A final progress reviewing meeting was held for the EuropeAid Project (DCI-Food/2010/230-238) ‘Rice IPM in the Greater Mekong Sub-region’ hosted by Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPP-CAAS) in Beijing during July 5-7, 2016. The project was initiated on January 28, 2011 and will be ended on July 28, 2016. Over 30 people attended the meeting, including experts from EU Delegation to China, China Society of Plant Protection, National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, and team members from IPP-CAAS and the project partners.

The opening session of the meeting was chaired by Dr. CHEN Julian, professor and director of Department of International Cooperation and Graduates of IPP-CAAS. Dr. QIU Dewen, professor and Deputy Director General of IPP-CAAS, gave a welcome speech. He fully affirmed the successful project implementation and achievements in the past 5 years, and expressed expectation for the project impact to be sustainable with synergy of pesticide reduction action and ‘the Belt and Road’ plan. He also thanked all the project partners for their cooperation. Ms. HUANG Xueju, program official from EU Delegation to China, congratulated on the successful project implementation and hoped for a sustainable project impact. Dr. HOU Maolin, professor and project PI from IPP-CAAS, summarized the overall project implementation activities and achievements. Dr. Dirk BABENDREIER, senior researcher from CAB International, reported on the management experience in the project technology transfer. The local partners in SW China, Laos and Myanmar presented on their progresses in Trichogramma survey and PRA, establishment of Trichogramma rearing facilities, mass production and field release of Trichogramma wasps, field demonstration of Trichogramma-based rice IPM strategy, training of extension staff and farmers, visibility and awareness activities, and sustainability plan. In subsequent sessions, the project team members worked out template documents for needed for the narrative report and financial report through participatory discussion and exchange, and determined the time limits for submission of the documents.

During the past 5 years, the project has made significant achievements. Elite Trichogramma species/strains suitable for mass production and paddy field release in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) were locally collected and screened out. With innovative establishment of 12 cost-effective Trichogramma rearing facilities, the project developed and/or integrated Trichogramma mass production techniques. Trichogramma-based rice IPM package suitable for GMS was developed and demonstrated through village approach, with core demonstration area reaching 5,000 ha. Pest occurrence and damage in the IPM demonstration plots were similar with those in the conventional control plot, while pesticide application was reduced by 1-2 times, rice production costs was decreased by 1,500 CNY per ha and rice yield was enhanced by 150 kg per ha. A series of training were opened for the local extension staff and farmers to enhance their capacity building. Sixty Trichogramma rearing technicians, 90 rice IPM technicians and more than 3,000 rice farmers were trained. During the implementation period, 4 peer-reviewed research papers were published on international or domestic journals, and 7 abstracts, posters or presentations were delivered. These achievements have altogether reached or outnumbered the expected project results.

Project partners:
CAB International (CABI)
Plant Protection Center, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Plant Protection Division, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, United Union of Myanmar
Plant Protection and Quarantine Station, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China
Plant Protection Station, Xing’an County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
International Rice Research Institute
Hengshui Tianyi Biological Control Company, Hebei Province, China