Stress-Tolerant Rice in Africa and South Asia

Stress-Tolerant Rice in Africa and South Asia

The project Stress-Tolerant Rice in Africa and South Asia (STRASA) began at the end of 2007 with IRRI in collaboration with AfricaRice (called WARDA at that time) to develop and deliver rice varieties tolerant of abiotic stresses to the millions of farmers in the unfavorable rice-growing environments. STRASA was conceived as a 10-year project with a vision to deliver the improved varieties to at least 18 million farmers on the two continents. The project was also anticipated to have significant spillover effects for nonparticipating countries.

The poorest rice producers produce their crop under rainfed conditions, in which drought, submergence, salinity, iron toxicity, and cold reduce yields and harm their livelihoods. Recent advances in genetics and breeding have made the development of rice varieties tolerant of such stresses feasible and their cultivation can substantially contribute to poverty alleviation of rice farmers in unfavorable environments and of poor rice consumers globally. For these areas, we expect to achieve, within the next seven years, a 50% increase in yield in farmers’ fields, with improved cultivars and additional gains with improved management practices. In its second phase, we expect the project to further develop and disseminate improved stress-tolerant rice varieties to at least 5 million farmers (0.4 million in SSA and 4.6 million in SA); in the longer term, we expect varieties tolerant of drought, submergence and/or salinity, and iron toxicity to benefit at least 20 million households. In addition, we aim to build the capacity of researchers and seed producers and promote the exchange of elite germplasm.

During the first three-year phase, major progress was made on developing improved germplasm, developing participatory evaluation networks, seed production and release of stress-tolerant varieties, targeting of stress-tolerant varieties for large-scale delivery, impact analysis, and strengthening capacity. The successes of this first phase clearly indicate that we can reach 20 million farmers with improved stress-tolerant varieties by the end of the project. In Phase 2, lasting three years, seed and information dissemination in the 10-year project will be scaled up considerably, while the breeding work will focus on taking advantage of the progress made in identifying genes conferring tolerance for the major stresses.

To better coordinate rice research efforts targeted to the world’s poor, IRRI, AfricaRice, and CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) have joined forces to create the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) mega-program. This new partnership, involving close collaboration with national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) as well as advanced laboratories, will better position us to take advantage of recent scientific discoveries and advances—particularly in genetics, genomics, and crop physiology—that have opened up new opportunities to reduce the impact of these abiotic stresses.

Leaf Color Chart (LCC) for Fertilizer N Management in Rice

Leaf Color Chart (LCC) for Fertilizer N Management in Rice

The LCC is usually a plastic, ruler-shaped strip containing four or more panels that range in color from yellowish green to dark green. Several types of LCCs with varying shades of color have been developed and distributed to rice farmers. This created uncertainties regarding which LCC to use and led to requests for a standardized LCC that serves as a reference in cross calibrating threshold values among LCCs. In October 2003, the External Review Panel of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium recommended “standardization of the LCC with harmonized color formula accompanied by calibration with local rice leaf characteristics and training of extension workers and farmers to use the LCC … as soon as possible”. IRRI in collaboration with the University of California Cooperative Extension soon afterwards released a standardized LCC with improved quality assurance for the reproducibility of colors and enhanced matching of the colors to the reflectance spectra of rice leaves (Witt et al. 2005). The standardized LCC (photo above) is five inches long, made of high-quality plastic, consisting of four color shades from yellowish green (No. 2) to dark green (No. 5). The color strips are fabricated with veins resembling rice leaves.

 

 How to use Leaf Colour Chart (LCC)

 

1              Randomly select at least 10 disease-free rice plants or hills in a field with uniform plant population.                         

               

2              Select the topmost fully expanded leaf from each hill or plant. Place the middle part of the leaf on a chart and compare the leaf color with the color panels of the LCC. Do not detach or destroy the leaf.

               

                 

3              Measure the leaf color under the shade of your body, (direct sunlight affects leaf color readings). If possible, the same person should take LCC readings at the same time of the day every time.

