System of Rice Intensification- Lower Mekong River Basin. A bi-annual newsletter published by SRI-LMB Project (A Project Funded by European Union), Asian Center of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ACISAI), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)

1. SRI-LMB Newsletter
Vol. 1, Issue 1: Year 2013
A bi-annual newsletter published by the SRI-LMB Project (A Project Funded by the European Union),
Asian Center of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ACISAI), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
I N FO CU S
AIT signs agreement
with EU on 3.4 million Euro project
Sustaining and Enhancing the
Momentum for Innovation and
Learning around the System of
Rice Intensification (SRI) in the
Lower Mekong River Basin
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
www.ait.asia, Thailand has been
awarded a grant by the European
Union for the implementation of
the Action entitled “Sustaining and
Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification in the Lower Mekong River Basin” (SRI-LMB).
The contract between AIT and the
European Union was signed on 12
November 2012. The project implementation period is for 60 months
(from 01 January 2013 onwards)
with a total cost of approximately
3.4 million Euros. European Union
will contribute 85 per cent of the
total cost of Action (approximately
2.9 million Euros).
The main objective of the project is
This project is funded by the European Union
Prof. Jayant Routray welcomed participants during the Inception and PlanningWorkshop on behalf of Prof. Worsak
Kanok-Nukulchai.
to contribute to enhance resilience
of rainfed small-scale farmers of the
Lower Mekong Region confronting
climate change. The project will be
implemented in Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam.
The main applicant for this project
is AIT along with its partners –
FAO Regional IPM Programme in
South and Southeast Asia, Oxfam
America, and Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex
in UK. The Associate partners for
the project are the SRI-Rice secretariat of the Cornell International
Institute for Food, Agriculture and
Development (CIIFAD) in USA,
and the University of Queensland
in Australia.
In this Issue:
Inception and Planning
Workshop
p2
Launching of ACISAI
p3
1st Board Meeting of
ACISAI
p4
This project is implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

2. Inception and Planning Workshop
An Inception and Planning Workshop of the project was organized
on April from 9-12 at the Conference Center of the Asian Institute of
Technology, Thailand.
east Thailand, those who have been
working with various SRI projects.
The Workshop provided an excellent opportunity to share the project objectives and action plans with
participants of the workshop and
Over 70 participants representing also to receive their important feedproject partners, and civil society backs.
organizations, and academic institutions from Lower Mekong River Eminent speakers included Prof.
Basin countries participated in Norman T. Uphoff, Professor of
the workshop. Also, in attendance Government and International Agwere the rice farmers from North- riculture, Cornell University, USA;
Prof. Amir Kassam, Visiting Professor, School of Agriculture, Policy
and Development, University of
Reading, United Kingdom; and Dr.
Rosa Rolle on behalf of Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative for
Asia and the Pacific, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
1. Group Photo; 2. Dr. Abha Mishra; 3. Dr. Prabhat
Kumar; 4.Prof. Norman Uphoff; 5. Prof. Amir Kassam;
6.Dr. Jan Willem Ketelaar; 7. Dr. Brian Lund; 8. with
Prof. Jayant Routray and Dr. Anil Kumar Anal.
1
3
6
2
This project is funded by the European Union
4
5
7
8
This project is implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
2

3. Launch of Regional Innovation Platform called ‘Asian Center of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification’
(ACISAI)
building of the agricultural professionals and institutions to strengthen Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D). The objective is
to foster linkages between local, national, and international institutions
for inclusive dialogue, knowledge
sharing and dissemination on convergent subject areas such as food
security, climate change and global
partnerships for achieving international public goods and finally develop committed young professionals with new knowledge and skills
required to realize the potential of
Sustainable Agricultural Intenfication (SAI) in Asia and beyond.
The ACISAI Center is located at
the ground floor of the administrative building. Dr Prabhat Kumar
and Dr. Abha Mishra are entrusted
with the responsibility of the founding Directors of this Center, under a
Board of Directors. Currently under
Ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of ACISAI. L-R: Prof. Norman Uphoff, Prof. Jayant Routray, Prof. Amir
the leadership of AIT President, the
Kassam and Dr. Rosa Rolle.
As a part of the AIT-EC project, BOD has 6 members, whereas the
a new ACISAI Center has been Steering Committee is composed
launched coinciding with the Incep- of 6 colleagues from two Schools of
tion and planning workshop of the AIT namely School of Environment
project. The Center aims to develop Resources and Development and
multi-stakeholder network for co- School of Management.
generation of knowledge, capacity
ACISAI Board of Directors
Prof. Worksak Kanok-Nukulchai
AIT President (Interim) and Chair
of the BOD, ACISAI Center
Dr. Abha Mishra
Co-Director, ACISAI
Team Leader, SRI-LMB
Professor Norman Uphoff
Professor of Government and
International Agriculture at Cornell
University, US and Director of the
Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
(CIPA)
Dr. Prabhat Kumar
Director, ACISAI
Regional Coordinator, SRI-LMB
Dr. Hiroyuki Konuma
Assistant Director-General and
FAO Regional Representative for
Asia and the Pacific
Profesosr Amir Kassam
OBE, is a Visiting Professor in the
School of Agriculture, Policy and
Development, University of Reading, UK
First Board of Directors meeting of ACISAI Center
This project is funded by the European Union
This project is implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
3

4. News from Project Coordination Unit
ACISAI Staffs
Dr. Abha Mishra
Team Leader, SRI-LMB
abhamishra@ait.asia
Dr. Prabhat Kumar
Regional Coordinator, SRI-LMB
pkipm@ait.asia
Mr. Manop Saiphet
National Training Assistant
saiphet@ait.asia
Ms. Sukanya Numa
Administrative and Financial Officer
sky@ait.asia
Ms. Aileen T. Guirnela
Research and Media Associate
aileent@ait.asia
Ms. Huang Luying
Research Associate
huangluying@ait.asia
SRI-LMB Newsletter is published bi-annually by SRI-LMB Publications Unit. We welcome your input, preferably in English. The
deadline for submissions is on 30 May for June issue and 30 November for December issue. We reserve the right to edit all contributions.Please send inputs to Dr. Abha Mishra, Project Manager-SRI-LMB, abhamishra@ait.asia.
website: www.sri-lmb.ait.asia
This project is funded by the European Union
This project is implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
4