Postharvest technologies are being adapted at an increasing rate in Cambodia and Myanmar. To ensure the sustainability and success of the dryer technology, the ADB-funded IRRI Postharvest Project is conducting a training on fan testing at the Department of Agricultural Machinery (DAM) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), in Phnom Penh.
Myanmar partners of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Postproduction Workgroup also flew in to join the training, which runs throughout this week (9-13 July). Most of the participants came from Cambodia’s agriculture department.
The opening ceremony was graced by Chan Saruth, DAM director, and Meas Pyseth, MAFF international programs coordinator.
IRRI's Pat Borlagdan, mechanization and postharvest expert, is conducting the training.
Seventy-eight partners of the ADB-IRRI Postharvest Project from Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines met in Battambang, Cambodia, on 19 June for the International Seminar on Reducing Rice Postharvest Losses, funded by the Asian Development Bank.
Partners, who come from the government, the private sector, IRRI, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs), reported on the milestones and outcomes from adaptive research, technology promotion, and participatory approaches of the project.
Initial results from a case study of technology adoption by farmers in Cambodia were also presented, showing indicators of benefits.
Project outcomes in the three countries were impressive, with combine harvesting having been established in Cambodia, flat-bed dryers introduced in Cambodia and the Philippines, hermetic storage systems increasingly being sold, and laser-leveling gaining traction in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Partners then discussed remaining activities and outlined new challenges to postharvest loss reduction and the ways toward addressing these. The project will close in October 2013.
A half-day cross-learning event was held prior to the seminar, on 18 June, where 200 participants including Learning Alliance members, key representatives from institutions and policy, and 92 farmers visited three sites representing different players of the postharvest value chain: a farmer cooperative that provides drying services and demonstrated simple granary improvements; a large-scale miller who exports rice and uses both modern and flatbed dryers; and a rice demonstration farm at the Don Bosco School where a flat bed dryer, hermetic storage, a rice mill, laser-leveled fields, and other equipment for mechanization was showcased.
Don Bosco operates several technical schools and is introducing in its curriculum agricultural machinery mechanics, with assistance from the project.
Martin Gummert, project leader, said that the challenge of postharvest losses continues to increase as countries intensify rice production, which results in more and wetter paddy entering often antiquated postharvest systems.
“Our project partners have had tremendous success in introducing new technologies,“ said Dr. Gummert. “More than 200 of the dryers introduced through the project are now in use in Cambodia. In Cambodia and Vietnam, partners have started developing the next generation of drying technology. Laser-leveling is also picking up, and hermetic storage solutions are increasingly being used."
But the job is far from finished, said Dr. Gummert, who is also IRRI's postharvest specialist. "New problems arose with the introduction of some of the technologies, and the improper use of combine harvesters, for example, have caused excessive losses," he said. "We are committed to continue working with our partner countries in addressing these challenges, and continue helping create success stories by considering some of these outcomes in new projects and by influencing policy.”
More than 50 representatives from various sectors attended a forum, Emerging opportunities for postharvest technologies and entrepreneurship, which aims to increase awareness among microfinance institutions, banks, and policymakers, of improved technologies and entrepreneurial enterprise opportunities.
The forum, held on 15 January in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, also provided farmers who have tested these new options, to present sustainable business cases for adopting hermetic storage and business plans for pursuing contract drying services.
Dr. Caesar Tado, LA Philippines coordinator, orients the participants about the Reversible Airflow Flatbed Dryer, a learning alliance activity between Vietnam and the Philippines
The forum was an activity of the Philippine Postharvest Learning Alliance, a multi-stakeholder platform that works to reduce postharvest losses and increase incomes of farmers and other postharvest actors. Learning alliances have also been established in Cambodia and Vietnam by the Asian Development Bank-funded Postharvest Project, with complementary support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Alfred Schmidley, IRRI business model and value chain specialist, explains, “We hope that this event will inspire and allow these new stakeholders to establish better linkages to loan products and other services to technologies and enterprise pilot for scaling out further with Learning Alliance actors.”
Several business cases for adopting hermetic storage and mechanical drying services were presented by local farmers. Mr. Schmidley and Raquel Dacanay from Caraga State University provided guidance for the farmers in developing business cases.
Several financial institutions then presented a range of activities, products, and services available to the farmers who want funding for their business plans.
The participants also discussed issues on finance and policy and next steps for future learning activities.
