IRRI-Africa completes training of trainers on quality rice seeds production in Burundi

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (12 May 2023) A training of trainers on quality rice seeds production was conducted from May 2 to 12 2023 by the Agriculture Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF) project in partnership with IRRI-Burundi.

The training aims to orient rice seed producers on the multiplication of climate change-resilient seeds and capacitate technicians and extension workers from the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (Ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Agriculture et de l’Elevage – MINEAGRIE), National Seed Control and Certification Office (Office National de Contrôle et de Certification des Semences – ONCCS) and the Burundi Institute of Agricultural Sciences du Burundi (Institut des Sciences Agronomiques – ISABU) who will initiate knowledge transfer activities to help ensure the sustainability of the project.

From 2850 kg of breeder seeds produced by IRRI and ISABU within the project period (18 months), the supervision and technical support of the trained seed producers will result in 200 tonnes of certified seeds that will be mobilized at the end of the project. The trainees were oriented on the concepts of business plan and model development toward effective and profitable seed production processes.

“The concept of the business plan and model is a newly developed concept in the IRRI-Burundi training sessions with the aim of strengthening the capacities of agricultural technicians in setting up business plans and models to develop a profitable seeds production process,” said Mr. Prosper Ndayisenga, project manager from IRRI-Burundi.

Attending government and national project representatives called upon all the participants to apply what they have learned in their daily work and business operations.