From Concept to Impact:
Developing and Communicating
Multipurpose Seed Drying Tables
Bangladesh has recently become self-sufficient in rice, with a production of 39 million tons in 2001, an increase of about 40% over the past ten years (FAO, 2002). This has mainly been the result of the introduction of a new, irrigated cropping cycle during the dry season, and improvement of the existing rainfed one. The intensified cropping cycle has created a particular new problem: ‘how to properly dry seed during the rainy season?’.
In Bangladesh, agriculture has been mechanized to some extent over the past years, however, engineers have paid little or no attention to issues like seed drying and storing. This is surprising because 95% of the rice seed is currently farmersaved, hence, improved post-harvest technologies could directly benefit both household and national economies.
However, resource-poor farmers in developing countries are often bypassed in the technology generation process. This may, in part, be because an organized group which may communicate their needs to technology designers is lacking. It may also be that researches are not open-minded and willing enough to accommodate their suggestions. This is particularly problematic for the poorest people and when there exists no functioning platform for governmental institutes to regularly interact with non-government organizations (NGOs), communities or their institutions (Ashby, 1990).