The event culminated with a demonstration of the reversible airflow flatbed dryer by Dexter Ona and Caesar Tado from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice); and the IRRI Super Bag by Jose Gomos, vice-president of GrainPro, Inc.(makers of the Super Bag), at the PhilRice Agusan del Norte station.
The Department of Agricultural Engineering (DAEng) demonstrated laser leveling in the rice fields of Don Bosco School and Toul Samrong Agricultural Engineering Development Center in Battambang Province and in a farmer’s rice field at Kandal Province.
The resurgence of laser-leveling comes as the country attempts to ease labor shortage through the use of agricultural machinery, such as combine harvesters.
The ADB-IRRI Postharvest Project supported the field demonstrations by imparting techniques and providing laser kits. The DAEng contributed a bucket and an 82-HP tractor that has been used for laser leveling in target areas since 2011.
Laser leveling activities have been continuously implemented by DAEng with support from the Agricultural Value Chain Program or CAVAC, Australian Programme, and the Kampot Provincial Department of Agriculture at Sdach Kong Khang Cheung Commune, Banteay Meas District, Kampot Province. Thirty hectares of farmers’ rice fields were laser-leveled from end of April 2012 to mid-June 2012.
Beneficiaries and stakeholders have seen the merits of the technology enough to adopt it. During the field day on laser leveling at the pilot project in Kampot Province on 9th September 2012,
It also attracted the interest of Chan Sarun, minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, who recommended putting laser leveling into the national programme.
Laser land-leveling was introduced in Cambodia by IRRI in 1997, with about 200 rice fields around the Tonle Sap Great Lake leveled using it. Joe Rickman, IRRI scientist, and experts from the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institution (CARDI) and DAEng introduced laser leveling then to Cambodian farmers through training activities and field demonstrations. The operation, however, was halted after the project ended, largely because the technology was not widely known in Cambodia at the time and adaptation was low.
The Sto. Niño Multipurpose Cooperative (SPMC) and the Taguibo Farmers’ Irrigators Association hosted working meetings in Agusan to develop business plans for postharvest enterprise activities, with support from the Postharvest Learning Alliance and Caraga State University.
The goal of the meetings was to enable farmer groups to develop their own business plans for piloting or expanding their postharvest activities as entrepreneurial enterprise models. Two particular areas identified, for which business plans are being developed by the farmer groups, were mechanical drying of farmers’ paddy and use of rice by-products.
Gertrudes Fortun, agriculturist from Butuan City, expressed hope that the farmer groups will use the business plan tool to attract resources for adoption of improved postharvest technologies, such as mechanical dryers.
Plenio Atega, SMPC president, explained that, during the wet season, harvested paddy "often remain covered too long on sun-drying platforms during extended rainfall, sometimes even germinating before we can dry it for milling." The result is very low-quality paddy and milled rice, and farmers like him lose a lot of money as a result.
At the Taguibo Irrigators Association, President Romy Lasco had a similar concern. “Our farmers can lose at least 30% of the crop due to lack of drying facilities during the wet season. Traders then discount the equivalent of 5 kilograms off the price out of every 50 kilograms due to low paddy quality, and farmers lose another 10%.”
Professor Raquel Balanay, an economist from Caraga State University, and Alfred Schmidley, business model specialist for IRRI, advised the farmers’ groups on the use of a business plan.
“During the meetings, we examined the business case for offering mechanical drying services to farmers but discovered many other interesting enterprise activities that these farmers are engaged in," shares Dr. Balanay. "For example, both farmers groups recently began vermiculture and organic fertilizer enterprises that usepostharvest by-products such as rice hull, rice stalks, and coconut husk fiber. They mix these with livestock manure to form high-nutrient compost, a product that helps farmers decrease input cost while allowing their organizations to sustain themselves by selling higher-margin value-added products. The Taguibo group is now looking at setting up a small shop in Butuan for selling vermiculture products, compost, and farmer-produced organic food items."
“Farmers, when properly enabled, can be very resourceful and innovative,” Mr. Schmidley observed. “The business plan tool can help them analyze the business case for new technologies, expand profitable enterprise activities, or attract additional resources and capital.”
The next step for the Postharvest Learning Alliance is to host a multi-stakeholder meeting in November where farmer groups, microfinance institutions, rural credit cooperatives, and other groups can learn more about postharvest enterprise opportunities.
