Dr Roland Buresh receives the IFA Norman Borlaug Award for improving rice fertilization in Asia

Paris, France: 12 April 2011The laureate of the 2011 IFA Norman Borlaug Award for excellence in crop nutrition research is Dr Roland Buresh of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. Dr Buresh is Principal Scientist at IRRI where he leads the Institutes work on site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). The award recognizes his work in transforming the scientific concept of SSNM to innovative knowledge transfer tools based on decision-support software, the Internet, mobile phones and field practices readily usable by rice growers. Such tools bring precision agriculture techniques to small-scale farmers in developing countries.

Dr Buresh has been working on nutrient and crop management for the past 30 years. He joined IRRI in 2000 and has since been involved in work focusing on rice, such as sustainable management of intensive irrigated rice, crop residue management and management of rice-maize cropping systems. Through his involvement with the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) a partnership between IRRI, national research centres in ten Asian countries and the private sector, Dr Buresh initiated the development of innovative knowledge transfer tools targeting specifically small-scale farmers in Asia and potentially in many more regions. These tools include:

• computer-based decision support software available to extension workers, crop advisors, and farmers through the internet and mobile phones;
• videos for farmers; and
• quick guides for fertilizer best management.

Dr Bureshs most recent and recognized accomplishment is Nutrient Manager, an IT-based decision-support tool that provides extension workers, farmers and researchers field-specific nutrient management practices for rice. Nutrient Manager can be adapted to the conditions of any country or region and requires little data input. Each country- or region-specific tool consists of ten to twenty questions that can be easily answered with no need for soil or plant analyses. Nutrient Manager for Rice has been tested and implemented successfully in the Philippines and in Indonesia by rice growers using local languages. Through an innovative public-private partnership in the Philippines, involving the Department of Agriculture and two national mobile phone service providers, Dr Buresh led the development of a mobile phone application of Nutrient Manager for Rice using interactive voice response (IVR). With this service, a rice farmer calls a toll-free number, answers questions by pushing the phone keypad as prompted by a voice recording, and then receives a text message with a fertilizer guideline customized for the farmers field and cultivation practices. Nutrient Manager is expected to be adopted by many more countries. Local versions for Bangladesh, China, India, Vietnam, and West Africa are under development.

Prior to joining IRRI, Dr Buresh was Principal Soil Scientist at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya and Soil Scientist at the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), where he led a collaborative project between IFDC and IRRI in the Philippines.

Dr Buresh is the 20th recipient of the Award. He was nominated by Atlas Fertilizer Corporation in the Philippines, and has been selected by an independent jury among twelve high-level candidates from developed countries and international agricultural research and development centres. Dr Buresh graduated from Louisiana State University in 1978 with a PhD in Marine Sciences. He also received an M.Sc. in Soil Science from North Dakota State University. Dr Buresh will accept the Award at the Opening Session of the IFA Annual Conference on Tuesday, 24 May in Montreal.

 

The International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA)is a trade association representing the global fertilizer industry. IFA member companies represent all activities related to the production and distribution of every type of fertilizer, their raw materials and intermediates. IFAs membership also includes organizations involved in agronomic research and training. IFA has some 525 members in about 85 countries. The global fertilizer industry produces some 170 million tons of fertilizer nutrients annually. These are used in every corner of the globe to support sustainable agricultural production and food security. www.fertilizer.org

IFA Norman Borlaug Award: As part of its work to promote research on efficient, balanced and environment-friendly fertilization, every year since 1993 IFA has designated a recipient of its award for research that has led to significant advances in crop nutrition. Consistent with its current emphasis on last-mile delivery, IFA recognizes that research alone is not enough to achieve meaningful progress at the farm level. Effective knowledge transfer is needed for the wider adoption of improved nutrient management practices. In that connection, IFA recognizes researchers who have successfully communicated the outcome of their work to the farmers.