to harvest 2.5 tonsper hectare of unmilled Swarna-Sub1,almost twice his harvest from varietySoankhar of past cropping seasons.Although Soankhar has the ability togrow as water rises, it yields barely 1 tonper hectare. As for his latest harvest, Mr.Maurya intends to keep a small portionof Swarna-Sub1 seeds for planting nextseason and sell the remaining seeds tofarmers in adjoining villages.Ms. Ramkeval, on the other hand,year. She harvested 6.5 tons per hectareof unmilled Swarna-Sub1. “I will savethe harvest for my family,” she says. ”Wework hard to grow it so we’d rather notsell it.” Like Mr. Maurya, she has seena substantial increase in yields in hersome of the seeds for the next monsoon.Meanwhile, Meera Prabunath, alsofrom Rampur Village, had a bountifulharvest but of a different rice variety.In the past, her less-than-a-hectare landwas left to fallow because of drought.In 2010, Ms. Prabunath planted seedsof a drought-tolerant rice varietyreleased in India as Sabhagi dhan. IRRIscientists developed this variety throughconventional breeding but have nowdiscovered the region of a chromosome,known as quantitative trait loci (QTLs),that contains genes believed to expressdrought tolerance. These QTLs will18 Rice Today April-June 2011

COUNTRY HIGHLIGHT:SumatraIRRI in IndonesiaCompiled by Maria Lizbeth BaroñaIndonesia had about a hundredmillion mouths to feed when it1984.1970s. From 1970 to 2006, Indonesia’shome to more than half of Indonesia’smanagement technologies. Theirrigation infrastucture.IRRI and IndonesiaInternational Rice Research Institutecollaborating in December 1972.to the genetic evaluation and use of rice,farming, and training of Indonesianscientists.Genetic diversityIRRI conserves in its Internationalresearch centers in Indonesia are alsoModern varietiescontributed to the consistent increaseIR64 was released in 1986 and hasCiherang, released in 2000. In 2009, sixUntil 2009, more than 74 varietiesDrought toleranceIndonesia: fast factsPopulation: million 1245 Total land area: 1.8 million sq km 1Total rice production: 60 million tons 21CIA World Factbook2FAOSTAT 20082009 Rice area1 Green dot = 2,500 hectaresSubmergence tolerance200,000 hectares. Submergence-tolerantHybrid riceIn 2002, collaborative research betweenreleased in 2004.Jakarta20 Rice Today April-June 2011

agriculturthe pillarsof Africa’sby Savitri MohapatraAs more men seek greener pastures in the city, the women are left to farm andfeed not just their families but the whole regionyou educate agirl, you educate anation.” Nowhere“Whenis this saying moretrue than in the farming sector in Africa,according to Peinda Cissé, chair of a35,000-strong farming women’s group inSenegal.Mrs. Cissé has been a vital conduitfor moving agricultural researchfrom scientists to farmers. She hasspearheaded the production of foundationseed of improved rice varieties inSenegal, imparting to her group theknowledge she gained from researchersto ensure high yields and high-qualitygrain.Praising women farmers, such asMrs. Cissé, Rita Agboh-Noameshie, thefocal person for gender research at theAfrica Rice Center (AfricaRice), said thatresearch has shown that, when womengenerate income through farming,processing, and marketing their goods,their families and communities as well.“We have seen that women’s incomesare the most important determinant ofchildren’s development and thus of futuregenerations,” Dr. Agboh-Noameshieexplained. “Therefore, targeting womenin agricultural technology disseminationcan have a greater impact on poverty thantargeting men.”African women in farmingMore than in Asia, women in Africa playa central role in farming as they serve aspillars of the region’s agriculture. Almosteight out of ten farmers that producestaple food in Africa are women, whichmeans that women virtually feed theregion. The high rate of male migrationfrom villages to cities has left manywomen to play a bigger role in farming.contribution, the Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) of the UnitedNations noted that rural women have lessaccess than men to land, credit, laborsavingtechnologies, and resources suchas fertilizer and improved seeds.“In addition, when a farm enterprisethat is managed by women shows signsover by men,” Mrs. Cissé observed.A study on gender inequity inirrigated rice systems by AfricaRiceand its partners showed that women inthe Senegal River Valley lack access tocritical resources, such as land, training,credit, and machinery. More than 70%of the women surveyed did not knowhow to access land for personal use and88% did not receive any training in riceproduction.Similarly, a gender-mainstreaminganalysis carried out as part of a projecton inland valley-based rice and vegetablevalue chains in Benin and Mali showedthat male farmers have more controlover resources and access to trainingopportunities than women.Listening to women farmersIn sub-Saharan African, rice is primarilya women’s crop in rainfed upland andlowland ecologies. For example, amajority of West and Central Africa’s 20million upland rice farmers who growrice are women.Women provide the bulk of the laborin rice cultivation—sowing, weeding,bird scaring, harvesting, processing,22 Rice Today April-June 2011

R. RAMANRice Today April-June 2011, Vol. 10, No. 224 Rice Today April-June 2011

was the answer ofwomen participants in aleadership training course“Yes!”when the facilitator askedthem, “Has any one of you been put ina position to choose between work andfamily?”The ensuing exchanged looksamong the women—as if seekingwhen their roles as a mother and as aprofessional are pitted against each other.These women are professionals inAsia and Africa who help rural womenbreak the conventional thinking thatwomen play only a supporting role totheir male counterparts in the family.On the contrary, as highlighted inthis leadership course, women withoutquestion play major and critical roles inthe maintenance and success of rurallivelihoods and household undertakingsin their communities. Stereotypes,however, have downplayed theirimportance and put them in the shadowsof the men.This is why the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) in 2002 startedthe Leadership Course for Asian andAfrican Women to develop the leadershipskills of women in agricultural research,development, and extension.THELMA PARISthe handthat rocksthe thresherby Maria Lizbeth BaroñaA FARMER'S wife carryinga tin-can storage forclean seeds.On the sidelines“Women from poor farming andlandless households contribute20–75% of the labor required for riceproduction in Asia,” explained ThelmaParis, senior IRRI scientist on genderanalysis. “Unfortunately, genderinequalities in relation to access toresources and support services stillpersist due to erroneous assumptionsand misconceptions as well as deeplyembedded social norms.“However, times are changing,” sheadded. “In India, disparity in educationamong girls and boys is narrowing.”Changes in women’s roles are alsoslowly happening in rural Bangladesh,where, typically, powerful social normsdeter women’s involvement in importantdecision-making processes in their homesand communities.According to several gender studiesin Bangladesh, poor women are moreengaged than men in rice postharvestactivities, including drying, threshing,seed selection, storage, and processing.One example is parboiling rice andturning it into different rice products forhome consumption and selling.Dr. Paris’s studies conducted inBangladesh in 2004 and in India in 2007consistently showed that the male headof the household makes decisions onfarm management. However, with theincreasing male out-migration, womenwho are left behind are compelled todecide “on-the-spot” on things relatedto farming. Their ability to make sounddecisions depends on their access toinformation about best farming practices.“Even when women keep thefamily’s income, they are not free tospend it as desired,” Dr. Paris’s studyconcludes. “Moreover, if the incomeis not enough, they bear the burden ofborrowing and repaying loans to privatemoney lenders.”There is a “disconnect” betweenthe roles women actually play andthe persistent perception that ruralwomen who tend the household andmanage major phases in rice productionare mere housewives “who do notwork” or hold no job. This perceptionhas automatically excluded womenTo bridge this gap, one solutionis to train female researchers andextension workers as leaders in their owninstitutions in an effort to give womenmore importance in agricultural researchand development programs.The women who attended theleadership course for research andextension in rainfed rice ecosystemsare researchers and development andextension workers from Asia and Africa.Each participant had a story to shareabout how she is helping empower ruralwomen.26Rice Today April-June 2011

Seema Khan from Nepal sharedher struggles within her family and hercommunity in helping bring about socialchange. She courageously pursued hereducation and is now president of theNepal Muslim Women’s Welfare Society,a nongovernment organization thataims to improve the economic, social,and political status of Muslim womenand mainstream them in the nationaldevelopment process. Her story inspiredthe other participants in the trainingcourse to also persevere in their workwith grass-roots women.“This particular course attemptsto rectify this gap through a women-towomenleadership course,” said Dr. NoelMagor, head of IRRI’s Training Center.“It has been very satisfying to observecourse and their sense of solidarity.”Mainstreaming womenDr. Paris has advocated the inclusionof female Asian farmers in IRRI’srice research and training programsfor many years. As a social scientistworking on gender issues in Asia, shealso realized that gender inequities inresources and opportunities persist notonly among rural women but also amongprofessionals.Thus, when a leadership course wasoffered by the Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research’s(CGIAR) Gender and Diversity Programin 2000, she suggested that IRRI host theevent—so IRRI’s staff could attend atminimal cost.The course then evolved to addressAsian women’s leadership skills inmanagement, research, and extension.Dr. Paris developed a curriculum andpiloted it in 2002 with the help of IRRI’sTraining Center. This course eventuallybecame known as the Leadership Coursefor Asian Women. This year’s coursereached a milestone as it included theparticipation of women from Africa.In the past 8 years, 160 participantsfrom 26 different Asian and Africancountries have gone through theleadership course.“Things have to change forwomen to be included in the decisionmakingprocesses in their families andcommunities,” Dr. Paris explained.“Changes should start within themselvesIRRIand their immediate families.”This change must give women thewell as the technical knowledge requiredto master rice production successfully.Empowering women like this will helpsociety and give women opportunitiesin decision-making, particularly in areasthat can affect their roles in their familiesand in their community.The leadership course has earnedraves from its attendees.shares College of Agriculture in Maharashtra,India. The sentiment is shared by hercompatriot, Umarani Ranganathan, aprofessor at Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity, who said that real-lifeexperiences shared by the resourcepersons and experts impressed her themost.Making change possible—withhelping handsDr. Paris has trumpeted gender issuessince the beginning of her career. She saidthat she found her voice and shatteredstereotypes because she was lucky tohave mentors.She credits distinguished ruralsociologist from the Philippines GeliaCastillo as the person who supportedher so she could see the unbeaten trackand trailblaze it for others to follow. (SeeRice Today April-June 2011Castillo interview excerpt on YouTube athttp://snipurl.com/castillo.)“Dr. Castillo mentored me,” said Dr.Paris in the CGIAR’s Successful Women,Successful Science report. “She did nottake credit for my work. She openeddoors for me and helped me open doorsmyself.”Thanks to this experience, Dr.Paris now sees the value of mentoring,and now serves as a mentor to all theparticipants in the training course and toyoung social scientists at IRRI.Another important supportmechanism for Dr. Paris’s work was thefact that the CGIAR and IRRI have clearpolicies on gender.It is within these institutionalplatforms that Dr. Paris successfully putgender analysis on the agenda for riceresearch.The futureGender analysis is securely includedin the future of rice research. Thishas clearly been etched in the GlobalRice Science Partnership (GRiSP), apartnership representing a single workplan and strategy for global rice research(see Blueprint for a greener revolutionon pages 18-21 of Rice Today Vol. 10, No.1). GRiSP is driven by three objectivesthat target increased rice productivity,fostering sustainable farming systems,the rice sector. All of these are pursuedunder different themes of varioussciences, and gender analysis particularlyfalls under “technology evaluations,targeting, and policy options forenhanced impact.”This simply says that for moreto take place, farm-level data arefurther examined through the lens ofgender analyses to identify the varyinggender roles in rice farming, and toassess the effects of technologies onwomen farmers, as well as to enhancewomen’s roles in ensuring food, health,and nutrition security, and povertyalleviation.For more information on the LeadershipCourse for Asian and African Women,see http://asianwomenleaders.wordpress.com.27

What’s cooking?Ipoh Kway TeowA simple but flavorful Malaysian rice noodle soupCHRIS QUINTANA (3)Patti Heong, spouse of Dr. K.L.Heong, a senior scientist atIRRI responsible for research onarthropod ecology and integratedpest management, often makes this simple butdelicious soup for lunch or a snack.Patti, who has been at IRRI since theHeong family arrived in 1989, was previouslyan executive secretary to a director at TractorsMalaysia. “Cooking has always been myhobby,” she says. “I like to experiment withdifferent recipes and tastes. With this dish, I amintegrating Cantonese and Malaysian tastes.”"Ipoh Kway Teow Soup,” she adds, “alsoknown in Cantonese as Yi Poh Sar Hor Fun,can be found in most food courts and hawkers'haunts throughout major towns in Malaysia.It is served in clear soup and is like a comfortfood—very light. This dish is named after Ipoh,the capital city of the state of Perak in my homecountry of Malaysia, since it is believed that thebest kway teow (rice noodles) originated fromthat area.”Ingredients Cooking directionsEnjoy!Watch Ms. Heong demonstrate how to prepare the dish in a 3:44 video on YouTube at http://snipurl.com/rice-noodle_soup.Rice Today April-June 201129

Kiping the faithby Alaric Francis SantiaguelThe incredible edibleart of Lucbann the Philippines, a country with I rituals and artistic expressions since Pahiyas is a Filipino predates the Spanish colonial period of Ampo’tParay IRRIA KALEIDOSCOPE of faith and creativity. The celebration of the Pahiyas festivalengulfs Lucban, Quezon, in vivid colors of kiping wafers used as decorations.At the center of this annual activity is Saint Isidore, the beloved patron saintof farmers (above right).30Rice Today April-June 2011

years, this practice turned into a contest CHRIS QUINTANA (5)Rice&Culture See how to make kiping wafers onYouTube at http://snipurl.com/kiping.PHILIPPINESLuzonManilaIRRILucbanQuezonRice Today April-June 201131

M.N. BUDHAR (2)Farmersget theirgroovebackby M.N. BudharDrum seeding finds its wayback to Tamil Nadu as farmerslearn how to control weedseffectively and maximizeprofits using the technologyMR. CHAKRAVATHY decided to use a drumseeder this year to sow his new crop.Consumers in Tamil Nadu, apredominantly rice-growingstate in India, who preferredmillet, for hundreds of years, have shiftedto rice because it is considered a statussymbol.Rice is important and will continueto play a vital role in food security formillions of people in India. The futureof Indian food security and foreignexchange through rice exports will alsolargely depend on desired productionand productivity. Opportunities are greatfor attaining high yield in rice throughproper agronomic management practices,low-cost mechanization in seeding andweeding, and suitable establishmenttechniques. The need for increasedfood production at prices affordable tobeen a concern for all.Tamil Nadu has been recentlydominated by the industrial sectorcompared with other states. Riceis grown in all of Tamil Nadu’s 30districts comprising a total rice area of2.05 million hectares. For example, inDharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts,located in the northwestern agroclimaticzone of Tamil Nadu (see map), rice isthe staple food crop. It is cultivated on65,000 hectares in spite of a lack of waterand labor resources, the high cost oftwo districts are situated near industrialcities, which lure farm laborers with highwages and stipulated work hours.Industrialization led to increasedlabor migration to city areas and a shifttoward alternative rural employment,and caused a severe farm labor shortage.Consequently, it also increased the cost oflabor during peak farming operations suchas transplanting, weeding, and harvesting.In Tamil Nadu, transplanting istraditionally done only by women. Thetask is labor-intensive and cumbersome.The major farm activities such aspreparing and managing the nursery,pulling out seedlings, transporting andtransplanting them consume 25–30% ofthe total cost of cultivation in transplantedrice. Moreover, expansion of irrigatedarea, the availability of short-durationhigh-yielding rice varieties, availabilityof herbicides to control weeds, increasedtransplanting costs, and decliningmany farmers to shift from transplantingto direct seeding on puddled and leveledsoils under irrigated conditions. For this,a drum seeder, a wetland implement,greatly helps the rice-farming communityby directly sowing germinated rice seeds,developed and tested by the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI) andits plastic version was developed byCantho Plastics in Vietnam. Its prototypeRice Today April-June 201133

