Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan-Apr 2016 (Special Issue)
by Mayank Sharma
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EW DELHI, India – Modern agricultural technology and modernization could help double the current incomes of farmers within six years according to India’s prime minister. Honorable Shri Narendra Modi, prime minister of the Government of India, made this statement during the inauguration of the Krishi Unnati Mela agricultural fair and exhibition. “The next revolution in Indian agriculture has to be built on technology and modernization,” Modi emphasized. He also gave a clarion call for a second green revolution in the eastern states through the adoption of modern technologies. During the mega-event, more than one million farmers from various Indian states visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) exhibit. The exhibit showcased various technologies developed and promoted by the Institute for Indian farmers through the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia and Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia projects. These include stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs), Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems, publications on seed production and postharvest techniques, a manual rice transplanter, the community mat nursery, and performance charts of STRVs. IRRI representatives Mr. Mayank Sharma, Mr. Sarovar Yadav, and Mr. Amit Mishra provided, demonstrated and explained the various technologies promoted by IRRI. Farmers who are already cultivating STRVs shared their experiences and suggestions, particularly those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Farmers from these two states were satisfied with the performance of the drought-tolerant Sahbhagi Dhan as their areas Continued on page 5...
IRRI-STRASA/India
What’s in this issue... Special Project Update: STRASA Project – strong partnership and ownership delivering products to benefit farmers.......p. 2 IRRI showcases technologies in “Kisan Mela”......p. 6 Updates from Africa and South Asia and STRASArelated activities AfricaRice BOT holds first meeting at its new headquarters......p. 7 India appoints new agriculture secretary.......p. 8 IRRI and ACI partner to develop improved rice varieties for rice growers in Bangladesh........p. 9 Special Feature: UP Farmer Testimonies on droughttolerant Sahbhagi Dhan.......p. 10 1
Special Project Update
STRASA Project – strong partnership and ownership delivering products to benefit farmers by Maria Rowena M. Baltazar
The STRASA family and all partners and participants from South Asia and Africa .
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HUBANESWAR, India – “STRASA is really the platform for coping with current food security challenges,” said Dr. Gary Atlin, senior program officer, Agricultural Research and Development, Global Development, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, during his remarks at the Plenary Session during the third day of the STRASA meeting. “The Gates Foundation is very grateful to all of you, to the leadership of the project, and to partners in this very large network encompassing dozens of scientists and dozens of research programs across the region to develop and deliver products to needy farmers.” He stated that the average age of varieties in eastern India on an area-weighted basis in farmers’ fields is about 28 years and that these varieties need replacing fast to cope with the effects of climate change. “The dissemination team (of STRASA) is really pioneering approaches to speed up the delivery of its products,” he added. “We are very proud to be supporting this project.” R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
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R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
The Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project held its Phase 3 second annual review and planning workshop on 25-28 April 2016 at the Mayfair Lagoon Hotel in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The first two days were dedicated to the project’s evaluation and planning of its major objectives— overcoming drought, submergence, and salinity stress, and delivering seeds and cross-cutting activities (biotic stress and grain quality and nutrition)—through concurrent sessions. Other discussion topics involved monitoring and evaluation, gender, varietal tracking and adoption, targeting and monitoring through GIS, and communication, awareness, and information sharing. The
The Drought group
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STRASA Project... from page 2
latter part was held as a plenary session on the second day, followed by a session on STRASA products and advancement strategies. The STRASA Annual Review and Planning Meeting plenary was held on the third day, 27 April, at the Mayfair Convention Hall in Bhubaneswar. The inaugural program was highlighted by remarks from Mr. Manoj Ahuja, principal secretary (agriculture), Government of Odisha; Prof. Surendranath Pasupalak, vice chancellor, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT); and Dr. J.S. Sandhu, deputy director general (CS), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
STRASA provide an excellent entry for these systembased solutions.” Dr. Gurbachan Singh, chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, gave the inaugural address, in which he highlighted the many activities IRRI and India’s national agricultural research systems have carried out and are working on, from varietal development to rice biofortification. He concluded, “This STRASA project has contributed very significantly to boosting rice production and at the same time provided opportunities for all participants and stakeholders to make better choices.” He looked forward to more successes of the project in delivering stress-tolerant varieties to farmers, to
R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
The Seeds group
“Strong ownership and leadership from all of you make STRASA work,” Dr. Abdelbagi Ismail, STRASA overall project leader and principal scientist at IRRI, stated in his opening remarks, as he addressed the participants. “How we move varieties from one country to be released in another without further testing has not happened in the world before—this variety sharing is now a reality in South Asia,” he added, thanking the group for such work. In ending his remarks, Dr. Ismail challenged the group: “The success of STRASA is built on decades of hard work starting from the 1970s through today. The challenge for us is to keep this work progressing, to provide solutions for the bigger encounters facing agriculture today, with a clear need for nutritious and profitable rice-based systems, which can survive such worsening conditions of climate and soils. The varieties being developed through
The Biotic Stress group
R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
help in solving the complex problems brought about by changing climate. Highlights of the plenary meeting were the outputs and updates from the different concurrent sessions from the 2 days as well as progress of work Continued next page... 3
STRASA Project... from page 3
in South Asia and subSaharan Africa presented by Dr. Uma Shankar Singh, STRASA South Asia regional coordinator, and Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, STRASA coordinator in Africa. The wholeday plenary session concluded with recognition of partners for their outstanding contributions to the successful implementation of STRASA in their regions. The awardees were Dr. Dinesh K. Sharma, director of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal; Dr. Mohammad Abdul Bari (at right of photo below), outgoing country/ project manager of STRASA for Bangladesh; and Dr. Tilathoo Ram (left in above photo), rice breeder, Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad. Dr. Sharma was recognized for his significant contribution to STRASA and particularly for his leadership and support for the development, validation, and dissemination of rice varieties and pertinent technologies for saltaffected areas. Dr. Ram was recognized for his substantial involvement in the development and promotion of drought-tolerant rice. Dr. Bari’s notable leadership and
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R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
dedication to STRASA and his exceptional strategic input into the project, leading to its remarkable success in Bangladesh, were also duly appreciated. His initiative and aspirations to help needy farmers and his inspiration and support for staff and partners are much admired. Dr. Uma Shankar Singh gave the vote of thanks in wrapping up the event, acknowledging all the hard work of the different STRASA teams and staff and all partners who contributed greatly to the accomplishments to date. The last day of the event was capped with the planning meeting of a project associated with STRASA, the EC-IFAD-funded project on “Improved Crop Management and Strengthened Seed Supply Systems for Drought-Prone Rainfed Lowlands in South Asia,” followed by the STRASA M&E workshop for South Asia. Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, senior scientist/rainfed lowland agronomist for South Asia, IRRI, facilitated the EC-IFAD meeting, while Dr. Hope Webber, M&E specialist and IRRI senior scientist, conducted the M&E workshop. A total of 175 participants attended the four-day event, including five scientists from AfricaRice led by STRASA-Africa Coordinator, Dr. R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines Baboucarr Manneh.
The Submergence group R.Baltazar/IRRI-Philippines
The Salinity group
Indian Prime Minister... from page 1
experienced severe drought last year. The farmers also showed interest in other recently released varieties such as BINA Dhan 11, DRR 42, DRR 44, and Sambha-Sub1, among others. Other visitors to the IRRI display were Union Ministers Shri Radha Mohan Singh and Shri Nitin Gatkari. Other officials from the Ministry of Agriculture,
agricultural scientists, and extension agencies also stopped by the IRRI booth. Krishi Unnati Mela was organized jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). It was held in Pusa on 19-21 March.
