Peatlands and peat swamp forests account for 70% of the total wetland areas in Malaysia. With rapid development and mounting population pressures on the natural resources, these areas are under threat. This paper introduces an on-going project to conserve the wetlands through projects in 3 states.
LANDSCAPE AND ECOSYSTEM APPROACHES IN ADDRESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF PEAT SWAMP FORESTS IN MALAYSIA
Abdul Rahim Nik and Efransjah
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797808
Email: rahimnik@frim.gov.my
Peatlands and peat swamp forests (PSFs) are the most important of wetland types in terms of hydrology, biodiversity and ecological functions, accounting for about 70% of the total wetland areas in Malaysia. With rapid development and mounting population pressures on the natural resources, peatlands and PSFs in Malaysia are increasingly under threat. The major challenge is the growing demand for their conversion to other uses.
Peatlands and associated wetlands are very complex ecosystems in terms of their ecological processes, biodiversity, land and hydrological characteristics. Therefore, a landscape approach is required to assess all the relevant attributes including surface and subsurface water interactions.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to which Malaysia is a signatory, calls for the application of an ecosystem approach for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable manner. PSFs perform a wide range of services that are of value to society such as sediment control, flood storage, water purification, climate regulation, coastal protection and provide recreational opportunities.
Major threats to the conservation and sustainability of PSF have been identified and analysed through an initiative by the Malaysian Government. Supported by UNDP/GEF, the five-year project is being implemented to promote the conservation and wise use of the remaining PSFs and associated wetland ecosystems by demonstrating how this could be achieved at three sites in the states of Sarawak, Sabah and Pahang respectively.
The PSF Project has facilitated the State Governments in developing an integrated management plan (IMP), taking into account landscape and ecosystem considerations. Through an inter-sectoral consultation approach involving various state agencies as well as local communities, site-specific issues based on scientific findings were highlighted; mitigation measures were proposed and some undertaken; inter-agency coordination was strengthened; policy-making processes were initiated; and training and awareness raising programmes were conducted over the past two years. The holistic approach has been found to be effective, evident in the initial impacts achieved during the IMP formulation at the respective states.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wood Preservation: The Latest Development in Research
Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects is a major problem. The current trend in the development of wood preservatives is to use biocide combinations which include both inorganic-organic and organic-organic binary mixtures.
Salamah S. and Salmiah U.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong 52109, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: salamahs@frim.gov.my
New developments in wood preservation have been mainly in the area of new preservatives. The selection of wood preservatives, formulations, and treatment methods are dependent on the product and type of protection required. Dipping or spraying is for temporary or short-term protection and pressure processes are for longer term protection.
Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects is a major problem inducing commercial wood preservative formulations to contain chemicals toxic to micro-organisms and insects. In order to be commercially viable wood preservatives, chemical formulations should be cost effective, have good permanence in the wood, no significant effect on the strength properties of wood, low corrosivity to metal fasteners, good penetration properties and safe to handle and use.
Three types of wood preservative are available globally; oil-, water- and light organic solvent-based preservatives with water-based preservatives as the most popular world wide. Copper-chrome-arsenate (CCA), a water based preservative is the most important wood preservative and widely used for timber in construction work and outdoor application including some light organic solvent based preservatives followed by boron based compound for indoor application.
The current trend in the development of wood preservatives is to use biocide combinations which include both inorganic-organic and organic-organic binary mixtures. Another approach to wood preservation is by the chemical modification method. Existing Malaysian Standards have been revised lately to comply with the latest requirements of the timber based industries and government regulations which include the new treatment process, product specification, preservative formulation and quality control. These standards are being coordinated by the Malaysian Wood Preserving Association as Standard Writing Organization for wood preservation.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Salamah S. and Salmiah U.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong 52109, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: salamahs@frim.gov.my
New developments in wood preservation have been mainly in the area of new preservatives. The selection of wood preservatives, formulations, and treatment methods are dependent on the product and type of protection required. Dipping or spraying is for temporary or short-term protection and pressure processes are for longer term protection.
Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects is a major problem inducing commercial wood preservative formulations to contain chemicals toxic to micro-organisms and insects. In order to be commercially viable wood preservatives, chemical formulations should be cost effective, have good permanence in the wood, no significant effect on the strength properties of wood, low corrosivity to metal fasteners, good penetration properties and safe to handle and use.
Three types of wood preservative are available globally; oil-, water- and light organic solvent-based preservatives with water-based preservatives as the most popular world wide. Copper-chrome-arsenate (CCA), a water based preservative is the most important wood preservative and widely used for timber in construction work and outdoor application including some light organic solvent based preservatives followed by boron based compound for indoor application.
