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

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Developing and staffing the program 77year onward, the demand for training at IRRI was so great that some applicantsfrom most countries had to be placed on a waiting list.As mentioned, IRRI’s training program during 1962 and 1963 was confinedto research scholars assigned to senior scientists. It was administered byWortman, and the day-to-day problems were handled by the scientists towhom the scholars were assigned. The operation of that segment of theprogram has continued in similar manner to the present day. However,beginning in 1964-65, IRRI’s training program was expanded.The most important factor in that expansion undoubtedly was the arrival ofWilliam G. Golden, Jr., in February 1964. He had written to IRRI earlier, statingthat he was a rice specialist in the agricultural extension service at theUniversity of California and had a sabbatical leave due in 1964. He was anxiousto get acquainted with rice growing in the tropics and asked whether IRRIwould be able to accommodate him for a one-year period. Wortman was ableto meet him and his wife in California in late 1963 and was favorably impressedwith his energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge of rice production in California.In our discussions later, Wortman and I decided that Golden would be usefulin putting together — in terms that would be understandable to extensionworkers and literate farmers in such English-comprehending countries as thePhilippines, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — IRRI articles and bulletins onsome of the developing techniques. However, after Golden arrived and had alittle time to get settled into the department headed by Byrnes, it became clearthat his real interest was in training people in the area of rice productiontechniques and in testing IRRI’s findings on farmers’ fields. He immediatelyfound a kindred spirit in Byrnes, who was highly interested in improvingcommunication among scientists, extension personnel, farmers, and the generalpublic as well.After Golden had had time to become familiar with IRRI’s research programand to travel throughout the Philippines observing agricultural research andextension work pertaining to rice, he saw the need for better-trained extensionpeople and for the testing of IRRI’s findings in farmers’ fields.At that time, the agricultural extension program of the Philippines wasconducted by an agency called the Agricultural Productivity Commission,which was directly responsible to the President rather than to the Secretary ofAgriculture and Natural Resources. In mid-1964, the agency’s Commissionerasked Golden if he could run a one-year training course in rice production forfive technicians from the rice-producing districts of the Philippines. Afterdiscussion among Golden, Byrnes, Wortman, and me, the decision was forIRRI to undertake the operation even though at the time, it was expected thatGolden would return to California in February 1965.Golden and Byrnes set up a program for IRRI’s first rice production trainingcourse. The first half was devoted largely to having the trainees grow a cropof rice on IRRI’s experimental fields, doing every operation from preparing theland with a carabao to harvesting and threshing the crop. Much of the practicalwork was done in the morning, with afternoons devoted to classroom studies.
78 History of the International Rice Research InstituteHere, Byrnes taught them communication methods, particularly how to makethe extension worker more effective in getting the farmer to move from thetraditional to the modern way of growing rice. Other IRRI scientists also gavelectures in their respective disciplines so that the trainees gained a thoroughbackground of the many factors influencing rice yields.In the second part of the course, Golden arranged for the trainees to conductapplied research experiments in their home provinces and to help train asecond group of Agricultural Productivity Commission employees who cameto IRRI in 1965 for a 6-month course in rice production.This early work by Golden and Byrnes in the Office of Communication wasthe basis for IRRI’s Rice Production Training and Research Program (describedin some detail in Chapter 4), which became international in scope andis still going on. As it happened, Golden became so absorbed in the programthat he decided his services would be more valuable in training people to helpthe underprivileged farmers of South and Southeast Asia than they would beback in California’s rather affluent society. IRRI administrators and staff,impressed with Golden’s performance, were equally anxious to have himremain. The only problem was that the University of California’s regulationsstipulated that a person who did not return after his sabbatical leave had torepay the University for the half-salary he had received during his leave ofabsence. The matter was easily settled when IRRI sent the University a checkin the required amount. Golden was given the title of rice production specialiston IRRI’s permanent staff.In 1969, Golden accepted the Institute’s offer to send him to Sri Lanka,following Moomaw, who had left for the University of California and on toIITA. Golden did an outstanding job in setting up a training program in SriLanka and in promoting the idea of on-farm trials. In 1974, he joined IRRI’soutreach program in Bangladesh, a country then in considerable politicalturmoil, with agricultural progress not always the main concern of governmentofficials. In 1975, Golden resigned to accept a position with HawaiianAgronomics, a consulting firm with strong interest in Third World development.In early 1978, he met a tragic end, killed in an airplane accident in Egyptwhile on a mission to advise the Egyptian Government on the potentials of arice irrigation scheme involving water from the Aswan dam. Golden was anenergetic, hardworking, and dedicated man of thought and action who had alasting impact on rice production in Asia.When Golden was assigned to Sri Lanka in 1969, he was replaced at IRRI byVernon Eugene Ross, who handled the training program until 1976 when hewas transferred to the Institute’s outreach program in Pakistan. Several yearsbefore Ross left, IRRI brought in L. Dale Haws as a second rice productionspecialist. Haws, upon Ross’ departure for Pakistan, took over as leader of theRice Production Training and Research Program.BUILDINGS AND GROUNDSIRRI’s multimillion-dollar physical plant obviously would require maintenance.Buildings and grounds had to be kept up, complicated machinery had
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An Adventurein Applied Science:A HI
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ContentsDedication viiAbout this pu
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About this publication . . .In 20 y
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xiname, and release varieties. Thus
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PrefaceThe International Rice Resea
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CHAPTER 1An international institute
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An international institute for rice
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Early research and training results
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CHAPTER 5Financing of IRRIThe purpo
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Financing of IRRI 149foreign assist
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156 History of the International Ri
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Creation of other international cen
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Creation of other international cen
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Aerial view of IRRI in1981.However,
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IRRI today 181neering Department: K
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IRRI today 183In spite of this high
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IRRI today 185turn, received geneti
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IRRI today 1871. Research to assist
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Appendices 189materials could readi
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Appendix 2OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENTINTER
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Appendices 193ate to concentrate on
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Appendices 195estimates for buildin
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Appendices 197(4) Development of pr
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Appendices 199was approved for the
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Appendices 201association, or perso
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Appendices 203b. To pass upon the b
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Appendices 205Article VIIMISCELLANE
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