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Project Overview

So, what’s the problem

Rice the most important source of food here, and it provides work and income for 80% of the population. Rice production also generates a substantial part of the GDP of the countries in the Greater Mekong region. Despite significant improvement of rice production here over the past 15 years, productivity is still low. Some of this is due to millions of tons of rice being lost to pests, diseases and weeds.

Intensive use of broad spectrum pesticides however, leads to new problems like insecticide resistance and frequent outbreaks of secondary pests that become a problem when their natural enemies are killed off. Chemical pesticides are also a huge threat to the health of smallholder farmers and consumers as well as to the environment. Knowledge on more advanced rice production technologies and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) methods is poor and farmers here often stick with chemical pesticides as they struggle to access more benign pest control methods. Overall, increased productivity in rice is crucial to achieve food security and help meet the targets laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals by the UN.

What is this project doing?

Over five years, this project aims to improve the livelihoods of smallholder rice farmers in the Greater Mekong Subregion. We will do this by introducing a biologically based pest management approach to increase rice production in a sustainable way. Specifically, we intend to carry out multi-regional research, capacity building, and implement suitable biologically-based pest management in southwestern China, Laos, and Myanmar.

We are establishing a research network with scientists and rice experts from Laos, Myanmar, China, and Europe. This will capitalize on experiences from different nations and cultures, and seek the best way to fight the main lepidopteran (moths and butterflies) rice pests with natural enemies. We are also conducting laboratory and field experiments to identify a suitable biological control agent (ie. one which is specific and effective). We are exploring ways to embed this into a wider ICM strategy, and developing a suitable mass production system.

In the second phase, we are designing facilities to mass produce the biological control agent. These will be adapted to the specific conditions in the three target countries. We are especially focussing on profitability to ensure better crop production continues after the project finishes. Obviously, the project has a large training component, targeting both staff producing the biological control agents as well as farmers.