The multistakeholder Cambodia Postharvest Learning Alliance sponsored a business forum, Emerging opportunities for microfinance in the postharvest rice sector, held on 14 September 2012 at the Himawari Hotel in Phnom Penh.
Thirty-one participants came, representing 9 microfinance institutions (MFIs), Asian Development Bank; Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain Program; IDE; HARVEST; provincial departments of agriculture; Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF); Departments of Agricultural Extension and Agricultural Machinery; private sector rice processors; IRRI; and the local project team.
The event was opened by Meas Pyseth, coordinator, IRRI Postharvest Project; Bun Mony, CEO of SATHAPANA, one of Cambodia's leading MFIs; and Alfred Schmidley, IRRI business model specialist.
Dr. Pyseth, in his welcome remarks, highlighted project achievements and technologies now available to farmers and other chain actors that reduce physical losses, improve quality, and allow value-adding throughout the chain. These technologies include combine harvesters, mechanical dryers, and hermetic storage options that have been tested and studied in a business model context for sustainability and improving incomes of farmer and other rural actors.
“The next step for the Project is to link actor-specific business plans with MFIs by improving financial literary and creating awareness about loan products and postharvest sector opportunities,” IRRI's Dr. Schmidley stated. “By identifying needs for technical support and disseminating knowledge about improved technologies and postharvest management options, the Learning Alliance can help reduce risks to actors and loan providers in newly emerging enterprises. However, to achieve this we need to improve financial literacy of actors and create awareness among MFIs about emerging opportunities.”
“To achieve better outcomes, we need human resources and financial capital, but it’s also important to find better ways to deploy resources more effectively by joining together with other actors,” Dr. Mony added. “There are 33 MFIs licensed by Cambodia’s National Bank that have more than 800 branches countrywide. While 40% of Cambodian households have used microfinance in the past, we need to offer suitable loan products that serve new needs while keeping in mind the commercial context of enterprises.”
Kampot Province, Cambodia — A business forum on loan products and banking services for the postharvest rice sector was conducted on 16-17 June 2012. Thirty-seven participants from micro- financing institutions (MFI), key farmers, cooperative heads, private sector rice processors, and IRRI project staff graced this event.
The forum aimed to 1) increase awareness of the learning alliance partners on loan products and services offered by MFIs to support adoption of improved postharvest technologies and entrepreneurial business models; 2) facilitate learning and exchanges of information amongst farmer entrepreneurs, rural service providers, rice processors, technology suppliers, policy-makers, government agencies, and financial representatives regarding industry opportunities and needs; and 3) discuss ideas and possible next steps for developing actor-specific business plans and links to loan products, banking services, and information from MFIs.
IRRI-ADB Postharvest project experts Alfred Schmidley and Pyseth Meas provided a walk-through of the project, while stressing the importance of scaling out improved postharvest technologies in the business model context by bringing financial institutes closer to the farmers, millers, traders, and service providers. Representatives of the three MFIs also presented information on their respective loan products and services. Group discussions were held as well to answer more queries from the participants.
A more intensive forum will be conducted in mid-August either at Kampong Thom or Prey Veng. In the next series of seminars, top management of MFIs will be invited to be collaborators to help borrowers understand and use a business plan, and identify technical training support needs.
An airtight, reusable plastic bag that protects stored rice from moisture, pests, and rats, and keeps rice seeds viable, is now available to Filipino farmers in selected retails stores.
IRRI Super Bags reduce losses incurred after harvest that usually stem from poor storage conditions – helping prevent physical postharvest losses that can be around 15%. On top of these losses, farmers also experience loss in quality.
Farmers' investment is protected by keeping stored rice grains viable, and kept away from destructive pests and other causes of physical losses like moisture.
Developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)’s postharvest experts in collaboration with GrainPro Inc., the IRRI Super Bag is meant for small-scale rice farmers to protect the viability and quality of rice stored in their homes.
The IRRI Super Bag is manufactured by GrainPro Inc. and is marketed as SuperGrainbag™. IRRI, through its national partnerships, has verified the benefits of the IRRI Super Bag with tens of thousands of farmers throughout Asia, but acknowledges it is a challenge to bring the bags to millions of farmers in a commercial way.
Philippine farmer Manuel Luzentales Jr. has always wondered how to deal with rats and weevils gnawing their way into his paddy (unmilled rice) stored in ordinary sacks in his house.
