IFSA Seminar Series for June 2014

Title: Orienting IFSAns on proper method validation/verification for the lab SOPs they are using at IRRI

Lily R. Molina, R.Ch., MSc.

Lab and Quality Manager and IRRI Radiation Safety Officer

Grain Quality and Nutrition Services Laboratory (GQNSL)

Grain Quality and Nutrition Center

IFSA Seminar for May 2014

Title: Bridging farmers and scientists in rice research for technology development and dissemination: Experiences and lessons learned

Dr. Thelma Paris
Social Scientist-Gender Specialist

Abstract: Smallholder rice farmers in Asia, particularly those living in unfavorable rice environments allocate their scarce resources such land, labor and capital to ensure food security of their household members, especially of their children. Despite the availability of rice and rice-related technologies, farmers’ adoption of these technologies particularly knowledge-intensive technologies, remain low. Thus there is a need to understand farmers’ constraints to adoption and how these constraints can be overcome as well as develop strategies or research design which involves farmer participation. In my presentation, I will share my efforts (research and training) efforts as well as failures and successes, as a social scientist, in bridging farmers and scientists and in ensuring that rice science benefit the target clients – poor rice farming communities, including men and women.

About the Speaker:
Thelma Paris spent her professional career, spanning, nearly 40 years, in IRRI from a research assistant to an accomplished social scientist within the CGIAR science community. Thelma is well-known in gender studies. Her research on the role of women in rice farming and the improvement of their livelihoods through access to technologies and associated crop management practices provided IRRI scientists a valuable insight on technology development and dissemination.
As a former National Recruited Staff, she was an active member and officer of IFSAN (formerly IJR). In recognition of her outstanding contribution to socioeconomic research, she has received many awards, including the CGIAR Excellence Science Award for Outstanding Local Professional ; Honorary Fellow Award, Crop Science Society of the Philippines, Gintong Ani from the IJR and other local and international awards. She has long-term Abstract (Overview of the presentation). She authored and co-authored more than 150 publications. Many of her publications are co-authored with agricultural engineers, plant breeders and agronomists.

IRRI.RIICE:

How IRRI and partners use Google Drive to securely share and update field monitoring materials and data in the RIICE project.

Mr. Arnel Rala

Sr. Assoc. Scientist

Geographic Information Systems

Social Sciences Division

IRRI

Abstract

Remote sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging economies (“RIICE”) is a public-private partnership aiming to reduce the vulnerability of rice smallholder farmers in low-income countries in Asia. RIICE make use of remote sensing technologies to map and observe rice growth in selected regions in Asia (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).

IRRI and sarmap are partners focusing on the development of key mapping and forecasting products. To assess the quality of these products requires timely fieldwork data from national partners. Likewise national partners require timely feedback from IRRI and sarmap on how the fieldwork data is being used in RIICE.

This presentation describes the online system where partners can record and stores fieldwork data and makes it accessible to the appropriate parties.