Gains in drum seedingP. Gunasekaran, a small farmer in Annamaaipatti village in DharmapuriDistrict and a regular visitor to RRS in Paiyur, witnessed the success ofa 2-year experiment on drum seeding combined with weed controlmethods versus transplanting practices. He adopted drum seedingand mechanical weeding technology in his 0.4-hectare field. He andhis wife did the sowing, weeding, and spraying. Only for harvestingand threshing did he hire some labor. He proudly said that his cropyielded 40 bags (each bag weighs 75 kilograms) of moist-free roughrice—an amount never yet recorded in his rice-farming experience.Besides this record yield of 7.5 tons per hectare, he could reducecultivation expenses to a tune of US$76—which came from thetime saved in nursery establishment and management, lower seedrequirement (from 30 kilograms to only 10 kilograms of seed), lesslabor cost for transplanting, and less manual weeding cost. Most ofall, he felt happy just being relieved of the drudgery in putting upa nursery and managing it and transplanting along with laborers.Satisfied with the technology, he encouraged other farmers to adoptthis technology.Another beneficiary of RRS is G. Ekambaram, a progressive ricefarmer and rice mill owner, who has adopted the latest technologiesin rice cultivation for the past 3 decades in Pothapuram villagenear Kaveripattinam town in Krishnagiri District. RRS scientistsusually conduct on-farm trials first in Mr. Ekambaram’s field for easytechnology dissemination. His paddy farm is situated in a rice beltwhere labor is scarce and costly and transplanting of seedlings isseldom done at the right time. This forced him to adopt drum-seedingtechnology. The first time he tried this technology with chemicalcontrol of weeds wasduring the dry season of2000 in a smaller patch of0.14 hectare. However, thepreemergence herbicideapplied at 8 DAS did notcontrol many weeds,which caused damage tothe crop. So, he decidedto apply herbicidewith safener, which isa substance applied toreduce the effect of theherbicide on crop plants.In the wet season of 2000and 2002, he extendedthis technology to hisentire farm of one and ahalf hectares. The drumFARMER P. Gunasekaran hopes to revivehis farm with the help of drum seeding.seeder combined with chemical control of weeds increased the netincome of his rice crop by reducing the cost of cultivation. In 2003 to2006, because of a water shortage, nonavailability of herbicide andsafener, and a lack of finances, he was not able to cultivate rice.During the wet season of 2007, he sowed his crop using a drumseeder and adding mechanical weeding in his agronomic practices.It was then that he was able to harvest a good yield and gain a higherprofit. Satisfied with the benefits derived from the drum-seedingtechnology, he spread the news to other farmers. He encouraged themto use mechanical weeders at the right time.DR. G. UMAPATHYweeds is imperative. Although manualweeding can control weeds effectively,costly—especially when labor resourcesare not readily available.In the past, farmers failed to shiftfrom transplanting to direct seedingeffectively because they lackedknowledge of weed management usingherbicides. Fear of handling herbicides,lack of skill in spraying, lack ofknowledge in using an optimum dose, andunavailability of wide-spectrum herbicidethe success of drum-seeding technology.Revival of drum-seeding technologyThe key to successful direct seedingon a large scale lies in the way farmersmanage their weeds and crops. Thus,to revive the drum-seeding technologyand to respond to the needs of farmers,experiments were once again conductedin the Paiyur RRS. A study investigatedthe effect of initial weeding, weedinginterval, and frequency of weeding bymechanically using a cono weeder andcompared it with chemical and manualweeding control in direct- or drumseededpuddled rice.A study conducted in 2007 showedthat mechanical weeding and soil stirringdone at 10 days after sowing (DAS) andsubsequent weeding and stirring donetwice at an interval of 15 days were ableto control weeds effectively and hadDuring that time, even while theexperiment was in progress, many farmersthe success of the direct-seeded crop.P. Gunasekaran, a farmer who lives 50kilometers away from the experimentalstation, became interested in thetechnology and adopted it on his smallfarm (see box for more on his successstory). With the support of RRS, he andhis relatives were able to cultivate adirect-seeded crop using a drum seeder onhalf a hectare of his land. Many farmerswitnessed the practices adopted by Mr.Gunasekaran and his relatives as wellas the progress of his crop. Hence, otherfarmers became interested also. Theywere then advised by the RRS scientists touse mechanical weeding and stir the soilat appropriate stages using a cono weeder,which resulted in vigorous crop growthand good yield. Later on, to celebratetheir successes, the farmers themselvestechnology with other farmers in the area.more farmers adopted drum-seedingsuch as a lower seed rate, no nursery,no transplanting, no hand weeding, andof the farmers. The National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development intechnology by collaborating with RRSin Paiyur to carry out a scheme for2010-11, Drum seeding and mechanicaland prosperity of rice farmers undera Farmers’ Technology Transfer Fundwith a budget outlay of $13,890 in 10agricultural blocks of Krishnagiri Districtin Tamil Nadu. The scheme providedseeding with traditional transplantingand to provide training to 500 farmers.A drum seeder and cono weeders havebeen distributed for free to all farmers’organizations for hands-on trials in thethis simple yet effective technology.Dr. Budhar is professor of agronomy atthe Regional Research Station, TamilNadu Agricultural University, India.Rice Today April-June 201135

TRT Rice AmericasConference 2011The Rice Trader (TRT) is pleased toannounce the 5th annual TRT RiceAmericas Conference 2011, whichwill be held in Panama City on7-9 June at the Hotel Riu Plaza Panama.The conference will feature prestigiousspeakers, cutting-edge information andinsights into what the future holds forthe rice industry, as well as excellentnetworking opportunities.With a record attendance inCartagena (in 2010), TRT Rice Americas2011 is expected to continue to growwith business interest and furtherestablish a ground for rice industrymembers to build their networkamong the most comprehensivegroup of delegates representing “TheAmericas.”Featuring a who’s-who lineup ofspeakers as well as some of the world’stop analysts, the TRT team will presenta considerable amount of analysisthat will help delegates expand theirunderstanding of the rice businessbeyond regional limitations.Panama’s President RicardoMartinelli and Minister of AgricultureEmilio Kieswetter are among the highofficials to grace the event. Leading thepanel of speakers are Jeremy Zwinger,TRT president and CEO, and DwightRoberts, CEO of the U.S. Rice ProducersAssociation. Other experts that makeup the panel are Phyllis Powers, U.S.ambassador to Panama; Dr. S. ElwynnTaylor, extension agronomist fromIowa State University; Dr. Bill Wilson,professor from North Dakota StateUniversity; Dr. Steve Linscombe, directorof the Louisiana State UniversityAgriculture Center; Dr. Bruno Lanfranco,senior researcher from the NationalAgricultural Research Institute ofUruguay; and many more.Furthermore, the following keyissues will be tackled at the conference:Panama PresidentRicardo Martinelli. The world rice market: Will the globalcereals situation leave its mark on rice? Currency movements and how theyhave affected origins and destinations. Climate change and its impact onfood security: What can we expect in2011? La Niña? Can South American exports remaincompetitive? How will Brazil’s recoveryin production affect Latin Americanrice trade? How do Central and South Americanrice players deal with these changes?Is it a return to normalcy?Hotel Riu Plaza Panama Will South American exports recoveror will La Niña dampen hopes? How will the U.S. deal with aninventory problem that also hasquality issues? What are the prospectsfor U.S. rice production when othercommodity prices rise and look moreattractive in the eyes of farmers? Food security and the security ofsupply: the latest in innovation, andthe research foundations that providethe backdrop to food security efforts. What do buyers think? What are theconcerns of buyers?Rice Today April-June 201137

40 Rice Today April-June 2011

Hidden Treasure*On this restful Saturday, while I ruminate onthis writing, I am struck by the thought ofhow daily life has grown more complicatednow than when I was younger. Perhaps, itcomes with the change of perspective as time movesforward. Or, it could be that life simply does becomemore complicated as we grow and volatility is but thenature of the world. With five children—all under theage of 8—I believe my life could only become morecomplex. Nevertheless, my hope for a more perfectworld for the generations to come endures.In a truly perfect world, all dreams and hopescome true. Through focus and determination, one canovercome the many complexities and challenges inlife. At the same time, the needs of the world are welltaken care of as peace reigns day and night. The Godgivenintellect of man is used for the advancement andsustainability of society. Essentially, in this world, thingsare more complete, yet simple for all.To live in a well-intended but imperfect reality, then,makes the push for the proverbial perfection crucialtoward achieving what is ideal—although at times, oneloses track of what is real.The reality of today is that volatility is the name ofthe game, and perhaps (just perhaps) the current globalsituation is creating a sense of déjà vu—that the “2008food crisis” is building up again. Like in 2007 and 2008,the media’s increased attention to food security issuestoday, combined with the social changes happening inthe world, particularly in some parts of Africa and theMiddle East, clearly reflects the strange parallelisms. Theonly difference from 3 years ago is that the issues nowseem more real on both the political and food side ofthe equation. In addition, the dollar continues to showthat it could go still lower (somewhat, in parallel to afew years ago), further fueling volatility in the market.And, with the U.S. national debt expected to hit US$15trillion, more inflationary problems are bound to arise.Interestingly, however, in spite of all this, rice priceshave shown a rather strong resistance to price increases,and remain lower than the prices of other items in theoverall food complex.Many players continue to indicate that they standbearish to flat in the short run of 3–4 months, but feelquite excited about the market as it moves toward theend of the second quarter (1 July 2011).In relation to this, as of this writing, the spreadbetween rice and the major grains is expected to comeinto play and affect decisions on planting, as well as thedirection in whichcommodities willflow. The truth ofthe matter is, thespread of wheatand corn (maize) torice is back at levelsthat have not been seen since 2007. And all of this,when taken together, is affecting the overall commoditybalance as we move closer to the planting time inthe U.S. and other major crop-producing areas in theNorthern Hemisphere, and as growers feel the pressureto decide on which crop to plant this year. To put thingsinto perspective, the upcoming U.S. rice crop looks offby 20% as soybeans have become a much better option,especially given the high fuel and fertilizer costs. Cottonis also bound to occupy more area, and surely the highprice of sugar will also put sugarcane high on the list ofcrops to plant.In this context, one could say that rice has becomethe “follower” in the overall food complex, when justa few years ago it led the charge. With this in mind,perhaps this is the time to be neither bearish nor bullish,but to be extremely observant of what is happeningin the rice market and all the other related markets.In the end, the simple reality is that, in times of peaceor instability, food must be available and must bedistributed throughout the globe. Although we may notachieve a “perfect world” in this endeavor, what is moreimportant is the focus to solve the problems in feedingthe world.On 7-9 June 2011, The Rice Trader will hold the 5thTRT Rice Americas in Panama City, Panama. Once again,this conference promises to gather the brightest mindsin the rice industry and offer the best opportunitiesto network and better understand the ever-shiftingdynamics of the market to help everyone make moreinformed decisions in their business and avoid risks.President Ricardo Martinelli of the Republic of Panamawill be gracing the event, along with many other keyinfluential people in the industry. We invite you all to theconference and to this social gathering for some fun andnetworking.Jeremy ZwingerPublisher* The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not Rice necessarily Today reflect April-June the 2011 views of the International Rice Research Institute.41

Remembering fourby Gene HettelGIANTSOBITUARIESin agriculture and developmentThomas Hargrove, RobertHuggan, Dao The Tuan, andMichael Way—four giants inthe world of agriculture anddevelopment—were lost to us all withina 28-day period in January-February2011. Respectively, two were cutting-edgeinternational agricultural communicators,one a professor-agriculturalist-scientist inhis home country of Vietnam, and one aninternational champion of integrated pestmanagement (IPM). In their respectivedisciplines, all had important ties to riceat various times in their careers.The two communicators had aand career. Tom Hargrove, long-timeeditor and head of the InternationalRice Research Institute’s (IRRI)Communication and PublicationsServices (CPS; 1973-91), brought me fromIowa State University to IRRI in 1982-83as a visiting editor. During this time, heintroduced me—up to then, I was stilla Midwestern U.S. farm boy who hadthe worldwide importance of this stapleagricultural communication.Bob Huggan, Tom’s successor ashead of both IRRI’s Information Centerand CPS (1993-97) and a senior advisorin public relations (1997-98), brought meback to IRRI in 1995 for a longer stay—now 16 years and counting—during whichlife personalities who preceded me.Tom Hargrove—internationalagriculturalist, author, and adventurerTom, 66, passed away unexpectedlyon 23 January in his native Texas.He was a mentor, colleague, andfriend to many, not only at IRRI butalso at the International Center forTropical Agriculture in Colombia, theInternational Fertilizer DevelopmentCenter (IFDC) in the United States, andmany other places around the world.He was an amazingly creative writerand editor. He turned his 1994-95harrowing experience as a kidnap victimIRRI (4)of FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forcesof Colombia, in English) guerrillas inthe Colombian mountains into a bestsellingbook, Long March to Freedom(http://snipurl.com/march_to_freedom),which was a source for the Hollywoodmovie Proof of Life (http://snipurl.com/proof_of_life).He served in the U.S. Army duringthe Vietnam War, bringing along IRRI’sGreen Revolution rice variety, IR8.He wrote much about this particularexperience in his book A Dragon LivesForever: War and Rice in Vietnam’sMekong Delta (http://snipurl.com/dragon_war_rice), and in two subsequent featurearticles in Rice Today (see Breedinghistory on pages 34-38 at http://snipurl.com/breeding-history and I rememberHonda rice on pages 39-44 at http://snipurl.com/honda-rice in Vol. 5, No. 4).During his 18 years at IRRI, hehad an intimate connection with thescientists, pictured above at right withWorld Food Prize Laureate and PrincipalScientist Gurdev Khush in the 1980s.Indeed, Tom conducted and publishedhis own rice research on the use ofcross analysis to predict the geneticcomposition of improved rice varieties.On the communications front, hepioneered innovative designs, procedures,and policies for multilanguage publicationin agriculture, and conducted workshopson promoting the concept. As a result,hundreds of thousands of IRRI-promotedfor farmers and extensionists to readand use in their native languages. Forexample, between 1983 and 2010,Field problems of tropical rice (http://printings in English and numerous otherlanguages, numbering more than 405,000total copies. The co-publication effortalso included the phenomenally popularA Farmer’s Primer on Growing Rice(http://snipurl.com/farmers_primer), ofwhich 48 editions have been published in40 languages in more than 20 countries,making it among the world’s most widelypublished agricultural books.Ed Price, director of the BorlaugInstitute and associate vice chancellorat Texas A&M University, and longtimecolleague and friend, points outthat Tom was also an adventurer. “Hescuba-dived for the lost Philippine townof Taal and helped restore bean cultivarsin Rwanda after the genocide there,” saidDr. Price. “His miraculous survival of 11months’ captivity by the FARC guerrillasin Colombia must have called uponformidable strengths that none of us canfathom or understand. Tom was largerthan life, and thus he remains with us.”View an excerpt from my IRRIpioneer interview with Tom on 21 June2008 at http://snipurl.com/hargrove1 andread more about him in a 24 January2011 article in the Houston Chronicle athttp://snipurl.com/hargrove2.Bob Huggan—communicator with ahuman touchBob, 79, passed away on 15 Februaryin Montpellier, France, after a lengthyillness. He was an expert in publicawareness, donor relations, appropriateresults, research and developmentcommunication, cross-culturalcommunications, and informationmanagement.A Canadian, Bob had previouslyserved as associate editor (public affairs)and deputy director, CommunicationsDivision, International DevelopmentResearch Centre, Canada (1980-87);director of information and communications,World Agroforestry Center,Nairobi, Kenya (1987-90); and head ofinformation and communication,International Network for the Improvementof Banana and Plantain, Montpellier,42 Rice Today April-June 2011