After attending a seminar in a nearby town introducing the IRRI Super Bags to farmers in the Philippine Bicol region, he decided to test them.
Mr. Manuel Luzentales shares his Superbag story
"Before, a 7-month storage caused my rice grains to break from moisture and pest infestations," Luzentales recalls. "I tested the IRRI Super Bags on my harvest for the second planting season of 2010. After keeping my harvest in the IRRI Super Bags for 10 months, the seeds were 100% viable, and none were wasted."
Engr. Martin Gummert, head of the IRRI postharvest unit, said that the rolling out of economically viable rice postharvest technologies in the Philippines and Southeast Asia involves partners in the public and private sectors. “The IRRI Super Bag is one of the technologies in the front line of this effort,” he explains.
For this purpose, IRRI has initiated and is facilitating national Postharvest Learning Alliances that embrace public and private stakeholders who have an interest in and mandate to establish local supply chains for technologies. Through this Postharvest Learning Alliance, IRRI is assisting in setting up and training local distributors for technologies such as the IRRI Super Bag.
Farmers' investment is protected by keeping stored rice grains viable, and kept away from destructive pests and other causes of physical losses like moisture.
Farmers' investment is protected by keeping stored rice grains viable, and kept away from destructive pests and other causes of physical losses like moisture.
“The rollout of the IRRI Super Bag would have been difficult without the help of the Philippines Postharvest Learning Alliance,” explains Engr. Gummert. “These alliances allow cross-sector actors to share information, foster learning, and better address a range of technical and market support needs.”
IRRI has established national Postharvest Learning Alliances in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The IRRI Super Bag works by blocking the flow of both oxygen and water vapor from the outside to the grain. When the bag is properly sealed, farmers can safely store their seeds for 9–12 months without reducing germination rates. IRRI Super Bags also keep away insects and rats without using chemicals and improve the percentage of whole rice grains recovered after milling by around 10%.
Tom de Bruin, GrainPro’s president and CEO, said that a national retail network with close to 200 outlets will be involved to enable availability of the bags to farmers. “The SuperGrainbag™ is already selling widely used in three continents and is used for storage in an array of other commodities.”
In the Philippines, the key partners are Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)and other Postharvest Learning Alliance members,Catholic Relief Services with its local NGO partners, and the Department of Agriculture’s regional offices in Agusan, Bicol, and Bohol provinces. Other members are local government units in the three provinces, farmer cooperatives, and other NGO partners.
This work is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)-funded Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC).
The Super Bags can be bought in Pacifica Agrivet branches nationwide.
Up in the mountain ranges of Impasugong, Bukidnon, rice farming is a challenge. Farmers deal with rainy weather all throughout the year, making grain drying a difficult task. To ease their problem, nongovernment organizations Kaanib Foundation, Inc. and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) worked with the Asian Development Bank-funded IRRI Postharvest Project and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and helped install a reversible airflow flatbed dryer for the community.
On 20 June 2012, a turnover ceremony was held in Kalabugao Village and was attended by local government representatives, CRS program manager Terry Tuason, and marketing project coordinator, Lionel Mendoza, PhilRice engineer Dexter Ona, Kaanib Foundation director Imelda Esteban, and IRRI communication specialist Trina Mendoza.
The construction of the facility was completed in May and is now ready for use in time for the June-July rice harvest season in the uplands of Bukidnon. Engineer Ona demonstrated the operation of the dryer, and trained some members of the community on the operation and maintenance of the dryer.
“With the installation of the dryer, the quality of their rice will increase, and they can therefore ask for a higher price in the market,” says Anthony Hendrix, municipal agro-enterprise facilitator of Kaanib.
IRRI funded the manufacturing cost of the dryer blower and assisted CRS and their local NGO partner in establishing a new business model using a business plan for the dryer. This assistance was provided by the ADB-funded IRRI Postharvest Project that brings multistakeholder partners for introducing improved technologies and business models for reduced postharvest losses and increased farmers’ income.
A Business Case Writeshop for Learning Alliance Partners was conducted last March 27-28, 2012 at Butuan city, Agusan del Norte, Philippines. The event was attended by partners from various villages of Bututan City who participated in the hermetic storage trial.
The group was able to write one business case from the a completed, six-month trial of Ms. Marilyn Aranas, the Chairperson of Sto. Niño Multi Purpose Cooperative.
