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each of the rice ecosystem maps. The rice ecosystems were then prioritized for researchon the basis of extent of area, number of affected households, and potentialpossibilities of research success. Similar characterization was done in representativedistricts in each of the eastern India states (IRRI 1992, 1993, 1996) and was used todevelop a comprehensive rice research plan for eastern India.Faced with the hydrological complexities in the rainfed situations, Singh andSingh (1996) developed a remote-sensing and GIS-based methodology that couldreliably delineate different rice ecosystems and their subecosystems, particularly bytheir hydrology—drought-prone, submergence-prone, etc. Using this methodology,40 of the 93 rainfed rice-growing districts in eastern India have been characterizedand mapped into the principal rainfed lowland subecosystems (unpublished) by teamsof state agricultural universities, Indian Council for Agricultural Research centers,state departments of agriculture, remote-sensing application centers, nongovernmentorganizations, and groups of local farmers. This analysis is already being used extensivelyin regional research planning and to develop and delineate application domainsof the promising technologies in eastern India (Singh and Sastri 1998). Examplesof these efforts are Sastri and Singh (this volume) and Borkakati et al (thisvolume).IRRI and the Department of Agriculture Regional Office for the Cagayan Valley,Philippines (Region II), developed a meso-level classification of the valley’s complexmosaic of rainfed rice lands (IRRI 1987, 1990, Garrity et al 1992). They exploredthe utility of a computerized geographic database correlated with village-levelmaps of rainfed rice land types. The information was packaged as a field manual forextension personnel. Six rainfed rice subecosystems were recognized on a hydrologicalbasis. They were explicitly correlated with a range of associated information tospecify their identification and the technology associated with them. The data on ricearea and the yield constraints associated with each rainfed rice land type have facilitatedregional rice research efforts, particularly the relative emphasis given to appliedand adaptive research among land types (Garrity et al 1992, IRRI 1991).Micro-level analysisAgroecosystem analysis has become very popular in micro-level prioritization(Conway 1986, KEPAS 1985). Micro-level analysis studies have been done in severalcases (IRRI 1989b, 1991, 1993, Singh et al 1994, Magbanua and Garrity 1988).This level of analysis has been used extensively in the rainfed regions of easternIndia, covering the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, WestBengal, and Orissa, to set research priorities within and among dominant rice-farmingsystems. Various techniques of agroecosystem analysis such as site descriptions,problem diagnosis, farming systems analysis, and rapid rural appraisal methodologywere extensively employed (Lightfoot et al 1990). The methodology involved a twotiertraining program for researchers on the methodology for setting research prioritiesby agroecosystem analysis with farmer participation. The analysis was carriedout by 15 research centers in the region covering upland, rainfed lowland, andCharacterizing rainfed rice environments: an overview . . . 15