SDC supports the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its national research and extension partners in six major rice granaries of Asia (China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam) to develop science-based, quantitative tools and participatory methods to generate evidence, and optimize ‘integrated sustainable irrigated rice production systems’ in order to close rice yield gaps and thereby enhance regional and global food security while minimizing the environmental footprint of irrigated rice production.
The ultimate goal is to improve food security and gender equity, and alleviate poverty by optimizing the productivity and sustainability of irrigated rice production systems, and thereby close rice yield gaps in the major irrigated rice granaries in Asia.
The project targets that novel outreach and scaling out mechanisms will be developed and used effectively by 10,000 small-holder men and women farmers in Vietnam, China, and Thailand.