CORIGAP-IRRI expands knowledge sharing to Thailand

Experts from the Chainat Rice Research Center (CRRC) and the IRRI-CORIGAP Project conducted a joint workshop on Adaptive Research for Target Groups and Best Practices from the CORIGAP Project last 28-30 November 2022 in Chainat Province, Thailand. The workshop aimed to share project best practices and technologies among the broader groups under the Thai Rice Department (RD), capture their perceptions on effectiveness and relevance of the presented interventions, and ultimately help them replicate and integrate these into their division’s agenda even after CORIGAP’s closing.

The workshop was organized by Duangporn Vithoonjit of CRRC and attended by 35 officers from 17 centers under the RD. Duangporn delivered an overview of the project, its scope in Thailand, and the piloted rice production best practices and technologies as part of the cooperation between IRRI-CORIGAP and the department’s Research and Development Division. IRRI scientists Caling Balingbing and Anna De Guia shared presentations on laser-assisted land leveling as a sustainable method for land preparation and one of the ways to close rice yield gaps, and indicative findings of a survey conducted in 2018 presenting the socio-economic changes, productivity, and perception of Thai farmers on best management practices, respectively.

Vithoonjit also spoke more about the economic benefits of the Cost Reduction of Production (CROP) in rice in Thailand, as a cost-reducing mechanism in farms, led a session on nutrient management and chemical fertilizers based on community-based soil analysis, and co-led a practical exercise on Laser Land Leveling (LLL) operation and technology with Balingbing. The latter then shared cross-country experiences and collaboration on rice straw management research that CORIGAP had done in Vietnam and the Philippines and discussed the economic feasibility of laser land leveling over multiple business models, which garnered interest from the participants on a technical and operational level….