Ties that bind: Three countries unite for a common cause

The bonds of friendship and teamwork among the national partners of three countries were strengthened as the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) held its annual review meeting and workshop of the IRRC Country Outreach Program (ICOP) on 4-6 February 2008 at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Nueva Ecija. PhilRice, the lead agency of ICOP in the Philippines, hosted this year’s event.

Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, PhilRice Director (extreme right), welcomes ICOP counterparts (from l-r) Dr. Hasil Sembiring, U Than Aye, Dr. Sudarmaji, Dr. Muhrizal Sarwani, and U Hla Myo. IRRC Coordinator Grant Singleton and Water-Saving Work Group leader Ruben Lampayan (second and third from right) guided the visitors on a field trip to IRRC project sites the day before.

Top officials from Myanmar and Indonesia graced the event to share the learning from ICOP in their countries with their Philippine counterparts. Special guests were U Than Aye, deputy director general, Department of Agricultural Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation; U Hla Myo, general manager, Extension Division, Myanma Agriculture Service; Dr. Muhrizal Sarwani, director, Indonesian Center for Agriculture Technology Assessment for Rural Development; Dr. Hasil Sembiring, director, Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR); and Dr. Sudarmaji, head, Research Program and Evaluation, ICRR. They visited several farmers’ fields and met with farmers’ groups in Central Luzon on 3 February.

Since the establishment of the ICOPs in 2006 in Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines, more national partners have started taking the lead in disseminating IRRC technologies in their regions. During the workshop, participants from the IRRI, PhilRice, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Research, National Irrigation Administration, Agricultural Promotion Center, and Bulacan Agricultural State College described their research and undertakings.

Participants from the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao discussed their plans in disseminating IRRC technologies in their areas.

The workshop ended with local partners presenting their strategies and financial plans in upscaling and outscaling IRRC technologies in their respective areas. To capture the lessons learned from the three countries’ ICOP experiences, the IRRC will hold a Research-to-Impact Workshop at the International Rice Research Institute on 23-27 September 2008. And, judging from the exciting stories and updates shared in February, it seems that September’s workshop will be worth the wait.
 

Story and photos by Trina
Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org)

Country Outreach Programs archive