France (1990-93). He was also a visitingprofessor, Institute of Development Communication,University of the Philippines,Los Baños (UPLB, 1993-98).He was an inspirational teacherand communication strategist in theagriculture and development arena and acolleague and friend to many throughoutthe world. In addition to being astrategist, he was a hands-on person whorelished opportunities to mingle withvisitors to IRRI, explaining to them thelatest Institute innovations, such as thenew rice plant type, as shown in the mid-1990s photo below.IRRI Director General RobertZeigler, a staff plant pathologist at IRRIwhen Bob was here in the mid-1990s,enormous shoes and did so in a way thatboth charmed and reassured. He alsoinspired and put us on the right track thathas served us well. Bob’s vision aboutwhat quality communications meant, hisunderstanding that our targets were notjust scientists, but everyday folks, andhis seeing long before the rest of us thatthe Internet would grow into a powerfulvehicle for IRRI have earned him aspecial place in IRRI history.”Paul Mundy, a developmentcommunication specialist based inwhen he was at IRRI and I was atthe International Institute for RuralReconstruction. Together with theInternational Center for Living AquaticResources Management, then based inManila (now the WorldFish Center inMalaysia), we organized an occasionalget-together of our communicationdepartments. Like a true communicationprofessional, Bob was very willingto spend time sharing the IRRIcommunication unit’s latest initiatives.But, unlike so many professionals, hereally cared—not only about getting hismessage across but also about the peoplehe was talking to.”See more tributes to Bob Huggan athttp://snipurl.com/huggan.Prof. Dao The Tuan—professor,academician, administrator, and ricebreederProf. Tuan, 79, passed away unexpectedlyon 19 January in Hanoi. He was theformer director of the Vietnam Academyof Agricultural Sciences (VAAS; www.vaas.org.vn) and had strong partnershipties to IRRI throughout the Institute’slong and fruitful relationship withVietnam.Just last November, during theInternational Rice Congress (IRC), hewas a “whirlwind” of activity, meetingwith numerous participants during the3-day event. He is pictured above at rightconsulting with Dr. Zeigler during aCongress session break.I sat next to him during the openingsession of the Congress and he relayedto me how happy he was that his homecountry was hosting the 3rd IRC, withthe largest attendance ever for such anevent.During his funeral on 22 January,Cao Duc Phat, Vietnamese minister ofagriculture and rural development, said:“We lost a great scientist who alwayscontributed frank opinions that were fullof wisdom. Colleagues lost a big brother,students lost a dedicated teacher whocherished them, and the farmers lost agreat friend.”Prof. Tuan was known as the“father” of many highly productiverice varieties in Vietnam and he built acultivation that garnered yields as high as10 tons per hectare as early as the 1970s,which is explained in his book High-yieldrice physiology. His research was appliedwidely, paving the way for the GreenRevolution in Vietnam.See more on Prof. Tuan at http://snipurl.com/the_tuan.Michael James Way—entomologistand IPM championProfessor Way, 89, passed away inEngland on 18 January after a shortillness. The world lost a great man and anIPM champion who devoted most of hislife’s work to developing IPM methodsto rationalize and reduce insecticideuse, mentoring students, and helpingand nurturing scientists in developingcountries. He had served on the FAOPanel of Experts on Integrated PestControl and participated in numerousmissions to develop IPM in Asia andAfrica.Professor Way was an inspirationto many entomologists throughout theworld, especially those involved in IPM.His contributions to ecologically basedinsect management are enormous and farranging.According to IRRI senior scientistK.L. Heong, from 1992 to 1999,Professor Way, then retired, was anoccasional consultant/visiting scientistat IRRI. “He spent 3 months a year awayfrom the UK winter to wade throughLaguna, Philippines. He worked with meto understand the role of bunds in the riceecosystem.”During that period, Professor Way,with Dr. Heong, produced the classic 1994paper in the Bulletin of EntomologicalResearch on the Role of biodiversity inthe dynamics and management of insectpests of tropical irrigated rice (http://snipurl.com/biodiversity_role). “Thiswork and the ideas it developed haveecological engineering approach that isnow promotedin IPM,”concludes Dr.Heong.To viewDr. Heong’sfull tribute toProf. Way, seehttp://snipurl.com/michael_way.Rice Today April-June 201143

