POPULARIZATION OF THE "THRIVING WITH RICE" CONCEPT AND TECHNOLOGIES Thriving with Rice aimed to increase not only rice productivity but also farmers' incomes and employment opportunities in rural areas as well as conservation of natural resources. The concept is based on: Crop intensification and diversification, Full utilization of the biomass of the rice plants, Transformation and use of rice grains and their byproducts, and Utilization of tools, equipment, and inputs that could be locally manufactured with local materials 1. Higher rice yields are realized through the utilization of high yielding varieties and the adoption of improved and integrated crop management practice, 2. Cost reduction through more efficient application of inputs and the use of resistant varieties; the substitution of purchased inputs with home-made inputs and bio-fertilizers (e.g. chemical fertilizers such as composts, azolla;bio- insecticides such as neem), 3. More incomes generated from the sales of products from diversification (e.g. chicken, eggs, duck, fish in rice-livestock or fish systems); and the utilization of biomass (e.g. rice hulks as substitute of firewood in cooking) and the sales of its by products (e.g. mushroom, noodle, cake, etc..), 4. The year round diversified production systems, the activities in utilization of the biomass, and especially the manufacturing of tools, equipment and inputs could generate employment to local community, and 5. The technologies used in Thriving with Rice have also positive effect on the conservation of natural resources and global environment. The reduction of inputs used in rice production through efficient application eventually reduces the emission of nitrogenous gasses to the atmosphere and the leaching of NO3 to water bodies. The utilization of rice straw to compost and/or to substrate for mushroom culture reduces the burning of rice straw, thus emission of CO2. In Asia, the "Thriving with Rice" concept was popularized to minimize the exodus of rural farmers towards urban ghettos. The field introduction of "Thriving with Rice" concept and technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa was first carried out in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Senegal through a Japanese-funded project GCP/RAF/266/JPN Thriving with Rice for small farmers in irrigated schemes in West Africa, from 1991 to 1994. The popularization of this concept and its technologies has been continued through consultancy missions in East Africa and field projects such as: UNDP funded project SIL/89/008 Inland Valley Swamp Development in Moyamba, from 1994 to 1998 UNDP funded project ZAI/92/001 Strengthening of National Rice Programme in Congo, D. R., from 1992 to 1997 UNDP-funded project BGD/89/045 Thana Cereal Technology Transfer and Identification, from 1996-2000 Special Programmes for Food Security in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Tanzania. The improvement of technologies used in "Thriving with Rice" approach has been carried out in collaboration with other technical units of FAO and National and International Agricultural Research Centers. Innovations in crop management, biomass utilization, diversification have been validated through pilot tests prior to their introduction to farmers. ACTIVITIES DURING 1999-2001 RDP will continue to popularize Thriving with Rice through field projects and the Special Programme for Food Security, where appropriate. Also, it will support the development and testing of method for rapid composting of rice straw at ICRISAT. BACK TO RICE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME