IRRI and the General Directorate of Agriculture collaborate to promote mechanized direct-seeded rice in Cambodia
Thursday, 2024/01/04 | 08:44:04
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Figure: This work is part of the CGIAR Initiatives on Excellence in Agronomy and Asian Mega-Deltas. We would like to acknowledge Binh Dien Fertilizer Company for providing fertilizer to the farmers.
CGIAR January 3 2024
To scale mechanized direct-seeded rice (mDSR) for increasing farming efficiency and reducing carbon footprint in rice production in Cambodia, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in collaboration with the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA), organized a training workshop and field demonstration on mDSR at the GDA Station in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia on December 1, 2023.
There is a shift from transplanted- to direct-seeded rice due to the problems of labor shortage and high crop establishment costs. However, the current broadcast sowing practices with their disadvantages of non-uniform seeding and high risk of seed losses due to spreading seeds on the soil surface, require high seed rate application (usually higher than 120 kg/ha).
As a response to these challenges, the IRRI Vietnam team and its partners have developed mDSR for wet seeding, operating as line or hill seeding and can be combined with fertilizer deep placement, significantly reducing agronomic inputs, such as seed rate (applying 50-60kg/ha) and fertilizer and pesticide use. In addition, mDSR substantially reduces the risk of rice plant lodging during harvest, reducing harvest and postharvest loss.
To adapt and promote the said mDSR technology, IRRI and GDA conducted the training workshop combined with a field demonstration, which was attended by 60 participants, including representatives from the Rice Crop Department, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, private sector, Preydoa GDA Station, and Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Kann Salorn, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Engineering under GDA outlined the issues that Cambodian rice farmers confront with the transition from manual transplanting to broadcast direct seeding, such as labor shortages, high seed rates, mechanization, weed and pest losses, and lodging. He anticipated learning from the new type of line-direct seeder and emphasized Vietnam’s lessons as a promising approach in order to handle some of Cambodia’s agricultural challenges.
The mDSR field demonstration, facilitated by the experts of IRRI Vietnam and Tu Sang company, brought a comprehensive performance, including brief instructions on the components and operation of the machine. The mDSR operation demonstrated precise line-seeding and reduced the seed rate by 50-70% compared to traditional methods. Most attendees expressed their interest and appreciation of the training and field demonstration that would help farmers improve farming practices and local manufacturers improve their mDSR technologies, among others.
Local officials expressed the suitability of this mDSR line-direct seeder in Cambodian agriculture. The recommended next steps include conducting various field trials in rice-producing provinces, such as Battambang and Takeo, to validate the efficiency and benefits of mDSR comparison over conventional farming practices.
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