The six Africa-wide Rice Task Forces (Rice Breeding,
Agronomy, Processing and Value Addition Task, Mechanization, Policy and Gender)
are a major component of the rice research-for-development strategy for the
continent elaborated by AfricaRice.
The Africa-wide Rice Agronomy Task Force pools the
resources of rice agronomists across the continent, with overall coordination
provided by AfricaRice. The overarching aim of the Task Force is to improve
rice production and productivity through the introduction, testing and
dissemination of baskets of ‘good agronomic practices’ (GAP baskets).
Of all the Rice Task Forces, the Agronomy Task Force
is the most closely linked with the rice sector development hubs. “Through this
task force mechanism, we test innovations and monitor adoption in the rice
sector development hubs that are located in broad geographical areas in many
countries,” explains AfricaRice agronomist Kazuki Saito. The task force
activities have expanded to 20 countries in 2013/14.
“The first
research task,” explains Saito, “is to conduct diagnostic and yield-gap surveys
in each hub.”A diagnostic survey involves interviews with individual farmers or
other actors such as input suppliers and extension workers, and group
discussion to understand farmers’ current practices, knowledge, and the
challenges and constraints they face. A yield-gap survey involves interviewing
farmers, a series of field observations from sowing to harvesting, soil and
plant sampling, and yield measurements.
These two surveys enable us to determine the gaps
between on-farm yields obtained by farmers and potential yields, which can be
determined by crop simulation models, and their causes.” Causes of yield gaps
in farmers’ fields vary among rice production systems and agro-ecological
zones. But, typical causes include sub-optimal crop management, yield-limiting
(e.g. poor soils) and yield-reducing (e.g. pests) factors, socioeconomic
constraints (e.g. finance, labor shortage), and institutional/political
arrangements (e.g. land availability, rice and fertilizer prices). Smart-phones
and computer tablets are used to enter data and allow for immediate analysis
and interpretation by AfricaRice and national partners.
“The results from the
surveys enable AfricaRice and its national partners to identify the
opportunities available to introduce technologies to close the yield gaps,”
says Saito. Three challenges across major rice-growing environments were
frequently reported by national partners— weed infestation, lack of
availability of purified seeds of new, improved varieties, and lack of
mechanization. Other challenges identified were: sub-optimal crop and nutrient
management, including timing of interventions in irrigated systems; suboptimal
land preparation and water management in rainfed lowlands; and drought and soil
problems in uplands.
Apart from the surveys, multi-stakeholder platform
(MSP) will be another entry point for identifying technologies suitable for
local conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment