It is often common impression that farmers are uneducated, reluctant in adopting technology, and bound to traditional ways of doing things. And in Myanmar, like in any other country in Southeast Asia where farming is a primary livelihood, many farmers are used to doing things the usual way.
There are always challenges in the acceptance and adoption of a new technology. Modeling and demonstration are therefore critical elements in educating farmers on the merits of a new farming technology.
Taking off from SRI lessons to improve farming practices
Typically for many farmers, the easy way to improve yield and boost production is to increase inputs, whether it is irrigation/water supply or fertilizers. The System of Rice Intensification is a complete turnaround from this farming logic of increased inputs to achieve improved production. Rather, it proposes the idea of better resources management – reduced water and less fertilizer inputs – to achieve better yield while enhancing land productivity and fostering improved ecological farming practices in the long term.
Experiments in SRI began as early as 2000 in Myanmar with METTA working with famers in Kachin State. The success of adoption in the state had prompted the organization to promote it also to farmers in the lowland (Ayeyarwaddy) and the delta regions.
METTA’s long work with farmers using SRI has yielded a number of key lessons and farming practices that may be applicable even in upland farming areas. These, according to Mr. Antoine Deligne, Livelihoods and Food Security Specialist of the Livelihood and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) include reducing seed rate, planting rice in rows with a seeder, and weeding with a small rotary weeder to reduce the need for hand labor. Such practices can not only contribute to decreased labor cost, but also make upland rice cultivation economically viable.
With these key lessons from their previous SRI work, METTA, in 2010 with funding from LIFT, started working with upland rice farmers to promote these farming practices with the hopes of improving the farmers’ production.
Teaching through FFS
Even in its early experiments, the Farmer Field School (FFS) has been the primary mechanism that the organization uses to promote SRI and other farming technologies. Yet even with over 600 FFS organized since early 2000 and about 200 more in 2010 when METTA started working with upland farmers, the road to adoption was not paved and easy.
Mr. Deligne explained that it has been challenging getting farmers to adopt the practices because the technique itself has its own limitations. “Some villages had been successful because the technology was suitable to their environment. Others were not -- for a number of reasons like landscape constraints and the difficulty in adapting to the cropping systems.”
But more importantly, there was also the other matter of designing the FFS as a learning experience for the farmers.
In the project with LIFT, the farmers themselves signify their interest in the technology, after which a trainer is sent to the training center, and then the FFSS is implemented. Farmers do testing in the fields and in the training plots. These, coupled with observation exercises and discussion exchanges as a form of peer to peer learning, are designed to help the farmers compare the differences between adopting the technology and sticking to the old ways. “It helps them understand the economic value of the technology and by building their capacity, they can decide whether to use the technique or not,” Deligne explains.
“It is important to create a core learning environment,” he pointed out, referring to the process by which the FFS is carried out. “You need to a trainer who can manage the environment, someone who will lead the learning process but will not impose. The TOT – training of trainors – is an important but often neglected aspect of FFS and extension work.”
He also underscored the value of a lead farmer who can serve as model to other farmers. As in many case studies on farming communities, it is a known fact that modeling and the influence of a leader-farmer in the village are a significant factor in the rate and extent of adoption of a technology or a farming technique. The leader-farmer is the “trusted source” that brings down the technical language of the technology to the level understandable and relevant to fellow farmers.
Indeed, in many ways, the FFS has been both a learning experience for the farmers and the staff and trainors. “One of the things we learned is that carrying out the promotion of SRI and the farming practices learned from this technology in upland rice farming requires two farming seasons at most. The first season is learning how to learn – studying the farmers, their ways, and what methods will work for them in the FFS. It’s about rapport-building and building their confidence and leadership. The second season is for the implementation of the technology by the farmers in their own plots and for the trainors, designing better FFS.”
Mr. Deligne further adds that the farmers have high views of the FFS; it has allowed them to change the way they grow rice and has improved the food security of their village. Even now, many of the villages that have abandoned rice cultivation in favor of maize have started producing their own rice again even if only for household consumption. At the same time, the experiences of the staff in their work with the farmers have taught them how to adjust the tools they use and the way they carry out the FFS.
Worth the work
Despite the challenges, efforts are paying off.
From 2011 to 2013, METTA’s project funded by LIFT has organized about 120 FFS in Chin state and 80 in Kachin. Mr Deligne says that most of the farmers are quick to pick up the technology, a response that might have been facilitated by the farmers’ own “thirst” for knowledge and technology. “In the villages,” he narrates, “around 25 farmers will join the FFS and 50 farmers will adopt.” This jump in the number of adopters indeed speaks of the technology’s value and the effectiveness of the mechanism used to introduce it.
“These lessons from SRI and the FFS are helping farmers in Myanmar have a better understanding of rice production, and the technology specifically has taught them how to adapt their practices to local conditions.” Mr. Deligne explains. “The challenge now is to go beyond upland rice production, and see how the technology can be suitable to other crops. Even now, many of the farmers involved in the project are interested in how they can apply FFS and the technology in other cash crops.”
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