                 

4              Determine the average LCC reading for the selected leaves.

Using LCC

The photos below illustrate the use of the standardized LCC to assess leaf N status and adjust N applications to rice:

                               

In photo (a) plants without N application are yellowish. Nitrogen deficiency is confirmed in photo (b) because the LCC reading is between panels 2 and 3.

                               

                                 At low fertilizer N rates in photos (c) and (d) the plants look better, but the low LCC reading still indicates N deficiency.

                               

                               

At higher fertilizer N rates in photos (e) and (f) the plants look well developed and the canopy is closed. The LCC reading is between panels 3 and 4, which is the critical range for most transplanted rice.

                               

                               

In photos (g) and (h) plants with a high N rate are dark green. Leaf color is darker than the LCC panel no. 4 indicating a surplus of fertilizer N.

Integrated Rice-Duck Farming System

Integrated Rice-Duck Farming System

Bangladesh produces about 26 million tonnes of rice annually and the country has almost attained self-sufficiency in food. However, this increased rice production depends heavily on higher use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which has increased both the risk of environmental pollution and the costs of rice production.

ice research in Bangladesh has so far centred on its cultivation as a sole crop. However, in China , Korea and Japan the rice-duck farming system has been widely adopted. Besides providing another source of income, ducks in the rice field are reported to control weeds and insects and add plant nutrients through their droppings. Traditionally, ducks are not allowed in the rice field in Bangladesh for fear of crop damage. Changing this age-old conception could increase the productivity and income of Resource-Poor Farmers (RPFs) in the country.

                               

Strawberry farming gains momentum in Rajshahi region,bangladesh

Strawberry farming gains momentum in Rajshahi region,bangladesh

 

 By Dr Aynal Haque ---

 RAJSHAHI, Feb 1, 2014 (BSS)- Commercial farming of strawberry has started gaining momentum in Rajshahi region as its cultivation is easier and highly profitable.

 Strawberry, a succulent fruit popular in different parts of the globe, is also gradually becoming popular among the local people. Farmers' level extension of strawberry farming can bring a new horizon to the agriculture sector in the region.

 Prof Dr AKM Rafiul Islam, president of Bangladesh Strawberry Association, said, "Strawberry cultivation is as easy as growing potato or eggplant. Saplings can be planted in rows during the period between November and December every year."

 The plants start flowering within one month of plantation and fruits can be collected till March.

 "Each plant bears around 250 to 300 grams of fruit and some 6,000 plants can be grown on one bigha of land," Dr Islam said, adding with farmer-level price of around Taka 600 per kg, the commercially potential fruit will have a bigger market locally and globally and benefit farmers enormously.

 Now, a large number of people, mostly unemployed youths, have become dependent on strawberry farming to earn a living, as its cultivation is easier and more profitable than other crops, he said.

 The youths are supplying strawberry to different markets across the country as the soft fruit is being used in preparing ice-cream, jam, jelly, pickles, chocolates and biscuits.

 Prof Dr Manzur Hossain, who is pioneer in the country's strawberry research, variety innovation and growers' level farming expansion, said Bangladeshi variety strawberry has been adjudged as the world's best strawberry.

 "We have innovated three varieties of strawberry through applying tissue culture method," he said.

 "In the demonstration field, all those were found adaptive

 to the region's soil and environmental conditions," Dr Hossain, a professor of Department of Botany, Rajshahi University, added. He has been multiplying the variety on his own horticulture farm for the last couple of years.

 The new variety of strawberry can be harvested within two and a half months of its plantation and a farmer can earn around Taka 1.5 lakh by farming it on one bigha of land with expenditure of only Taka 30,000, he said.

 With farmer-level price of around Taka 300 per kg, the commercially potential fruit will have a bigger market locally and benefit farmers enormously, the pioneer said while talking to BSS recently. In 2003, three varieties yielded encouraging results and were found suitable in local climate.

 Strawberry farming is already in motion in many districts under the region. With the average price of a kilogram of the fruit standing at Taka 700, the commercially viable fruit presents great export potentials and ushers in economic prospects for those who wish to get high and fast returns from limited land resources.

 There has been a bright prospect of farming strawberry, high- value crop, everywhere in the country excepting the coastal districts. The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by him is now being supplied to posh markets in the capital Dhaka.

 The country can earn huge foreign currencies from strawberry export if its commercial farming starts at national level, Dr Manjur hoped.

 "The fruit will no doubt be a profitable crop for farmers. If it is grown on a large scale, the highly nutritious fruit will come within the reach of the common people. There will be no need for imports," said Prof Manzur.

 Due attention should be given to motivating the farmers so that they could be encouraged towards farming the crop commercially as it has high economic importance.

 Meanwhile, Pradip Chandra Dey, Joint Director of BADC said the BADC has taken various projects, including providing necessary training to farmers of the northern region, to make strawberry farming more popular.

Strawberry cultivation in Bangladesh, prospects, importance and high profit encourages farmers to grow

Strawberry cultivation in Bangladesh, prospects, importance and high profit encourages farmers to grow

High profit and easy cultivation encouraged ‘innovative farmers’ to grow strawberry, an exotic fruit crop, in different parts of the country, particularly in northern districts, Department of Agriculture Extension officials and strawberry researchers said.

 They emphasized on smooth ‘packaging or marketing facilities’ for strawberry, a succulent fruit popular in different parts of the world for its taste, colour and flavour, either under the initiative of the government or private sector for promoting its cultivation in the country.

 They also stressed on setting up processing units to preserve and value addition to strawberry through making juice, and extracting essence and flavor for using in other high value products.

 Manzur Hossain, who is a pioneer in the country’s strawberry research, told New Age that strawberry cultivation was increasing in Bangladesh day by day.

 Describing strawberry as ‘nutritious fruit’ and also a ‘cash crop’, he said strawberry could play an important role in fulfilling nutrition and also earning foreign currency through exports.

 Manzur Hossain, professor of Botany at Rajshahi University, said the first variety of strawberry was brought to Bangladesh in 1996 and it took 12 years to develop the  varieties suitable for cultivation in Bangladesh.

 About 4,000 bighas of land are currently under strawberry cultivation, he said.

 According to DAE agriculture information services, strawberry cultivation is predominant in Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Panchagar and Jessore. Strawberry cultivation starts in October-November while harvest continues from January to March. Each strawberry plant gives about 32 fruits on an average and per hectare production is estimated at 10-12 tonnes.

 Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute has invented a high yielding variety called ‘BARI Strawberry-1. Besides Rajshahi University developed some strawberry varieties—RU straberry-1,2, and 3 while modern horticulture center in Natore developed Modern Strawberry-1, 2, 3, 4 and 5—all suitable for cultivation in Bangladesh, according to DAE.

 Visiting some markets, New Age correspondent found that strawberry was selling in retails at Tk 400-500 per kg in New Market while Tk 300-400 in Azimpur and Farmgate areas.

 Nurul Amin, DAE deputy director in Rahshahi, told New Age that farmers were found very interested in Strawberry cultivation in Rajshahi as they were getting benefit of the crop.

 Some farmers themselves were engaged in marketing strawberry from field to supermarkets and capital Dhaka, he said.

 A senior field service wing official said as huge investment was required in strawberry cultivation, poor farmers could not cultivate the crop. But the innovative farmers who farm strawberry were getting ‘double benefit’ from its cultivation.

 Mahfuz Hossain Mirdah, deputy project director of integrated quality horticulture development project at DAE, expressed his frustration over prospect of strawberry cultivation in Bangladesh due to low local consumption and lack of infrastructure facilities.

 ‘Strawberry is genetically a perishable fruit, which cannot tolerate stress like tomato does,’ he said.

 Besides, the strawberry growers need to count about 25 per cent loss of post-harvest crop, Mirdah said, adding that it was necessary for scientists to develop strawberry of sweet and stress tolerant varieties to attract consumers and make the fruit more suitable for Bangladesh.

