The fragile rice production environments consist of the less favourable rainfed lowland, flood prone and upland agro-ecosystems. Table 3.1 gives the area of production statistics. IRRI’s work focused initially on improvements in the irrigated systems where plant and management production gains have been rapidly achieved, but research on fragile environments has become more extensive and more important, particularly over the last decade.
The fragile environments, accounting for 47% of the total global rice area, are characterized by the use of few resources and low and unstable yields at levels between 1and 2 t/ha. Large populations of very poor farmers (about 1 billion people in Asia) live in these environments. In these systems, the productivity of labour and land is still very low. The yield increases observed in the irrigated systems have generally not occurred in these less favourable areas. Crop failure is common and this has major implications for investment decisions by farmers in the following year.
Most rainfed lowlands are in South Asia with the major areas in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Eastern India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The major problems are drought or flooding in different stages of growth and low external resources inputs. However, the systems vary from favourable to very unfavourable systems. When rainfed systems are flood prone and water levels increase above 50 cm, the systems are called flood prone systems. Rice yields are generally low because of unpredictable combinations of drought and floods and problem soils. The upland rice ecosystems are located in the uplands in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Farmers in these areas generally live at the subsistence level. They are among the poorest in the world and often practice slash and burn agriculture. These systems are often degraded by population pressure and they represent a threat to forested areas.
In recent years, the attention of the international development community has focused on poverty reduction with a major emphasis on the improvements in marginal and fragile environments. In 2000 also, the CGIAR adopted poverty alleviation as its overall goal, as stated in the CGIAR Vision and Strategy. Although there is an on-going debate on whether international research investments in marginal environments are likely to create more significant impact on poverty alleviation than investments in favourable production environments, there has been an increasing tendency among the donors of international agricultural research and the IARCs and NARS to put emphasis on the fragile environments.
At IRRI, work on less favourable rice production areas started during 1970-80 with the introduction of farming systems research. This work, initiated as part of IRRI’s existing programmes, involved research on upland, rainfed lowlands and the flood prone systems. This coincided with a general trend among the CGIAR’s commodity Centres to start including research addressing the more complex small farmer subsistence systems in the more marginal areas that had not been reached by the Green Revolution. This trend was strengthened in the 1990s when the donors of the CGIAR called for broadening of CGIAR’s goals to include NRM.
In the early 1990s, IRRI established research programmes integrating breeding and NRM activities for these specific environments: upland rice (UR), deep water and tidal wetland rice (DWR) and rainfed lowland rice (RLR). This represented the first major effort to systematically address the problems constraining rice production in the unfavourable rice systems through research. The major emphasis in all three projects (MTP) was on improving productivity through genotypic improvement and management in both the uplands and the rainfed lowlands, together with understanding the process of diversification in the uplands and reducing drudgery for women in rainfed lowlands. The objectives of the Programmes were further elaborated in the subsequent MTPs.
In 2002, following the recommendation of the 5th EPMR, these programmes were combined into a single programme, ‘Improving Productivity and Livelihood for Fragile Environments’, encompassing breeding (Project 7), NRM (Project 8) and the Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments (CURE; Project 9). The latter Project merged three separate consortia on RLR, DWR and UR. At that time, IRRI reduced its work on the deep water rice systems as little potential impact was expected from that work. That decision gets support from the Panel. In the mid 1990s, about 23% of IRRI’s resources were used for research in the programmes for the fragile environments (vs. 27% allocated to the irrigated production systems). By 2003, the resources allocated to these fragile environments had gone up to 34% of total Centre resources, while the allocation to irrigated environments had dropped to 23%. Due to decreasing overall funding, this represents an annual increase of some US$2.2 M to the unfavourable systems (from 7.7 to US$9.9 M). In addition, allocation to Programmes 1 and 4 also contribute to the overall research effort for unfavourable rice systems.
In 2000, IRRI initiated work on aerobic rice systems. These systems may reduce the water use by more than a factor of two. This followed the initial work of IRRI in upland systems[22]. However, Chinese scientists (now collaborators of IRRI, e.g. Wang Hua Qi) had been working on these systems for more than a decade and developed varieties that produce lower yields in aerobic conditions than in conventional cultivation (20%), but with a 50% reduction in water use. A major research effort was lacking to explore options for favourable dryland rice production (at similar yield levels) and at IRRI a team of physiologists, breeders, soil scientists and plant pathologists started a major project on this topic. The work is located in Programme 3 as drought may occur if the rice is not flooded. Programme 2 hosts the water management research.
