With over two decades of experience in leadership and expertise in developing policies for agriculture, food, and rural development, under his belt, Jean Balié has been serving as the Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, for over two years now. He was in town for few days last week sharing dais with the prime minister attending the Golden Jubilee celebration of Bangladesh's premier agro-research institute – Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). Dhaka Tribune's Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad caught up with IRRI DG Jean Balié on Friday afternoon for an exclusive interview before he departed later that night.
As Director General of IRRI, Balié sets the global strategic direction of the institute and manages its affairs in accordance with the policies and decisions of the IRRI Board of Trustees. Balié concurrently serves as CGIAR Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Prior to IRRI, Balié worked as a Policy Officer, Senior Economist, and Strategic Program Manager at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Dhaka Tribune: What brought you to Dhaka this time? Any new dimension in longstanding IRRI-BRRI collaboration?
Jean Balié: We took part in the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. I was pleased to meet and engage with the Honorable Prime Minister, Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina and to be given a chance to address our partners from BRRI and other important dignitaries on our synergies and ways forward as it relates to our continued partnership. We had the historic signing of a new 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday with BRRI. This underlines an even stronger era of R&D-focused (research and development) collaborations.
The priority areas of this expanded agreement include: Genetic gain enhancement through the development and dissemination of better varieties to increase rice productivity, nutrition, and resilience. This will help Bangladesh develop varieties those can withstand climate change-induced stress conditions. Increasing resource use efficiency (especially land and water) and promoting low-carbon regenerative agriculture for sustainable rice-based farming are also key features of the MoU.
Per capita yearly rice consumption in Bangladesh is as high as 150 kilograms and it makes good sense if together, we can make rice more nutritious with higher iron, zinc, protein and other micronutrients. We also addressed leaders from the SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC) to learn more about their program needs from a broader South Asia agri-food systems perspective.
Dhaka Tribune: What exciting new research activities are going on at IRRI currently?
Jean Balié: We have a handful but broadly speaking, our research thrust focuses our work into four rice-based agrifood system Flagship Programs, namely: Direct Seeded Rice, Nutrition, Climate Resilient Farming, and Dissemination.
The three aspects that posit milled rice as not a healthy staple are its high GI (glycemic index), low protein and low resistant starch (RS) content. We have identified genes, genetics and genotypes for all three cases and within two years we can generate independent lines for low GI, high protein and high starch resistance. A low-GI diet is an eating plan based on how foods affect blood sugar level, also called blood glucose level. The glycemic index ranks food on a scale from 0 to 100. The low end of the scale has foods that have little effect on blood sugar levels.
Upscaling and adoption of some climate resilient farming technologies and practices (i.e., ICT platforms, geographical information systems (GIS) and drones, big-data analysis, AWD - alternate wetting and drying etc.) can make a big difference to fit-for-purpose agronomy and vibrant and climate resilient rice-based landscapes.
Within the next two years, the first DSR (direct seeded rice)-specific varieties will be released accompanied with specific agronomic management recommendations for better quality and higher yield. DSR (direct seeded rice) refers to the process of establishing a rice crop from seeds sown in the field rather than by transplanting seedlings from the nursery. It's a viable option to reduce the unproductive water flows.
Dhaka Tribune: Some of the new product lines at BRRI, developed with IRRI support, aren't reaching farmers' fields due to regulators' non-approval. What's the way forward?
Jean Balié: We've to reduce the science-policy making gap and make sure research findings are considered in decision making. We've to promote more need-based and demand-based research to generate large scale impact. New research results are taking too long a time to reach to the beneficiaries. Golden Rice is one example. Researchers-regulators have to be better aligned to make the process faster.
IRRI in Bangladesh develops solutions to bridge the critical gaps in quality seed access, product awareness, and varietal turnovers in the region. In the last 3 years, BRRI and our seed systems research team were able to do test plots across the country. This project involved around 10,000 Bangladeshi farmers who are able to participate in studying the different rice varieties. IRRI's breeding team currently evaluates IRRI germplasm (seeds) under three market segments like Early, Mid and Late maturity work with Bangladesh institutes like with BRRI, BINA, SAU, KAU, BSMRAU in Rangpur, Gazipur, Sylhet, Sathkira, Barisal, and Cox's Bazar.
We are continuing to not just accelerate our work and get rich insights from our partners on the ground to ensure that our stakeholders, the farmers, are involved throughout the whole process. This is a constant learning process and it helps us develop products that are fit-for-purpose.
Dhaka Tribune: Given the post-pandemic Ukraine crisis, the world is witnessing many concerns over food price shocks. What is IRRI's strategy in addressing the food security challenges?
Jean Balié: There are many factors that contribute to food security, including a country's political stability, economic development, and level of agricultural productivity. Countries with high levels of food security typically have a more diversified economy, which provides greater resilience to shocks such as droughts or economic recessions. They also tend to have higher levels of agricultural productivity, due to investments in research and development, better access to technology and inputs, and more favorable natural conditions.
There is no single solution for reducing the rate of global food insecurity but there are a number of measures that can be taken to address the problem. These include investments in agricultural research and development, improvements to infrastructure and transportation networks, expansion of social safety nets, and measures to increase the resilience of food systems to shocks such as droughts and floods. The milestone activities we had here in Dhaka over the past week are essential steps to a future where Bangladesh's agrifood system is self-sustaining and its farming communities prosperous.