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BANGLADESH: Salt-resistant paddy offers hope to farmers

Salt-resistant paddy could prove just what some farmers need

DHAKA, 15 March 2010 (IRIN) - A new salt-resistant paddy - BRRI Dhan 47 - is offering hope to coastal farmers in southern Bangladesh whose crops are affected by climate change, say experts.

Thousands of small-scale rice farmers have seen their livelihoods decimated due to the effects of climate change in the low-lying area.

“Fast-increasing soil salinity, especially in agricultural lands, is a major problem in Bangladesh,” Golam Mohammad Panaullah, director of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) in Dhaka, told IRIN.

Upwards of one million hectares of land have been seriously affected by salinity, he estimated.

“With soil salinity spreading fast, the key to survival lies in developing salt-resistant agriculture,” he said.

In recent decades, rising sea levels in the Bay of Bengal have encroached on vast tracts of agricultural land in the south, undermining rice production, a staple part of the Bangladeshi diet.

Each year from November to May, a white film of salt envelops paddy fields in the 1,120km-long, mostly unprotected coastal belt in the south.

As a result, thousands of small scale farmers have leased their land to big shrimp farmers - the country’s second largest foreign exchange earner after ready-made garments - at throwaway prices, with many migrating to Dhaka to become day labourers, rickshaw drivers or beggars.

Photo: Contributor/IRIN

Farmers transplanting salt-resistant paddy in Sarankhola sub-district of coastal Bagerhat District in the southwest of the country

“A large portion of the saline water is nothing but the tears of the poor farmers who have been compelled to forego their paddy fields,” BRRI’s Panaullah said.

Years in the making

BRRI has been working on salt-resistant strains of food crops, particularly rice, for more than 30 years, with BRRI Dhan 47’s development beginning in 1998.

Created at BRRI’s Satkhira regional office, BRRI Dhan 47 can grow in moderately saline water.

Salinity units are expressed as deci-Siemens per metre (dS/m). According to Abdus Salam, BRRI’s director of research, the plant can withstand 12-14 dS/m of land while they are tender, and 6 dS/m in their entire lifespan of 152-155 days.

Salt tolerance capacities of other conventional high-yielding rice varieties are below 4 dS/m.

Moreover, farmers can grow it in their own shrimp enclosures, allowing them to increase their earnings.

First released by the country’s National Seed Board in 2007, BRRI Dhan-47 rice can now be found in a growing number of coastal community markets at the same price as conventional rice, or around 50 US cents per kilo.

Promising yields

This year, two tons of BRRI Dhan-47 seed have already been distributed for free among farmers in Debhata, Kaliganj, Asassuni, Shyamnagar, Tala and Sadar sub-districts in Satkhira District; Morrelganj and Sharankhola sub-districts in Bagerhat District; and Paikgachha and Koira sub-districts of Khulna District.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Workers in a paddy field in Patuakhali District southern Bangladesh. Rice is a staple part of the country's diet

The paddy was sown on about 150 hectares in the saline water of shrimp enclosures in the Satkhira and Khulna coastal belt, which were earlier used for shrimp cultivation only. The expected yield is 6-7 tons per hectare or around the same as regular rice.

Adding to its advantages, the rice can also be cultivated in fresh water.

“BRRI Dhan-47 is our shield against increasing soil salinity in Bangladesh,” said Guru Pada Karmakar of the country’s Agriculture Extension Department (AED).

“The yield is very encouraging and we hope the paddy will greatly benefit coastal farmers who had lost all hopes of survival in the recent past. Now they will have both rice and shrimps. The curse has turned into [a] boon for them,” he said.

Bangladesh is one the countries most at risk from the effects of climate change in the world today, say experts.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Bangladesh is slated to lose the largest amount of cultivated land globally due to rising sea levels. A 1m rise in sea levels would inundate 20 percent of the country’s landmass.

Within the next 50 years, over 20 million people could be displaced and become “climate change refugees” if sea and salinity levels rise in Bangladesh, according to the government’s 2009 Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan.