Monday, September 28, 2015 - Partner organizations of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) agreed to extend the research and development initiatives under the Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia (CSISA). “The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) will take up the outscaling of key technologies under CSISA although the project has already ended,” said R. Rajendran, TNAU agronomist, who has been associated with the CSISA project for the last seven years.
Dr. Rajendran made the statement during the “CSISA Tamil Nadu Hub Celebration Workshop” on 15-16 September held in Thanjavur. “TNAU will follow through on extending technologies such as the improved dry seeded rice cultivation, the nonpuddled machine rice transplanting, and the laser land leveling,” he said. "The technologies have been widely demonstrated in the Cauvery Delta through the CSISA project. Also, the research initiatives conducted through CSISA will not stop. The research outcomes will be taken continually to the farmers with the support from the Government of Tamil Nadu and TNAU,” he added.
The Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute (TRRI) and the Soil and Water Management Research Institute (SWMRI) are also closely working together with the CSISA team and partners to widen the adoption of the water- and labor-saving technologies in the Cauvery Delta and the entire rice-growing areas of Tamil Nadu. TRRI hosted the research platform of the CSISA project while SWMRI delivered the CSISA technologies in the Cauvery Delta.
“Tamil Nadu and IRRI have maintained a long-standing relationship for more than four decades through a number of projects,” said Dr. Rajendran. “But the footprints left today in celebrating the impact of the CSISA technologies in the Cauvery Delta will live on. For example, the dry seeded rice technology and the use of seed drill have reduced the amount of fertilizer and seeds used by farmers, which eventually reduced the cost of rice production and increased the income for farmers."
“With the impact of the CSISA technologies and the continuation of the initiatives, I am optimistic that the relationship between TNAU and IRRI will continue in the next ten years,” he added.
Dr. Rajendran thanked CSISA’s partner institutions, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the International Livestock Research Institute, the World Fish Center, and IRRI. These institutions have supported the State in improving the lives of rice farmers in the Cauvery Delta as well as the capacity-building goals of TNAU and other institutes and organizations in Tamil Nadu, according to him.