rice today special supplement for farmers' day

8/9/2019 Rice Today Special supplement for Farmers' Day

1/23

1

Selected reprinted features onmechanization in rice farming

Special supplement for Farmers’ Day organized byMyanmar’s Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in

Napyidaw, Myanmar, 2 March 2015

www.irri.org


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editor-in-chief Gene Hettel

managing editor Lanie Reyes

associate editor Alaric Francis Santiaguel

Africa editor Savitri MohapatraLatin America editor Nathan Russell

copy editor Bill Hardy

art director Juan Lazaro IV

designer and production supervisor Grant Leceta

photo editor Isagani Serrano

circulation Antonette Abigail Caballero, Lourdes Columbres, Cynthia Quin

Web masters Jerry Laviña, Lourdes Columbres

printer CGK formaprint

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Rice Today editorialtelephone: (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725;fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: [email protected],[email protected]

RiceToday Editorial Board

Bas Bouman, GRiSP

Matthew Morell, IRRIEduardo Graterol, Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice

Marco Wopereis, Africa Rice Center

Mary Jacqueline Dionora , IRRI

Osamu Koyama, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural

Erna Maria Lokollo, Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and

Pradeep Kumar Sharma, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural Universi

Gonzalo Zorrilla, National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA)

contents

MACHINES OF PROGRESS ....................................... 4Cambodian farmers adopted IRRI ’s postharvest

technology package, which improved the qualityof their rice grains, increased their harvest’s millingoutput, and allowed them to save on labor, time,and money

THE LITTLE MACHINE THAT COULD ....................... 8Africa shifts from back-breaking operations to almost

labor-free threshing

ECLIPSING THE SUN:FLATBED DRYERS ...............10Millions of Asian farmers struggled with poor-quality

sun-dried grain until a mechanical flat-bed dryeradaptab‹le to th‘e tr›opics was developed in th‘ePhilippines in the 1970s

HUMANS AND MACHINES.....................................12It takes sound business principles and p lanning to

introduce farm equipment in a sustainable way

LASERGUIDED DREAMS .......................................14Truong Thi Thanh Nhan doesn’t look like a typical

farmer, but she is proving to be a powerful “engine”for growth in Vietnam’s farming communities

EVEN GROUNDS .....................................................16Laser land leveling is fast changing the face of

traditional farming in South Asia

TECHNOLOGIES MEET FARMERS..........................18Hundreds of thousands of Asian farmers are adopting

a range of IRRC-facilitated technologies becauseof the many impressive economic, social, andenvironmental benefits

DRUMMING UP SUCCESS ......................................22An improved way of planting rice is increasing farmers’

incomes and strengthening communities inBangladesh

THE NOTSOSILENT REVOLUTION ......................28The widespread use of small engines for water pumps

and boat motors gave rise to profound changes inthe Mekong Delta

SMARTER, CLEANER HEAT ....................................32A new design of a rice hull furnace has not only

improved grain quality, but has also made dryingcleaner and easier

FARMERS GET THEIR GROOVE BACK ...................35Drum seeding finds its way back to Tamil Nadu as

farmers learn how to control weeds selectively andmaximize profi ts using the technology

MODERNIZING ASIAN RICE PRODUCTION .........38A comprehensive action plan to transform rice farming

into a vibrant and profitable business

THE BUBBLE THAT DRIES ......................................40A low-cost solar bubble dryer has been developed to

help farmers dry their rice efficiently

GRAIN OF TRUTH ...................................................42Circle irrigation: A new response to clim ate change

GRAIN OF TRUTH ...................................................43Successful technology adoption needs support from

both farmers and governments

On the cover:

The combine harvester, an iconic image of farmin progressive countries, is now a normal scenin Cambodia. Small combine harvesters were fiintroduced but, since Cambodia has large rice medium (2-meter cutting width) and large (3-mcutting width) combine harvesters have becom

popular among Khmer farmers. Farmers have aadopted other postharvest technologies, whicimproved rice quality and increased harvest moutput, among other benefits.

“Are machines the answer?

While humans and

animals can expend a

certain amount of energy

for a given time period,

machines never get tired,

and they can get the

job done faster without

sacrificing the quality of

work.”

Joseph Rickman

IRRI senior scientist and expert in

mechanization and production systems


3/23

ambodian farmers adopted IRRI’s postharvest technology package, which improved the quality of their

ce grains, increased their harvest’s milling output, and allowed them to save on labor, time, and money

Machines ofprogress

by Lanie Reyes and Trina Leah Mendoza

A sea of newly harvested rice

extends to the horizon in

Battambang Province—the rice

bowl of Cambodia. It was only

e third week of February, just the

ginning of the harvesting sea son for

any Asian countries, but it seemed

e harvest time was already over in

attambang.

As we drove farther along the

y and dusty roads of the province, a

mbine harvester suddenly appeared

the horizon. It cut through the rice

alks almost as effortlessly as mowing

backyard lawn with an operator sitting

top of a lawn mower. This is a stark

ntrast to the traditional backbreaking

d tedious harvesting process, in whichrmers bend to gather and slash stalks

ing razor-sharp sickles. Some collect

d tie the stalks while others thresh, by

ting the rice plant on a piece of wood.

hen the farmers winnow the paddy and

the trash blow away from it.

Farmers’ chats to let their minds

ft away from the scorching sun and

e harrowing labor have been replaced

the whirring sound of the machine

aking its way through the rice elds.

The combine harvester, an iconic

image of farming in progressive

countries, is becoming the usual scene

in Cambodia—a hint that labor shortage

during harvest time is becoming a

serious problem for Cambodian farmers.

A dynamo of changeWhen Martin Gummert, an agricultural

engineer at the International Rice

Research Institute (IRRI), visited

Cambodia for the rst time in 2001,

it reminded him of Vietnam in the

1990s, when the mechanization of the

country’s agriculture was in its infancy.

Its postharvest technology was at a very

low stage. The milling industry was

mismatched and outdated, and therewas limited storage capacity. “Though

there was a lot of poverty, I could sense

the excitement of people trying to leave

the past behind, grab every opportunity,

move on, and develop,” recalled Engr.

Gummert.

Many years back, in 1988, Harry

Nesbitt and Glenn Denning, two of

IRRI’s agricultural scientists, went to

Cambodia to rebuild its rice production

and “to breathe life back into the killing

elds,” as the country was ravaged by

the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. (See

Towering legacies Vol. 1, No. 1 of Rice

Today.)

Since almost all traditional

knowledge on rice farming had been

lost, Drs. Nesbitt and Denning were

there to basically build a whole new

farming infrastructure and a system of

agricultural research for Cambodians to

carry on. In 2001, a newly established

Cambodian Agricultural Research

and Development Institute then took

over—part of the social context of

the dynamism, which Engr. Gummert

observed.

Wind of inspirationCambodia’s dynamic race to development

specically in rice production can

be attributed to the tenacity of the

Cambodians themselves. Their horrid

history during the Khmer Rouge, 30

years back, seems to have faded in the

background as they moved forward.

Pyseth Meas, a postharvest expert

on rice, is one of the members of the new

generation unfettered by the nation’s

challenging history. Instead, his past

has become his inspiration. He vividly

remembers growing up on a rice farm

with his father, who was a government

ofcial before Pol Pot’s regime. When

he lost his father during the war, his

mother raised him and his siblings by

selling rice. He witnessed his mother’s

hard work and difculty selling milled

rice to consumers and traders. Like an

imprint on his young mind, he was drawn

to a profession that would ease the plight

of those who depended on rice, such as

his mother. Thus, he pursued a career in

postharvest technology.

“I could see that this was where I

could contribute more to my country—

knowing that 85% of the Cambodian

farmers are rice farmers,” Dr. Meas

said. “All of my life, I’ve wanted to do

something for the Cambodian people,

especially the farmers, because we rely

on rice as our staple food and main source

of income. So, when I became involved in

a project on postharvest as a partner with

IRRI, I was more than happy.”

In 2005, the Postproduction Work

Group (PPWG) under IRRI’s Irrigated

Rice Research Consortium, funded by

the Swiss Agency for Development and

Cooperation, pooled its resources together

with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction

(JFPR) to fund the project Improving

Poor Farmers’ Livelihoods through

Improved Rice Postharvest Technology. Itwas designed and initially led by Joseph

Rickman, who was then the head of t he

Agricultural Engineering Unit at IRRI.

When he moved to Africa in 2006, Engr.

Gummert took the lead.

The project’s goal was to

demonstrate to some villages in

Battambang and Prey Veng provinces

that improved harvesting, drying,

storage, and milling can help farmers

increase incomes from rice harvests and

improve the quality of grain and seeds

throughout the postharvest chain.

In February 2006, farmers’ and rice

millers’ needs were assessed through

a survey. Hearing from the farmers

themselves, the project team was able

to determine that the farmers needed

dryers, especially during the rainy season,

when paddy quality was at a high risk

of deteriorating quickly, and combine

harvesters to solve the labor shortage.

The first line of defenseSince knowledge is the rst line of

defense in this case—against postharvest

losses—the project team conducted a

trainers’ training in the same year to

share their knowledge and expertise on

improved postharvest options among

the staff of the provincial agricultural

extension services and their project

counterpart in Cambodia. In the second

half of 2006 and 2007, knowledge

and skills in postharvest technologies

smoothly cascaded to the farmers, as

these trainers visited a total of eight

villages. They taught and advis

farmers regarding grain and see

quality, and safe storage option

harvesting, threshing, cleaning,

hermetic storage, and milling.

Labor shortageJust like in other countries, the

generations in rural farming are

move to the cities to nd better j

With fewer hands, it is almost n

impossible to hold together the

the farm. “Cultivating a hectare

according to Dr. Meas, “needs

100–120 person-days. And, abo

is spent on establishing the crop

another 40–45% for harvesting

Small machine, huge effectThen came the mini-combine h

also known as a mini-combine

simply combine. It fuses four o

(reaping, collecting, threshing,

cleaning) in one machine (see C

cutting costs in Cambodia, Vol

on pages 5-6 of Ripple).

Rice Today July-September 2010Rice Today July-September 2010

C H R I S Q U I N T A N A

MARTIN GUMMERT, an agricultural engineer at IRRI,advocates better postharvest management to improvethe quality of rice and reduce losses caused byspoilage and pests. T R

I N A L E A H M E N D O Z A

“THE USE of machinery is i mpeCambodia to become a rice expDr. Pyseth Meas (above left ), aexpert on rice. Cambodian farmKimyorn (above right ) said thause of a combine harvester, hethe crop on time, with less labless cost. Seum Kouy (left ), a Prey Stor Village, Prey Veng, sawith an improved granary, her protected from rain, insects, brats.

LANIEREYES(3)


4/23

When the team brought in this small

ntraption from Vietnam, they had two

asons in mind: one, to reduce the high

rvesting cost caused by a lack of labor

d, two, to increase the quality of the

ain.

After they showed how a mini-

mbine works to farmers in both

attambang and Prey Veng provinces,

mbines in different sizes have become

big hit.

Net Kimyorn of Boeng Pring Village

Battambang said, “My elds are

eady less prone to accidents like re.”

In Cambodia, it was common for

on-to-be-harvested rice to catch re,

used by lit cigarette butts thrown in

e rice elds. Since harvest time falls

ring the summer season, rice elds are

lnerable to res. Mr. Kimyorn recalled

re in his community in 1993 when 98

ctares of rice elds were turned into

hes because a drunken man cooked rice

ar the elds. Lucky for Mr. Kimyorn,

s rice elds were spared.

“Moreover, we can harvest the crop

time, with less labor, and at less cost,”

r. Kimyorn said. “And, we do not relythe climate anymore. Before, it took

most a month to harvest a crop. Now, it

kes only a few days. Less likely for rain

come while we are harvesting.”

To manually harvest a hectare of

e eld, a farmer needs to hire at least

persons. The farmer pays each one

S$3–4 per day or spends $100–120 per

ctare. Aside from it taking longer, the

orkers would still need to gather the

op for threshing.

Hiring a combine harvester with

an operator, on the other hand, costs $90–

100. Aside from the difference in cost,

grain quality is better, and it doesn’t take

so much time. A large combine harvester

with a cutting width of 3 meters, for

example, can harvest a hectare in only an

hour.

Now, with less labor required in the

eld, Mr. Kimyorn and his family can

devote their extra time to other income-

generating activities such as shing and

selling noodles. Most of all, the family

can spend more quality time with each

other.

Competition benefits the farmersThere are even some cases wherein

farmers do not need to do much after

harvesting because, recently, buyers

from Vietnam and Thailand have been

purchasing rice directly from them.

According to Dr. Meas, though

these purchases are informal and are

not in good order, farmers benet much

from them. Without buyers crossing

the border, farmers rely mostly on rice

millers to buy their paddy. However, withcompetition, farmers can ask for a better

price.

This does not mean, however,

that drying is no longer needed. Some

farmers dry and store their rice, then

wait until the price is high before they

sell it. This is when the information

board greatly helps farmers. The use of

information boards, as part of the holistic

package of the PPWG of IRRI, gives up-

to-date reports on the rice prices in the

market, allowing farmers to plan the best

time to sell their rice.

In addition, most farmers set aside

an amount of rice for their family’s food

until the next harvest and sell only the

surplus. Thus, they still need the benets

from the mechanical drying technology.

Flatbed dryersBringing technology to farmers is

important for them to see their options up

close. Thus, in 2007, the team introduced

mechanical drying in Cambodia, by

installing the rst atbed dryer in Ballat

Village, Battambang, in collaboration

with the irrigators’ association.

When the farmers from the Po Chrey

community in Prey Veng heard about

the benets of using mechanical dryers,

they requested the project team to help

them install a mechanical dryer in their

village. The team assisted the community

by providing a blower and rice husk

furnace, while the farmers nanced and

installed the drying bin and the shed.

In early 2008, two dryers were

installed in Po Chrey community: one

was initially supported by the PPWG

and the other was set up by the private

company ABK in cooperation with the

community. Dryers became so in demand

that, by mid-2009, the number of dryers

increased to nine. Now, the country

already has 11 known dryers.

Before, Koul Savoeun, just like other

farmers in Ballat Mancheay Village of

Battambang Province, had no idea about

moisture content. He relies only on his

gut feeling in determining whether the

paddy is dry or not. After learn ing about

moisture content, he noticed that his

grains became clean, had no bugs, and

had better quality.

According to Mr. Savoeun, after

milling, sun-dried rice is yellowish and

has more broken grains than rice dried

using the mechanical dryer. Since the

quality of the grains dried through a

mechanical dryer has improved, the price

has stepped up also, from $23 per bag to

$25 per bag (a bag contains 50 kilograms

of rice).

Mr. Savoeun added that they no

longer depend on the climate to dry their

paddy. They can dry their paddy even

during rainy days.

Storing the harvestEven if grains are properly dried, this

does not mean that farmers are free from

potential postharvest losses. “In storage,

losses to insects, rodents, and birds are

estimated to be 5–10%," according to

Engr. Gummert.

Rice stored in homes is as common

as a spirit house standing in each front

yard in Cambodia because a Khmer

family secures its rice consumption until

the next harvest. Others store grains to

sell when the price is at its peak.

Seum Kouy, a farmer in Prey Stor

Village, Prey Veng, said that with the

improved granary—a technology also

promoted by the project—her grains are

protected from rain, insects, bird s, and

rats.

And, for grains stored as seeds,

IRRI provides the hermetic “Super Bag,”

which protects the germination ability of

the seed (see Fighting Asia’s postharvest

problems, Vol. 6, No. 1 of Rice Today).

has more potential to go up. “A

as I know, Thailand is already n

ceiling; I don’t think it has mor

climb up,” Dr. Meas added.

“If the country will use mo

varieties along with improved i

infrastructure, let alone use pos

technologies, the country may e

its present rice production,” Dr.

condently predicted.

Contribution to the country’s goIt is hoped that postharvest tech

will help Cambodia attain its go

to be a major exporter and doub

production in 2015. For Engr. G

there are two ways in which be

postharvest management can co

to the country’s goal. First, Sou

Asia loses 15–25% of grains be

of spoilage and pests. Reducing

losses will contribute to the cou

rice output. The other area is ba

quality. “Better quality directly

the ability to export rice becaus

become a major exporter,” expl

Engr. Gummert, “the country n

to produce quality consistently.

only by using advanced posthar

technology can this be attained

Cambodia cannot denitely

on manual labor if it wants to b

major exporter some day. Dr. M

explained that if a country, let u

Philippines, wants rice from Ca

it prefers only one or two variet

same variety ripens at the same

If manual labor is used to harve

difcult to maintain the grain q

and, because of labor shortages

impossible to harvest this varie

the same time. Some plants wil

mature, and others overripe.

“If the rice is less mature, i

have less milling output; if it is

it will have a lot of breakage,” D

explained. “Therefore, use of mis imperative for Cambodia to b

exporter.”

No doubt, combine harvest

atbed dryers, among other pos

technologies, are radically tran

how farmers farm in Cambodia

without saying that Cambodia i

toward efciency and modernit

strives to increase rice producti

leapfrogs to become a major ric

in Asia.

Plausible promiseADB has been funding a new project,

Bringing about a Sustainable Agronomic

Revolution in Rice Production in Asia

by Reducing Preventable Pre– and

Postharvest Losses, since 2009. It builds

on the pilot activities of the ADB-JFPR-

funded project, which ended in 2008,

and aims to reduce postharvest losses by

scaling out technologies that have been

proven effective.

With the success of postharvest

technologies in Cambodia, how did the

team know that the technologies were

mature enough to be released? “I think

a technology is never mature enough to

be released,” explained Engr. Gummert.

“It’s always a process; you have to start

with something. We call it a plausible

promise, wherein the technology has the

potential to solve a problem.”

Vietnam has commercially produced

6,000 mechanical dryers, being used in

counties in the Mekong Delta. For the

team, this is a hint that the technology

is sound and could also be applicable in

Cambodia. Hence, “it became a starting

point to introduce the technology in

another country, rather than initiating a

research project to design a new dryer,”

Engr. Gummert explained.

The combine was rst introduced as

mini or small. Its cutting edge of about

1 meter was just suited for small blocks

of rice elds. “The reason was that it

was cheap and affordable,” said Engr.

Gummert. “We knew that it was limited

in terms of capacity and it is not the

technology that can treat all the needs of

farmers.”

Now, farmers adapt the technology

to their needs. Since Cambodia has bigger

rice areas, medium (2-meter cutting width)

and large combine harvesters (3-meter

cutting width) have been imported from

Thailand, Vietnam, and China.

Developing Cambodia’s potentialA United States Department of

Agriculture report in 2009 says that

Cambodia aims to double its rice

production in 2015 and become a major

exporter. According to Dr. Meas, the

country already has a surplus for export

even if its average rice production is

only 2.7 tons per hectare and it has poor

irrigation infrastructure (only 15% of

its rice areas are irrigated). Thus, it

Rice Today July-September 2010 Rice Today July-September 2010

KOUL SAVOEUN, a Cambodian farmer, said that,because the quality of the rice grains dried through

a mechanical dryer has improved, he can sell them ata higher price.

RICE STORED inhomes is as commonas a spirit house inCambodia.

CAMBODIAN FARMERS rest under a treewhile waiting for the combine to loadrice on a truck.


5/23

Rice Today April-June 2012Rice Today April-June 2012

T he excitement of ricefarmers in Saint-Louis,Senegal, upon seeing anappropriate engine-driven

mall-scale thresher from Asiathe mid-1990s could not have

een far dierent from that of thest American president, George

ashington, in 1796, when he waspecting the rst horse-poweredreshing machine to arrive from

ondon. He described the newachine as one of “the most valuablestitutions in this country; for

othing is more wanting and to beished for on our farms.”

The Asian rice thresher,hich the Senegalese rice farmers

ppreciated, was sent by theternational Rice Research InstituteRRI) upon request by the Africace Center (AfricaRice). It waspected that this thresher could becally manufactured and mountedserve as an alternative to manualreshing.

he making of ASIhanks to an innovative partnershiprged between national andternational research and extensionganizations, local artisans, farmers’ganizations, and the private sector,

n improved rice thresher for thenegal River Valley (the principal

ne for irrigated rice in the country)as soon developed. Based on theRI prototype, it can reduce theudgery associated with handreshing and improve yield andarketability of rice.

Substantial modications wereade to the original thresher,cluding doubling its c apacity,aking it more robust by usingurdier material, increasing itsocessing power, and adding two

wheels to make it a four-wheelversion.

Named “ASI” after the threemain partners—AfricaRice, theSenegal River Valley NationalDevelopment Agency (SAED), and theSenegalese Institute of AgriculturalResearch (ISRA)—the thresher wentthrough several adaptations toensure that it met the requirementsof producers and women rice farmersengaged in threshing activities.

ASI was commercially releasedin Senegal in 1997. Since then, ASIhas become the most widely adoptedthresher in Senegal, with major

impact on the rice production chain.A study showed that, with six

workers, ASI yields six tons of paddyper day vis-á-vis one ton by manualthreshing and four tons by Votex, thealternative small-scale thresher thatwas available in the Senegal RiverValley. Moreover, with a grain-strawseparation rate of 99%, no additionallabor is required for sifting andwinnowing compared to Votex,which could not properly separate

grains from straw after threshing.In other words, it reduces labor

requirements, freeing up familymembers, particularly women,for other useful tasks; speeds upthe postharvest process; allowsproduction of a higher qualityproduct with lower risk of damage;and increases the marketability oflocal rice in the face of imports.

Recognizing its immense valuefor the country as a technical solutionthat is acceptable to everyone in therice-growing community, includingwomen, the Grand Prix du Présidentde la République du Sénégal pour

les Sciences (Special Prize of thePresident of Senegal for ScienticResearch) was conferred in 2003 onthe ASI thresher team. The teamincluded AfricaRice Deputy DirectorGeneral Marco Wopereis, who hadserved as an agronomist in the Saint-Louis Station of AfricaRice in the ’90sand was closely involved in all thestages of ASI’s development.

An impact study conducted byAfricaRice in Senegal 12 years later

in 2009 showed that ASI continuedto be one of the most importantimproved postharvest technologiesin the Senegal River Valley, helpingirrigated rice farmers to cope withlabor scarcity. For farmers, the ASIthresher is a time- and labor-savingdevice with a high grain recoveryrate.

Spreading across the regionAs ASI’s popularity grew amongthe rice farming community andits impact continued to rippleoutward and change the lives ofrural households, the experience in

Senegal was successfully extendedto several West African countries(Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana,Mali, Mauritania, etc.), where eachcountry further adapted the machineto suit its own specic conditions andreleased it under dierent brands.

ASI has recently spread toCentral African countries Cameroonand Chad. Here, the local artisans,who were trained by AfricaRice andpartners, were inspired to develop

Africa shifts from back-

reaking operations to

lmost labor-free threshing

by Savitri MohapaThe little machine that could

a series of modied prototypes forvarious crops. In 2011, the Chadgovernment gave ASI high praiseat the country’s 50th anniversarycelebration, where local ASI modelswere publicly displayed.

Why ASI clickedLabor is a serious concern in sub-Saharan African agriculture sincemany labor-intensive tasks in cropproduction are carried out manually.For example, rice threshing andcleaning are manually carried outpredominantly by women, whospend hours on these back-breaking

operations. This not only aects theirhealth but also the grain quality andprotability of rice.

Field surveys carried out inthe ’90s in the Senegal River Valleyrevealed that the lack of improvedpractices and machinery resulted inpostharvest rice crop losses of up to35% and poor grain quality due toinecient manual threshing.

The surveys also revealed otherconstraints, such as the frequent

shortage of labor during riceand postharvest periods andunsuitability of existing systwere too costly, time-consumlabor-intensive during peak demand. Consequently, paddsit in the eld for weeks or evmonths waiting to be harvesthreshed; quality then deteri because of exposure to the eand shaering.

Therefore, in response todemand from rice stake holdAfricaRice decided to adapt

introduce ASI in the region bcreating a coalition of partneThe partnership model m

technology relevant. AfricaRnow using this model to forgpartnership and alliance to fdevelop rice harvest and postechnologies in sub-Saharan

Now, the Center is introdand adapting a small aordacombine harvester in the SenRiver Valley for timely harveand threshing. The adaptedprototype combine harvesteris under tests, not only harvesmall farm plots more quicklalso provides threshed and bgrain of high quality, makinaractive to local traders.

Given the examples of Aand the mini-combine harveintroduced by AfricaRice anits partners, a number of ricestakeholders from sub-SaharAfrica who met in July 2011 develop a road map for sustamechanization of the rice sec

emphasized the value of smascale, locally adapted machinspecically targeting labor-iactivities.

They also recommendedgovernments consult researcimporting machinery to ensuecacy and durability undefarming conditions, and that be built to provide after-salefor farm machinery. Thus, thcreated by ASI continue to ex

AN ASI thresher is beingused at the Institutd'Economie Rurale (IER),Niono, Mali.

PARTICIPANTS AT a meeting on “Boostingagricultural mechanization in rice-basedsystems in sub-Saharan Africa,” under theGlobal Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP),inspect a mini-combine prototype designedby a local manufacturer.

MARCOWOPEREIS,AFRICARICE

WITH SIX workers, manualthreshing yields only one tonper day, but, using an ASIthresher, it yields six tonsper day.

R.RAMAN,AFRICARICE(2)


6/23

At rst, the atbed rice graindryer did not take o inmost countries because ofthe high-cost kerosene-

eled burner. Its 1-ton dryingpacity per batch was too big for

mall farmers and too small for themmercial sector.

It was only in Vietnam where thechnology was successfully adapted,anks to a version modied by Nongm University (NLU). By 2005,ound 4,000 dryers with 4- to 8-tonpacity were installed in the Mekongelta, all using rice husk as fuel.eighboring Lao PDR, Cambodia,d Myanmar had no dryers at that

me. Indonesian dryers mostlystalled by t he government were not

ing used. And, only a few dryerssed on the Vietnamese design wereed in the Philippines.

The International Rice Reasearchstitute (IRRI) began working withLU, national partners, and privateakeholders in 2006 to introduce thetbed dryer in Southeast Asia.

yanmarr. Myo Aung Kyaw from theoneer Postharvest Development

Group (PPHDG) and Mr. Tin Oo,a manufacturer, participated in anIRRI-organized dryer manufacturingtraining by NLU in 2006.

After the training, they installedthe rst pilot unit in Myanmar,which sparked the production andinstallation of dryers at rice mills andwith farmers’ groups. By 2012, morethan 70 dryers had been installed bythe PPHDG, 80 by Mr. Tin Oo, and150 by others who had copied thedesign.

The Pioneer postharvest teamconrms that 13,700 farmers are beneting from the dryers that theyhave installed, and about 35,000farmers are already beneting frommore than 300 dryers in the country.

IndonesiaIn the tidal lands of South Sumatra,low-quality discolored rice wascommon because of delays inhandling and drying. This wascaused by shortages in laborand poor postharvest facilities.Then, AGRINDO, a machinerymanufacturer in Java, introduceda kerosene-fueled atbed dryer inSouth Sumatra in 1995. Unfortunately,

users abandoned the dryer because ofrising fuel costs.

In 2003, a r ice-husk-red dryerwith 3.3-ton capacity was developed by the Indonesian Center for RiceResearch in Sukamandi, andintroduced in South Sumatra by theAssessment Institute for AgriculturalTechnology in Palembang. IRRIhelped by transferring a biggerand more ecient fan to a localmanufacturer in Palembang. Come2010, around 200 dryers wereinstalled in South Sumatra, mainly byrice millers. Four local workshops arenow producing dryers there, with oneshop in Palembang already makinggood-quality dryers.

In 2012, IRRI provided additional

training on blower testing andmanufacturing of an improved ricehusk furnace.

The PhilippinesMost Filipino farmers rely on thesun to dry their grain, but now theyface quality problems because ofunpredictable weather.

In the past few years, thePhilippine Rice Research Institute(PhilRice) worked with NLU to bring

Millions of Asian farmers struggled with poor-quality sun-dried grain until a mechanical

atbed dryer adaptable to the tropics was developed in the Philippines in the 1970s

Martin Gummert and Trina Leah Mendoza

Eclipsing the sun:

fatbed dryers

Rice Today January-March 2013

M A R T I N G U M M E R T

of the dryers’ adapted designuse of rice husk as fuel, as wfacilitation of technology trasupport to local manufacture

Each country had localchampions who drove thetechnologies even beyond prhorizons. Multistakeholder psuch as learning alliances hein linking actors across sectocapturing the learning, and mavailable for others.

All these were key ingrethat helped move atbed dryVietnam across Southeast As

Mr. Gummert is a postharvest eand Ms. Mendoza is a communspecialist at IRRI.

For a related video about the fadryer in Cambodia, see hp://yoldsReKPINOE

in the second-generation atbeddryer with reversible airow fromVietnam to the Philippines.

IRRI supported a participatoryverication of the initial units of thesedryers through the Irrigated RiceResearch Consortium (IRRC) andan Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded postharvest project. And, thePhilippine Department of Agriculturefunded 10 units installed at PhilR icestations.

These dryers are now distr ibutedto end users through PhilRice and apostharvest learning alliance. Bothserve as platforms in which thedryers can be evaluated in a businessmodel context with end users andsupporting institutions such asnongovernment organizations, localgovernment units, and IRRI.

CambodiaThe need for mechanical dryersin Cambodia sprang from theproliferation of combine harvesters inthe country.

Now, with around 2,000combines being used, large amounts

of grain harvested need to be dried.Sun drying is no longer suitable (see

Machines of progress , Vol. 9, No. 3,pages 38 to 41 of Rice Today). Thus,the ADB-IRRI project transferred theatbed dryer from Vietnam to a localmanufacturer in Cambodia.

From one demonstration unitinstalled with a farmers’ group in2007, Cambodia now has hundreds ofatbed dryers. The private sector hasrealized the benets of mechanical

drying and several companies haveinvested in the technology. Nou KimSean, a rice miller who part neredwith the project, has now designed arecirculating batch dr yer—the nextlevel of the technology. In 2012, IRRItested the dryer and assisted him incoming up with an improved secondversion.

Key ingredientsPrevious aempts to introducemechanical dryers for rice h ave failed because of unsuitable technologies,high fuel costs, and markets thataccepted sun-dried paddy without aprice penalty.

However, increased harvestvolumes and markets becoming morequality-conscious pushed the needfor mechanical dryers in SoutheastAsia over the last decade.

Within a few years, neighboringcountries adopted the dryers because

PHILIPPINE RICE ResearchInstitute engineers demonstratethe reversible flatbed dryer tofarmers in Agusan del Norte,Philippines.

NOU KIM Sean (right ), farmer andchairman of the Pursat Rice MillersAssociation, adopted the technologyand built a recirculating batch dryerwith 12-ton capacity.

AN IRRI technician assists ininstalling a privately owned flatbeddryer with rice husk-fueled furnaceat the foot of Mt. Sierra Madre inCagayan Valley, Philippines.

Rice Today January-March 2013

TRINA LEAHMENDOZA


7/23

8 Rice Today April-June 2012Rice Today April-June 2012

A number of examples iAfrica tell stories of hfarmers have successf

adopted small-scale equipmwhich is now being manuflocally.

The model of adoptiongenerally been the same. Oa suitable machine is identit is tested under a range olocal conditions, modied necessary, promoted by thgovernment, and then linklocal entrepreneur.

The use of locallymanufactured mechanicalthreshers in Senegal is onegood example (see story on30-31). When this eq uipmeimported from the InternaRice Research Institute in tPhilippines was brought toAfrica, the government, towith the Africa Rice Centea local manufacturer, extenits use to the broader farmcommunity. Now, more thaof these thre shers—which been adapted to local condare being used in Senegal.

In Tanzania, more tha600 two-wheel tractors, whwere imported from Thailare now being widely usedrice production. Local dealin Dar es Salaam support ttractors by supplying sparparts and training operatoin using and maintaining equipment. In Madagascarlocally manufactured mecweeders have been adoptewidely. These weeders weroriginally imported from Aare now being fabricated lo

In all of these cases, adand promotion have been bon sound business principwithout government subsi

by Joseph Rickman

Small equipment:

A big hit in Af

A farmer’s life has never been an easy one.Before farmers canreap the full benet of

eir harvest, they have to do manynergy-sapping tasks: plowing,anting, irrigating, weeding,

arvesting, threshing, transporting,nd storing.

Traditionally, most activities onmall rice farms require long hours

work, using a lot of family labor or

nergy. Studies show that, for eachn of rice produced, more than 7,000egajoules of energy are needed,hether provided by humans orachines.

In physical terms, work or energya function of force and distance.

he more force you need to apply orstance you need to travel, the more

nergy is required. The faster youcomplish this, the more power you

xert. When humans or animals workthe eld, the problem is that theyn supply only a nite amount of

nergy at a given time. When they getred, eciency drops and so does theuality of work.

Are machines the answer?lthough humans and animals havemited energy over time, machineson’t get tired, and they can get the jobone much faster without sacricinguality of work.

For instance, to plow a hectarequires 150 person-days to nish,

2 days when animals are used, aay with a 2-wheel tractor, and 1–2ours with a 4-wheel tractor. Theme amount of energy of about 1,500egajoules is required to do the job.

he dierence is in the t ime.Aside from time, labor cost

hould also be considered. Using aachine or hiring a contract service

rovider is cheaper. The cost forne-pass plowing using animals, awheel tractor, or a 4-wheel tractor

by Joseph Rickman and Paula Bianca Ferrer

is US$40–50 per hectare dependingon the locality while manual laborcosts more than $200 per hectare,and the job done is no beer than themechanical output anyway.

In terms of harvesting, handharvesting and threshing cost$100–120 per hectare and handcuing with mechanical threshingcosts about $80 per hectare, which issimilar to combine harvesting thatcosts $80–100 per hectare.

When a machine is introducedinto a farming system, it often bringswith it other benets. The engine can be used as a power source for othermachines such as threshers, waterpumps, and electricity generators.Moreover, a farmer who owns amachine such as a 2-wheel tractor orthresher can do contract service workfor other farmers.

Technical loopholesGood management andunderstanding of the machineand the farming environmentare all critical and should not beoverlooked. For example, whenmechanical threshers were broughtto Mozambique from Asia, all had broken down with mechanicalproblems within 2 months. The causeof the problem was that farmers hadalways cut the straws long enough foreasy grip when they manually ailedthem over a drum to release thegrain. However, mechanical threshersrequire short straws to be ecient.

Another problem encounteredwas that the farmers normally lefttheir rice crop in the eld until themoisture dropped to 15–16%, whichmade it easier for threshing. Themechanical threshers, however, were

t takes sound business

rinciples and planning to

ntroduce farm equipment

n a sustainable way

designed to thresh grains at 20–22%moisture, which not only gets thecrop out of the eld 3–4 weeks earlier but also gives higher grain yield of a beer quality. Farmers who were notused to managing grain with highmoisture thus faced a problem. Thisresulted in a s econd technology, solargrain drying, which could dry thegrain to 14% moisture for safe storage.

The biggest lesson here is that it’svery important to analyze the entireproduction chain before introducingnew equipment.

Gears in placeIn rice-producing countries wheremechanization is at an early stage,many nuts and bolts have to bein place to develop a sustainableindustry. Experiences from Asiaand from some parts of Africa

indicate that farm equipment can be introduced in a sustainable waythrough sound business principlesand planning. Governments,training institutes, internationalorganizations, NGOs, nancialinstitutions, and the private sector allhave a role to play.

The government’s main roleis in the importation and testingof new equipment, as well as inthe development of import and taxpolicies that support importers,dealers, and local manufacturers.Vocational training institutes needto develop curricula that focus onmechanization and can provide bothtechnical and basic business planningand training for operators, mechanics,and artisans. Extension oces andNGOs need training to extend andsupport mechanized agriculture.Credit institutions need to beencouraged to structure loans to suitfarmers and contract service suppliers.

Most importantly, there must bechampions for rice mechanizationwho will link to all the stakeholdersand who must be supported by thegovernment to drive the process—from introduction to adoption.

Mr. Rickman is an IRRI senior scientistand regional coordinator for East andSouthern Africa.

J O S E P H R I C K M A N ( 8 )


8/23

Rice Today October-December 2013

With her tiny frame, blunt-cut bangs, and trendyoutts, 28-year-oldTruong Thi Thanh Nhan

looks more like a school girl thana farmer. Nhan earned her degreein software programming from theUniversity of Science in Ho Chi MinhCity, Vietnam, in 2010. But, aftergraduation, she agreed to her parents’wishes to oversee their family farmin Dak Lak Province in Vietnam’sCentral Highlands.

In December 2011, Nhan startedthe daunting task of managingtheir almost 70 hectares of land. Shestarted planting rice twice a year on20 hectares of their farm. Once a year,Nhan also grows maize and pumpkinon 10 hectares each. Although herfamily’s farm is located on a steepslope, bringing water into the eldwas easy because the eld was nextto a water canal. It was managing thewater—making sure that higher areaswere reached—that was the problem.Most of the rice plants in higher areasdie because they lacked sucientwater. She had no choice but to hiremany laborers to replant the eld.

A flair for laser

In early 2012, Nhan chanced upon ashow on a Vietnamese TV channelthat featured rice farmer Nguyen LoiDuc from Tri Ton District, An GiangProvince. She found herself glued tothe channel as Nguyen was sharinghis experiences and the benetsfrom laser leveling his 150-hectareeld. With her interest piqued, shesearched the Internet to learn moreabout the tech nology.

With laser leveling, a tra nsmierplaced at the side of the eld sendsa laser beam to a receiver, which is

aached to a leveling bucket drawn by a tractor. Then, a control panelmounted on a tractor interprets thesignal from the receiver and opensor closes a hydraulic valve, whichin turn raises or lowers the bucket.The bucket then drags and drops soilacross the eld to make it even.

Nhan, together with her family,visited Nong Lam University (NLU)in Ho Chi Minh City. They were briefed on the technology by NLU

Laser-guided

dreamsuong Thi Thanh Nhan doesn’t look like a t ypical farmer, but

he is proving to be a powerful "engine" for growth in Vietnam’s

rming communities

Story and photos by

Trina Leah Mendoza

Rice Today October-December 2013

sta member Tran Van Khanh, aprincipal lecturer on agriculturalmachinery, and Phung Anh VinhTruong, a researcher who becameNhan’s husband in 2013 and nowhelps her manage the farm.

Engr. Khanh emphasizedthe benets of the technologyand assured Nhan’s family thatthe International Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI) also providestechnical support. Nhan’s familywas convinced anddecided to buy laser-leveling equipmentand a drag bucketfrom a Saigon-baseddistributor, IdealFarming Corporation.

Loads of benefits

They began usinglaser leveling in theirrice-growing area.“Now that 9 hectaresof our r ice eld have been laser-leveled,the benets have been tremendous,”Nanh says. “We saveon water becausewe don’t need topump more water toreach the once-highareas. With even water coverage, thecrops are healthy and thriving—andwe don’t need to hire laborers forreplanting.”

Laser leveling their land hadother benets too. Fertilizer is nowspread evenly among the crop,saving as much as 77 kilograms perhectare. Pests, which used to hide inuneven spots, can no longer do so,resulting in less pesticide applied.Weed control is a lso easier. Herbicide

spraying has been reduced to one, before the emergence of rice, unlike before when they sprayed herbicidetwice during the season. T he yieldfrom the las er-leveled eld duringthe dry season, from January toMay 2013, was higher at 6.7 tons perhectare compared with 4.5 tons perhectare for the unleveled eld.

The laser-leveling equipment,however, is subject to wear and tear.Nhan’s husband, Truong, shares

that the usual cha llenges they facewith laser leveling have more to dowith xing the equipment when it breaks down. It usually takes a weekto repair the system, and Truong, being an agricultural engineer byprofession, does it on his own intheir workshop. However, since theylive in a rural area where powershortages are common, repairing broken equipment takes more timeand eort.

postharvest technologies org by the Asian Development BPostharvest Project.

A role modelAlthough Nhan is not a typiVietnamese farmer, she hasmanaged to turn their farm productive and ecient busBut, many people are surpris by Nanh’s decision to be a faThey do not understand why

young lady liwith a backgrin softwareprogramminprestigious uwould want t back to agric

For Nhanwas no surpr

Her parents bgrew up on fand agricultupart of their ftradition. Goto her roots mher happy anis optimistic her future. Shthat, with a ngeneration oflike her, it wipossible to ch

general perception of farmin“Nowadays, young peop

that farmers a re old-fashioneand lack social standing, andreturning to the farm is a lastsays Nhan. “I am a smart, yodynamic person, and even tham a farmer living in an areamany comforts and I face diwith nances and managi ngI know that I am on the righttoward a stable income and a

sustainable future.“I am contributing to foo

sustainability for my region acountry, which young peoplerarely do. And, I have my famthank for helping me be the fthat I am now.”

Ms. Mendoza is a senior commuspecialist with the Irrigated RiceConsortium at IRRI.

Spreading the wordBut, overall, Nahn’s decision topurchase the equipment is provingto be a very wise one. As theneighboring farmers witnessed theimprovements on Nhan’s rice farm,it wasn’t long before they sought herhelp. She already provided laser-leveling services to one farmer’s2.7-hectare rice eld in December2012 and she has plans to do more.

“After I nish leveling our

20 hectares of rice farm and ourmaize farm, we plan to rent out ourequipment to other farmers, not on lyfor rice but for other crops as well,”says Nhan.

Nhan is now also on amission. An advocate of laser-leveling technology, she sharesher experiences in adopting laserleveling with representatives from both the public and private sectorduring meetings and seminars on

NHAN AND her husband Khanh arechanging farming practices and theimage of farmers in Vietnam.


9/23

Rice Today April-June 2011 Rice Today April-June 2011

F ew countries in Asia are

familiar with precision land

leveling or laser land leveling,

but, in India, the technology

s already been adopted in many

ates and it has almost become an

dispensable tool in agriculture.

hrough laser land leveling, farmers

e able to save water and reduce their

igation cost because laser-leveled

lds, unlike traditionally leveled elds,

ow better water coverage and more

cient irrigation.

Around 7,000 Indian farmers now

wn 10,000 laser land levelers and close

1 million hectares of land in India have

en laser-leveled.

“For traditional agricultural

actices of the rice-wheat farming

stem, pump irrigation is common,”

ys Raj Gupta, regional facilitator of

e Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for

e Indo-Gangetic Plains. “Electricity

nsumption from pumping underground

ater can reach 800 kilowatts per hectare

r year and leveling the land could help

ve up to US$65 million annually.”

“Laser leveling allows us to use

ore efciently water that, at times,

comes scarce,“ he added. “Also,

mpared with unleveled or traditionallyveled elds, laser-leveled elds can

ve 18 centimeters of water. With about

million hectares of land that has been

er-leveled, this translates to 2 cubic

ometers of water saved—roughly the

e of a lake that is 2 kilometers long, 1

ometer deep, and 1 kilometer wide.

“Laser leveling not only allows

en distribution of water so that it can

used more efciently but it also leads

better nitrogen-use efciency, which

Bianca Ferrer

helps give us a much better crop stand,”

he concludes.

Leveling the land using laser

systems has also become a source of

income for farmers as they rent the units

to fellow farmers at 500 rupees ($1) an

hour. Sometimes, these farmers hire out

the system to three to four other farmers

to level their elds, working in shifts.

“The laser land levelers give the farmers

an extra source of income aside from

helping increase their productivity,” cites

Dr. Gupta.

Farmers in India enjoy benets

similar to those enjoyed by farmers in

Pakistan, from where Dr. Gupta and his

colleagues from the RWC rst stumbled

upon the technology.

In 2002, the RWC team visited

farmers’ elds in Pakistan. During the

eld trip, they saw elds that had been

laser-leveled. “We got good feedback

from the farmers,” explains Dr. Gupta.

“They liked laser leveling very much

because it helped them save water, get

extra income from renting out the units

to other farmers, and increase their

productivity. So, we decided to introduce

laser land leveling in India.”

In the same year, a laser land-

leveling unit was supplied by Spectra

Precision, Inc., a dealer in Hyderabad,

India, and was brought to a farmer’s eld

in Haryana for testing. However, the

technology was not a success because the

system buckled and was taken back forfurther improvements. It did, however,

provide two important lessons: that

the unit’s automatic hydraulic scraper

bucket should be assembled with locally

available materials and that local service

providers had to be able to handle defects

in their small workshops.

After the rst unsuccessful attempt,

the RWC asked Joseph Rickman, an

agricultural engineer at the International

Rice Research Institute (IRRI), to

develop a hydraulic scraper bucket for

a 50- to 60-horsepower tractor that was

tted with a laser land-leveling unit. As

he had gained much experience from his

projects in Cambodia and Thailand, Mr.

Rickman developed an automatic scraper

bucket with Beri Udyod Ltd., a local

manufacturer, which offered him free

use of its workshop facilities. As a result,

they were able to build the hydraulic

scraper bucket using local automobile

components and they connected it to a

tractor-driven land-leveling unit.

The machine was tested on a farm

in Karnal Province and the results were

encouraging. This then led to a larger

demonstration and a training workshop at

the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

in New Delhi, where about 200 agr iculture

professionals, service professionals, and

local manufacturers attended.

Through an initiative to promote

laser land leveling in northern India,

similar to Spectra Precision, Inc., in

southern India, another manufacturer

came onto the scene and forayed into

manufacturing units that copied the

hydraulic scraper bucket from Beri and

used a locally-procured control valve

mechanism. Competitive manufacturing

was born with Leica Geosystems and

Beri producing the same units and nine

other suppliers that came on board later.

In 2005, the Atomic Energy

Commission in India also developed

a prototype of a laser land leveler but,

although it was successfully developed

using locally-available materials, it failed

to be mass-produced. Meanwhile, India’s

private sector also developed prototypes

of laser land levelers and, at the same

time, through contacts with foreign

suppliers, imported other units from the

U.S. to India.

Many on-farm demonstrations,

eld days, and training workshops took

place. Units were produced in Karnal,Ludhiana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar

by 2006 so the technology could reach

farmers’ elds more effect ively. One of

the farmer-service providers, Ranjeet,

together with his brother, undertook more

than 200 eld demonstrations in Bihar’s

12 districts covering West Champaran to

Purnea from 2007 to 2008.

Through subsidies provided by the

state governments of Haryana, Punjab,

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and others, farmers

aser land leveling is

ast changing the face

f traditional farming in

outh Asia

were soon able to purchase their own

units, which they also rented out to

other farmers. A cooperative in Patna

and Samastipur districts in Bihar called

the Primary Agriculture Credit Society,

along with a farmers’ seed village in

Begusarai, promoted laser land leveling

together with their other resource-

conserving technologies.

The Department of Agriculture

in Bihar also bought ve units of laser

land levelers for demonstrations in

2008-09. During the same years, Dr.

Apurba Chowdhury and his team from

Uttarbanga Agriculture University

procured three units of laser land levelers

in Kochbehar and Dakshin Dinazpur for

farmer participatory trials.

Moreover, Dr. Paritosh Bhattacharyya

from the West Bengal Department of

Agriculture took seven more units of laser

land levelers to different districts of West

Bengal. This then became a collaborative

effort with the Indian Council of

Agricultural Research.

The experiences gained in farmers’

elds helped further improve laser land

levelers. Punjab Agriculture University

also took the initiative of modifying

the hitch system for the scraper bucket,

allowing it to improve its turning radius

by 27% and the maneuverability of

tractors in small elds.

Another innovation made on the

machine was the addition of a quick-

release hydraulic coupler that enabled it

to be attached to or detached from the

Even grounds tractor. This helped free the tracthe laser land leveler was not inrestored the tractor to being a m

vehicle. This led to a total of 20

to Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab,

and western Uttar Pradesh.

Since then, more improvem

made on the leveling unit such a

double wheels to it to reduce the

the tractor, which increased the

capacity by 25%. An improvem

that included a powered mast fo

elevation setting of the receiver

enhanced mast-receiver control

laser land levelers but also boos

and tractor efciency during lev

“Like in India, where the te

started with one unit, but has no

to 10,000 units, farmers in Ban

and Nepal, where the technolog

introduced in 2008, are also kee

purchase more,” says Dr. Gupta

Each country now owns thr

and the technology has been intr

in the Cereal Systems I nitiative

Asia, a collaborative project amo

IRRI, the International Maize an

Improvement Center, the Interna

Food Policy Research Institute,

International Livestock Researc

With joint efforts among organizations and Consultativon International Agricultural centers, laser land leveling co

become an indispensable tooagriculture in Bangladesh andholding lots of promise for fa

A LASER land leveler plows a field in thevillage of Matiala, western Uttar Pradesh.

R A J G U P T A ,

R W C ( 3 )

VILLAGERS HELP a local service provider,who rents out a laser land leveler tofarmers, do land surveys.

USAID AGRICULTURAL advisor Robert Be(right ) tests a laser land-leveling unit wIndian agronomist R.K. Naresh (left ).


10/23


11/23

Rice Today October-December 2011Rice Today October-December 2011

rvest, and reduced fungicide usage and

ought risk.

In northwest Bangladesh, direct

eding combined with shorter duration

e varieties, appropriate weed

anagement, and crop diversication is

lping to ease monga, a seasonal hunger.

ch year, farm workers suffer from

onga from September to November as

ey wait for the wet-season harvest.

In monga-affected districts of

angpur and Nilphamari, farmers who

rectly seeded their rice got higher net

urns in both the wet and dry seasons.

elds of directly seeded crops in the wet

ason were higher by 493 kilograms

r hectare, and total production costs

ere lower by $47 per hectare than on

rms with transplanted rice. Planting of

tato, maize, and wheat on time in the

y season allowed farmers to sell their

ops at higher prices, because they were

le to harvest earlier when supply in the

arket was still relatively low. On-time

anting of these dry-season crops also

sulted in better yields. Net incomes

farmers who directly seeded during

e wet and dry seasons were higher by

41 per hectare than for farmers who

nsplanted.

With the earlier harvest of the

rectly seeded rice crop in the wet

ason, 55–59 person-days per hectare

n potentially be hired during

rvesting, thus easing the problem of

employment.

ologically based rodent managementis not uncommon for farmers to

se half of their entire crop to rats,

cause rat damage is usually patchy

d family rice plots are small,” says

ant Singleton, IRRC coordinator and

dent expert. Surprisingly, only 10% of

e many different species of rodents are

sts in agriculture. The challenge is to

develop ways to control the pests without

greatly affecting those that are benecial

in our environment.

Farmers are adopting a simple,

environment-friendly community

method called ecologically based rodent

management (EBRM). With EBRM,

farmers are encouraged to conduct

control methods as a community, such as

planting synchronously and hunting rats

together. EBRM reduces rodent damage

by 33–50%, and increases rice yield by

2–5%. It also reduces rodenticide use by

62–90%.

EBRM has been adopted as the

national policy for rodent management

in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. It

also was recently included in a national

integrated crop management program in

Indonesia, which was promoted through

50,000 farmer eld schools in 2009 and

2010.

The impact of rodent outbreaksin different parts of the world was

highlighted in the 2010 book Rodent

outbreaks: ecology and impacts,

published by IRRI.

Reducing postharvest lossesAsian rice farmers lose 30–50% of

their earnings from harvest to market.

IRRI postharvest specialist Martin

Gummert leads the IRRC Postproduction

Work Group in tackling problems on

postharvest losses by providing best

practices and technologies to farmers and

other stakeholders. Since 2005, activities

have been funded by SDC and the Asian

Development Bank.

The mechanical at-bed dryer,

which produces better quality rice

than sun drying, was introduced in

Cambodia, Myanmar, and Lao PDR.

Farmers’ groups and private companies

themselves provide funds to install

more dryers in different provinces. As

many as 35,000 farmers in Myanmar

beneted from using at-bed dryers. In

Cambodia, traders pay 20% higher for

dry paddy, and an additional 10–12%

for mechanically dried paddy. In the

Philippines, third-generation at-bed

dryers were transferred from Vietnam,

and adaptation trials are ongoing.

Stakeholders in Cambodia,

Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Vietnam,

and the Philippines tested small-scale

hermetic (airtight) storage systems for

grains and seeds. Local distributors were

established as well. An impact survey

indicated that Cambodian farmers who

use IRRI Super bags reduced their seed

rates by 22 kilograms per hectare. In

Myanmar, a locally manufactured bag

for rice seeds was developed, with over

10,000 bags sold to farmers.

Partners share their experiences

in using these postharvest technologies

through national learning alliances

(LA) in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the

Philippines. Five regional LAs have been

established in Vietnam.

Successes in SulawesiThrough country outreach programs

in Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, and

the Philippines, combinations of IRRC

technologies are showing positive results

in trials in farmers’ elds.

From 2008 to 2011, an IRRC-led

project funded by the Australian Centre

for International Agricultural Research

focused on raising rice productivity in

South and Southeast Sulawesi, two major

rice-producing provinces in eastern

Indonesia.

Farmers in four villages tested

AWD, integrated pest management, and

direct seeding (using a drum seeder) with

appropriate weed management. EBRM,

storing seeds using the IRRI Super bag,

and fertilizer management (using a soil

test kit and the computer-based Nutrient

Manager ) were also benchmarked.

Farmers obtained a substantial

increase in yields of 0.5 to 2.3 tons per

hectare. The increase in mean farmer

income ranged from 22% to 566%,

signicantly higher than the 10% target

of the project.

The number of farmers adopting

direct seeding almost doubled in

Southeast Sulawesi, from 26% in the

2008 wet season to 48% in the 2010 wet

season.

None of the farmers had heard of the

Nutrient Manager in 2008, but, in 2010,14–55% of the farmers had heard about it

and 10–20% had used it.

Compared with farmers in control

villages, the number of farmers with

improved knowledge on key insect pest

management principles doubled. For

water management, none of the farmers

had heard of AWD in 2008, but, in 2010,

19–80% of the farmers in the project

villages had adopted AWD.

The project’s adaptive research

approach was integrated into a

program called Integrated Crop

Management-Farmer Field Scho

Closing yield gaps in Southeast The IRRC has proven to be an e

platform for delivering new tec

to small-scale rice farmers acro

With over a decade of valuable

experiences under its belt, the I

envisions that it will continue to

scientic leadership and essenti

networks for environmentally s

increases in rice production in S

Asia’s main rice bowls.

The impacts have been imp

so far, and the IRRC, through it

national partners in both the pu

private sector, has a key role to

facilitating food security in the

Dr. Singleton is coordinator of

IN NORTHWEST Bangladesh, direct seeding, combined withearly-maturing varieties, appropriate weed management,and crop diversification, is helping to ease seasonal hungercalled monga.

T . M E N D O Z A ( 2 )

M . C A S I M E R O

MEN, WOMEN, and children—and theirdogs—hunt rats together in An Giang,Vietnam.

AT POPULATIONS can be su ccessfully managed ifrmers work together as a community—applyingeir control at the right time and in the rightbitats.

C H R I S Q U I N T A N A

CHILDREN AND their families across Asimore reasons to smile as the IRRC conthelp bring rice to their tables.

G R A N T S I N G L E T O N

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL field trial, the women inBone, South Sulawesi, proudly carry the season’sbountiful rice harvest.


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Rice Today September 2005 Rice Today September 2005

A lmost 90% of the 11 millionhectares of rice that areplanted each season inBangladesh is transplanted

— seedlings are grown in nurseriesthen moved to the field. It is aheavily labor-intensive process,requiring nearly half-a-billionperson-days across the country. In

the past, rural laborers abounded, but increasing labor out-migrationto city areas and a shift towardsalternative rural employment has

seen a severe shortage of handsavailable for transplanting rice.

This scarcity of farm workersis hurting Bangladeshi rice farmerson several fronts. The most obvious

impact is an increase in labor costs. Also, the optimal planting per iodsfor the boro (dry) and aman (wet)

seasons are relatively short. A lack of workers

means not allfarmers can

plant theirrice on time.

Delayedplantingleads to late-maturing rice,

increasing

the risk of croplosses at the tail

end of both seasons— due to hailstorms or

flooding from rain during

the boro season and due to drought

during the aman season. Thesefactors, combined with increasing

costs of other inputs and a falling orstagnant market price for rice, arediminishing the economic viabilityof rice production in Bangladesh.

But a simple, inexpensive piece of

equipment has the potential to changethe face of rice farming across thecountry. The drum seeder (see photo,opposite) is a lightweight devicemade from high-density plastic with

a cost of around US$40 and a life of

6-8 years. Originally designeInternational Rice Research

(IRRI), improvements by resand manufacturers in Vietnasubstantially reduced the weand usability of the device. Iof six to eight cylindrical dru

along a central axis. Each drstudded with holes through wpre-germinated seeds drop nrows on puddled soils as the seeder is pulled along. The d

supported by a large plastic weach end, allowing the wholeto be easily pulled along by auser at walking pace. Drum s

has already had success in Vas a seed-saving strategy, butcapacity to save labor is profo

while it may take up to 50 pedays to transplant 1 hectare o

direct wet seeding with a druseeder takes barely 2 person

Bangladesh’s first drum-trial, conducted during the 2

aman season — a collaborati

between IRRI a nd the BanglRice Research Institute (BRRfunded by the International F

Agricultural De velopment (I

— was a comprehensive succthe trial, led by M. Zainul AbFarming Systems Specialist

succes

sDrumming up

n improved way of planting rice

increasing farmers’ incomes

nd strengthening communities

n Bangladesh

Story and photography by Leharne Fountain

A PLASTIC DRUM SEEDER holds six or eight perforated cylindrical drums housing pregerminated seare dropped in rows as the seeder is easily pushed or pulled along by a single person — like Filipi

Jimmy Gonzales — at walking pace. M. Zainul Abedin (below left ), who led the drum-seeding tria

viewed about the technology by Bangladesh TV Channel i during a field day in Pabna. The media hcrucial role in raising awareness of drum seeding throughout Bangladesh.


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Rice Today September 2005 Rice Today September 2005

FARMER Jamal Sheikh (opposite)discusses his drum-seeding expewith Channel i director Shykh Sethe Pabna field day. Looking on aMinister Mirza Fakhrul Islam A

(in white), BRRI Director of ResNiloofar Karim (right of ministerDr. Abedin (left of Seraj ).

RRI’s Social Sciences Division,d implemented by BRRI Chiefientific Officer Musherraf Husaind participating farmers, drum

eding resulted in an average% higher yields and 6% reducedsts compared with transplanting,d drum-seeded crops maturedaverage 10 days earlier. What’s

ore, drum-seeded rice gave anerage gross return 21% higheran for transplanted rice. Thisanslates to more than double theerage profit — a boost of around

20-150 per hectare per crop. All those involved saw t he

chnology as cheaper, requiringss labor, producing higher yields

d resulting in better plant growth.he only areas of concern weree potential cost of acquiring a

um seeder, uncertainty overailability, and weed management.

ore recently, though, a follow-p IFAD-funded project, aiming

accelerate the adoption of thechnology, has given IRRI and

RRI, with the assistance of

the Bangladesh Department of Agricultural E xtension (DAE),the chance to solve some inherentproblems and lead the spread of

drum seeding in Bangladesh.Dr. Abedin developed guidelines

for technology adoption using acommunity participatory approachto research and extension. One key

to the approach is a pre-adoptionanalysis that takes into considerationinstitutional, technical, policy,social and economic factors thatmay help or hinder adoption. This

means understanding an entirefarming community, not justindividual farmers. Many farmersgrow other crops in addition to

rice, so the approach must considerhow drum seeding will affect their

whole farming system. The product

of a Bangladeshi farm familyhimself, Dr. Abedin emphasizes

the value of allowing farmingcommunities to make their owndecisions, and to recognize theyhave the ability to experiment, take

calculated risks and innovate.