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IRRI showcases technologies in “Kisan Mela” by Mayank Sharma, Amit Mishra, and Sheetal Sharma
IRRI-STRASA/India
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IHAR, India – IRRI technologies were showcased at a “kisan mela” (farmers’ fair) in one of India’s famous and premier agricultural institutions, Bihar Agricultural University (Sabour), which was also the organizer of the event. The fair ran from 4 to 7 March 2016. This year’s fair had the theme Soil Health Management for Sustainable Agriculture. Thousands of farmers, scientists, and people from the agricultural sector attended the fair, which was inaugurated by the honorable chief minister of Bihar, Mr. Nitish Kumar. IRRI hosted a booth where STRASA and CSISA technologies were displayed. Various literature on the management of stress-tolerant varieties, seed production, and postharvest techniques was distributed, especially to farmers and extension workers. Farmers from different districts of Bihar were major visitors to the IRRI booth. They asked about the latest technologies developed by IRRI. Also on display in the booth were other IRRI technologies and products, including those from Improved Rice-based Rainfed Agricultural Systems (IRRAS), the manual transplanter, the community mat nursery, and performance charts of stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs). The Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS), a recently developed technology especially for the Bihar region, was also demonstrated. CMRS aims to increase farmers' net income and sustain the productivity of rice-based cropping systems. During the demo period, hundreds of fertilizer recommendations were generated along with detailed discussion with the concerned farmers. 6
Earlier released varieties such as Swarna-Sub1 and Sahbhagi Dhan have already gained popularity in the stress-prone ecosystems of Bihar. The STRASA team therefore took this opportunity to publicize the newly released varieties DRR 42, DRR 44, and BINA Dhan 11 to the farmers as well as other extension people, which generated curiosity among the farmers about the varieties’ seed availability. For this, the team was able to explore the possibility of partnerships with other stakeholders, especially for the speedy dissemination of STRVs in different stress-prone states. The IRRI booth was one of the most visited and was well appreciated by the officials and university scientists who visited the fair, thus winning second place for Best Booth. The IRRI team included Dr. Amit Mishra, Dr. Sarvesh Shukla (discussing with farmers in photo below), Mr. Mayank Sharma, and Mr. Bhanu Pratap Bhadauria, all based in India.
IRRI-STRASA/India
Updates from Africa and South Asia
AfricaRice Board of Trustees holds first meeting at its new headquarters by AfricaRice
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he 39th meeting of the AfricaRice Board of Trustees was held on 21-24 March 2016 and represented the first time that the trustees met at the Center’s new headquarters building in Abidjan. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Peter Matlon, the trustees expressed satisfaction with the progress in the renovation of the headquarters building and with the level of occupancy by staff members, thereby signaling completion of the first phase of AfricaRice’s return to Côte d’Ivoire. The chair reported on his activities since the board’s September 2015 meeting, focusing both on issues that were directly Center-related and on those associated with the ongoing reform of the CGIAR in which he played an increasingly active role. Dr. Harold Roy-Macauley presented the director general’s report highlighting activities of the senior management team during the preceding six months. The board was informed of solid progress across a range of advocacy initiatives, including efforts to raise political support for rice research in the region, which have resulted in an African Union decision to hold a Rice Summit in 2016. This will involve AfricaRice working in partnership with the African Union Commission, NEPAD Agency, the African Development Bank, and FAO, and reporting back to the African Union Assembly of Heads of State during their January 2017 meeting. The director general reported good progress in resource mobilization with several traditional partners and recent initiatives with new development partners such as Syngenta Foundation and the Office Chérifien de Phosphates of Morocco. Management explained that a new invigorated resource mobilization strategy was aimed at helping to mitigate the impacts of dwindling resources received through Windows 1 and 2 from the CGIAR Fund Council. Reporting on the transition to Côte d’Ivoire, Dr. RoyMacauley indicated that the move of administrative and senior management staff to Abidjan had been completed, and that the transfer of research staff to Bouaké and the Center’s 700-hectare station at M’Bé was underway and was expected to remain on schedule through the end of 2016.
Source: R. Raman/AfricaRice
Management briefed the trustees on several impressive advances being made in the implementation of the Center’s programs, including the activities of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), in monitoring, evaluation, and impact analysis; data archiving; and the projects on “Rapid mobilization of alleles for rice cultivar improvement in sub-Saharan Africa (RAM)” and StressTolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA). Management underscored the outstanding achievements of the Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC) project working through the rice hubs to accelerate delivery of improved technologies to rural rice producers and entrepreneurs across the rice value chain. The board was also briefed on the Center’s reoriented and updated rice breeding program aimed at strengthening AfricaRice’s product-oriented (or demandled) development of rice varieties suited to market situations. Given the reduced funding for breeding, management posited that the new approaches would enhance the efficiency and impacts of the Center’s breeding programs and of the Africa-wide Rice Breeding Task Force. The new approach was also expected to contribute to strengthening rice seed systems since it would stimulate uptake of improved rice varieties, including the new generation of ARICA varieties recently developed by the Center. The board examined the impacts of systemlevel funding cuts on the 2016 Center budget. Following analysis of management’s plans for reducing the Center’s Continued next page... 7
India appoints new agriculture secretary
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r. Shobhana K. Pattanayak has been appointed as the new secretary of India’s Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’ Welfare with the retirement of the incumbent, Mr. Siraj Hussain. “Pattanayak’s outstanding record and dynamic leadership bode well for the continued growth and development of India’s agricultural sector and for the welfare of all farmers and consumers,” said Matthew Morell, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). In his congratulatory letter to Pattanayak, Morell mentioned India’s and IRRI’s historical record in rice science for food security, which has been achieved in close collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Ministry of Agriculture, and numerous state agricultural departments and universities. Morell invited Pattanayak to visit IRRI “These deep and long-running partnerships headquarters in the Philippines. "Your visit will allow us have fostered extraordinarily productive and successful to brief you on our current research accomplishments, collaborations that significantly enhance India’s national and our historical and current collaboration with India, developmental priorities and programs in research and also allow us to solicit your input on how we can and rice-based food security and economic growth,” strengthen our working together for the benefit of said Morell. “Indeed, our partnerships stand on a firm farmers and consumers in India and South Asia," Morell foundation for continued productivity toward mutually concluded. (http://news.irri.org/2016/02/india-appointsheld goals in national, regional, and global food security.” new-agriculture-secretary.html) AfricaRice Board... from page 7
budget deficit for 2016, combined with analyses of revenue and expenditure projections through 2018, the board expressed confidence that the senior management team was taking appropriate steps to ensure that resources were being prudently managed, and approved the 2016 budget. Board chair designate Prof. Eric Tollens, accompanied by Prof. Seraphin Kati-Coulibaly, the Ivorian representative on the board, and Director General Dr. Roy-Macauley, paid a courtesy visit to new Ivorian Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research Prof. Ramata Bakayoko-Ly. Prof. Tollens, on behalf of the board, expressed gratitude to the government and people of Côte d’Ivoire for their continued support to AfricaRice during the Center’s full return to the country. Particular gratitude was expressed to the minister for the Center’s new headquarters building, offered to AfricaRice by the government. Prof. Tollens also underlined the importance of the minister’s personal commitment and follow-up to ensure that the funds pledged to AfricaRice by the Ivorian government to facilitate the Center’s return were released during the current fiscal year. The honorable minister thanked the AfricaRice delegation and promised to do all 8
within her power to ensure that the government honored its pledge. During a closing ceremony attended by all AfricaRice headquarters-based staff members, outgoing Board Chair Dr. Peter Matlon handed over the board chairmanship to Prof. Eric Tollens, and thanked fellow trustees for their cooperation in making his tenure successful. He also expressed gratitude to management and staff of the Center for the productive outcomes of working with them. Dr. Matlon served a full six-year mandate as a trustee, during which he served five years as the chair of the board. Dr. Matlon and Ms. Thenjiwe Chikane, the outgoing Audit Committee chair, were honored with plaques for their service as trustees to the board of AfricaRice. Dr. Marco Wopereis, the outgoing DDG/DR4D, was similarly honored for his more than eight years of meritorious service to AfricaRice. The closing ceremony featured glowing citations for the 2016 Dr. Robert Carsky award winners, Ms. Gisele Dago, a general support staff member, and Dr. Olupomi Ajayi, an internationally recruited staff member. It was recalled that AfricaRice instituted the Carsky award to honor the contribution and dedication of the late Dr. Robert Carsky, who served as agronomist at AfricaRice. (www.africarice.org/warda/ newsrel-Board-mar16.asp)
IRRI and ACI partner to develop improved rice varieties for rice growers in Bangladesh
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haka, Bangladesh, and Los Baños, Philippines – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd. (ACI) announced on 22 February 2016 a partnership to build a state-of-the-art rice breeding program in Bangladesh. The partnership will seek to improve the lives of rice farmers by supporting better rice varieties and agricultural technologies. The collaboration will support a wide range of projects aimed at accelerating genetic research and advancing breeding and product development for Bangladesh’s rice ecosystems. This agreement builds on the successful partnership developed between the two organizations through the Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), started in 2014, which is a public-private partnership that enhances the dissemination of hybrid rice technology. The HRDC, of which ACI has been a member since May 2014, was established at IRRI in 2008. IRRI’s unique expertise and technology platform will be available to ACI in the form of an intensive technologytransfer program, partially financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition, ACI will deploy specific elite varieties developed by IRRI that are suitable for Bangladesh’s agro-climatic conditions. A strong screening program, developed by ACI with the help of IRRI specialists, will yield a robust pipeline of new elite varieties. ACI will be responsible for market introduction of the best varieties. “We are pleased to partner with IRRI, a recognized
leader in rice research and development, to address the need to improve the lives of rice farmers through better rice varieties and agricultural technologies, which ensure creating wealth for farmers,” said Dr. F.H. Ansarey, executive director for agribusiness of ACI. “Through this partnership with IRRI, ACI is building on its commitment to develop a strong rice breeding program and to introduce new elite varieties in Bangladesh,” said IRRI Director General Matthew Morell. “Along with our existing relationships with the public sector and civil society, partnerships with the private sector that expedite the flow of IRRI germplasm and know-how to the market for the benefit of rice farmers and food security in Bangladesh are in line with IRRI’s vision and mission. The objective of this collaboration with ACI is to facilitate higher rice yields, better quality, climate-change–tolerant varieties, and improved sustainability of rice production in Bangladesh.” IRRI is the world’s premier nonprofit international institute on rice research, headquartered in the Philippines. ACI is a leading brand in Bangladesh with activities in pharmaceuticals, consumer brands including agricultural value addition, logistics including agricultural retailing and complete agricultural solutions covering seed, fertilizer, crop care, agricultural machinery, animal health and integrated poultry, and farmers’ forward and backward linkages. (http://irri.org/news/media-releases/ irri-and-aci-partner-to-develop-improved-rice-varieties-forrice-growers-in-bangladesh)
This issue’s contributors
Issue coordination and circulation
M. Sharma, A. Mishra, and S. Sharma, IRRI-STRASA, India
Krystle Anne M. Ambayec-Dino, IRRI-STRASA/Philippines
AfricaRice, Côte d’Ivoire
Tara Chand Dhoundiyal, IRRI-STRASA/South Asia
Content/editorial adviser
Follow us at http://strasa.irri.org/home and
Abdelbagi M. Ismail, STRASA project leader
https://www.facebook.com/STRASA.Project/
Editor Bill Hardy/IRRI-Communication Unit
For any comments/suggestions and contributions or article submission, please contact:
Writer/graphic design and layout Maria Rowena M. Baltazar IRRI-STRASA/Philippines
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Special Feature: UP Farmer Testimonies on drought-tolerant Sahbhagi Dhan
IRRI-STRASA/India
Mr. Dinesh Kumar, son of Ramadhar, is a farmer
living in Sanda Barauna Village in Allahabad District of Uttar Pradesh. He has a family of eight members, six females and two males. He has 8th class qualification (equivalent to junior high school). He has a daughter studying in school. He owns about 0.6 ha of land, of which half is lowland and near a pond. Mr. Kumar mainly depends on agriculture but also engages in labor. Besides this, he is involved in animal husbandry, having one buffalo and one cow. A cluster demonstration of the drought-tolerant variety Sahbhagi Dhan was conducted in coordination with the International Rice Research Institute and Motilal Jan Sahyog Samiti, an NGO, in the kharif season of 2015 in his district. Mr. Chakra Sudarshandhari, coordinator of Motilal Jan Sahyog Samiti, organized a meeting with farmers and discussed the low rice production last year caused by scanty and low rainfall resulting from drought. He emphasized selecting a variety that can prevent loss in rice yield in such conditions. During this meeting, Mr. Dinesh Kumar learned about the drought-tolerant varieties that Mr. Sudarshandari described, including the features of the drought-tolerant Sahbhagi Dhan. Mr. Sudarshandari suggested that farmers cultivate Sahbhagi Dhan in upland areas in this season. After learning about the qualities and features of Sahbhagi Dhan, farmers became interested and agreed to grow this variety during this kharif season. Mr. Kumar received 5 kg of Sahbhagi Dhan seed 10
