Innovative Rice Production Technologies for Food Security and Rice Production In Bangladesh

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Innovative Rice Production Technologies for Food
Security and Rice Production In Bangladesh

• Dr. M. Zainul Abedin
• IRRI Representative for Bangladesh
• Team Leader, FoSHoL-Coordination Project
• Prepared for discussion in the LCG meeting held
  on 24 April 2008

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• Outline
• What is happening
• Why it is happening
• What could be done

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• What is happening?
• We all know
• Rice price has gone up, and may not come down
  significantly soon
• Poor farmers are suffering the most
• Due to the floods and sidr, there is a shortage
  of about 2 million tons

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• World rice prices are jumping up like mad horse

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• Why it is happening
• Our domestic production is low and we are
  consuming more
• World stock and supplies of rice are also in
  precarious condition, and may not ease in the
  next few years

Range of multiple factors are contributing to
uncertainty in availability of enough rice at
reasonable price from global market
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Rising oil price is also contributing to
increasing input prices
Cost of production is going to be higher, and
days for cheaper rice is not expected soon
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• The current sharp increase in rice price is a
  major cause for concern.
• Even a small increase in price can seriously
  affect the household food security of poor
  people. For example, a 25 increase in rice price
  translates into a 710 drop in the real income
  of poor consumers, as rice purchases often
  constitute 3040 of their total expenditures.
• This makes vulnerable more vulnerable

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What could be done

• Ensuring sufficient supplies of rice that is
  affordable for the poor is thus crucial to
  poverty reduction.
• The best strategy for keeping the price of rice
  low is to ensure that production increases faster
  than demand.
• Although some increase in cropping intensity and
  growing rice on current fallows are still
  possible, rice land otherwise is being lost to
  industrialization, urbanization, or conversion to
  other crops.

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• The main source of additional production will,
  therefore, have to be yield growth.
• Productivity growth through the development and
  dissemination of improved technologies is the
  only long-term viable solution for bringing
  prices down, preventing future increases in
  price, and ensuring that affordable rice is
  available to poor rice consumers.
• Needs An Agronomic Revolution Reducing yield gap
  through improved skills in management of
  resources and technologies farmers use
• Expand rapidly, use of recently developed
  technologies and HYVs
• Develop technologies to enhance productivity,
  particularly of the unfavourable floodprone,
  droughtprone and salinity prone ricelands
• Policies to improve input and output marketing
  system

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• IRRI, in partnership with BRRI, can offer a range
  of technologies to increase domestic production
  at a faster speed and enhance farmers income.
• Successful adoption of these options can easily
  eliminate the shortfall, rather can have surplus
  production
• And, are capable of developing technology choices
  for the future
• Investments are needed
• to make these technologies available to rice
  farmers in the short to medium term, and
• to develop new technologies in the medium to long
  term

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• Promising options and technologies
• Enhancing skills and capabilities of farmers in
  using recommended technologies to harvest the
  potential yield
• Speed-up adoption of recently developed
  technologies suitable for various agro-ecosystems
  
• HYVs BRRI Dhan 44, 47, 33, BR11 sub1 and Swarna
  sub1
• Improved seed and seedling management
• Direct wet and dry seeding using drum seeder and
  lithao
• Use of leaf color chart (LCC) for real time N
  management
• Growing of rice and other food crops in the tidal
  saline areas with sweet water harvesting
• Alternate wetting and drying (AWD)
• Integrated crop and resource management
• Reduce post harvest losses

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Validate to Scale up adoption of varieties

• BRRI Dhan 44 has potential to be a mega variety
• BRRIdha47 for saline areas
• BRRI Dhan 33 for monga areas and in areas where
  short durated rice varieties are needed
• BR11 sub1 and Swarna sub1 can withstand
  submergence for up to 14 days
• New variety coming up with salt tolerant (Saltol)
  gene

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Improved seed production and preservation at
farm level, and seedling raising

• Can increase the yield by about 5 -10

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Direct seeding by Drum Seeder

• Direct wet seeding of sprouted seeds in paddled
  lands by using Drum Seeder increases yield by
  about 10- 15, saves costs and ensures early
  harvest.

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Leaf Colour Chart (LCC) for N Management

• LCC is usually a plastic ruler-shaped strip
  containing four panels , clors matching the paddy
  
• Reduces N use by up to 30 and enusres discipline
  in N application
• LCC helps improve yield by maximizing crop N
  uptake and reducing N losses.

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Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)
AWD is a technology for water saving for rice
production. A simple device has been designed to
observe water level in the ground to decide time
amount of irrigation water. Saves water by
about 30-45 and has tendency to increase yield
Technology are seen in the field
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Integrated Rice-Fish Culture

• Integrated Rice-Fish culture is a high potential
  farming in Bangladesh during monsoon (on
  flood-free land) and boro seasons. However, this
  practice is yet to gain wide popularity, as it
  deserves.

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• Rice-fish culture offers the following benefits
• Increase income from increased production of both
  rice by about 10 and additional production of
  fish
• Recycles nutrients by fish through feeding and
  depositing fish faces in the soil
• Provides protein to members of farmers family
• Reduces insect pest (leaf hopper, stem borer,
  aphid etc.) and weed infestation as they are
  consumed by fish and
• Reduces the amount of chemical fartilizers needed
  for rice cultivation

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Growing of rice and other food crops in the tidal
saline areas with sweet water harvesting

• Boro rice or other crops can be irrigated by
  utilizing gravity flow of tidal water directly
  from the river during high tide from mid-November
  to mid-February.

Before it becomes saline, river water can be
conserved in natural canals at the beginning of
February to irrigate rice or other crops from
mid-February to end of March with a low lift pump.
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Integrated Rice-Duck farming system

• The system of rice cultivation along with duck is
  know as Intenerated Rice-duck Farming System. It
  is a form of organic farming that facilitates the
  poor farmers/households to obtain two crops (rice
  as the main crop and ducks is the subsidiary
  crop) simultaneously utilizing same natural
  resources.

In rice-duck system agro-chemicals and chemical
fertilizers are not applied. So this system is
cost-effective and environment friendly.
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Rice and rice-based technology information and
communication materials are available in theBRKB
website(www.knowledgebank-brri.org )
More information and IRRIs suggested solutions
to present crisis are available at
http//solutions.irri.org
Fact sheets on Rice Production Technology
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• Thank you