Ando Mariot Radanielson and Robert

Rice Today;  Jun 11, 2018

Innovation lies at the heart of the new strategic plan of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). It is a building block for attracting long-term investment and strengthening the organization’s role within the rice science sector. Initiatives that generate new ideas and support original ways of working serve as a foundation for the organization’s future.

Figure: Photo by IRRI

In 2017, the IRRI Seed Grant Scheme awarded USD 15,000 each to six research teams led by young scientists. (See Winning science: Meet the awardees of the first IRRI Seed Grant Scheme) The aim was to foster innovative and collaborative research and provide young scientists with experience in securing and managing independent research funding. We report on the outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned from the first year of the scheme.

Accessing local knowledge to help farmers

The winning proposals included the team led by Harold Valera, a social scientist in IRRI’s Sustainable Impact Platform. The team wanted to gain a better understanding of farmers’ behavior toward the adoption of new technology such as Rice Crop Manager (RCM), a decision-support tool designed to help Philippine farmers increase their yield and income.

From the field surveys conducted in the province of Camarines Sur, Dr. Valera’s team discovered that smallholder farmers at the study sites benefit more from RCM adoption in terms of yield increase.

“Our results show that a majority of the sample farmers who attended the RCM interview have received printed recommendations and most of them have fully adopted RCM,” Dr. Valera said. “Farmers’ participation in training enabled them to have positive perceptions about RCM knowledge, extension workers, and dissemination.”

Dr. Valera added that the success of their research has, in part, been due to a highly effective collaboration with researchers at the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture. “Without access to this local knowledge, the conduct of this survey would not have been as effective,” he said.

See more: http://ricetoday.irri.org/sowing-the-seeds-of-innovation/