Farmer Orientation and Participatory Evaluation of the Rice Cafeteria at IRRI-SARC

On November 11th and 12th, a two-day programme on farmer orientation training and Participatory Varietal Evaluation (PVE) of Rice Varietal Cafeteria was held at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (IRRI SARC).

The programme, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s AGGRi project, featured the presence of several agricultural experts and administrators who educated farmers on the rice seed system, value chain, new varietal development and adoption, and best rice cultivation practises. Progressive farmers and seed chain actors (such as dealers and seed producers) from the districts of Varanasi and Chandauli attended the event. Krishi Vigyan Kendra Varanasi and Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh, and Banka and Jehanabad in Bihar, were virtually linked, as were the farmers in those areas. In two days, 60 farmers were connected online and 75 farmers in person at IRRI, SARC.

During the field visit, the participatory selection process was followed where participants were divided into small groups of 15 members each and were led by experts to successfully evaluate the basic performance-dependent features of diverse rice varieties.

Through visual observations and physical examinations, stakeholders assessed various features of plants and gave ratings in 1-5 scale. All the scoring data will be consolidated to arrive at the overall preference ranking of each variety evaluated. This analysis will act as a decision support tool for seed system team to position, advance and scale new improved rice varieties in seed chain. The analysis will be further strengthened through data to be gathered through crop cuts which will provide rationalized decisions on fitment of a variety to specific geography. The farmers are happy and satisfied with this two day training program and will committed to apply these learning from IRRI in the coming days.