Fifty-six groups across thecountry decided to try drum seedingduring the 2004 boro season, in thehope the technology would spread

out from these points. Establishinga drum-seeded crop requires earlierirrigation than does transplanting,so owners of tube wells — eachof which usually irrigates several

rice farms — were the first peoplecontacted in each location.

“It’s useless,” says Dr. Abedin, “toget the farmers involved if they can’tirrigate their crop at the right time,

so it was crucial that we includedthe well owners. Understanding,and working within, the existingcommunity structures is essential.”

Extraordinary paceNow, after just three growing seasons,

the popularity of drum seeding isspreading at an extraordinary pace.

Some 4,000 Bangladeshi farmers inmore than 300 groups are alreadyusing the technology, with hundredsmore seeking access to drum seeders.

Dr. Abedin attributes thesuccessful adoption of drumseeding in large part to theproject’s community participatoryapproach and, critically, the early

establishment of research linkages with development and policymakers, entrepreneurs and themedia. Ultimately, though, it comes

down to the farmers themselves.“It was the farmers who

experimented with the technologyand were confident of success, evenin the face of skepticism,” he says.

“The researchers were continuouslylearning from farmers and integratingthese lessons into the work plan.Farmers also trained other farmers.

Working with groups of farmers

helps establish ongoing, community-level monitoring and evaluation, andensures that drum-seeding successstories spread rapidly to neighbors.”

The project abounds with storiesabout farmers like Abdul Aziz, fromGazipur district northeast of the

capital, Dhaka. Aziz soldiered on even while neighboring farmers scof fed,

believing he wouldn’t harvest anyrice from his drum-seeded crop. At55 bigha, or just under 8 hectares (7

bighas equal 1 hectare), Az iz’s farmis large by Bangladeshi standards.He started growing drum-seededrice during the 2004-05 boro season.

Previously, his entire crop wastransplanted, requiring 25 laborersper 5 bigha. For the same area, drumseeding required just a single laborer.

Aziz expla ins that on top of

the labor savings, he increased his yield by 0.5-0.8 tons per hectare,and he harvested 10 days earlierthan previously with transplantedrice. He has more money in his

pocket and he intends to invest itoutside of rice farming, to increasehis earning capacity and diversifyhis income. Many of Aziz’s fellow

Gazipur farmers are now eager to

try drum seeding for themseand he is only too happy to shknowledge and experience —his drum seeder — with them

It’s a common theme: skneighbors become true believMohammad Ghiasuddin, wha very small farm in Mymensdistrict north of Dhaka, has

harvested three drum-seede After just one season, both hneighbors, who had originallhim mad, were convinced of

virtues of drum seedi ng, and

has shared the technology wIn this way, from farmer

farmer, the technology is spr


14/23

Rice Today September 2005

eld days, often attended byundreds of farmers, give drum-

eding converts the chance tospire others to try the technology.a field day in April 2005, three

rmers shared their experiences of

um seeding with a crowd of nearly00 farmers and extension workersom around Pabna, 240 km west ofhaka. One of the speakers, Jamalheikh, described the experiment he

d some fellow farmers performedtry and reduce both the need

r irrigation and the cost of landeparation by adopting a zero-tillagechnique that made use of residual

oisture in his field from recedingodwaters — and which, in concertth drum seeding, gained them

elds at least 20% higher than for

ansplanted rice. It is this spiritof innovation and determination

that has stirred pride in thosealready drum seeding and

inspired their counterparts.

Involving Bangladeshi policymakers in the adoption process

provided a major boost. From anearly stage, Dr. Abedin realizedgovernment support would becritical (see Grain of truth on page

38). The team fostered relations with the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture and subsequently securedgovernment funding of 10 millionBangladeshi taka (US$156,000),

which was mainly used to buyan extra 2,500 drum seeders.The government also pledged tosubsidize the cost of drum seeders forfarmers. The media have also been

instrumental in increasing awarenessof drum seeding. Many people — notonly rice farmers — approachedBRRI and DAE for information on

trying drum seeding after seeingstories about the technology ontelevision or in the newspapers.

But there is still work to bedone. Research is still identifying

the varieties and areasmost suited to drumseeding, particularlytaking into accountland, soil and existing

cropping systems. Weedmanagement is also an issue,

as is the availability of the drumseeders, and the possible need

for adaptations. And althoughscarcity of labor is the primary

basis for using drum

seeding, in some areas the technologyhas the potential to displace jobs.

“Researchers need to be awareof their social responsibility to seethat there is no serious effect on ruralemployment,” cautions Dr. Abedin.

“However, the economic boost caused by drum seeding should create jobselsewhere to absorb displaced labor.”

IRRI, BRRI and the DAEare currently in discussions with

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs interestedin manufacturing drum seederslocally, and two companies havealready manufactured prototypes.This sort of enterprise can help

the availability of drum seedersmeet the rising demand.

Major shift

Drum seeding represents a majorshift from transplanting, and thereis a need to manage the changeand create an environment thatallows change nationally. Training

farmers and both government andnongovernment extension workersis of paramount importance. AnIRRI-led meeting in June 2005,attended by senior government

officials and high-level research,extension, nongovernmental,media and business personnel,established a 5-year plan for

transferring drum-seedingtechnology. Following this, thegovernment has given the go ahead

WEL BUSINESSMAN Haji Shahabuddin (above) approached BRRI, eager to try drum seeding on his land, after seeing the technology showcased on the locallevision program Soil and man. Farmer Mohammad Ghiasuddin (above right ) stands in front of his drum-seeded crop. Filling drum seeders is easy for Filipino farmerernando Bambo (below ) — simply open the hatch in each drum and pour in the pregerminated seeds.

Rice Today September 2005

to the project team for an additional

investment of around 100 milliontaka ($1.56 million) to continuethe work to spread drum-seedingtechnology across Bangladesh.

Originally, the only planned

benefit of drum seeding was thecost saving from reduced laborrequirements. It was expected,however, that this would be offsetslightly by an increased need for

weed management. As it turnsout, farmers have also experiencedimproved plant growth, increased

yields and earlier plant maturity,

and they have used fewer seeds.The latest results of drum

seeding across the country show yield increases of up to 20% in both boro and aman seasons,

and up to double the net profit,translating to additional income,over transplanted rice, of 7,000-10,000 taka ($110-160) per hectareper season, a significant boost for

most Bangladeshi rice farmers. Drumseeding also frees family labor, whichhas wide-ranging social benefits.

Even with modest projections,

Dr. Abedin believes drum seedingcan have a profound impact. “Ifdrum seeding works on only 4

million hectares,” he explains,

“a 15% yield increase equates to3 million tons of extra rice with

very little ext ra investment. I believe drum seeding has thepotential to change the landscape

of rice farming in Bangladesh.”Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service,

a participating nongovernmentalorganization, sees early harvest andincreased yield as more than just a

way to reduce monga (starvation)during the pre-harvest period inOctober and November. First, earlyharvesting generates employment

for landless laborers, providing themincome to buy food. Second, the earlyharvest and increased productionmake food available to vulnerablefarmers during the monga period.

The farmers themselves areoverjoyed by the results and areeagerly sharing the technology withother farmers. Dr. Abedin has also

witness ed benefits of the technology

that run deeper than this — the spiritof innovation and entrepreneurshipamong farmers and the strengtheningof communities through working

together are just as significant.Drum seeding is helping to

advance rice farming in Bangladesh.

In his own words, Ayub Husain is

farmers.” Husain was part of the

of farmers to receive drum-seedi

from BRRI. He then trained others,

with five farmers in two locations

2003-04 boro (dry) season. In theaman (monsoon) season, just two fa

the drum seeder. The next boro seaso

more than 60 farmers sowed 15 hecta

seeding, including almost a hectare

own land. Wanting to spread the word

forces with IRRI and BRRI to hold a f

day, which was attended by the Stafor Agriculture.

Inspired by the results in his

Husain set out 500 km across Banglad

he led trials in the hometown of t

Minister to raise government awaren

technology. The trials were not as suhoped because of unsuitable cond

neither he nor the farmers were d

these same farmers are now testing

in the aus (pre-monsoon) season.What motivates a farmer to g

lengths? Husain claims his mission

to help his fellow Bangladeshi farmegrow enough rice merely to feed them

their families, and many struggle t

even that. By instilling farmers with

innovation, he believes Bangladesh

a whole can move forward. Husain ha

partnerships between farmers, scieresearchers can increase productivi

wants scientists to help farmers realiz

can take a technological approach

problems and improving their farmin

While Husain travels around t

spreading the news about drum se

other technologies, his family lookfarm. It is more important, he feels,

his time to benefit the entire country

professed father of farmers doesn’t

payment for his work: parents don’t e

paid for being parents, he says, For H

a reward in itself to watch hi

rice today special supplement for farmers' day

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