To view the report and highlights of the event, you may access the report here.
The Postharvest Learning Alliance (LA) members in Butuan, Agusan del Norte met and conducted more activities in time for the town's harvesting season. Typhoon Ramon left the participants unfazed as about 40 people signed up for the Training on Reversible Airflow Flatbed Dryers and Hermetic Storage Systems in PhilRice RTR, Agusan del Norte last October 11 and 12. The project team from IRRI and PhilRice took turns to orient the Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs), farmer-leaders, and farmers' group cooperative members about the latest postharvest initiatives in the Philippines. Farmer participants lauded this effort wherein these new technologies can benefit big and small holder farmers in Agusan.
Engr. John Eric Abon of PhilRice conducts lecture on Reversible Airlow Flatbed Dryer
Shortly after the training, the LA technical working group (TWG) held its quarterly meeting at Amontay Beach Resort, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte last October 13, 2011. Partners who attend this meeting are those who have direct interest on hermetic storage. Rica Flor, the Project’s impact specialist facilitated the discussion between PhilRice, GrainPro, IRRI, DA-RFU, Caraga State University and Santo Niño Multipurpose Cooperative (SNMPC). Case study write-up, including trial protocols and data collection tools was introduced. One of the outputs of this meeting was a draft business case study for Super bags and cocoons which successfully demonstrated an increase in profit of a farmer-user.
The last activity was the Video Production Training for Learning Alliance Partners which was held on October 14. For this activity, project communication specialists Trina Mendoza and Reianne Quilloy took turns into facilitating the session with 40 information officers and staff from the CARAGA Region, Davao City, and DA- RFU 13. Reianne presented the importance of making videos and basic information, while Trina presented the basic principles of scriptwriting and Digital Green.
In the afternoon, the participants conducted a hands-on exercise in Digital Green. The participants were able to successfully follow the process of creating storyboards and produced short edited videos that showcased their creativity, innovativeness, and sense of humor.
Ms. Rebecca Atega of DA-RFU 13 and one of the learning alliance partners in Agusan, took the initiative to organize the three activities. The efforts are part of the outputs of the ADB-IRRI Posthavest project to address the postharvest challenges in Asia, including the Philippines. More learning alliance activities are expected to pour into the CARAGA region, as the project’s efforts in reducing postharvest losses through technology innovations, best management practices, and intensive information dissemination are slowly coming to fruition.
Curbing postharvest losses through information is in the front line of the IRRI-ADB project, Addressing the Pre-and Postharvest Challenges in the Rice Supply Chain.
Information officers, farmcasters, regional agricultural engineers, and staff members of some local government units were introduced to advocacy efforts of the project made through various activities, technologies, and adaptive research in project sites in the Philippines and Asia.
Members of the project team from IRRI and PhilRice served as resource speakers during the 3rd Quarter Meeting of Regional and Provincial Information Officers and Farmcasters at Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, on 19-20 July 2011.
Caesar Tado, IRRI-ADB project country coordinator, and Trina Mendoza and Reianne Quilloy, communication specialists at IRRI, took turns elaborating on the objectives and activities of the project.
Danilo Unson, on behalf of the provincial agriculturist, said that reducing postharvest losses could be an important driver of the Philippines’ goal to achieve rice self-sufficiency in 2013.
A workshop on paddy storage was conducted in Can Tho, Vietnam, on 30 June-1 July to raise the quality of Vietnam export rice through an updated postharvest system.
Vietnam is a major rice-producing country and the second largest exporter with milled rice exports reaching 6.8 million tons in 2010. However, due to lack of dryers and insufficient storage facilities, physical postharvest losses average 13.7%.
Prof. Werner Mühlbauer, a renowned postharvest expert, presented state-of-the-art warehouse storage and silo technology, and shared his experiences on grain storage in Europe and the US, and paddy storage in tropical countries like Thailand, Korea, and the Philippines.
The IRRI team, led by Martin Gummert, visited processing and storage plants to further evaluate the problems in quality of milled rice and storage systems.
The participants actively shared their observations and views on how to improve the postharvest system in their country.
One participant mentioned that introducing good agricultural practice can aid stakeholders to provide market incentives to enable producers come up with better rice quality.
The outcome of the events will become recommendations for strategies to improve postharvest processing and storage for minimized losses contributing to food security and increased quality for local consumption and exports.
