Priming gets rice off to a good start in upland Africa and Asia. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project titles: R6395: The Development and Testing of Seed-Priming to Improve Stand Establishment, Early Growth and yield in Semi-Arid Zimbabwe and India and R7438: Participatory promotion of \"on farm\" seed priming.
A simple, low-cost method for getting rice off to a good start is now available. On-farm seed priming simply means soaking seeds in water overnight, drying them so that they don't stick together, then sowing them as usual. Previously, poor farmers in upland rice-farming areas suffered because much of the seed they sowed failed. Farmers in Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Thailand now prime rice seed. Primed rice germinates better, grows more quickly and strongly, flowers and matures earlier, and often produces more grain than rice that isn't primed. And, when rice gets a good start it is better able to compete with weeds—a big problem with upland rice, particularly in West Africa.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (14 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
PSP25, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 37.