The current trend in the development of wood preservatives is to use biocide combinations which include both inorganic-organic and organic-organic binary mixtures. Another approach to wood preservation is by the chemical modification method. Existing Malaysian Standards have been revised lately to comply with the latest requirements of the timber based industries and government regulations which include the new treatment process, product specification, preservative formulation and quality control. These standards are being coordinated by the Malaysian Wood Preserving Association as Standard Writing Organization for wood preservation.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Using Biotechnology in tropical forests for wealth generation
This paper highlights the research into developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
Krisnapillay B., Marzalina M. and Razak M.A.A.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797806
Email: baskaran@frim.gov.my
Biotechnology R&D in FRIM has grown gradually over the past 22 years from basic seed technology, tissue culture and isoenzyme studies to cryopreservaton, genetic engineering, DNA marker technology, population genetics, protein and small active molecular compounds that have potential for new drug development. To ensure the research being done is current and in par with those in the developed world, FRIM’s has made significant investments into purchasing state of the art equipment for its laboratories and in training the appropriate manpower for such research. Incidentally, in the 9th Malaysian Plan (period from 2006-2010) the Government too has identified Biotechnology as a new thrust area and a new source of wealth creation for the nation. Indirectly FRIM’s investment and manpower development prior to the 9th Plan apparently has augured well with the Government’s aspiration to tap the natural resources in a sustainable way to generate new wealth using the modern tools of Biotechnology. The mission of the Biotechnology program also seeks to develop cross-cutting research over all the programs in the Institute and also to offer such services to other agencies, through the utilization of these modern tools. This paper highlights some of the strategies, research and findings that have been utilized into producing improved quality planting materials developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Krisnapillay B., Marzalina M. and Razak M.A.A.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797806
Email: baskaran@frim.gov.my
Biotechnology R&D in FRIM has grown gradually over the past 22 years from basic seed technology, tissue culture and isoenzyme studies to cryopreservaton, genetic engineering, DNA marker technology, population genetics, protein and small active molecular compounds that have potential for new drug development. To ensure the research being done is current and in par with those in the developed world, FRIM’s has made significant investments into purchasing state of the art equipment for its laboratories and in training the appropriate manpower for such research. Incidentally, in the 9th Malaysian Plan (period from 2006-2010) the Government too has identified Biotechnology as a new thrust area and a new source of wealth creation for the nation. Indirectly FRIM’s investment and manpower development prior to the 9th Plan apparently has augured well with the Government’s aspiration to tap the natural resources in a sustainable way to generate new wealth using the modern tools of Biotechnology. The mission of the Biotechnology program also seeks to develop cross-cutting research over all the programs in the Institute and also to offer such services to other agencies, through the utilization of these modern tools. This paper highlights some of the strategies, research and findings that have been utilized into producing improved quality planting materials developing conservation strategies, curbing illegal logging through forensic forestry, developing forest conservation strategies using molecular marker technology, molecular breeding to advance the breeding of specific traits, in vitro conservation of plant species and new drug discovery programs.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
DNA Marker Technologies for conservation and sustainable forestry in Malaysia
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
DNA MARKER TECHNOLOGIES: IT’S APPLICATION TO THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION OF MALAYSIAN FOREST TREE SPECIES
Norwati M., Lee S. L., Kevin, N. K. S, Lee, C. T., Siti Salwana, H., Ng C. H. and Tnah, L. H.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797144
Fax: 03-62804614
Email: norwati@frim.gov.my
Forestry and forest genetic resources are important to the livelihood of mankind. Genetic diversity of forests is seen not only as a natural reserve but also as a potential resource. Human intervention on the natural forests has put a great pressure on the ecosystems.
Many species of interest have depleted very rapidly from their natural habitat and some suffer potential extinction. Therefore conservation, sustainable use and management of Forest Genetic Resources are crucial for present and future generation.
At FRIM, most of the time genetic materials or germplasm from the forests are used by researchers and breeders for selection to increase a tree's resistance to a disease, improve the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for use in agro forestry.
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
In conservation programmes, this information would be useful in designing sampling strategies for ex situ conservation and sustainable forest management. At the same time such information can be used in tree improvement programmes to provide adequate guidelines in designing sampling strategies, clone identification and tracking desirable genes for early selection in tree improvement programme.