The seminar was conducted through the Vietnam Postharvest Learning Alliance, which is funded through IRRI by the Asian Development Bank with co-funding form the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It was coordinated by the Vietnamese collaborators spearheaded by the Nong Lam University.
Efforts to address pre and postharvest challenges in the rice supply chain, through a collaboration between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), were showcased in a side session at the International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Conference, “Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Health and Nutrition”, being held in the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, India last February 10-12, 2011.
The side session, titled “Pre and Postharvest Technologies: Keeping you healthy and rice bowls full”, featured the latest efforts and technologies on improving health and nutrition from the ADB-IRRI project titled, “Addressing the Pre and Postharvest Challenges in the Rice Supply Chain”.
Dr. KL Heong and Engr. Martin Gummert, IRRI scientists and principal investigators of the project, mainstreamed the importance of improving rice pre-harvest and postharvest practices and management towards better nutrition and healthier life.
The pre-harvest component of the project, spearheaded by Dr. KL Heong, promotes good management practices that maximize ecosystem services to prevent pest incidence growing into epidemic proportions, help reduce pesticide use and conserve biodiversity.
Engr. Martin Gummert, lead investigator of the postharvest component, talked about good postharvest practices and technologies designed to minimize crop losses and increase grain quality.
The conference was attended by experts from renowned international organizations and advocates of agriculture, nutrition, and health to forge possible collaboration and linkages to enhance human well-being.
Ms Grace Cabaguing of Mariphil Foundation shared the latest activity, an "Echo Seminar on Postharvest" conducted last March 3, 2011. The seminar included demonstration on the use of Superbags. She also intends to assess the performance of the stored palay in the coop’s rice mill building using the IRRI Moisture Meter. Ms. Grace Cabaguing is one of the LA members who were trained on postharvest technologies.
A World Food Prize intern gave a seminar last August 6, 2010, highlighting a key learning alliance (LA) insight she learned while at IRRI. Callie Schultes, 19, from the USA, described her eight-week stint with the institute as hands-on learning activities from laboratory techniques to documenting the impact side of IRRI’s research. One thing she learned was the importance of exchanging and sharing information between partners (such as farmers, researchers and other stakeholders) to succeed in agricultural research and innovation.
Ms. Schultes is one of the 16 high school graduates who are part of the Borlaug-Ruan Summer Internship Program which aims to give students hands-on experience in well-renowned research centers. To learn more about the Norman-Borlaug Summer Internship Program and the World Food Prize, you may visit it here (insert link.) She had a joint-program at IRRI where she explored two areas of interest to her, genetics and women.
Her project in the genetics area was in the GAMMA laboratory, to genotype rice varieties from the farmers and experience hands-on exercises on some molecular techniques. After her laboratory work, she was assigned under the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium for her to observe and document in a small project how research translates to impact.
She was involved in the Message design workshop on hermetic storage, an activity of the learning alliance, linked with the Philippines Rice Self Sufficiency Program. She gave valuable insights that helped make the messages clear for non-technical audiences. She also observed social science activities implemented for documenting impact such as the survey implemented in Camarines Sur. With the help of LA partner, Caritas Diocese of Libmanan through Wilson Oriño, she visited partners in Libmanan, and had discussions with women farmers on how postharvest technologies might have impact on them. Her involvement in these activities helped her appreciate how important it is to extend research to the end-users.
Set to return to her home base, the incoming Biology student at the Iowa State Univeristy said she will bring with her valuable things she learned from this internship, that while she observed different people doing different things and embarking on different paths—basic and applied research, they all contribute towards the same goals, reducing poverty and helping rice farmers.
Another learning alliance activity held on 13-14 July brought partners together to brainstorm about effective ways to communicate hermetic storage in a Message Design and Materials Development Workshop. About 20 participants from NGOs, local government, International Rice Research Institute, and the Philippine Rice Research Institute were present for this activity.
The workshop aimed to develop unified key messages on hermetic storage, one of the main postharvest technologies of the learning alliance. More importantly, from feedback during the 3rd learning alliance meeting, the need to unify postharvest messages amidst the emerging rice-based projects like the Philippine Rice Self-sufficiency Plan (PRSSP) was highly recognized; hence, the workshop was conceptualized.
Trina Mendoza, a senior communication specialist, facilitated the activity. Participatory approaches were used in consultation with anthropologist Rica Flor to elicit the crucial elements in materials designing—communication objectives, key messages, and target audiences. In order to do that, information leveling was done by briefing the participants on the key hermetic storage principles and the importance of linking the workshop output to the PRSSP.
A flyer enumerating the benefits of a Superbag was one of the outputs of the activity. This material was translated to Bisaya
Outputs of the event were two draft flyers (in English and Visayan language) and a flipchart. Everyone had an opportunity to critique and revise the materials according to the gathered comments. A week after, a pretesting activity with farmers in Calauan, Laguna, was done to fine-tune the materials.
This workshop shows how partners in a learning alliance can do more through synergy and learning from feedback. Now that partners have addressed this need for a template, many of them plan to echo what happened to others in the alliance. The materials produced would be a template which partners with the mandate for extension can surely use. In addition to the series of hermetic storage training done this year, here is another activity wherein the project partners can take as a jump-off point for another learning cycle in the process of effectively bringing out hermetic storage technologies.
by Trina Leah Mendoza Partners of the IRRI-ADB Philippine Postharvest Project from different provinces in the Philippines and the Philippine Rice Research Institute, as a key project partner, recently conducted the ADB-IRRI Postharvest Project Planning Meeting last June 1 and 2, 2010 at the Visayas State University in Baybay, Leyte. The 2-day meeting aimed to update partners on the project’s current activities at IRRI and in pilot provinces, plan and agree on activities targeted for the next 18 months, brief partners on steps to creating a business model, and introduce adaptive research and pilot study protocols to partners. Fifteen partners from key institutions in the three pilot sites of Camarines Sur, Bohol, and Agusan del Norte attended and reported on their progress on participatory hermetic storage verification. Updates on the activities on hermetic storage were presented. Wilson Orino, program officer of Caritas Diocese of Libmanan, Camarines Sur also provided the results of their adaptive trials. Dr. Caesar Tado, co-project leader from PhilRice, reported on the adaption of mechanical dryers, particularly the new reversible dryers. IRRI anthropologist Rica Flor discussed updates on what the postharvest learning alliance in the Philippines has done. A lecture on Business models development was also done with group exercises facilitated by Alfred Schmidley and Rica Flor. The meeting concluded with each pilot site having their set of work plans which will be a jump off point for the 2011 project implementation strategies.
Hermetic storage and flatbed dryers training were conducted at the Bohol, Agusan, and Camarines Sur for the month of April. Participants from the local government, seeds growers, producers and NGOs graced the events.
Lively discussions through open forum and hands-on exercises were conducted to be able to identify actual field problems and concerns were discussed with the help of Dr. Caesar Tado and Engr. John Eric Abon of PhilRice.
Basic principles on hermetic storage were also discussed by Engr. Carlito Balingbing of IRRI. Further, Alfred Schmidley facilitated a discussion on developing business models for hermetic storage which perked the interests of some participants and expressed their interest into piloting their respective business models for hermetic storage system. In terms of facilitating adaptive research in the same area, the protocol was discussed together with the efficient monitoring and sharing of information that will be generated from the research results. At the end of the training, key farmers and seed growers gave their commitment to facilitate and coordinate with their group members in gathering relevant information and data that will be shared with the postharvest Learning Alliance.
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Forging of partnerships and collaborative efforts have been the forefront of Learning Alliance teams in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The IRRI-based team started with plans of activities for each target countries.
For Vietnam, implementation of Posthavest research and extension in coordination with various universities (Nong Lam, Can Tho, SIAEP, VIAEP, and HUAF) are in the pipleline and will start anytime soon.
In Cambodia, collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture through Dr. Pyseth Meas was renewed to be able to continue the Postharvest outscaling efforts.
In the Philippines, Flat bed dryers and hermetic storage training and needs assessment will be conducted in the target areas of Bohol, Camarines Sur, and Agusan del Norte. Partnerships between NGOs, private individuals and farmers' groups were tapped through these activities. Partnership with the Philippine Rice Postproduction Consortium has also been explored.
Exploring different platforms were also prioritized to widen the access to the latest technologies and studies in Postharvest. The team is strengthening its partnership with the IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank and other IRRI-based consortia to facilitate and encourage sharing of good practices and lived experiences.
For the next couple of months, rest assured that the team and their partners will be bent on deliveringPH technologies through efficient outscaling of scientifically-proved technologies, conducting of adaptive research, and quality extension delivery service in the most accessible platform.
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