Programme 3 priorities have not changed in principle during the review period, although in the 2004-2006 MTP, the annual expected Project outputs are described in more detail than in the 1998-2002 MTP. The focus for the uplands, as stated in the 1998-2002 MTP, was still on drought resistance, weed competitiveness and allelopathy (although the latter was stopped in 2001 through lack of results and potential), genetic variability and host resistance of major pests, blast, weeds and nematodes, innovative breeding technologies and more recently on the identification of P-uptake genes. For the rainfed lowlands the focus remains on drought and submergence tolerance, micronutrient enhancement, water and nutrient management, weed management and new techniques for participatory breeding. Multi-locational trials have been conducted to identify the major constraints.
The main objective of Programme 3 is: to enhance germplasm and crop/resource management to improve productivity and human nutrition and to reduce farmers’ risks in fragile environments.
The rationale of this Programme is that increases in rice production in these environments would not only improve the livelihood of the generally poor families that depend on rice for food, particularly in the uplands. Increases in rice food production would improve household food security of mainly poor people living in fragile environments, thereby freeing their resources to diversify their income generating activities. The existing technology for the irrigated environment is not directly transferable to these variable environments with adverse soil and water quality (such as salinity and alkalinity), drought, and prolonged and flash floods, which are the major constraints affecting globally 25, 16 and 20 M ha, respectively.
Programme 3 consists of three Projects. Project 7, ‘Genetic Enhancement for Improving Productivity and Human Health in Fragile Environments’, aims at developing improved rice varieties with higher and more stable yields, higher content of micronutrients, and more efficient water use for fragile environments. The Project budget in 2002 was US$5.44 M and the internationally recruited Project staff was 7.39 full time equivalents (FTE). Project 8, ‘Natural Resource Management for Rainfed Lowland and Upland Rice Ecosystems’, has a purpose of developing and providing to NARS sustainable natural resource and crop management strategies that are ecologically sound, economically efficient and socially acceptable. The Project budget in 2002 was US$4.01 M and the internationally recruited Project staff was 4.81 FTE. Project 9, ‘Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments’ (CURE), aims at developing improved unfavourable rice ecosystems with the NARS in the different rice growing countries. The Project budget in 2002 was US$0.47 M and the internationally recruited Project staff was 0.7 FTE. However, Projects 7 and 8 contribute largely to the Consortium work. So the total effort is much more.
The planned Project outputs, as stated in the 2004-2006 MTP, are the following:
IRRI is moving increasingly from the development of finished cultivars to the production of breeding materials, which is becoming its key role. MAS is now clearly enhancing the efficiency of this activity for a number of different traits and environments. Advances have been made. An example is the identification of a linkage map for gene sub1 for tolerance to submergence. Advances have been made in the genetic analysis of elongation, tolerance for Zn, Fe and P deficiency, but progress is needed to facilitate application into breeding programmes[23]. The role of ethylene and its manipulation in flooding tolerance has also been identified[24].
The IRRI RLR Programme has developed parental lines with important sources of stress resistance (drought, submergence and low P tolerance in combination with high yielding ability) and these are successfully used in national breeding programmes. Stress tolerant varieties, preferred by farmers, have been developed in collaboration with NARS for Thailand, the Eastern India Shuttle breeding programme, and Laos. In Eastern India, where RLR is grown in 17 M ha, 70% of the varieties are improved varieties, partly derived from this collaboration.
Cultivars were developed in the IRRI breeding programme in the Philippines and in Thailand. These have been released in several countries. In Laos, rice production increased from 1.5 M tonnes in 1990 to 2.3 M tonnes in 2001 largely resulting from wide adoption of these varieties in Laos. This major impact on rice productivity resulted in self-sufficiency in rice. The varieties are better suited for the environment than any other HYV and cover 36% of the area under RLR. In 2001, income in the households that adopted the new varieties was twice as high as in households with traditional varieties. IRRI claims an annual return on investment of 30%.
As an important part of activities in this Project, IRRI has developed methodologies for participatory plant breeding in order to ensure relevance and success of the breeding activities through obtaining farmers’ feedback on varieties that have been developed. This is of course very important for the success of the breeding programme. The approach used was Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS). A manual is written on the procedures for the breeders to develop rice varieties for drought prone environments[25]. The different chapters in this manual, written by IRRI breeders, give a very clear step by step description of the breeding for drought process.
