CORIGAP: Closing rice yield gaps in Asia

Project completed

SDC supports IRRI (international Rice Research Institute) and its national research and extension partners in six major rice granaries of Asia (China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam) to develop science-based, quantitative tools and participatory methods to i) generate evidence, and ii) optimize ‘integrated sustainable irrigated rice production systems’ in order to increase rice yield and enhance regional and global food security while minimizing the environmental footprint of irrigated rice production.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Asia
Agriculture & food security
Climate change and environment
Agricultural research
Agricultural water resources
Environmental policy
Agricultural development
Agricultural policy
01.12.2016 - 31.03.2021
CHF  4’595’000
Background

Rice is the staple food for some 4 billion people worldwide. The availability of low-priced rice is crucial for the food security of some 700 million poor people who reside in rice-eating countries

The yield gap assessment for rice in six target countries has shown that, in their major rice granaries, is still considerable at some 2.5 t/ha which equates to >50 million t of annual production.

Sustainable intensification of rice production needs to be carried out while at the same time minimizing the load of agrochemicals in soil, water, and air, and the emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

 

Objectives

The main objective of CORIGAP is to improve food security and gender and youth equity, and alleviate poverty by optimizing the productivity, resource-use efficiency, and sustainability of irrigated rice production systems, and thereby close rice yield gaps, increase farmer’s income, and increase the environmental sustainability of production in the major irrigated rice granaries of Asia.

Target groups

Farmers and farmers associations are the main target group. The project is working with and through NARES and private sector actors in the respective countries.

Medium-term outcomes
  • Promote delivery of best management practices on a large scale that reduce yield gaps
  • Improve profit of smallholder farmers in a gender inclusive manner
  • Assess strategies and policies for inclusive value chain upgrading
  • Increase environmentally sustainable irrigated rice production
  • Increase capacity of NARES (National Agriculture Research and Extension Systems), strengthen public-private partnerships via learning alliances, and foster development of postgraduate students
Results

Expected results:  

By the end of the interventions, the objective is to sustainably increase rice yield by 10% in six granaries for 500,000 smallholder farmers by 2020. This will lead to increased income (profit) by >20% for 500,000 smallholder families by 2020


Results from previous phases:  

Best farmers' 'rice yield gap' in the six countries range between 22% in Sri Lanka and 45 % in Indonesia, which shows a great potential for more efficient resource use on existing rice land. More than 125’000 farmers have so increased their yield and their income during the first phase of CORIGAP. Vietnam, Thailand and China use CORIGAP to keep up with production and environmental targets and improve their national rice production sustainably.

The use of Global agricultural practices associated to measurable environmental indicators will set the scene for climate-smart rice production in China.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Development cooperation
Project partners Contract partner
Foreign academic and research organisation
  • Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research


Coordination with other projects and actors

This project is part of the CGIAR program on rice, with water efficiency in rice an cotton and work in close collaboration with CABI Plantwise project, all cofinanced by SDC. Being one of the strongest supports of the Sustainable Rice Platform the project is strongly linked with all actors active in this field.
This project is also co-financed by the World Bank and ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) as well as by the Government of the 6 countries where it is implemented.

Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    4’595’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    4’695’999
Project phases Phase 3 01.04.2021 - 31.03.2023   (Completed)

Phase 2 01.12.2016 - 31.03.2021   (Completed)

Phase 1 15.12.2012 - 31.12.2016   (Completed)