Seed is a critical input. However, for crop seeds, which are volume intensive, the nodal institutions responsible for the distribution of quality seeds are majorly public sector organizations. There are also several small to medium private companies, which cater mostly to smallholder farmers. Most well-equipped large seed MNCs focus on high-margin crops and hybrids. The public and SME-led distribution systems are often challenged with the absence of manpower, timeliness, resources, and more to make the required quantity of quality seeds available to smallholder farmers. The dealership network is often not reaching the last mile farmers.

In this context through major policy thrust in South Asia, several farmer/community-led seed producer organizations/ companies in the form of enterprises (either led by collectives or by rural individual entrepreneurs) have been piloted to establish alternative seed system channels to strengthen seed delivery access and localization. Several such models are now in use in India and Bangladesh. The study aims to dive in detail into the strengths, weaknesses, and potential opportunities around such alternative institutions, their success or failure factors, and the needed support from the Policy domain and capture how these institutions can affect seed access, faster varietal scaling, and adoption among the farmers. The social, economic, and market aspects need to be studied for these institutions/enterprises.

Key Supervising Scientists

Dr. Swati Nayak
Scientist II – Seed Systems and Product Management

Dr. Sankalp Bhosale
Research Leader – Product Development & Varietal Replacement

Rising labor costs associated with transplanted rice (TPR) coupled with increasing costs of irrigation, water scarcity, and concerns about the contribution of rice farming to global warming have made TPR less appealing to farmers. Direct-seeded rice (DSR) is an alternative method that could reduce labor, irrigation water requirements, and greenhouse gas emissions in rice-based farming systems. Still, most of the farmers who are currently conducting DSR use traditional techniques hence they do not reap the full benefits of the technology.

Under the USAID / Bayer project (2023—2025), numerous on-farm trials and demonstrations on DSR will be conducted together with farmers and other stakeholders in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. After the project, a study will be conducted to identify the constraints to the adoption and continuous use of DSR, compare DSR and TPR crop establishment systems in terms of labor cost, water requirements, and greenhouse gas emissions as well as examine perceptions of DSR among male and female farmers. In this regard, a survey will be conducted of farmers who will conduct DSR during the project period (2023—25), and a study conducted to determine their continuous use of DSR in the three countries. The findings of the study would be key in guiding policy interventions that will enhance the adoption of DSR and hence promote environmental sustainability in a world challenged by climate change.

Key Supervising Scientists

Dr. Daniel Menge
Scientist I – Seed Systems and Product Management

Dr. Ajay Panchbhai
Senior Scientist I – Seed Systems and Product Management

Rice consumption in Kenya has been increasing more than any other crop. 80% of rice produced in the country is mostly produced in irrigated ecologies which is resource and time-intensive and can negatively affect the overall economy of cultivation for smallholder farmers. DSR conserves critical resources like water, fertilizers, and soil health, addresses the labour shortage, and would offer a solution to the golden apple snail menace being experienced in the major rice-producing ecosystem in the country. In dry direct seeded rice, dry seed is sown to dry soil or moist soil often with a slight soil covering.

The seed germinates in response to flush irrigation or high rainfall. Hence, a long period without standing water after sowing can reduce the vulnerability of dry seeded to golden apple snails. Such limited moisture conditions have the potential to immobilize and prevent golden apple snails from causing severe damage at the seedling stage when rice is most vulnerable. Although the technology has been in existence and applied to control damage to rice by the golden apple snails elsewhere in other rice-growing regions, the technology has not been integrated into the rice cultivation system in Kenya. This research aims to investigate the effect of different rice establishment methods to control damage by golden apple snails. The findings of the study will be key in developing a sustainable rice cultivation technology for major rice-growing areas in Kenya.

Key Supervising Scientists

Dr. Ajay Panchbhai
Senior Scientist I – Seed Systems and Product Management

Dr. Rosemary Murori
Scientist II – Plant Breeding

Agricultural technology adoption (such as climate-smart rice varieties) is crucial for total factor productivity improvement and sustainable agricultural production but remains challenging in developing countries. Evidence suggests that the adoption of farming technologies is low in developing countries for various reasons, including a lack of awareness and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the technologies (Takahashi et al., 2020). This is especially true for rice technologies, including climate-smart rice varieties, zinc rice varieties, and improved aromatic rice varieties such as Komboka rice. One of the reasons behind the poor willingness to pay for rice technologies is the failure to account for the demand side in developing rice technologies and rice development strategies for a long time (Demont et al., 2017). A market-oriented value chain is pivotal to technology adoption, especially for new rice varieties. Like all other producers, rice farmers, too, are looking to maximize profits and minimize risks.

New rice varieties can help maximize profits if and only if i) consumers are willing to consume the products from these varieties, ii) they are willing to pay more for them than traditional varieties, and iii) farmers are willing to adopt these varieties. Therefore, it is critical to understand farmers’ willingness to adopt the new rice varieties and consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for rice products from these varieties before they are distributed to farmers. Once new varieties are developed and distributed to farmers, understanding the impacts of new varieties on livelihood outcomes is of paramount interest to policymakers, donors, and researchers. In the proposed research, we intend to use this holistic approach to provide IRRI and its national partners with useful and rigorous insights on the adoption, impacts, and consumers’ preferences for improved rice technologies.

Key Supervising Scientists

Dr. Valerien Pede
Senior Scientist II Agricultural Economics