y Samarendu MohantyRICE FACTSA sleepy rice market: the calm before the storm?Global food prices are on the riseagain. In January, the food priceindex (see Fig. 1) exceeded thelevel witnessed during the peakof the 2008 food crisis when rice pricesnearly tripled. The second food crisis in3 years has led to riots and protests inmany developing countries and has raiseda serious question among many whethercheap food has become a thing of thepast. It is also worthwhile to note that theInternational Monetary Fund food priceindex had been on the rise long before the2007-08 spike, and, in the last 10 years,the index has nearly doubled even withouttaking into account both the 2007-08and the 2010 spikes. Many of those whobrushed aside the 2008 food crisis as aone-off event primarily driven by commodityspeculation and panic amongmajor rice-growing countries have startedlooking at the severity of future globalfood insecurity.cantlycontributed to the food crisis, thecurrent crisis has been the handiwork ofmany other commodities such as wheat,maize (corn), soybeans, and sugar, aswell as fruits and vegetables. So far, riceprices have remained relatively stable,with only a 17% rise between June 2010and February 2011 compared with theup by approximately 50–150% (see Fig. 2).Among the major cereals, the wheat pricemore than doubled and the maize priceincreased by more than 90% during thisas sugar and cotton have also witnessed a150% increase, respectively, during thisperiod. The main reason behind the heftyrise in prices of these commodities canbe traced back to supply losses broughtabout by the extreme weather conditionsin different parts of the world.Between May 2010 and February2011, global grain production was reviseddownward by 81 million tons because ofbad weather in the major growing regions(see Fig. 3). For example, severe droughtsin Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, andtionthis year by more than 35 million tonsIndex (2005 = 100)200150100500Sep 1999Jan 1999May 1998Sep 1997Jan 1997May 1996Sep 1995Jan 1995May 1994Sep 1993Jan 1993May 1992Sep 1991Jan 1991Percent1601401201008060402009212115280Maize Wheat Cotton SugarCrop17RiceFig. 2. Increase in agricultural commodity prices (June 2010 to Febuary 2011).Source of raw data: www.indexmundi.com.relative to what was produced last year.Although rice production for 2010-11 hasdecreased by 10 million tons from whatwas expected early in the season becauseeastAsian countries, still, global productionfor 2010-11 is estimated to be slightlyabove 450 million tons, that is, 11 milliontons higher than the previous year’s production.The rising demand for grains—for both food and fuel—has also putadditional upward pressure on food prices.For example, the share of maize usedfor ethanol production in the U.S. nowaccounts for nearly 40% of total production.This means that 125 million tonsof maize are now diverted from food tofuel. Meanwhile, the consumption of foodSep 2001Jan 2001May 2000DateJan 2011May 2010Sep 2009Jan 2009May 2008Sep 2007Jan 2007May 2006Sep 2005Jan 2005May 2004Sep 2003Jan 2003May 2002Fig. 1. IMF food price index (January 1991 to February 2011).Source of raw data: International Financial Statistics, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and www.indexmundi.com.47Soybeansgrains (wheat and rice) has been strong,with a 72-million-ton increase from 2005to 2010 as compared with the 33-milliontonincrease seen from 2000 to 2005.The recent rise in food prices wouldhave been higher had countries failed torebuild their grain inventory in the lastfew years. Since 2008, wheat stocks haveincreased by more than 63 million tons,rising from 134 million tons in 2008 toSupply, and Distribution online database,USDA). Similarly, rice stocks have alsogrown during this period, gaining 20million tons more in 2010 compared withgrain prices during this tight productionsituation.44 Rice Today April-June 2011

Million metric tons2,2802,2602,2402,2202,2002,1802,1602,1402,120May 2010 Jun 2010 Jul 2010 Aug 2010 Sep 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Feb 2011DateFig. 3. Effects of inclement weather on 2010-11 grain production.Data source: Various issues of World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, USDA.What lies ahead?Recently, I was asked by a reporter ifrice has done anything special since the2008 crisis to be spared from the currentprice spike. The simple and plain answergoal pursued by many countries throughtrade restrictions has likely contributedto the market instability in the last fewyears. But, the good harvest of the pastwet season has primarily kept the ricemarket stable during the ongoing foodprice turmoil.The stability of the rice market,however, could easily be shaken by severalfactors. For one, the further tightening ofthe wheat market could eventually makethe rice price tick upward. The ongoingthe necessary spark to fuel another roundof grain price escalation. The continuationof the current drought for the nextfew months could also affect rice plantingand, consequently, could push priceshigher. Moreover, the disruption of themonsoon similar to the one witnessed onthe Indian subcontinent in 2009 can alsotip this delicately balanced rice market.In addition to weather uncertainty, higherprices for competing crops such as wheat,maize, soybeans, and cotton are alsorice to these crops, putting pressure onrice prices to move higher. The currentUSDA estimates already point to a 20%decline in U.S. rice area this year to 1.15area is expected to be 4 million hectaresgreater than the 2010 level, that is, theDownward revision of 81 million tonshighest level since 1998. In most ricegrowingcountries in Asia, such a massiveexpected, although some shift is possible.In many parts of Asia, rice is the only cropthat can be grown in the monsoon season,leaving farmers no options to plant otherhigh-priced crops.Additionally, rising oil and fertilizerprices are likely to make things more dif-the U.S. Energy Information Administration,the world crude oil price (all-countryspot FOB 1 weighted by estimated exportvolume) exceeded US$100 per barrel bythe end of February, nearly 46% costlierthan what it was at the beginning of June2010. Following the crude oil prices,fertilizer prices have also risen in recentmonths. The urea price (FOB Black Sea)increased more than 60% between June2010 and January 2011. Higher fertilizerprices in the international market havestarted to trickle down to the retail pricesin domestic markets. For example, thereported by the Bureau of AgriculturalStatistics, increased by 18% from $21 togramsack between September 2010 andJanuary 2011. A combination of lower riceprices and higher input prices may forcefarmers to scale back rice production byplanting less area and/or applying lessfertilizer.Given the current situation of lowrice prices and rising input prices, manygovernments in rice-growing countriesare likely to take measures, includingraising the level of the guaranteed producerprice for rice and providing greaterinput subsidies to prevent rice productionfrom falling through either lower area orlower yield.Rising food prices are also likely tomake many rice-consuming countries inthe region feel jittery over the global foodsituation and may force governments toprotect and reinforce the domestic supplyby taking appropriate measures. This hasalready been evident in some countries.For example, the Myanmar governmentrecently imposed a rice export ban tostabilize domestic rice prices. Similarly,Indonesia’s more-than-expected purchasefrom Thailand in January and its plan tobuy more rice in the coming months toboost its domestic stocks may be consideredas a precursor to what other importersmay also do if food prices continue torise. Bangladesh has also already announcedits intent to purchase more ricethis year to curb the rising domestic priceand rebuild its inventory. Although actionsby Myanmar, Indonesia, and Bangladeshare unlikely to have much impactserves as a warning bell considering whathappened in 2008 when major exportersimposed export bans that caused riceprices to explode. However, similar panicactions by other rice-consuming countriesmay tilt the market to an override modeand possibly cause a repeat of 2008.A lesson learnedThe rice sector has been fortunate tohave escaped the wrath of the weatherlast several months. As discussed earlier,several emerging issues could shake thisdelicately balanced rice market withina short time. More importantly, panicamong rice-growing countries as recentlyevidenced by the actions of Indonesia,Bangladesh, and Myanmar—if it spreadsto other countries—could easily rattlethis market. But, on the positive side, thecomfortable supply situation in majorexporters such as India, Thailand, andVietnam should provide some cushion tothe market. Ultimately, the weather in thecoming months will be critical in decidingthe fate of the market. Let’s hope thatrain and the Asian monsoon comes ontime, so that we will be well on our wayto another stable year for rice.1Free on board.Rice Today April-June 201145

grain of truthBreaking stereotypesBY THELMA PARISThe eighth day of March 2011marked the 100th InternationalWomen’s Day. This year’s themetouched base with the call toprovide women with “equal access toeducation, training and science, andtechnology.” To celebrate this momentousoccasion, the International Fund forAgricultural Development (IFAD), theFood and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations (FAO), and theInternational Labor Organizationlaunched the publication of the studymade by FAO in collaboration with IFADand the World Food Program, titled “Stateof food and agriculture 2010-11: Womenin agriculture—closing the gender gapfor development.” The report presentedgroundbreaking new data on the importantroles that women play in agriculture andrural economies and the ways in whichthey are taking on greater responsibilitiesas farmers, food producers, and providersfor their families.In the context of agriculture andrural economies, rice farming is amajor source of employment for manyfamilies, especially the poor. In fact,is grown by small-scale farmers inlow-income developing countries. And,traditionally played and continue to playan important role in both rice productionand postharvest activities.However, the crucial roles and thesubstantial support women provide tosociety have often not been recognized,much less appreciated. Social stereotypesenvironments that limit their growthand potential to contribute more tothe development of their respectivecommunities.Education and training are keyfoundations of greater gender equality, andwomen’s development and empowerment.As more women take on roles as farmersand heads of households, they urgentlyneed access to technical training andopportunities to boost their ability to farmproductively and run viable businesses.In South Asia and Africa, for example,most women have not gone to schooland do not have access to the products ofscience and technology. Despite progressin bringing science and technology tomillions of poor rice-farming familiesin stress-prone rice environments, manywomen farmers are still underrepresentedin research activities such as on-farmand dissemination. Moreover, women’sexhausting domestic chores, such ascollecting water and wood for fuel, diverttheir time away from farming tasks andnonfarm enterprises that eventuallylead to low agricultural yields and foodinsecurity.The International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI), as a member of theConsultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR), haslong advocated gender equality, in linewith the CGIAR’s mandate to reducepoverty and hunger and increase incomethrough rice research for development.IRRI uses a three-pronged approachin tackling gender issues: (1) conductstrategic research on emerging genderissues in the rice economy, (2) includewomen in technology developmentand dissemination, and (3) enhance theleadership skills of Asian and Africanwomen in rice research, development, andextension.IRRI’s research on gender issueslooks into women’s and men’s rolesthat are often conditioned by severalinterrelated socioeconomic (includingclass, ethnicity, age, marital status,and religion), cultural, political, andenvironmental factors. Changes inwomen’s environment cause shiftsin women’s roles. For example, theincreasing out-migration of men andthe decreasing male-female ratio inagricultural labor tend to weaken thetraditional divisions of labor in riceproduction, with women not onlyproduction but also taking on managerialand decision-making roles in rice farming.A lack of comparable genderdisaggregateddata in rice production,however, serves as a major constraint toonly the labor participation of casuallyhiredwomen laborers. The labor inputsof unpaid women are undercounted andundervalued in agricultural statistics;thus, these women are seldom referredto as rice producers, farmers, andincome earners. So, IRRI developeda systematic collection of genderdisaggregatedvariables in base householdsurveys that provide the foundation forunderstanding the underlying patternsfor labor participation that later on guideproposed interventions, training andextension strategies, and formulationsof gender-responsive policies. In 2002,IRRI pioneered the Leadership Coursefor Asian and African Women thatdevelops the leadership skills of womenin agricultural research, development, andextension (see The hand that rocks thethresher on pages 26-27).Moreover, despite women’s visibilityagricultural engineers, and extensionworkers tend to consult only the menand they exclude women farmers inproject activities in which women have(time, indigenous knowledge, and labor)will be affected by newly introducedtechnologies. Hence, IRRI continues topush for projects that involve women’sparticipation such as Stress-Tolerant Ricefor Poor Farmers in Africa and SouthAsia (STRASA). IRRI’s social scientistsrequired that at least 30% of the farmersinvolved in participatory varietal selectionbe women.Finally, more efforts will be pouredinto mainstreaming gender equality acrossthe world through the Global Rice SciencePartnership (GRiSP) that was launchedlast year. IRRI, in partnership with theAfrica Rice Center and the InternationalCenter for Tropical Agriculture, hasdeveloped a gender strategy that willbe integrated in GRiSP’s mission toreduce poverty and hunger, improvehuman health and nutrition, reduce theenvironmental footprint of rice, andenhance ecosystem resilience of riceproduction systems through high-qualityinternational research, partnership, andleadership.Dr. Paris is an IRRI socioeconomist andgender specialist.46 Rice Today April-June 2011

Conserve water when growing rice.Use Valley ®Center Pivots and Linears.Rice has traditionally been grown using floodirrigation on flat fields, but growers are nowlooking for ways to conserve water in their cropproduction. Irrigating rice with Valley ®CenterPivots and Linears has allowed growers to reducethe amount of water and fuel pumped, and hasallowed new growers to produce rice on nontraditionalfields.Valley Center Pivots rotatearound a fixed pivot point inthe center of the field. Themachine efficiently irrigatesthe crop while creating acircular pattern.So contact your Valley Irrigation dealer today tofind out more about producing rice with a ValleyCenter Pivot or Linear.Irrigation. Technology. Conservation.Valley Linear machinestravel back and forth acrossa square or rectangular field.The linears can irrigate up to98% of each field.CirclesForRice.com

www.trtamericas.comFOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark S. Deming48Email: Mark.Deming@thericetrader.comRice Today April-June 2011Tel: +1 530 3454140 or +1 530 521 0116V. SubramanianEmail: subra@thericetrader.comTel: +65 97603225