West Visayas State University in cooperation with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) conducted a Training on Seed Health last July 30-31, 2013 at WVSU Hometel in Iloilo City. The training is one of the capability building activities of Cyber-Village Project Phase 2, a project being implemented by IRRI, DA-BAR, WVSU and  local government units of Dingle and Oton. Seed health management is one of the identified training needs of the participants. Through the training, the participants can acquire skills that can help the region attain self-sufficiency in rice.   

Farmer technicians as well as municipal agriculturists from the LGUs of Dingle and Oton attended the hands-on training facilitated by seed health experts from  IRRI. The resource speakers imparted information and practical exercises  how to identify  of seed contaminants and  and bad seed conditions.  The participants also learned practical methods and techniques on how to improve seed health quality.  

On the second day of the training, the participants conducted  a field visit to Dingle for actual rouging, disease identification, disease assessment and updating of rice knowledge bank.  The participants also engaged in an open forum to discuss data from different practices to improve seed health.