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Letter of Agreement between Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and SEAMEO BIOTROP has been signed in support to the TCP Project entitled ”Strategy for improving the rice post-harvest system in Indonesia”.

The funds provided by FAO under the agreement will be used to conduct applied research on “Developing a rapid method for determining losses in stored paddy and milled rice”. The duration of the project will be foreseen within two months after the signature.
   
The agreement has been signed by Mr. Man Ho So, FAO Representative in Indonesia on 19 November 2009, and by Dr. Bambang Purwantara, SEAMEO BIOTROP Director on 30 November 2009. The background of the agreement is intended to enable experimental research to assess losses in paddy and milled rice due to Sitophilus zeamais and Rhyzopertha dominica infestations in the laboratory; correlate insect populations with grain damage and losses; and develop field tool for visualizing grain damage in photographs, which will be used in assessing paddy and milled rice losses in the field. Therefore, two main activities will be carried out, i.e. laboratory and field assessments.
   
Dr. Peter Golob, Team Leader FAO TCP Project 3202 Indonesia and Dr. Benni H. Sormin, Assistant FAO Representative Indonesia, will be responsible for ensuring that implementation and reporting requirements are met by SEAMEO BIOTROP.
   
The proponents of the project are Dr. Okky Setyawati Dharmaputra, Mr. Sunjaya and Mrs. Sri Widayanti from SEAMEO BIOTROP; and Dr. Idham Sakti Harahap from the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University.
   
The 1st visit of Dr. Peter Golob to SEAMEO BIOTROP was on 12 October 2009 to discuss about the possibility of SEAMEO BIOTROP to be involved with the project. The 2nd visit was on 8 December 2009 to have a meeting with the project team to discuss about the progress of the project and the next activities that will be done.