The Panel commends IRRI for the excellent progress of the RLR breeding programme in relation to new varieties that have been developed through PVS and released and is already showing impact on productivity and income. It notes that part of that impact is likely to be occurring as a consequence of research done prior to the review period, and was not yet observable at the time of the 5th EPMR. The activities were focused on the development of breeding materials with stress tolerance traits and on the engagement of the NARS breeders in the development of varieties that are optimal for the local conditions. These are justified in the light of the success so far. These activities are also in line with what the Panel believes to be IRRI’s comparative advantage, i.e. development of parent breeding materials and collaborative breeding efforts involving the NARS.
In collaboration with the University of California Davis, IRRI has identified and mapped a major gene for submergence tolerance. Similar work has been done for salinity, P deficiency and Al toxicity. However, the genes associated with these traits still need to be confirmed.
Drought tolerant varieties have been identified and methods are being developed to identify genes for this trait. QTLs for drought tolerance are being identified. The heritability of reproductive stage drought tolerance was determined to be high, but so far measurable secondary traits suitable for selection have not been found. It was shown that PVS was more effective than conventional testing for enhancing adoption as farmers directly selected the varieties they prefer replacing a two step selection process. Four salt tolerant varieties were selected through PVS and released in Bangladesh and the Philippines.
In Eastern India and Laos, IRRI has initiated activities in an upland rice breeding network to select varieties with drought tolerance and broad adaptation, and QTLs for drought tolerance are being developed. In Northern Laos, farmer participatory research projects identified two varieties that yield over 20% more than the local check varieties[26]. The variety ‘Nok’ has a better quality and better yield than local checks and ‘Makhinsoung’ has a lower quality, but high farmer ratings. On-farm testing started in 2003. Significant production gains of up to 25% without changing inputs have been found in field trials[27]. The upland breeding programme has been suffering from the withdrawal of inputs from other advanced research institutions half way through the review period due to budget cuts, which has sadly slowed the rate of progress.
Breeding of perennial rice for lower erosion risks was planned in the 1998-2000 MTP for the uplands. Progress was made with respect to the development of crosses with intermediate yield levels and perenniality. These products have been delivered to China. This Project was deliberately ended in 2001 as management and scientists had no positive expectations from the approach compared to the alternative ways in which farmers could be helped to improve income in upland systems with reduced environmental impact. The Panel supports the decision to stop projects when confidence in their usefulness is gone.
Basically, the Project has used two strategies, one using tropical japonicas for problem soils and low input environments, and one with improved indica lines for the more favourable and more fertile upland environments for situations such as aerobic rice. Some varieties have been adopted as, for example, in Mindanao, but are spreading only slowly as the perceived advantages are small[28].
In the last 5 years, IRRI gained interest in developing highly productive rice production systems without flood irrigation. In many tropical environments water becomes scarce and rice uses enormous amounts of water to produce grains. For a 10 t/ha (= 1 kg/m2) rice crop 2000-4000 l per m2 is required, while an average alternative upland crop requires 400-800 l per m2. In non-flooded conditions rice productivity is generally much lower in tropical environments. Enormous savings of water per kg of dry matter, demonstrated in Chinese and Brazilian breeding programmes for aerobic systems, make research on aerobic rice very attractive. Aerobic rice varieties derived from improved upland indica varieties have been identified that can yield 5-6 t/ha in the dry season[29]. The step from a flooded situation to an aerobic system at field capacity costs 1 t/ha of yield. The physiological mechanisms behind this effect are being studied. The question remains why in these experiments yields in flooded situations are not higher than 6 t/ha whereas yields of around 9 t/ha are being reported from IRRI’s farm. In view of the future requirements of water by competing sources, further development of aerobic rice (or high yielding dryland rice) is highly relevant as an alternative for flooded rice system. The Panel encourages IRRI to continue the development of highly productive aerobic rice systems with similar productivity as in flooded systems.
Seeking solutions for combating micronutrient malnutrition is highly relevant as many health problems are related to micronutrient deficiencies commonly associated with poverty. One avenue that IRRI is following involves enhancing the micronutrient content in rice. Genes were tagged for high Fe in grains. Improved breeding lines with high Fe and Zn were distributed to the NARS partners. In a human feeding trial the effect of high Fe is now being tested together with ARIs and University of the Philippines, Los Baños. IRRI’s research is well underway and IRRI is leading the crop breeding in collaboration with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). The relevance of biofortified crops, including micronutrient enriched rice, is recognised internationally and the Challenge Programme Harvest Plus is addressing the issue. IRRI is a crop leader for rice in this Challenge Programme.
In RLR environments with highly variable environments, decentralised breeding and testing is very important. The partnerships between IRRI and NARS have been strengthened and true collaborative breeding programmes have been developed. The IRRI approach to develop and provide parent breeding materials and the identification of genes and tools to detect the genes using markers is very appropriate. The Panel commends IRRI for the progress in developing the PVS on one hand and in the identification of major genes for water related stresses on the other hand, thereby combining an appropriate research process with scientific advancement.
Breeding work on rainfed lowland and deepwater rice was transferred to Thailand in the 1990s, but unfortunately, the Thai Government restricted the export of rice germplasm. This has created a major constraint to collaborative research and breeding. The breeding work in Thailand was transferred to the Thai national breeding programme (also because of a budget reduction at the Institute). Because of policies like this, initial analysis and identification of traits at IRRI is crucial to facilitate later exchange with other countries from IRRI as export of materials from Thailand is currently hampered.
The planned outputs of Project 8 include: (1) Crop and NRM practices for improved livelihood in rainfed lowlands developed and evaluated; and (2) Crop and NRM practices for improved livelihood in upland rice systems developed and evaluated. This Project brings a systems perspective in NRM research to bear with the complexities of rainfed environments where single technologies are not effective. IRRI and its NARS partners are developing farm options for farmers to draw upon.
The major difference between irrigated and rainfed systems is that, in the latter, wide adaptation is not generally applicable. G x E interactions have been studied at the different CURE consortium sites in the past decade. Most variation was the result of the environmental component with agro-hydrology being the main determinant for this variation. The database on these experiments has value also for future research. The multi-locational work resulted in breeding priorities with respect to traits for specific environments. Different target environments were defined based on the major environmental constraint, such as late drought or early submergence. A major recent finding is that there is broader adaptation among varieties than has been expected. For example in Laos, the newly bred variety TDK1 was adapted over large and relatively diverse environments and it has boosted yields uniformly by 0.5-1 t/ha.
On the basis of the G x E studies, 8 lines adapted for the different environments were selected as probe lines in breeding programmes[30]. In a large set of multi-locational studies, nutrient requirements and opportunities to manipulate nutrient-water interactions were identified. The greatest nutrient response was to nitrogen. The work was published in a set of seminal papers that form the basis for further NRM research in rainfed lowlands.
Environments involving predominantly RLR systems were characterized and mapped with a focus on severity of drought and on identifying domains for interventions especially in Eastern India through the NARS led Environmental Analysis Network. This work is very useful for targeting new technologies.
In-depth analyses were made to determine the nature of biotic and abiotic stresses and socio-economic constraints to technology adoption with respect to the toposequence, hydrology and yield relationships, shifts in weed flora and pests, changes in crop establishment methods, risk coping strategies, labour out-migration and changes in gender roles. For instance, in Bangladesh yield gap studies showed that 30% of the farmers suffer at least a 500 kg/ha (20%) yield loss due to weeds. Therefore, the Panel supports the conclusions that weed management studies must be an important component of future studies. Detailed water balance studies on regional risk for drought and zones for crop management strategies to reduce drought risks were conducted, for example, in a region in Thailand, demonstrating a very useful methodology. For rainfed rice systems in Eastern India, the economic cost of drought was estimated at US$250 M for rice and US$500 M for all crops[31]. Options to mitigate drought were investigated in a useful baseline study. Another detailed study shows that productivity growth and stability have been achieved simultaneously. However, in RLR systems in India the HYVs used were released for irrigated systems and are thus not targeted in this programme. So, yield increases must be feasible if drought tolerant varieties will be developed.
Crop diversification is an important approach for farmers to avert risk. IRRI’s research shows that raising rice productivity in these environments is critical for encouraging farmers to diversify production systems for income gains. Technologies for increasing production and stabilizing yields are required in the RLR systems in India.
Socio-economic barriers to poverty alleviation such as limited access to inputs and marketing infrastructure are discussed by IRRI and NARS scientists with policy makers and more domestic resources are being allocated to R&D in various countries such as India. A study on the effect of labour out-migration, rice farming and gender roles has recently been completed to examine whether this poses a threat to agricultural production because of labour constraints. On the other hand, remittances help to generate farm household resources. As males are usually those that out-migrate, the responsibilities and activities fall frequently on the female part of the household. This has important consequences with respect to technology development.
The influence of the toposequence on NRM, crop performance and farmers’ practices was determined and opportunities were identified to increase yield and farmers’ income from rice through adjusting inputs to the position in the toposequence. For example, dry seeding of rice was a promising option for avoiding late-season drought in susceptible parts of the toposequence[32]. Experiments in Indonesia showed that yield gains of 500 kg/ha were possible through adjusting nutrient management and weed control to the water situation along the toposequence. Further activities focus on the development of simple decision tools for site specific management along the toposequence. Innovative rice technologies were introduced, such as short duration varieties and dry seeding, allowing the cultivation of a post rice crop that can use the residual moisture at the end of the season.
The ecophysiological model ORYZA2000 developed at IRRI not only simulates yield potential but also actual yields in rainfed lowland and upland systems under water and N stress[33]. This work was based on the long-standing collaboration with Wageningen University. The model was well parameterized and thoroughly evaluated using multiple year datasets. The model was also adopted by the APSRU modelling group in Australia. The Panel suggests that the model be used more intensively also by the agronomists in the Programme to facilitate interdisciplinary research and conclusions.
The Project has been active in considering all phases of the production process, including proper seed storage mechanisms that influence shelf life. Such mechanisms have a large influence on germination rate, which is strongly enhanced (from 30% to 75%), and disease incidence, which can be diminished with sealed storage. Seed health techniques can also have a major impact and NGOs are promoting these practices in various regions in the Philippines.
Studies have been conducted on weed flora shifts and yield gains through more intensive weeding than farmers practice. Significant yield gains are possible, but these require additional labour[34]. IRRI’s work on competitive varieties[35] is fortunately continued by the breeders in the RLR system. The varieties that are currently being tested in the field (aerobic and rainfed lowland) look very promising. Some rice varieties are strongly competitive to persistent weeds, and progress has been made in developing screening methodologies to identify these. As a result, robust models can now be used to identify traits that are required to suppress weeds. Traditional O. glaberrima spp. and O. sativa: japonica and indica varieties are all potential candidates. As predicted by these models, early vigour is the easiest trait to identify what really determines competitiveness.
Promising management options tailoured for specific germplasm were identified for several countries including Laos, India and Bangladesh. For example, in Bangladesh omitting insecticide use does not lead to yield loss in the T. aman crop as might be expected. In Laos, nutrient management recommendations have been developed using the Leaf Color Chart developed in the irrigated rice programme. This technology is currently being tested at the other consortium sites with promising results.
The role of rice in improving the livelihoods of rural households was determined in upland systems through socio-economic studies. Evidence from long-term experiments that upland rice yields are declining over time when continuously cropped systems indicate the need to improve the sustainability of the system[36]. A five year experiment in central Laos has shown that upland rice yields declined from 3 to 0.5 t/ha when rice was grown every year, as a result of weed and nematode build-up, and maybe partly due to nutrient loss. There is a clear potential for improved management systems to have positive impact in upland systems. Yields have improved in the uplands in Indonesia (Figure 4.1), India and the Philippines in recent years. However, attributing these increases to specific agronomic practices is difficult. On the other hand, making improvements to traditional fallow systems (slash and burn) where legumes can be introduced into the rotation has been successful and offers many advantages. These systems are close to delivery in Laos and other parts of upland Indo-China. For example, upland rice yields increase when pigeon pea or stylosanthes are used instead of a fallow system, with the added benefit of improved household income and nutrition.
Figure 4.1 - Trends in Yield in Indonesia in Wetland Rice and Upland Rice
Experimental investigations on the mechanisms of uptake of insoluble P have also led to good breakthroughs that have allowed generalised models to be developed for upland and RLR[37]. This sound scientific knowledge can be of use in further development of the system. In China, alternative systems are explored in the hills with permanent paddy rice systems.
The new frontier project on perennial rice (for soil conservation) that was initiated in 1998 was stopped in 2001, as the project did not show real progress and opportunities for impact.
The Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments, CURE, is a collaborative management network in which IRRI and NARS partners identify and prioritize regional research needs, implement interdisciplinary research on the productivity, sustainability and diversity of rice-based rainfed cropping systems, and exchange and evaluate germplasm and technology.
In 2001, a CCER on rice research consortia for less favourable ecosystems was organized. The CCER concluded that the consortium approach had been very effective to tackle the problems in these complex upland and rainfed lowland systems. The CCER Panel concluded that significant progress had been made since 1991, but recommended that the individual consortia be consolidated and strengthened. This led to the establishment of CURE in which the work of NARS in seven participating countries now focuses on capacity building and the needs of resource poor farmers in less favourable environments. Three countries will join the consortium soon. The Panel further suggested that key areas of NARS research be strengthened, especially in the areas of socio-economic analysis, farmer participation and dissemination of results. The review recommended that IRRI’s research be reorganized on an ecosystem basis and this has been done to align the work in CURE with the other Projects in Programme 3. Six working groups have been established focussing on issues of the upland and lowland rainfed ecosystems, with IRRI staff allocated to specific environments. As a result more of IRRI staff time was allocated to the fragile environment programme and more research was focused at the consortium sites. The Panel is pleased that the ADB decided to fund part of the programme for a 3 year period.
For these fragile environments consortia are essential as multiple research sites and partnerships are needed for addressing the complexities. As the fragile environments generally form a mix of uplands, rainfed lowlands and deep water rice systems along a toposequence, there is an opportunity to study these systems in partly the same locations.
IRRI’s role in consortia has evolved dramatically over the past 10 years. A decade ago the consortium sites were mainly developed as research sites, each characterized by the specific conditions as required for G x E studies, for instance. NARS scientists were collaborators primarily involved in implementation. This has now changed to being a true partnership in prioritization, planning and scientific development of joint research. The added value that IRRI scientists still bring to the consortium includes their scientific input of high quality, their role in data compilation for complex G x E analyses, and their role in facilitating the exchange of information between groups. All members of the consortium who met the Panel expressed their satisfaction with the consortium approach and IRRI’s approach and leadership. In the future, the value of all multi-locational datasets can be more fully exploited. Where technologies are ready for further dissemination scientists are working with reputable NGOs that have high community credibility to improve information flow.
The Panel commends IRRI for its effort and effectiveness in developing the consortium approach for integrated multi-locational research into a true partnership research system for impact with a clear role for IRRI staff.
This programme is linked to three Challenge Programmes of the CGIAR:
The Panel encourages IRRI to participate strongly in these Challenge Programmes, in which it is leading major themes.
The vision document prepared for this EPMR by the Programme team: Vision for livelihood improvement in the fragile environments shows a clear continuation of the lines of thought developed in the past decade. "IRRI’s vision is that poor people living in fragile agro-ecosystems of Asia will have enough rice to eat and will be able to improve their livelihoods through intensification and diversification of rice-based production systems, while using natural resources in environmentally sound ways. Improving and stabilizing rice productivity is a key intervention to achieve household food security, and a crucial entry point for spurring sustainable agricultural development in these fragile environments".
The Panel supports this vision and the approaches that will be taken. However, the research programme requires a full implementation of research Projects 7 and 8 through the CURE consortium (Project 9) if it is to reach its main target for 2014 to cut drought related yield losses by 75% through the introduction of new cultivar-by-Community NRM systems. This is an ambitious objective, but current progress indicates that the targets are achievable.
The relative research contribution to the different fragile environments has changed. The effort in the RLR systems is highest as these areas are considered to have the highest potential impact from science investment and support many hundreds of millions of poor people. In deep water systems, large increases are not expected as submergence tolerant varieties exist and management of the system is nearly impossible apart from sowing system and timing and varietal choice. Other options are also becoming more attractive for farmers such as the introduction of irrigated rice in the dry season.
IRRI’s BOT indicates in its vision that IRRI should focus on the introduction of other crops than rice in the fragile environments. This will lead to an increased cash flow for the farming household. That requires a systems approach and the Panel suggests that IRRI carefully explore the viability of such programmes. NARS may have a comparative advantage with respect to experience in breeding and management of other (cash) crops. IRRI should provide the systems perspective and expertise on rice but IRRI has no comparative advantage for other crops. Experience has been developed in Project 11 (ecoregional approaches) and the former SARP programme with the NARS.
In the 5th EPMR, the 3 Programmes (DWR, RLR, UR) that now form the current Programme 3 were evaluated separately. The major assessment was that the time horizon for work in these systems is long and that in spite of the good science, for which the institute was commended, the achievements at that stage were very few and subsequently impact was insignificant in all ecosystems.
