research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Partners of the “Sustainable intensification of rice-maize production systems in Bangladesh” met 25-29 October 2009 for the project’s first annual review—the program started in June 2008 and will run until 2013. Nearly 50 people attended the meeting held at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) in Gazipur, Bangladesh. The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funds the project, which focuses on research and technology delivery for conservation agriculture (CA) and site-specific nutrient management (SSNM).

Several speakers opened the meeting, including Jagadish Timsina, senior CIMMYT-IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) cropping system agronomist. Timsina highlighted the teamwork between CIMMYT, IRRI, and multiple organizations in Bangladesh who together are working to develop, test, and disseminate sustainable CA-based management systems for highly intensive and productive rice-maize systems. CIMMYT and IRRI are jointly implementing the project. Representatives from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), BRRI, IRRI, and CIMMYT also delivered speeches, presented project results, and collaborated to form a revised work plan for the project’s next four years.

The last three days of activities took place in the research stations of BARI, BRRI, and the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), as well as at on-farm sites in Rajshahi and Comilla. Scientists spoke with farmers about the benefits of CA technologies and received feedback from the farmers about the different technologies tested in their fields as well as overall project activities. First year CA activities for maize primarily focused on seeding on flat land with a power tiller operated seeder (PTOS) and seeding with a bed former/planter on raised beds under reduced tillage. For rice, emphasis has been on direct-seeded rice with the PTOS, direct-seeded rice using a bed former/planter, and transplanting seedlings on raised beds.

In the Comilla project sites, locally managed by BARD, participants focused on SSNM trials. Three treatments for rice are currently being tested in these trials: farmers’ current fertilizer management practice, BRRI’s current recommendations, and the Nutrient Manager softwarebased recommendations. The goal of these comparison trials is to refine and evaluate Nutrient Manager and to optimize fertilizer recommendations to achieve the best benefits for farmers.

Representatives from the International Plant Nutritional Institute, Delhi and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) also attended the meeting.

The ACIAR-funded project “Sustainable intensification of rice-maize (R-M) systems in Bangladesh” organized a traveling workshop from 04 to 08 October in Rajshahi and Rangpur districts of Bangladesh for project-employed researchers and their supervisors in four collaborating organizations (Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute-BARI; Bangladesh Rice Research Institute-BRRI; Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee-BRAC; and Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services-RDRS). Two researchers from IRRI and CIMMYT offices in Bangladesh also participated in the workshop led by Jagadish Timsina, IRRI-CIMMYT senior scientist and project  leader/coordinator.

Participants visited trials on direct-seeded rice (DSR) using conservation agriculture (CA) technologies and nutrient management (NM) in farmers’ fields and research stations in five Upazillas (subdistricts) in Rangpur and Rajshahi districts. At each location, they were joined by local farmers already using the technologies who cited their advantages (e.g., higher yields, shorter crop cycles, and not having to wait for rain to begin planting).

During the workshop, participants viewed different machines that are used with CA technologies, such as the power-tiller operated seeder (PTOS), the zero-till drill, and the Sayre Smart Planter, as well as trials comparing farmers’ practices with different CA technologies (e.g., DSR sown on raised beds, on beds with the PTOS, or on strips using the PTOS). At BRRI Station, they observed a largescale, long term experiment sponsored by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) on the R-M system focusing on DSR and transplanted rice (TPR) under different tillage practices (zero, conventional), weed control methods, and productivity and nutrient balances.

The highlight of the workshop was a visit to the ACIAR rice-maize on-farm trials in Alipur village in Durgapur Upazilla. Alipur farmers have been growing wheat and other crops on beds using CA technologies with assistance from the Bangladesh Regional Wheat Research Center (WRC) and CIMMYT, as well as TPR on manually-made beds using their own innovations. During discussions farmers mentioned some advantages of growing unpuddled TPR on beds: ease of management; less irrigation needed; fewer insects and rats; greater grainfilling; and higher grain yield. Another topic of discussion was the use of short-duration rice varieties (e.g., BRRI dhan 33, BRRI dhan 39, BINA dhan 7, and BU-1) to intensify cropping systems.

Finally, the workshop provided ample opportunity for project researchers and their supervisors to interact and share experiences, which will help cement their relationship and allow them to work together more effectively in the future.

Efforts to further disseminate and train farmers on conservation agriculture (CA) practices, specifically for rice, are underway in Bangladesh. Three farmer field days were held on 30 September and 01 October by the project “Sustainable Intensification of Rice-Maize Systems in Bangladesh,” which is jointly run by CIMMYT and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Around 150 farmers attended the three events held at three different project sites. The first field day was hosted by Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services (RDRS), a non governmental organization in northern Bangladesh, and organized by M.G. Neogi, coordinator of RDRS’s agriculture program. The event attracted 60 farmers as well as media personnel and representatives from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project. The other field days were held in the Rajshahi district; one in Durgapure and the other in Paba. Israil Hossain of BARI organized the event in Durgapure, which was attended by nearly 55 farmers, while N.R. Sharma of BRRI was in charge of activities at Paba, attended by approximately 50 farmers.

At each location farmers gathered in front of rice fields to share their experiences and discuss benefits and constraints of farming with CA practices. “At all project sites there are farmer-participatory adaptive CA trials and researcher-managed trials for nutrient management, and there are also trials planted with traditional farmer practices for comparison,” said Jagadish Timsina, IRRI-CIMMYT senior scientist and project leader, who oversaw and coordinated the three field days.

There was a consensus among participating farmers that the CA practice of direct-seeded rice matured 10-12 days sooner than the traditional practice of transplanted rice and required less tillage and no puddling, resulting in reduced costs. Because of this, farmers in Paba said direct-seed rice was the best sowing option, while farmers from Durgapure and Rangpur thought non-puddled transplanted rice on raised beds—a resource-conserving practice—was the best.

“Data on yield and production costs are being collected from the trials and will allow us to compare the production and profitability of various CA technological options against farmers’ current practice of growing rice,” said Timsina. However, he adds that there are still barriers to overcome. “Unavailability of machinery and skilled machine operators, combined with increased weeds and a lack of proper herbicideapplication knowledge, are major constraints we need to and will address.”

The “Sustainable Intensification of Rice-Maize Systems in Bangladesh” project has been in operation since November 2008 in four districts of Bangladesh: Rangpur, Rajshahi, Comilla, and Gazipur. The project aims to increase dissemination of improved CA and nutrient management technologies using training and capacity building with farmers, researchers, extension workers, machinery manufacturers, and service providers.

Jagadish Timsina, IRRI-CIMMYT senior scientist and project leader, and Enamul Haque, CIMMYT cropping system agronomist, organized two training sessions on 21-23 April and 14-15 June 2009 for the joint CIMMYT-International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) project “Sustainable intensification of rice-maize systems in Bangladesh.”

Agronomists and engineers from Bangladesh who focus on the conservation agriculture (CA) aspects of the project also assisted in sessions. More than 30 researchers, field assistants, and machinery service providers learned about the operation of two machines; the power tiller operated seeder (PTOS), and the bed former and planter.

“We want to build their machinery-operating skills for sowing and establishing rice, wheat, and maize,” said Timsina. Participants gained information about the establishment and basic agronomy of dry-seeded rice and unpuddled transplanted rice, both of which eliminate the need for puddling the soil—a process that destroys its structural and physical properties—according to Timsina. “By not puddling we can reduce water requirements, input costs, and greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. In both sessions, participants put together and took apart machines and learned the functions of  individual parts. In June, farmers were introduced to the Sayre Smart Planter, which can be used for diverse, resource-conserving forms of tillage.
The CIMMYT-IRRI project promotes CA and nutrient management and has been running in three districts since November 2008, thanks to funding by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). National project partners include the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI);the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI); the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD); the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC); and the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS).