Rice farming in Indonesia provides for the nation’s staple diet and is a critical source of income and employment for millions of rural households. However, farmers urgently need to adapt to the changing climate, which is causing erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts in El Niño years. Traditional varieties of rice grown in Indonesia are water-intensive, and shortages can reduce yields by 40 per cent.
The PRISMA programme worked for four years with five seed companies to promote to promote high-yielding varieties (HYV), some of which are drought-resistant, of rice seed that can withstand climate fluctuations, including drier weather. PRISMA partners developed, marketed and sold new varieties to establish viable markets for newer HYV seed, cultivating farmer demand and ensuring adequate supply. PRISMA’s agronomist supported the companies to understand how to create effective promotional activities.
Trials and impact studies have demonstrated significantly increased yields in rainfed and intermittently-irrigated fields compared to traditional local varieties. This means farmers no longer face the dilemma of choosing between low-yielding drought-tolerant varieties or HYV with limited tolerance to water stress.
The initiative had climate-mitigation benefits too. Conventional rice-cultivation in Indonesia relies on inorganic fertilisers (e.g. urea) associated with high greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The new varieties demand less fertiliser leading to a 40 per cent reduction in GHG emissions per tonne of rice harvested.
Over four years, PRISMA’s partnership with the five seed companies led to 90,000 farming households adopting the new varieties. Households’ incomes increased by 31 per cent, and they also benefited from a shift to less-intensive labour practices.
- Read the full case study: Commercialising drought-tolerant rice seeds in Indonesia
- Read BEAM's guidance paper: Greening the MSD approach for agricultural programmes