JICA Rural Development Department; Japanese rice - cultivation techniques in Afghanistan - Support to field manufacturing of Japanese traditional agricultural equipment -

For the project of "Rice-based Agriculture Development in Afghanistan (RIPA)".

The materials were screened at meeting in Dubai

In Afghanistan, as 80 % of population (about 30 million) are engaged in agriculture, agricultural development is one of the most important theme to stable social reconstruction and development. JICA has been conducting the project "Rice-based Agriculture Development in Afghanistan (RIPA)" for contributing to achieve the National Rice Promotion Strategy (NRPS) through increasing rice production with high productivity, and for improving a quality of Afghanistan rice.

In October, 2019, the meeting for formulating a plan of the project activity in 2020 was held in Dubai. During the meeting, two kinds of DVDs were shown to extension managers from 8 RIPA targeted provinces to discuss the possibility of manufacturing Japanese agricultural equipment in their provinces. Those are from JICA-Net multimedia-based learning materials, namely "JICA Tsukuba Agricultural Technology package -(1) How to Make and Use a Manual Winnower -" and "(2) Manufacture and Usage of Manual rotary weeder for paddy -"

Practical for technical training programs in developing countriesI.

In Japan, The manual winnower came to be used in the latter half of the 17th century in the Edo Period

"JICA Tsukuba Agricultural Technology package" series, one of the JICA-Net multimedia-based learning materials, were intended to be of help for technical training program in developing countries as a guide of understanding how to use and make various agricultural equipment easily. "How to Make and Use a Manual Winnower -" (external link) is focused on a manual winnower for separating the chaff, straw, and immature grain from rice or beans after harvest. "Manufacture and Usage of Manual rotary weeder for paddy" (external link) is focused on a manual rotary weeder for removing weed in paddy field. Because of their simple structure, this equipment would be suitable for developing countries to manufacture easily with less cost.

In the meeting, 20 participants from Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock and extension managers from 8 provinces, watched the DVD movies. We handed out them DVD copies and discussed to manufacture this equipment in actual fields. Many farmers in Afghanistan are not familiar to use improved equipment in rice cultivation, harvesting and processing. Therefore, introducing techniques such as for increasing labor productivity is timely and important. Those materials are easy to understand how to make a manual winnower and a manual rotary weeder by showing each step of manufacturing. We expect local manufacturers in Afghanistan to manufacture by themselves after learning these materials.

Those materials explain the procedures of making equipment by each part in detail

Around 250 people are expected to work for making of agricultural equipment. It would be much easier for researchers, extension officers and farmers to learn details of making agricultural equipment by these visual materials than by other information such as manuals and verbal instructions. As these visual materials are intended for practical use, we have a great expect for them to be essential tools of the project in future.

Masataka Nakahara
Expert of "Rice-based Agriculture Development in Afghanistan (RIPA)" (Leader)
Team 2, Group 3, Rural Development Department

*The Material(s) mainly applied

JICA Tsukuba Agricultural Technology package - How to Make and Use a Manual Winnower -

This material is made for use by JICA ex-training participants, JOCV and SV volunteers, and JICA experts, when they give instruction to farmers in developing countries. The structure are very easy to follow; it's possible to learn "How to Make and Use a Manual Winnower" just by watching and following the contents. Some techniques, which cannot easily be taught only through manuals, can be easily understood by various people through this audio-visual materials.

The winnower is a tool used to separate the chaff, straw, and immature grain from rice or beans after harvest. In Japan, winnowers came to be used to separate rice in the latter half of of the 17th century in the Edo Period and made a great difference in the amount of labor required to separate post-harvest rice.

• YouTube (external link)

JICA Tsukuba Agricultural Technology Package - Manufacture and Usage of Manual rotary weeder for paddy -

This material is made for use by JICA ex-training participants, JOCV and SV volunteers, and JICA experts, when they give instruction to farmers in developing countries. The structure are very easy to follow; it's possible to learn "Manufacture and Usage of Manual rotary weeder for paddy" just by watching and following the contents. Some techniques, which cannot easily be taught only through manuals, can be easily understood by various people through this audio-visual materials.

• YouTube (external link)