At the Genetic Unit, the issue of conservation of important tropical species is approached through two notable issues, which are a) Genetic diversity evaluation of species based on their status (such as endemism, rare, threatened or endangered etc.) and; b) effect of logging on genetic diversity. For the former, some of the species studied include Aquilaria malaccensis, Dyera costulata, Shorea lumutensis, Hopea bilitonensis, H. subalata, H. odorata, Neobalanocarpus heimii. As for the effect of logging, some of the species studied include Shorea leprosula, S. ovalis, S. curtisii and S. macroptera. For these purposes, Genetic Unit has developed various types of genetic markers such as isozymes, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and microsatellite. This paper addresses FRIM research findings from these studies.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
DNA MARKER TECHNOLOGIES: IT’S APPLICATION TO THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILISATION OF MALAYSIAN FOREST TREE SPECIES
Norwati M., Lee S. L., Kevin, N. K. S, Lee, C. T., Siti Salwana, H., Ng C. H. and Tnah, L. H.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-62797144
Fax: 03-62804614
Email: norwati@frim.gov.my
Forestry and forest genetic resources are important to the livelihood of mankind. Genetic diversity of forests is seen not only as a natural reserve but also as a potential resource. Human intervention on the natural forests has put a great pressure on the ecosystems.
Many species of interest have depleted very rapidly from their natural habitat and some suffer potential extinction. Therefore conservation, sustainable use and management of Forest Genetic Resources are crucial for present and future generation.
At FRIM, most of the time genetic materials or germplasm from the forests are used by researchers and breeders for selection to increase a tree's resistance to a disease, improve the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for use in agro forestry.
Conservation of these forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee their availability for the use of present and future generations. Therefore, information on population genetics of forest plant species is essential for the successful implementation of conservation and tree improvement programmes.
In conservation programmes, this information would be useful in designing sampling strategies for ex situ conservation and sustainable forest management. At the same time such information can be used in tree improvement programmes to provide adequate guidelines in designing sampling strategies, clone identification and tracking desirable genes for early selection in tree improvement programme.
At the Genetic Unit, the issue of conservation of important tropical species is approached through two notable issues, which are a) Genetic diversity evaluation of species based on their status (such as endemism, rare, threatened or endangered etc.) and; b) effect of logging on genetic diversity. For the former, some of the species studied include Aquilaria malaccensis, Dyera costulata, Shorea lumutensis, Hopea bilitonensis, H. subalata, H. odorata, Neobalanocarpus heimii. As for the effect of logging, some of the species studied include Shorea leprosula, S. ovalis, S. curtisii and S. macroptera. For these purposes, Genetic Unit has developed various types of genetic markers such as isozymes, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) and microsatellite. This paper addresses FRIM research findings from these studies.
This research was presented at the CFFPR 2007 Meeting. For more information on FRIM and the CFFPR Meeting, please contact Dr Mohd. Nor Mohd. Yusoff, Senior Director, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Email: mdnor@frim.gov.my
Sunday, November 11, 2007
New hybrid rice group aims to raise rice yields in the tropics
A new international research initiative, linking the private and public sectors for the first time and launched at the 2007 Asian Seed Congress, aims to boost the research and development of hybrid rice for the tropics.
The Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC), established by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will strengthen public–private sector partnership in hybrid rice, a technology that can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia.
Hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor—known as heterosis—to achieve yields 15–20% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties. Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but has not yet reached its potential in the tropics.
IRRI and its partners in the public and private sector have led research on development of, and use of, hybrid rice technology in the tropics for almost 30 years. Successful deployment of hybrid rice in Asia, however, requires more effective cooperation between public research institutions and the private sector in research to overcome current constraints.
The HRDC will be hosted by IRRI and will have three major objectives:
* Support research on developing new hybrids with enhanced yield heterosis, improved seed production, multiple resistances to stresses, and grain quality.
* Support research on best management practices for rice hybrids.
* Improve information sharing, public awareness, and capacity building.
Public and private sector organizations and companies with interest in hybrid rice development are invited to become members of the HRDC. For private-sector members, annual financial contributions under the consortium structure will take into account the status of seed companies at different stages of development. HRDC members will have access to improved parents, hybrids, and breeding lines, including seeds and associated information.
The HRDC will have a public–private sector advisory committee and will meet annually to provide information to its members on new plant genetic resources available or under development, review research on hybrid rice management, discuss new research priorities, and make decisions on other consortium activities such as capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
According to IRRI senior hybrid rice researcher Fangming Xie, the HRDC will significantly enhance the capacity for hybrid rice research and product delivery, while providing services and support to the private sector in its product development and delivery that will benefit the general public.
“National agricultural research and extension systems and other public sector organizations engaged in hybrid rice research and development will be among the primary beneficiaries of funds generated by the HRDC”, said Dr. Xie. “Rice farmers in Asia will benefit from accelerated access to hybrid rice-based technologies such as more and better hybrids, good-quality seed, knowledge, and services provided by the private and public sectors.”
Contact for further information:
Dr. Fangming Xie
Senior Scientist, Hybrid Rice Breeding
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines
E-mail: f.xie@cgiar.org
Phone: +63-2-580-5600, ext. 2769
Fax: +63-2-580-5699
# # #
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies (www.cgiar.org).
# # #
For information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines;
tel +63-2-580-5600; fax: +63-2-580-5699; email d.macintosh@cgiar.org.
Web sites:
IRRI Home (www.irri.org)
IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org)
Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org)
The Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC), established by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will strengthen public–private sector partnership in hybrid rice, a technology that can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia.
Hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor—known as heterosis—to achieve yields 15–20% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties. Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but has not yet reached its potential in the tropics.
IRRI and its partners in the public and private sector have led research on development of, and use of, hybrid rice technology in the tropics for almost 30 years. Successful deployment of hybrid rice in Asia, however, requires more effective cooperation between public research institutions and the private sector in research to overcome current constraints.
The HRDC will be hosted by IRRI and will have three major objectives:
* Support research on developing new hybrids with enhanced yield heterosis, improved seed production, multiple resistances to stresses, and grain quality.
* Support research on best management practices for rice hybrids.
* Improve information sharing, public awareness, and capacity building.
Public and private sector organizations and companies with interest in hybrid rice development are invited to become members of the HRDC. For private-sector members, annual financial contributions under the consortium structure will take into account the status of seed companies at different stages of development. HRDC members will have access to improved parents, hybrids, and breeding lines, including seeds and associated information.
The HRDC will have a public–private sector advisory committee and will meet annually to provide information to its members on new plant genetic resources available or under development, review research on hybrid rice management, discuss new research priorities, and make decisions on other consortium activities such as capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
According to IRRI senior hybrid rice researcher Fangming Xie, the HRDC will significantly enhance the capacity for hybrid rice research and product delivery, while providing services and support to the private sector in its product development and delivery that will benefit the general public.
“National agricultural research and extension systems and other public sector organizations engaged in hybrid rice research and development will be among the primary beneficiaries of funds generated by the HRDC”, said Dr. Xie. “Rice farmers in Asia will benefit from accelerated access to hybrid rice-based technologies such as more and better hybrids, good-quality seed, knowledge, and services provided by the private and public sectors.”
Contact for further information:
Dr. Fangming Xie
Senior Scientist, Hybrid Rice Breeding
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines
E-mail: f.xie@cgiar.org
Phone: +63-2-580-5600, ext. 2769
Fax: +63-2-580-5699
# # #
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies (www.cgiar.org).
# # #
For information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines;
tel +63-2-580-5600; fax: +63-2-580-5699; email d.macintosh@cgiar.org.
Web sites:
IRRI Home (www.irri.org)
IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org)
Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A low-cost technology boosts farm income in Kazakhstan
A low-cost technology boosts farm income.
ALEPPO, Syria: A low-cost technology developed by scientists at ICARDA to treat high level of magnesium in soil by using calcium has demonstrated the potential to double the crop yield in magnesium-rich soils in Central Asia.
In southern Kazakhstan alone, more than 150,000 hectares of land is affected by high levels of magnesium, which causes soil degradation and seriously reduces crop yield.
Scientists have established that addition of adequate quantities of phosphogypsum (PG), a low-cost source of calcium, in the soil mitigates the effect of excess magnesium and increases crop yield. On-farm trials of the new technology conducted by ICARDA and NARS in Arya Turkestan area of Kazakhstan produced remarkable results
The PG technology has the potential to increase cotton yield to 3 t/ha, while the farmers usually got 1 to 1.5 t/ha without such intervention. The increase in the yield prompted farmers to voluntarily adopt the technology, bearing 30 percent of the cost for transportation and application of PG, a byproduct of phosphorus fertilizer industry easily available in Central Asia.
“I never dreamt of such a bumper crop from this problem soil. Normally, we get only 1-2 tons of cotton per hectare, but now with this simple technology, I can reap an extra ton this year,” says 34-year-old, Abdurashid Koshkarov, a farmer from Stariy Ikan village, 130 km northeast of Shymkent, capital of South Kazakhstan Province. He is one of the 19 progressive growers who voluntarily used PG to improve land productivity in this region, where high magnesium content in the soil crippled crop productivity.
The farm productivity and the profitability have gone up significantly. “I spend about US$ 400 to raise a hectare of irrigated cotton crop in our traditional way, and with PG application it rose to about US$ 540. The returns also increased correspondingly. At the current price of cotton at US$ 475 per ton, the gross income goes up to US$ 1650 per hectare. It meant that with an additional investment of US$ 140, we could get about an extra ton of cotton worth US$ 475 from every hectare,” explained Mr Koshkarov.
Research on the PG technology started in 2001 as part of the Phase 1 and 2 of the ADB-funded Soil and Water project implemented by ICARDA in Central Asia. The technology was out-scaled in 2006 under another ADB-funded project, jointly implemented by ICARDA, IWMI and ICBA, to an area of over 100 ha, says Dr Manzoor Qadir, ICARDA-based Marginal-Water Management Scientist of ICARDA/IWMI, who heads the initiative to out-scale this technology in this region. The Kazakh National Water Management Institute implemented the PG trials in the study area.
More and more farmers in the region are aware of the new technology and are convinced that the yields soared with the application of PG. There is an increased demand for PG in the region, and farmers firmly believe that a “silent green revolution is in store for them”.
Mr Jolaman Dozbayev, a 57-year old cotton farmer in the same village, said: “Until last season, we were in a bad situation. But PG application changed it altogether. The high returns from cotton ushered in a new wave of prosperity in our lives,” he said with a sense of pride.
“Our studies showed that the PG dose per hectare should be based on some simple soil tests, and it works out very economical for the farmers. It is enough if the farmers apply PG once every four to five years,” says Dr Qadir.
Dr Manzoor Qadir (m.qadir@cgiar.org)
ALEPPO, Syria: A low-cost technology developed by scientists at ICARDA to treat high level of magnesium in soil by using calcium has demonstrated the potential to double the crop yield in magnesium-rich soils in Central Asia.
In southern Kazakhstan alone, more than 150,000 hectares of land is affected by high levels of magnesium, which causes soil degradation and seriously reduces crop yield.
Scientists have established that addition of adequate quantities of phosphogypsum (PG), a low-cost source of calcium, in the soil mitigates the effect of excess magnesium and increases crop yield. On-farm trials of the new technology conducted by ICARDA and NARS in Arya Turkestan area of Kazakhstan produced remarkable results
The PG technology has the potential to increase cotton yield to 3 t/ha, while the farmers usually got 1 to 1.5 t/ha without such intervention. The increase in the yield prompted farmers to voluntarily adopt the technology, bearing 30 percent of the cost for transportation and application of PG, a byproduct of phosphorus fertilizer industry easily available in Central Asia.
“I never dreamt of such a bumper crop from this problem soil. Normally, we get only 1-2 tons of cotton per hectare, but now with this simple technology, I can reap an extra ton this year,” says 34-year-old, Abdurashid Koshkarov, a farmer from Stariy Ikan village, 130 km northeast of Shymkent, capital of South Kazakhstan Province. He is one of the 19 progressive growers who voluntarily used PG to improve land productivity in this region, where high magnesium content in the soil crippled crop productivity.
The farm productivity and the profitability have gone up significantly. “I spend about US$ 400 to raise a hectare of irrigated cotton crop in our traditional way, and with PG application it rose to about US$ 540. The returns also increased correspondingly. At the current price of cotton at US$ 475 per ton, the gross income goes up to US$ 1650 per hectare. It meant that with an additional investment of US$ 140, we could get about an extra ton of cotton worth US$ 475 from every hectare,” explained Mr Koshkarov.
Research on the PG technology started in 2001 as part of the Phase 1 and 2 of the ADB-funded Soil and Water project implemented by ICARDA in Central Asia. The technology was out-scaled in 2006 under another ADB-funded project, jointly implemented by ICARDA, IWMI and ICBA, to an area of over 100 ha, says Dr Manzoor Qadir, ICARDA-based Marginal-Water Management Scientist of ICARDA/IWMI, who heads the initiative to out-scale this technology in this region. The Kazakh National Water Management Institute implemented the PG trials in the study area.
More and more farmers in the region are aware of the new technology and are convinced that the yields soared with the application of PG. There is an increased demand for PG in the region, and farmers firmly believe that a “silent green revolution is in store for them”.
Mr Jolaman Dozbayev, a 57-year old cotton farmer in the same village, said: “Until last season, we were in a bad situation. But PG application changed it altogether. The high returns from cotton ushered in a new wave of prosperity in our lives,” he said with a sense of pride.
“Our studies showed that the PG dose per hectare should be based on some simple soil tests, and it works out very economical for the farmers. It is enough if the farmers apply PG once every four to five years,” says Dr Qadir.
Dr Manzoor Qadir (m.qadir@cgiar.org)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
From Green to Evergreen: Updating the Food Revolution
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
By Patrick Kavanagh
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
According to Time magazine, Professor Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan ranks alongside Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Corazon Aquino among the 20 most influential Asians of the twentieth century. Few will challenge this opinion.
Born in India’s Tamil Nadu in 1925, Swaminathan earned a PhD in plant genetics from Cambridge University. In the early 1950s he abandoned a promising academic career and returned to his home country to help confront a crisis of overpopulation and food scarcity. Working closely with other scientists in India and around the world, Swaminathan applied the principles of plant breeding — and his formidable powers of persuasion — to launch the astonishing increase in food production that is now known as the Green Revolution.
Instead of suffering the widespread famine that many had been predicting, Indians within a few years learned to grow enough wheat and rice to feed themselves. The techniques of biotechnology pioneered by Swaminathan and his colleagues were adopted by other developing countries, and produced the food security that helped set the stage for the rapid Asian economic growth of later decades.
In India and around the world, Swaminathan has been honoured with many dozens of prestigious awards and prizes. Today he heads, among other organizations, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit institute for science and development that he established in Chennai, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of which he is president. In 2007, he became a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
In July 2007, Professor Swaminathan visited IDRC in Ottawa as a special guest of its speaker series, and talked about his life and work.
Roots and values
Swaminathan credits both his father and Mahatma Gandhi — whom he met in his childhood during India’s independence struggle — with inspiring him toward a life of public service.
His father was a politician and a doctor who believed that “medical knowledge should be taken to the people,” and who once applied this principle by relying on education and “social mobilization” to eradicate the parasitic disease filariasis from an entire town. In his own professional life, Swaminathan has always reinforced the authority of hard science with what he calls “the power of people power” — trusting the local community to find solutions to its problems.
Thus, his decision to enter the field of agriculture was motivated by the philosophy of self-reliance, or swadeshi, pursued by Gandhi’s campaign for Indians to wear homespun cotton rather than imported textiles. Both his development vision and his scientific work were further inspired by Gandhi’s notion of sarvodaya, or the “welfare of all.” Swaminathan explains:
There are no winners and no losers in the sarvodaya society: all are winners in some respect. The same principle applies in plant breeding and animal breeding. When you have a population performance rather than individual performance alone, then you have greater progress.
He follows Gandhi in believing that sarvodaya can be achieved only through antodaya, or the “welfare of the weakest:”
You start with the bottom, the poorest person. You ask yourself: Will what you’re going to do now have any benefit for the poorest person you have seen in your life?
He points out that his Chennai foundation is mandated to take a “pro-nature, pro-poor, and pro-women” approach in its development efforts. And he holds not only that laypersons ought to benefit from the fruits of science, but they should play a significant role in the scientific process itself:
You can develop some new thoughts, new material in the laboratory, but ultimately if you want to be successful in the field you must understand the problems of the people. They have a long experience that I would call wisdom. We may have knowledge — but they have wisdom.
The evergreen revolution and bio-villages
While Swaminathan enjoys the admiration of many, he also has critics. Advocates of organic farming are wary of biotechnology in general. Environmentalists complain about the ecological impact of the Green Revolution, such as its heavy reliance on inputs like pesticides and intrusive irrigation. Other people worry that only rich farmers can afford the high costs of these inputs, and the poor are excluded.
Swaminathan acknowledges these criticisms, and agrees that “we must have both environmentally and socially sustainable advances in productivity — an evergreen revolution.” But how to operationalize an evergreen revolution? His answer is to implement the “bio-village” concept, which links ecological security with small business enterprise at the village level:
Bio-village has two components. One is natural resources conservation and enhancement — of soil fertility, water, flora and fauna, and so on. The other is livelihood security. But too much emphasis on farm employment alone cannot help. How then do you create more non-farm employment and small-scale enterprises?
The two major self-employment sectors in India are small-scale farming and micro retail. Both are brought together in the bio-village, in [business] operations of a small nature, the marketing of products, bio-mass utilization, and so on. The bio-village idea is a simple one: to have sustainable societies where you use the natural resources wisely while creating more opportunities for non-farm employment such as retail.
Swaminathan believes not only that small is beautiful, but that ”marketable is beautiful,” that is, that enterprises should start out at a manageable size and should pay their own way. He says:
It is very easy to have more happiness in the villages by creating small-scale enterprises, because for poor people small things can make a large difference. Many times you can bring happiness to people by meeting some simple requirement. But it must be based on their felt needs. What we think they need is not important. What they think they need is most important.
He is particularly scathing about researchers and extension workers who ask vulnerable communities to take risks with large-scale or inappropriate technologies. If these enterprises should fail, the people are left with no coping capacity. “Don’t experiment with the poor,” he warns. “Don’t bring your ideas and make them suffer more.”
Village knowledge centres
Swaminathan insists that, in order to grow, people need not only nutrition but education too. In the early 1990s he began to receive support from IDRC for a long-term, interdisciplinary effort to bring modern information technology to rural people, to “reach the unreached.” What began as a pilot project has now become a national movement, called Mission 2007, to create “village knowledge centres” throughout India:
Knowledge should be dynamic and demand-driven — not just information. Information is one-sided. That’s why we don’t call it “information kiosk.” Knowledge is interactive, and it must be locally owned, locally managed, and it must be sustainable.
Some people compare these telecentres with the traditional communal wells where local news and gossip are exchanged. But these village knowledge centres have much wider range. They make the most of India’s modern telecommunications links, from satellites to computers to cellphones, and provide rapid and affordable access to the everyday knowledge that communities need, about health, nutrition, agriculture, markets, weather, skills development, literacy training, government services — and on and on. Villagers have taken to this technology “like fish to water.” Swaminathan argues that the knowledge centres have awakened the underused capacity of India’s rural people.
He points out that these centres bridge the digital divide by leapfrogging to new levels of technology, but they also bridge the gender divide by empowering women. He tells a story about a participant in the telecentre movement, an Indian woman never before out of her village, who traveled to Europe but did not feel homesick because “she was in continuous correspondence with her husband by e-mail.”
“Because many women are now running the village knowledge centres,” he chuckles, “men have to go to them to get information.” For example, it is women who, each morning, download forecasts of local weather and wave conditions from the database of the US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, then broadcast this news by loudspeaker for the benefit of fishers on the beach who are deciding whether to sail. On the Pondicherry coastline during the December 2004 tsunami, this same alarm system warned people away from the seashore and saved many lives.
It can be done
Despite the remarkable achievements of the Green Revolution and of India’s high-tech sector, many people remain poor. According to Unicef, the country is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. So it is at that, at age 82, Swaminathan continues the same kind of work that inspired him 60 years ago, at the start of his career. Among his many current roles is chairman of India’s National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.
He notes that today food is physically abundant in India; the problem is that the poorest cannot afford to buy it. Part of his solution is for public/private partnerships to provide a large number of low-paying jobs so that more people will have access to at least a basic level of food security. He believes strongly in the power of small, catalytic investments — such as those provided by IDRC. He refers to his own age to emphasize his absolute confidence in the value of such measures:
If you have a coalition of all concerned with the eradication of hunger, I can say it can be done. It can be done. And in my lifetime.
Patrick Kavanagh is a senior writer in IDRC’s Communications Division.
By Patrick Kavanagh
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
According to Time magazine, Professor Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan ranks alongside Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Corazon Aquino among the 20 most influential Asians of the twentieth century. Few will challenge this opinion.
Born in India’s Tamil Nadu in 1925, Swaminathan earned a PhD in plant genetics from Cambridge University. In the early 1950s he abandoned a promising academic career and returned to his home country to help confront a crisis of overpopulation and food scarcity. Working closely with other scientists in India and around the world, Swaminathan applied the principles of plant breeding — and his formidable powers of persuasion — to launch the astonishing increase in food production that is now known as the Green Revolution.
Instead of suffering the widespread famine that many had been predicting, Indians within a few years learned to grow enough wheat and rice to feed themselves. The techniques of biotechnology pioneered by Swaminathan and his colleagues were adopted by other developing countries, and produced the food security that helped set the stage for the rapid Asian economic growth of later decades.
In India and around the world, Swaminathan has been honoured with many dozens of prestigious awards and prizes. Today he heads, among other organizations, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit institute for science and development that he established in Chennai, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of which he is president. In 2007, he became a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
In July 2007, Professor Swaminathan visited IDRC in Ottawa as a special guest of its speaker series, and talked about his life and work.
Roots and values
Swaminathan credits both his father and Mahatma Gandhi — whom he met in his childhood during India’s independence struggle — with inspiring him toward a life of public service.
His father was a politician and a doctor who believed that “medical knowledge should be taken to the people,” and who once applied this principle by relying on education and “social mobilization” to eradicate the parasitic disease filariasis from an entire town. In his own professional life, Swaminathan has always reinforced the authority of hard science with what he calls “the power of people power” — trusting the local community to find solutions to its problems.
Thus, his decision to enter the field of agriculture was motivated by the philosophy of self-reliance, or swadeshi, pursued by Gandhi’s campaign for Indians to wear homespun cotton rather than imported textiles. Both his development vision and his scientific work were further inspired by Gandhi’s notion of sarvodaya, or the “welfare of all.” Swaminathan explains:
There are no winners and no losers in the sarvodaya society: all are winners in some respect. The same principle applies in plant breeding and animal breeding. When you have a population performance rather than individual performance alone, then you have greater progress.
He follows Gandhi in believing that sarvodaya can be achieved only through antodaya, or the “welfare of the weakest:”
You start with the bottom, the poorest person. You ask yourself: Will what you’re going to do now have any benefit for the poorest person you have seen in your life?
He points out that his Chennai foundation is mandated to take a “pro-nature, pro-poor, and pro-women” approach in its development efforts. And he holds not only that laypersons ought to benefit from the fruits of science, but they should play a significant role in the scientific process itself:
You can develop some new thoughts, new material in the laboratory, but ultimately if you want to be successful in the field you must understand the problems of the people. They have a long experience that I would call wisdom. We may have knowledge — but they have wisdom.
The evergreen revolution and bio-villages
While Swaminathan enjoys the admiration of many, he also has critics. Advocates of organic farming are wary of biotechnology in general. Environmentalists complain about the ecological impact of the Green Revolution, such as its heavy reliance on inputs like pesticides and intrusive irrigation. Other people worry that only rich farmers can afford the high costs of these inputs, and the poor are excluded.
Swaminathan acknowledges these criticisms, and agrees that “we must have both environmentally and socially sustainable advances in productivity — an evergreen revolution.” But how to operationalize an evergreen revolution? His answer is to implement the “bio-village” concept, which links ecological security with small business enterprise at the village level:
Bio-village has two components. One is natural resources conservation and enhancement — of soil fertility, water, flora and fauna, and so on. The other is livelihood security. But too much emphasis on farm employment alone cannot help. How then do you create more non-farm employment and small-scale enterprises?
The two major self-employment sectors in India are small-scale farming and micro retail. Both are brought together in the bio-village, in [business] operations of a small nature, the marketing of products, bio-mass utilization, and so on. The bio-village idea is a simple one: to have sustainable societies where you use the natural resources wisely while creating more opportunities for non-farm employment such as retail.
Swaminathan believes not only that small is beautiful, but that ”marketable is beautiful,” that is, that enterprises should start out at a manageable size and should pay their own way. He says:
It is very easy to have more happiness in the villages by creating small-scale enterprises, because for poor people small things can make a large difference. Many times you can bring happiness to people by meeting some simple requirement. But it must be based on their felt needs. What we think they need is not important. What they think they need is most important.
He is particularly scathing about researchers and extension workers who ask vulnerable communities to take risks with large-scale or inappropriate technologies. If these enterprises should fail, the people are left with no coping capacity. “Don’t experiment with the poor,” he warns. “Don’t bring your ideas and make them suffer more.”
Village knowledge centres
Swaminathan insists that, in order to grow, people need not only nutrition but education too. In the early 1990s he began to receive support from IDRC for a long-term, interdisciplinary effort to bring modern information technology to rural people, to “reach the unreached.” What began as a pilot project has now become a national movement, called Mission 2007, to create “village knowledge centres” throughout India:
Knowledge should be dynamic and demand-driven — not just information. Information is one-sided. That’s why we don’t call it “information kiosk.” Knowledge is interactive, and it must be locally owned, locally managed, and it must be sustainable.
Some people compare these telecentres with the traditional communal wells where local news and gossip are exchanged. But these village knowledge centres have much wider range. They make the most of India’s modern telecommunications links, from satellites to computers to cellphones, and provide rapid and affordable access to the everyday knowledge that communities need, about health, nutrition, agriculture, markets, weather, skills development, literacy training, government services — and on and on. Villagers have taken to this technology “like fish to water.” Swaminathan argues that the knowledge centres have awakened the underused capacity of India’s rural people.
He points out that these centres bridge the digital divide by leapfrogging to new levels of technology, but they also bridge the gender divide by empowering women. He tells a story about a participant in the telecentre movement, an Indian woman never before out of her village, who traveled to Europe but did not feel homesick because “she was in continuous correspondence with her husband by e-mail.”
“Because many women are now running the village knowledge centres,” he chuckles, “men have to go to them to get information.” For example, it is women who, each morning, download forecasts of local weather and wave conditions from the database of the US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, then broadcast this news by loudspeaker for the benefit of fishers on the beach who are deciding whether to sail. On the Pondicherry coastline during the December 2004 tsunami, this same alarm system warned people away from the seashore and saved many lives.
It can be done
Despite the remarkable achievements of the Green Revolution and of India’s high-tech sector, many people remain poor. According to Unicef, the country is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. So it is at that, at age 82, Swaminathan continues the same kind of work that inspired him 60 years ago, at the start of his career. Among his many current roles is chairman of India’s National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security.
He notes that today food is physically abundant in India; the problem is that the poorest cannot afford to buy it. Part of his solution is for public/private partnerships to provide a large number of low-paying jobs so that more people will have access to at least a basic level of food security. He believes strongly in the power of small, catalytic investments — such as those provided by IDRC. He refers to his own age to emphasize his absolute confidence in the value of such measures:
If you have a coalition of all concerned with the eradication of hunger, I can say it can be done. It can be done. And in my lifetime.
Patrick Kavanagh is a senior writer in IDRC’s Communications Division.
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