from Motilal Jan Sahyog Samiti, after which he treated the seeds with bavistin fungicide on 20 June and then sowed 3 decimals of his lowland farm on 23 June for nursery preparation. After properly plowing the 0.16 ha of land two times, he applied 500 kg of farmyard manure in the field, mixed with a cultivator by plowing, and used 5 kg of DAP. He transplanted the rice seedlings on 22 July. A few days after transplanting, he did manual weeding and applied 20 kg of urea on 16 August. Severe drought occurred for 25 days starting in the last week of August, but the Sahbhagi Dhan crop was unaffected while other crops were severely damaged. Mr. Kumar was able to harvest a total of 390 kg of Sahbhagi Dhan on 18 October. The total cost of cultivating Sahbhagi Dhan was INR 1,260. Mr. Kumar gained a total income of INR 5,265. Hence, he obtained a net income of INR 4,005. In an adjacent field, his cousin Mr. Bholanath cultivated hybrid variety 6444 on the same land area of 0.16 ha but unfortunately was not able to harvest anything because of the severe drought. The total input cost incurred for hybrid 6444 is normally INR 1,550, which is more than that for Sahbhagi Dhan. Yet, it yields less than 315 kg with a total income of INR 4,252 and a net income of INR 2,702, which is less than that for Sahbhagi Dhan. And, this is during a regular season not experiencing severe drought. Ultimately, more net profit was obtained in planting Sahbhagi Dhan than in planting hybrid dhan during drought conditions. Hence, Mr. Kumar found Sahbahgi Dhan more profitable for farmers to plant than other varieties in drought conditions.
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ajopur, a small village in Mau District of eastern Uttar Pradesh, is situated 5 km away from the district headquarters. The main crops of this village are rice, wheat, and maize, and some farmers also grow vegetables. Drought has been almost a regular phenomenon in eastern UP for the past 2 to 3 years. However, the farmers have been cultivating longduration varieties such as BPT 5204, Mahsuri, Moti, Badini, and other hybrid varieties having duration of 125–140 days. These varieties also have higher cost of cultivation because of their longer maturity period.
Dhananjay Singh, 42 years old, a progressive farmer of this village, lives with his wife and four children. He depends exclusively on his 3 acres of land for all his household expenditures: food, health care, children’s education, etc. For the past few years, the uncertainty of rice production and fear of crop damage because of climate change have kept him worried. For the past several years, Dhananjay had been cultivating Damini, Moti, hybrids, and some other local varieties of paddy and he used to harvest only 2 to 3.5 t/ha every year. At times, because of severe drought, he lost all of his rice produce. To overcome these problems, he contacted NEFORD (Nand Educational Foundation for Rural Development), an NGO working in his district to help farmers, which gave him some training on crop improvement technologies. He also heard about Sahbhagi Dhan, a drought-tolerant rice variety. For the kharif 2015-16 season, Dhananjay is one of the beneficiaries of the IRRI–UP Government– Department of Agriculture Cluster Demonstration Program, and he received 25 kg of Sahbhagi Dhan seed through NEFORD. He then planted this on 1.5 acres of
land. He also transplanted rice varieties Moti and Damini. A severe drought spell of 35 days occurred in this area from the last week of August to September in 2015. Most other varieties such as Moti and Damini were affected by drought even after four to five irrigations, but Sahbhagi Dhan remained unaffected after just two irrigations. He had never expected that this year’s harvest would make a substantial difference in yield. To his surprise, he harvested 4.5 t/ha of Sahbhagi Dhan whereas Moti and Damini yielded only 1.2 and 1.5 t/ha, respectively. He could thus earn extra this year from cultivating Sahbhagi Dhan. Dhananjay said, “This variety has greater tolerance of drought than other varieties; it can be grown with less water, has less pest attack, and has better yield.” Since rabi crops such as wheat and vegetables also contribute to his farm income, Sahbhagi Dhan proved to be beneficial to him, as early harvesting opens the door to early preparation for the next crop. He further explained that Sahbhagi Dhan would ensure food security for his family, as it is harvested early and provides a longer period for vegetable cultivation in the rabi season. He also mentioned that farmers who had cultivated Sahbhagi Dhan in his village were not affected by drought whereas varieties such as Moti, Damini, Sarju 52, hybrids, etc., were severely damaged by drought this year. Now, he plans to cultivate Sahbhagi Dhan on all 3 acres of his land in the next season to ensure good harvest. Some of his relatives from neighboring villages visited his field and, after seeing the performance of Sahbhagi Dhan, are requesting the seed to cultivate on their farms. Similarly, many nearby farmers are also requesting Sahbhagi Dhan seeds for their farms. Dhananjay is therefore quite happy.
