Addressing the effects of climate change on rice productivity: ADB, IRRI convene three-country policy workshops on scaling-up climate-smart practices for sustainable and intensive rice-based farming

Share this to :

 

Workshops aimed at developing policy recommendations to promote widespread adoption of climate-smart solutions for intensive and sustainable rice-based production in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Cambodia

IRRI, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines, 18 July — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in partnership with the national research and extension systems (NARES) of Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia convened consultative workshops in the three countries aimed at proposing policy recommendations to promote widespread adoption of research-proven climate-smart practices and varieties for intensive and sustainable production in rice-based systems. The climate-smart practices being promoted are based on the findings of field experiments supported by the ADB. The workshops were held on 14 July in Dhaka, Bangladesh; on 16 July in Kathmandu, Nepal; and on 18 July in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

“Climate change continues to wreak havoc on rice farming — and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future — but we have the know-how to help our rice farmers become more resilient and better cope with its effects. We just need the help of our leaders to integrate these climate-smart agricultural technologies into the national agenda through the institutionalization of supportive policies that are hinged on sound science that organizations such as IRRI provides. However, we cannot do what we do without the support of partners and donors like the ADB, to whom we are extremely grateful for this particular initiative,” said Dr. Arvind Kumar, Director of IRRI’s South Asia Regional Centre and IRRI India Representative.

Climate-smart practices and varieties were pilot tested in each of the three countries under ADB’s Technical Assistance – 9218 on ‘Investment Assessment and Application of High-level Technology for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific’. The pilot projects, led by IRRI in partnership with the countries’…

Share this to :