Building momentum in Laos

Despite major hurdles, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is fighting fiercely against poverty. According to the World Bank, this small landlocked nation, one of the poorest in East Asia, is addressing social inequities and building stronger capacity to manage its natural resources.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is one of the international organizations determined to help Lao PDR. About 80% of the country’s arable land is devoted to rice growing. And, since 1990, IRRI, with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, has been helping improve Lao PDR’s research and training capacity, and pave the country’s way to rice self-sufficiency. Between 1990 and 2004, rice production increased from 1.5 million tons to 2.5 million tons, which has been valued at US$8–19 million per year.

The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) of IRRI plans to build on this success. Current projects include postproduction, crop establishment, weed management, and rodent management. A new project on water management is at the planning stage with activities already under way through a PhD project by Randy Ritzema at the University of California-Davis, USA.

Bring in the harvest
Since 2003, the Postproduction Work Group (PPWG) of IRRC has made its presence felt in the country where, until then, postharvest problems of rice were not addressed. Collaboration started with the evaluation of commercial hermetic storage systems in research centers in Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Savannakhet. Hermetic storage improves grain quality and seed viability because it maintains the original grain moisture content and reduces pest damage (without using insecticides). The National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), a government institution and Lao partner of PPWG, is now interested in large-scale hermetic storage systems for storing seeds.

In 2005, the PPWG conducted a rapid rural assessment of the postharvest situation of rice in Lao PDR to establish baseline data and identify major intervention points for improved postharvest management.

In May 2006, PPWG leader Martin Gummert and his team conducted a training course on postharvest management for improved quality of rice grain and seed in Vientiane. Eighteen participants from extension systems, rice mills, and NAFRI learned about postharvest processes through computer-based courses developed by the Work Group. This was the first time that researchers, extension workers, and the private sector have gathered to discuss postharvest issues such as grain and seed quality. Improved postharvest management options were also discussed, since many rice millers experienced poor milling quality of dry-season crops because of the low level of postharvest mechanization. The participants were delighted about the computer-based learning course and the training. Most of them were eager to use the IRRI Super Bag, while some asked for a more specific course on rice milling and improved milling technologies. One of the Work Group’s current activities is evaluating hermetic storage systems such as the Super Bag among farmers in Lao PDR.

To assist Lao scientists in developing national and export standards for rice, the PPWG has provided information on standards used by neighboring and rice-importing countries. The Work Group has also formulated recommendations for the improvement of the seed drying room at the National Agricultural Research Center.

During a visit to Vientiane in May 2007, Mr. Gummert and his assistant, agricultural engineer Carlito Balingbing, met with Outai Taimany, who previously attended an IRRC training on grain-drying systems and dryer fabrication in Vietnam in 2005. Mr. Taimany is now developing flat-bed dryers and low-cost, farm-level dryers, and applying his own designs on dryer technology. He has installed one dryer for demonstration in Vientiane and another one in Savannakhet, and is also planning to develop rice mills in the future.

As a service to the Helvetas-funded ProRice Project, PPWG members have assessed four rice mills and developed business plans for an export-oriented production of organic rice. Hermetic Super Bags and portable grain-quality assessment tools were provided for evaluation by organic rice farmers.

After participating in a combine harvesting training organized by the PPWG in Cambodia in 2007, Dr. Poudalay from the Savannakhet research station has imported one small combine from Vietnam, since labor shortage is becoming a problem in that province.

In November this year, the PPWG will conduct a training activity on laser leveling.

Protecting rice in the uplands
Meanwhile, the Labor Productivity Work Group, led by Dr. David Johnson, also has activities linked with IRRI’s Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments. Hillside terraces have been developed in some areas, which have considerable potential to raise productivity. These terraced areas are commonly well developed with level-bunded terraces that are either rainfed or may receive supplementary irrigation from diverted streams, allowing a second crop.

In 2007, studies are ongoing to determine the losses due to weeds and the principal weed species in the seedbank. Training in weed sampling and identification has already been conducted with the national research and extension staff. Opportunities exist to extend available technologies for these lowland rice areas, including the use of “sheltered nurseries” for rice fields that are 700 meters above sea level to limit the effects of cold on the second rice crop. There are also opportunities to raise productivity through soil fertility management and improved cultivars.

Dr. Grant Singleton, IRRC coordinator, will also apply his rodent expertise in the lowland areas in the upland regions of Lao PDR. In these agroecosystems, rats are among the top three pests of farmers (weeds are clearly number one). However, farmers rank rats as the problem they have the least control over. Of particular concern is the impact of rats on the second rice crop in these valley floors. Indeed, in some areas, farmers will not even attempt to grow a second crop because of rats. This forgone loss is an important constraint to farmers. One hectare of lowland rice produces the equivalent of about 3.5 hectares of upland rice. If a second crop could be produced, the ratio would be 7 to 1 because only one rice crop can be grown per year on the sloping uplands.

A new research project has been developed with colleagues from the National Rice Research Program (led by Dr. Bounneuang Douang Boopha) to validate management actions for the first rice crop to protect grain stores in villages. These actions were developed in a previous study of NAFRI and the CSIRO, Australia, but have not been tested beyond their pilot study. The aim is to determine the likelihood of adoption and diffusion of rodent management technologies in upland villages. The project will also quantify the effects of rats and the timing of their damage to the second rice crop in lowland valleys. This information will provide the foundation for developing a project proposal aimed at managing rats throughout the year in these important lowland crops.

Trina Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org), Martin Gummert (m.gummert@cgiar.org), Grant Singleton (g.singleton@cgiar.org), and David Johnson (d.johnson@cgiar.org)

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