The Panel appreciates the strong integration of different disciplines contributing to solving the problems of the unfavourable environments. The Panel concludes that the successes discussed above brought about by the team are based upon good progress in the following areas:
Germplasm has been developed for the rainfed lowlands, flood prone areas and uplands. Finalized varieties were developed and released and breeding material was generated and used in PVS programmes at different locations in the CURE consortium. At the genetic level, markers for genes were identified for tolerance for stresses such as submergence, salinity, drought, P deficiency. Also, micronutrient enriched germplasm was developed. Aerobic rice germplasm was identified for the more favourable environments with the potential of high yields using less water, but further improvement is needed.
In the NRM programme, environments were characterized for research prioritization and better understanding of G x E interactions. Target environments were defined for specific variety types. The nature of different stresses was identified. Sound G x E studies were conducted. However, performance of a wide range of genotypes increased in later studies.
Management systems were developed for the different environments. A simulation model was further developed (ORYZA 2000) and used to understand crop performance at different locations and positions along the toposequence. Special attention is paid to weed management.
In the Panel’s judgement, the science in the Programme is of good quality although not all major achievements have been published in refereed journal articles yet. Much of the key information mentioned is published in IRRI books or proceedings. Much of the agronomy and soils research has been published in high ranking international journals. Regarding impact studies, refereed journal papers would help to strengthen the cause of the Institute as a key node in the rice science network.
In spite of the difficulty in improving these unfavourable systems through research, and particularly in scaling up research results, examples are now available that show progress towards achieving impact in these environments. The Programme had a strong impact especially in the rainfed lowlands of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Eastern India and Indonesia, as can be seen from increasing yields in RLR and UR ecosystems shown in the example from Indonesia (Figure 4.1). In recent years, HYVs selected by farmers with proper traits for the specific environments have been adopted and, in some cases, led to impact at household income level. In some countries such as in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, which are characterized by young research and extensions systems, rice research programmes led by IRRI have led to major increases in rice production. In Myanmar, IRRI’s relatively modest research investment has resulted in 100% yield increases. These translate into US$400 M increased returns from rice production. Similar yield increases have been documented in the rainfed lowlands in Eastern India where there is potential to reach very large numbers of poor people. As a result of HYVs mainly, yields have increased 9.5% since early 1990s and are more stable. These yield increases when scaled out over a very large area, are significant and a major potential for further increases remains. The Panel acknowledges the progress made both in terms of achievements and emerging impact in people’s livelihoods over the review period. In the upland programme, tropical japonicas are now being developed for problem soils, but it is too early for broad adoption and impact is still not shown.
Current results are promising and IRRI needs to document progress towards impact very carefully in spite of the difficulty in linking the contribution of research to productivity increase, especially with respect to NRM. This deals with the impact of research on productivity, and in the end on the livelihoods of people. The Panel thinks that most impact can be generated in the RLR systems and in aerobic rice systems or better said non-flooded high yielding rice ecosystems. The term aerobic does not really appeal.
The Panel commends IRRI for the high quality science in this Programme that led to improved insight in water, nutrient and pest management and improved varieties. The Panel also commends IRRI for achieving impact, in the past 5 years, in these complex systems which are inhabited mostly by poor people.
The Panel supports further development of the research programme as one which is owned by a group of institutions, of which IRRI is one. The consortium approach has shown to be very successful as a mechanism that is not only appropriate from an ecological point of view in these variable environments, but also for developing equal partnerships between IRRI and NARS scientists. Each working group needs an IRRI IRS in the coordinating team as (co) leader because IRRI, as an impartial organization, is well equipped to work across several countries and many locations. It is very important that IRRI further develops participatory approaches with the NARS to facilitate dissemination of technologies. Training, already a strong component in special projects and through CURE, will be even more important in such a model, as most NARS do not yet have a critical mass of scientists devoted to working in unfavourable environments.
The Panel recommends that IRRI include the results of ex ante impact studies in unfavourable environments in its priority setting exercises. The existing evidence indicates that less emphasis should be placed on uplands with low production potential and more emphasis is needed on rice-based cropping systems along the toposequence and favourable non-flooded rice systems.
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[22] George T et al., 2002.
Magat, a wetland semidwarf hybrid rice for high-yielding production on irrigated
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