e-learning course on postharvest debuts in Myanmar and Lao PDR

Trainees in Myanmar learn about postharvest processes through an e-learning course. (Photo by M. Gummert)

To enhance their postharvest training courses, the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium’s (IRRC) Postproduction work group integrated e-learning for the first time in its two in-country courses on Postharvest management for improved quality of rice grain and seed in Myanmar (24-26 April 2006) and Lao PDR (10-12 May 2006). The team was headed by Martin Gummert of IRRC and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He was in charge of the hands-on postharvest training and Geert Claessens (IRRI Training Center) led the e-learning component.

The training in Myanmar was held at the Central Agricultural Research and Training Center in Hlegu Township in Yangon. This was a follow-up on the initial IRRC in-country training on Implementing component technologies of seed processing, crop establishment, weed management, and SSNM, held in September 2005.

A total of 23 participants attended, with 13 coming from the government’s Myanma Agriculture Service-Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, seven from the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders’ Association (MRPTA), and three from the Myanmar Rice Millers’ Association.

On the first day of the training, the theories behind postharvest processes were taught through an e-learning course. The participants were divided into groups, and the group members shared a computer.
Mr. Claessens gave a brief introduction of the course and afterward let the participants go through the course themselves. The following 2 days of smooth-sailing training were proof enough that the e-learning day was an effective jump-off point for participants, even with new topics such as hermetic storage.

On the second and third day, Mr. Gummert gave a lecture on drying systems (sun drying, shade drying, low-cost dryer from Vietnam, IRRI flat- bed dryer), storage (super bags, commercial 5-ton hermetic storage cube), and milling. He also discussed grain and seed quality and the determination of quality traits using the IRRI quality kit.

After the training, most participants were eager to use the super bags. Some asked for a more specific course on rice milling and improved milling technologies.

Then, in early May, the team was off to Vientiane, Lao PDR, to conduct the same training with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) staff. The training was done to create awareness about grain and seed quality issues, and improved postharvest management options due to the low level of postharvest mechanization and poor milling quality experienced by rice millers from the dry-season crop. It was also the first time that researchers, extension workers, and the private sector were brought together to discuss postharvest issues. Eighteen participants from NAFRI, extension systems, and rice mills attended the training held at the Agricultural Research Center.

As with Myanmar, the first day was spent teaching postharvest principles through the e-learning course. In the next 2 days, participants were given hands-on training.

In Lao PDR, training participants get their hands dirty and manually harvest paddy. (Photo by G. Claessens)
 

Reactions to the computer-based learning course were very positive. The course will be included in IRRI’s Rice Knowledge Bank and be made available on CD as well. Another option being looked into is for the course to be translated into local dialects. It is IRRI’s hope that this new dimension of training using e-learning will open up new possibilities and benefit more people and communities all over the globe.

Trina Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org) and Martin Gummert (m.gummert@cgiar.org)
 

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