Increasing rice yields by scaling mDSR in Cambodia discussed in IPSR workshop

25 August 2023, Phnom Penh, Cambodia : Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) conducted a workshop on Innovation Packaging and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) on 25 August in Phnom Penh. Stakeholders involved in scaling mechanized direct seeded rice (mDSR) discussed the challenges, and proposed solutions that enable scaling. For these solutions, they also examined innovation readiness and innovation use. There were 26 participants representing the government, private sector, and non-government organizations at the event.

Participants of the IPSR workshop together with Dr. Rica Joy Flor (EiA Cambodia’s lead scientist and facilitator; seated, 3rd from left) and Mr. Rathmuny Then (co-facilitator; standing, left-most).

The EiA core innovation in Cambodia is focused on mDSR. It has two components – mechanized row seeding and tailored agronomy. Its scaling ambition is to enable 10,000 farmers to use mDSR and increase yields by at least 10% by 2024.

IPSR process

The EiA has been implementing activities in Cambodia since 2021. This workshop, co-facilitated by Dr. Rica Joy Flor and Mr. Rathmuny Then of the IRRI-Cambodia Office, is a revisit of the scaling strategy set out by EiA partners in Cambodia. At the start of the workshop participants discussed and built consensus on the scaling ambition. They also examined the scaling bottlenecks and assessed the enabling solutions to scaling mDSR in Cambodia. Participants discussed these solutions based on various enabler categories such as knowledge and awareness, affordability of the solution, compatibility with existing markets, and trust or confidence in the solution.

Participants discussing the ambition, as well as challenges and solutions to enable scaling mDSR in Cambodia.

Lastly, Dr. Flor shared the simple metrics used by the CGIAR in assessing the readiness and use of an innovation. Participants then scored the mDSR and its scaling enabler solutions using the metrics. Based…