An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

Early research and training results 141The 10 graduates ofIRRl’s first RiceProduction TrainingCourse pose withChandler, Byrnes,Golden, and F.D.Gorrez, administrativeassistant, aftergraduation 6 July 1965.All trainees wereemployees of thePhilippine Commissionfor AgriculturalProductivity. From left(front row) are ArturoPesayco, RodolfoEscalada, PedroAgcaoili, Gorrez, andGolden. Second row:Saturnino Ronquillo,Antonio Balneg, LolitaLim, Chandler, LeticiaBaluyot, Byrnes,Erlinda Alconcel, EddieChu, and GregorioBautista.IRRI’S applied research trials in the Philippines led to the development in1968-69 of the minikit, a package that gave the farmers a set of all the inputs —from the seed of an improved variety to fertilizer and insecticides — necessaryto get high yields. The idea caught on and by the early 1970s was being usedin many other countries of South and Southeast Asia and Africa.SYMPOSIA AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIESDuring 1962-67, IRRI held several symposia on specific scientific disciplinesand started its outreach program in five countries.SymposiaThe concept of holding periodic conferences or symposia on the variousscientific disciplines as applied to rice was incorporated into the earliest plansfor IRRI’s program. It was Wortman, however, who started these assembliesat an early stage of the Institute’s development. Financial support for all theconferences through 1967 came from the Ford Foundation.The principal reasons for holding symposia were to bring together theworld’s most knowledgeable scientists on a given subject, to arrange for thepresentation of well-prepared and exhaustive (occasionally exhausting!)papers on the various aspects of a given discipline, to identify priority areas offuture research, and to publish the proceedings in book form.In preparing for a symposium, the first step was to invite to IRRI half a dozenor so experts in a given field to plan the program. Together with the staffmembers concerned, they outlined the scope of the conference and decided