Productivity and Sustainability in Irrigated Rice in Asia

The Productivity and Sustainability workgroup of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC), International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), the International Potash Institute (IPI), and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA). The workgroup continues the projects Reversing Trends in Declining Rice Productivity (RTDP) of 1997-2000 and Reaching Towards Optimal Productivity (RTOP) of 2001-2004, which have been instrumental in the development, evaluation, and promotion of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) as an approach for increasing the profit of Asian rice farmers through more efficient use of plant nutrients. It operates through partnership with the national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In 2005, RTOP activities were incorporated into the new “Productivity and Sustainability” workgroup of Phase III (2005-2008) of the IRRC. Activities center on 1) promoting SSNM as a standard, plant-based approach applicable to lowland rice across Asia, 2) developing locally adapted recommendations based on the principles of the SSNM approach, 3) developing promotional materials on SSNM and the leaf color chart (LCC), and 4) building partnerships with national and local research and extension organizations and the fertilizer sector for wide-scale dissemination and uptake of SSNM. For further information on SSNM, please visit www.irri.org/irrc/ssnm.