IRRI-STRASA/India
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Prabhawati Devi, a marginal female farmer, lives with her husband, two sons, and four daughters in a small village named Karaundi Narayanpur, situated 40 km from the district headquarters, Mau, in Uttar Pradesh. To support her family, Prabhawati practices sharecropping of 2 acres of land, in addition to cultivating a crop on her own small piece of land (0.75 acre) and selling 3 liters of milk per day from a buffalo she owns. Her husband is engaged in brickwork as a laborer. She has been associated with Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana for the past 3 years and is a member of the self-help group (SHG) Shankar Mahila Gram Sangathan. Because of uncertain weather conditions for the past 3–4 years and no irrigation facility, she is always worried about her rice crop. Normally, small and marginal farmers are somewhat reluctant to readily accept any new variety or technology in their fields for the fear of uncertainty, as compared with big farmers, who willingly take risk. But Prabhawati was an exception. She became hopeful when she heard about the new drought-tolerant variety Sahbhagi Dhan from her self-help group and decided to test the new variety in her own field, thinking that it might be the solution to her problems. She received 10 kg of seed of Sahbhagi Dhan from the SHG under the IRRI–UP Government–Department of Agriculture Cluster 12
Demonstration Program in kharif 2015-16 and grew this variety on her 0.75 acre of land using line transplanting. She applied 20 kg of DAP, 20 kg of urea, and 10 kg of Biozyme at the time of transplanting. This year, despite a severe drought spell at the stage of tillering and flowering in this area, she irrigated (with hired labor) her crop only twice. The crop was excellent. She obtained a yield of 4.5 t/ha. Her adjacent crop of Sarju 52 failed completely because of the severe drought, although it too had received two irrigations. But she could not harvest that crop. A few of her relatives, neighboring farmers, and some nearby village farmers heard about her flourishing crop and came to visit. They were impressed by the performance of IRRI-STRASA/India Sahbhagi Dhan and by learning about its drought tolerance and less water requirement. They requested seed of Sahbhagi Dhan from her to sow in their own fields in the next season. Prabhawati has kept good-quality Sahbhagi Dhan seeds to give to other farmers. She tells us that the female farmers of the SHG who transplanted this variety obtained very good yield without being affected by drought. Hence, they came up with the idea of a “seed bank,” in which they store good-quality seed grains of Sahbhagi Dhan, so as to provide them to other farmers of the SHG next year. She also mentioned that many other farmers of her village who had cultivated other rice varieties such as Moti, Damini, Komal, Sonam, etc., were highly affected by the severe drought and obtained very poor yield, to an extent that some of them could not even harvest their crops. Prabhawati said, “Sahbhagi Dhan withstood drought conditions and gave assured yield in comparison with other varieties. Sahbhagi Dhan provides great future opportunities for expansion in this drought-prone area.” She is not only determined to grow Sahbhagi Dhan on her entire land next year but is also willing to share the seeds with other farmers. The STRASA Project is funded by the
