Adaptation and Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Nutrient Management Technologies for Resource-Poor Farmers (ANMAT)

Background

Many poor wetland rice producers in South and Southeast Asia who cultivate remote, marginal soils on small parcels of land have been bypassed by Green Revolution technologies, which were based on a greater use of capital-intensive inputs (irrigation, improved crop varieties, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides) and were particularly adapted for the more productive areas. In many cases, these technologies were not tailored to meet the needs of farmers in such remote communities. Due to their remoteness, lack of market access and inability to obtain credit, the resource-poor farmers cannot afford the high cost of increasing the use of external, capital-intensive inputs.

Paddy soils are universally deficient in nitrogen (N), which can be derived from urea. Farmers try to incorporate this water-soluble fertilizer into soils during periods of frequent torrential rains. As a result, large losses of fertilizers can occur in the runoff waters from the flooded paddies, resulting in both economic losses for the farmers and contamination of surface waters.

The economic benefit and adoptability of deep-placement technology for urea fertilizer, which by placing the urea at 5–8 cm depth reduces fertilizer losses, promoting a temporarily delayed but subsequently very high uptake of nitrogen by the rice plant, and of associated techniques, has been demonstrated in five years of adaptive research by the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) and a regional NGO working with small-scale rice farmers in the impoverished regions of Bangladesh, Nepal and Viet Nam. This experience shows that the constraints, in particular poor labour availability, which have impeded the adoption of these agro-technologies among successful Green Revolution farmers, are not present to the same extent among small-scale, resource-poor farmers. In this context, IFDC developed aids and techniques to overcome the specific factors that have hampered adaptation and adoption of the technologies proposed within the most disadvantaged farmers’ communities. The specific factors include insufficient fertilizer briquette supply, poorly targeted adoption groups, and lack of simple tools to facilitate the transplanting pattern necessary for efficient fertilizer use. As a result of application of the aids and techniques developed, on over 140 farm plots, small-scale rice farmers in Bangladesh were able to increase paddy yields by an average of 1.5 tonne/ha, or about 20% over yields obtained by traditional fertilizer and crop management practices. These results were achieved with an average of 26–36% savings in expenditures for urea, depending on the season. The practice also resulted in an average of 25% reduction in expenditures for hired labour for weeding.

Grant purpose

The general objective was to identify and adapt low-cost technologies that can be adapted to meet the needs of wetland rice producers in South and Southeast Asia cultivating remote, marginal soils on small parcels of land. To that end, the programme evaluated and adapted the urea deep-placement (UDP) method in flooded rice culture (using urea briquettes or urea super-granules – USG).

Components

Input use technology evaluation and adaptation

Deep-placement techniques for urea briquettes with related modified rice transplanting geometry were designed and demonstrated by conducting on-farm managed experiments to compare deep-placement technology with traditional practices (involving yield measurements, cost–benefit analysis, and collection of agro-climatic, chemical and physical data). Locally suited adaptations were developed.

Developing of an input delivery system

Alternative production, marketing and distribution schemes for local supply of urea briquettes were developed in collaboration with fertilizer producers, vendors, dealers and farmer groups.

Technology dissemination activities

Activities included community discussion and planning meetings; field days; preparation of technology-promotion materials (training aids and local-language brochures); promotion of community and regional networks through farmer organizations and cooperatives to broaden the circle of farmer evaluation and adoption of technologies; and organization of seminars to promote diffusion to other regions.

Socio-economic baseline and impact surveys

Baseline socioeconomic surveys were conducted in each of the project countries, to be compared with impact data to determine the benefits of UDP practice.

Impact

Programme results in Bangladesh have confirmed that adoption of the labour-intensive and environmentally friendly urea briquette technology provides an average increase in yields of about 20%, with an average of 25% decrease in urea use, and is feasible for use by small-scale resource-poor farmers.

After conducting the baseline surveys and identifying and training the collaborating NGOs in the three countries concerned, groups were formed to discuss the urea briquette technology and set up the trials and demonstration fields.

In Bangladesh, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) reported that hand placement of urea briquettes was implemented on 379 000 ha of paddy during 2001, and farmers had started deep placement of urea briquettes in banana, papaya and vegetable crops.

In Nepal, farmers spoke favourably about the technology, stating that it produced uniform growth and green colour through the growing season, produced more tillers per hill, and gave less weed growth.

The project activities in Viet Nam are interesting because of the vast array of variables being investigated, with a high degree of participation by farmers in determining types of trials to be evaluated. In all, 96 farmers established field trials during the first season after receiving training concerning UDP. From these trials, the average yield increase was 14%. Meanwhile, farmers started adoption of UDP technology and applied 15 451 kg of USG during the spring season of 2002.

A physical constraint to the adoption of the urea briquette technology is the increased labour requirement to place briquettes by hand into soil. This has been partially overcome by introducing the production of larger briquettes to permit placement of one rather than two or three particles per placement point, reducing labour requirements by 30%. Also, suitable urea briquette low-cost applicators are being tested.

The socio-economic research conducted under the project concluded that increased rice yield has not been viewed as an end but a means to reduce poverty, increase household food security, and improve standards of living among those who practice UDP.

The project concluded that knowledge concerning advantages of a long-researched practice is finally reaching farmers and they have begun to adopt it. Enabling NGOs to work alongside agricultural extension officers appears to be an excellent means of extending new adaptable rice cultivation practices to farmers in South and Southeast Asia.

Links to other IFAD loans

A recent initiative of the ANMAT project has been to extend its collaboration with other IFAD-funded projects in Bangladesh, such as the Agricultural Diversification and Intensification Project (ADIP) and Smallholder Agricultural Improvement Project (SAIP), with the objective of developing synergism among projects where possible, and to explore possibilities and develop cooperation in extending crop nutrient management to farmers within selected areas. Two separate Memoranda of Understanding have been signed, and ANMAT has provided technical support and guidance to these projects as and when necessary.

Links to related research results

Agronomic research – implementation of innovative technology: the case of USG in Bangladesh, Nepal and Viet Nam

Technical Advisory Notes (TANs)

Not applicable.

Contacts

Dr Lawrence Hammond, Project Coordinator, and
Dr Ray Diamond, Project Coordinator in the field
IFDC HQ
P.O. Box 2040, Muscle Shoals
Alabama 35662, USA
Telephone: INT+1+ 256-381 6600
Fax: INT+1+ 256-381 7408
E-mails: lhammond@ifdc.org; anmat@bdmail.net

Contact in IFAD

Dr Shantanu Mathur
Technical Adviser, Economic and Financial Analysis
Technical Advisory Division, IFAD, Rome