Rice technology toolkit catalogue: <i>TAAT clearinghouse technical report series 007</i>
Creators: name: TAAT Clearinghouse
Publisher: name: Gates Open Research
Year: 2021

description: This catalogue describes a suite of technologies related to the modernization of rice production in Africa. It is based upon the combined efforts of the Project Platform for Agricultural Solutions (ProPAS) which is information from the internet, and the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), a large collaborative program that is deploying agricultural solutions across the continent. Both sources aim to connect proven technologies to those who need them; however, each of them uses a different approach to achieve its goal. Rice is one of TAAT’s priority commodities because of its huge importance to food and nutritional security, import-substitution, and rural development in general across Africa. It is also targeted as an agro-industrial crop for processing and trade in the national, regional, and world markets. In the course of its compilation, ProPAS has accumulated several technologies that specifically address this commodity and we have compiled them into a “technology toolkit” designed to advance the adoption and investment into the proven agricultural solutions. This is the third of several catalogues that we intend to produce as a joint ProPAS-TAAT activity.<br> <br> The Product Platform for Agricultural Solutions (ProPAS) provides a mechanism to compile and access innovations, management technologies, and products needed for Africa’s agricultural transformation. The platform provides two pathways: it permits users to enter their proven and promising solutions into a database and then encourages others to sort through its options to reveal the suite of opportunities that can help meet their objectives. ProPAS results from the recognized need by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to more systematically compile and access the full range of agricultural solutions available to modernize and transform African agriculture. Its overall goal is to accelerate the process of agricultural transformation in Africa. Many solutions are available to improve and modernize Africa’s food systems but those who are expected to benefit from them most are often unaware of the best options at hand. In addition, more solutions are in the research and development pipeline that are best advanced through wider exposure and validation. Solution profiles are compiled and released in a systematic manner that involves submission by technology holders, entry into a user-friendly software platform, and use by an expanding base of clients. A small committee of agricultural experts oversees this process but recognizes that its strength is through open-ended access to a marketplace of solutions. ProPAS is therefore managed through a three-phase process that involves solution submission, database management, and client access. The database allows for solutions to be identified through the selection of several fields related to the form, type, commodity, and target beneficiaries of a given solution, sequentially narrowing the number of platform recommendations.<br> <br> The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) is a program led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) that has pioneered new approaches to the deployment of proven technologies to African farmers. TAAT arose as a joint effort of IITA and the African Development Bank (AfDB); it is an important component of AfDB’s Feed Africa Strategy. TAAT is currently advancing 76 carefully selected technologies through 88 interventions in 28 countries. It is organized around 15 “Compacts” that represent priority value chains and enablers whose interventions will unleash Africa’s potential in achieving food security and advancing its role in global agricultural trade. Nine of these Compacts relate to specific priority value chains of rice, wheat, maize, sorghum and millet, cassava, sweet potato, bean, fish, and small livestock. Weaknesses in the production of commodities are viewed as responsible for Africa’s food insecurity, need for excessive importation of food, and unrealized expansion of Africa’s food exports. Together these Compacts design interventions in collaboration with national programs to introduce technologies and management innovations that are tailored to meet targets for agricultural development. In many cases, these targets are met through the implementation of projects emanating from sovereign country loans awarded by development partners, including banks and TAAT’s role in the design, planning, and execution of these projects is becoming a vital element of their success.<br> <br> The Clearinghouse developed a database of the Top 100 Technologies that are transforming African agriculture. It is based upon the approaches adopted by the TAAT Commodity Compacts and those from the CGIAR Collaborative Research Programs that are recently described as ready for next user. These technologies are divided between those related to genetics and plant and animal breeding (23%), those based upon the use of digital information (3%), production input products of proven efficacy (21%), crop and animal management technologies of utility within agricultural extension messaging and campaigns (27%) and appropriately designed labor-saving equipment (26%). These technologies have a direct role towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in relationship to farm productivity, food security and hunger reduction, improved household nutrition and diets, economic growth, climate-smart innovation, and improved human equity. These technologies form the basis for selecting entries into ProPAS.<br> <br> This catalogue presents ten technologies that serve to modernize the production and processing of rice in Africa. These technologies include: 1) high-yielding varieties for lowland and upland rice paddies (NERICA lines), 2) advanced hybrid varieties with drought tolerance and disease resistance (ARICA lines), 3) aromatic “Basmati” rice varieties with good palatability and higher market price (ORYLUX lines), 4) leveling and engineering of soil surfaces for efficient irrigation, 5) better nitrogen fertilization by deep urea placement, 6) input of micronutrients via foliar spraying to address deficiencies, 7) power weeding for improved paddy management and rice yields, 8) “RiceAdvice” guidelines for best crop agronomy and fertilization, 9) motorized threshers and millers to enhance post-harvest value add, and 10) parboiling for improved grain quality and flour production. Details on each of these ten technologies are provided in this catalogue.<br> <br> This catalogue provides a wide variety of options for modernizing rice production and processing in Africa. It identifies means to improve the yield and nutritional value of this important grain staple and to grow varieties that are resistant to drought and disease. It provides better options for land and fertilizer management in rice paddy cultivation, particularly by engineering irrigation surfaces, deep urea placement, and foliar micronutrient application. The catalog advances weed management by signaling the importance of motorized in-row weeders, and also the broader adoption of good agronomic practices through digital decision support tools that provides farmers with diagnostic recommendations. Several options for mechanized processing of harvested rice are described that drastically lower the costs of labor and increase the value of its milled rice. While rice is an important human food, it may also be processed into a wide variety of products and the preparation of high-quality flour and possibly starches. Technologies featured in this toolkit offer opportunities for rice-growing communities in SSA to access the high-end of the value chain and global marketplace, which can boost incomes of small-scale farmers and commercial agribusinesses.<br> <br> This catalogue was prepared with a variety of users in mind whether they be producers, agents of agricultural development, or private sector investors. Farmers can use many of these catalogue items as production guidelines. Those from the public sector can make use of the catalogue as a whole and design agricultural projects involving rice around its toolkit of modernizing the rice sector. Members of the private sector, including growers, input producers, manufacturers, processors, and investors can also benefit from the contents of this catalogue. Indeed, the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Program’s Clearinghouse welcomes feedback on the contents.