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ISSN 1655-5422

International Rice Research Institute July-September 2004, Vol. 3 No. 3

Ofcialpublication

InternationalYearofRice2

Rice year updates:

Festivities in Asia markInternational Year of Rice

World food reprise:Des Moines puts riceback on the menu

The whole way:Going the distancefor the environment

RICE REVEALEDRiceworlds decade of celebrating the life-giving grain


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he rice that feeds

Asia's poorest is also their

bi es ,

so cheap rice means more

money for other essentials

i

Sciencefor a Better

Rice is

LifeI N T E R N A T I O N A L Y E A R O F R I C E 2 0 0 4


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contentsVol. 3, No. 3

International Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines

Web (IRRI): www.irri.orgWeb (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.orgWeb (Riceweb): www.riceweb.orgWeb (Rice Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.org

Rice Todayeditorialtelephone (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2401;fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: [email protected]

CoverAileen Del Rosario-Rondilla

publisher Duncan Macintosheditor Peter Fredenburg

art director Juan Lazaro IVdesigner and production supervisor George Reyesdeputy editor Adam Barclaycontributing editors Gene Hettel, Bill Hardyphoto researcherAileen Del Rosario-RondillaphotographerAriel Javellanacirculation Al Benaventeprinter Primex Printers, Inc.

Rice Todayis published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the worldsleading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and withofces in 11 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprot institution focused onimproving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers,particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information, visitthe CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org).

Responsibility for this publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in this publication

should not be construed as expressing IRRI policy or opinion on the legal status of anycountry, territory, city or area, or its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries.

Rice Todaywelcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Potential contributorsare encouraged to query rst, rather than submit unsolicited materials. Rice Todayassumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited submissions, which shouldbe accompanied by sufcient return postage.

Copyright International Rice Research Institute 2004

INTRODUCING IRRI ............................................................... 4Proud to lead the way

DONORS CORNER................................................................... 5Investing in agricultural research pays: Asian

Development Bank is dedicated to reducingpoverty and improving peoples welfare

NEWS............................................................................................ 6

IRRI director general will step downCooperation with Korea advances

Postharvest project for Cambodia and Vietnam

RICE IN THE NEWS .................................................................. 9New York Times calls for a gene revolution

for the poor

Canberra Times considers security roleof rice research

Science scrutinizes crown jewels initiative

Harvest shortfalls and higher grain pricesviewed as a worrying trend

WORLD FOOD REPRISE......................................................12The Nobel-inspired World Food Prize puts

rice back on the menu

RICE REVEALED WITH MORE IN STORE ................18After a decade of celebrating rice and instilling

knowledge of the essential grain, the RiceworldMuseum and Learning Center marks theInternational Year of Rice with a timelycelebration of itself

THE WHOLE WAY ...................................................................24Going the distance with a holistic Environmental

Agenda that captures decades of experience inenvironmental protection

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, SELECT! ...............................28Molecular markers give rice breeders the edge

in the race against crop loss

PINNING DOWN RURAL POVERTY ...............................30An innovative project to map poverty in

Bangladesh points the way for programs

that target the rural poorSpecial section: .....................................................................32

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICEFarmers and diplomats focus on rice research

Year of international rice awards

Rice year reports from Australia, Bangladesh,India, Korea, Laos, Nepal, Philippines,Thailand and Vietnam

Rice year conferences around the world,from Osaka to Tokyo

Other conferences, meetings, workshops and training

PEOPLE ......................................................................................40Philippine president honors agronomist

Keeping up with IRRI staff

Partners in progress

RICE FACTS ..............................................................................41Rice to the tiller

Lower prices can put more rice in the bowls of thelandless rural poor the forgotten, anonymousand voiceless underclass that provides most of thelabor to grow it

GRAIN OF TRUTH ..................................................................42System of rice intensication responds to

21st century needs versus

Agronomic UFOs waste valuable scientic resources


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INTRODUCING IRRI

Proud to leadthe way

The world was a terrifyingplace in 1952-53. Theperiod saw the rst use ofpopulation explosion in

Time magazine and a cruel irony therst detonation, over the Pacic Ocean, of

a hydrogen bomb. It also brought acrossthe Pacic two senior Rockefeller Founda-tion agriculturalists to study how to end

2 decades of stagnating rice yields in Asia.By 1960, the population explosion was acover story in Time, and the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI) was estab-lished in the Philippines to shore up globalfood security in the face of exponentialpopulation growth.

Along with the other midwife of theGreen Revolution, the Mexico-basedInternational Maize and Wheat Improve-ment Center, IRRI was a prototype for aglobal network of research centers that,since 1971, have found common purpose

within the Consultative Group on Interna-

tional Agricultural Research. With morethan US$400 million in annual fundingfrom its 63 cosponsors and member statesand organizations in particular the

World Bank and developed countries inNorth America, Europe and theAsia Pacic the 15-center

group represents the worldslargest investment in mobiliz-ing science to generate publicgoods for poor farm com-munities.

Since IRRIs release in1966 of the rst modernrice variety, the insti-

tute has led the way indeveloping improved

depend on them for reliable, affordablesupplies of their staple food. IRRIs work,on its research campus at Los Baos andacross Asia in collaboration with the na-tional partners it has nurtured, has greatlycontributed to the near doubling of the

Asian rice harvest since 1970.Today, the institute combines rice-

biodiversity conservation, gene discovery

and plant breeding with natural resourcemanagement, integrated pest manage-ment, agricultural engineering andpostharvest technologies, and social andpolicy studies to develop ecologicallyand economically sustainable strategiesto reverse a troubling new stagnationin rice-yield improvement. This trendoccurs in the contexts of slowing popula-tion growth and Asian farmers enjoyingan average yield more than double that oftheir parents and grandparents at IRRIsfounding. It nevertheless threatens to

undermine the indispensable agricultural

foundation of development, thus sabotag-ing the prospects of todays 500 millionpoor in rice-producing Asia and a largeportion of the billions to be born in theseveral decades before the global popula-tion nally stabilizes.

People at IRRI take pride in howthey, their colleagues and their prede-cessors going back to the shell-shockedmiddle of the 20th century have helpedto make the world a more prosper-ous, safe and hopeful place. But muchremains to be done to achieve the UnitedNations Millennium Development Goalsand so alleviate hunger, want, prevent-

able disease, ignorance, inequality andenvironmental degradation. With contin-


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DONORS CORNER

5Rice TodayJuly-September 2004

The Asian Development Bank isdedicated to reducing poverty andimproving peoples welfare. The

63-member ADB pursues these goals

with diverse operations in agriculture andnatural resource management, energy,nance, industry, social infrastructure,transport, and communications.

In 1999, ADB dened its vision ofan Asia-Pacic region free of poverty andformulated aPoverty Reduction Strategy focused on sustainable economic growth,

inclusive social development and goodgovernance. In early 2001, it adopted a

Long-Term Strategic Framework to pro-vide a roadmap for action up to 2015. Theframework is well aligned with the UnitedNations Millennium Development Goalsand rmly grounded on the key operatingprinciples of strong country ownership,

strategic partnerships and developmentimpact assessment.

Substantial and sustained support

From its establishment in 1966, ADBhas recognized how agriculture, naturalresources and environment are inter-twined with the lives of the rural poor in

Asia, and so has provided substantial andsustained support in these areas. Between1968 and 2003, ADB approved 566 loans constituting 17% of approved loans andtotaling US$18 billion for agriculture,natural resources and rural development.This sector has also been a major recipientof ADB technical assistance (TA) grants,attracting 26% of all such grants between

1967 and 2003, which amounted to $497million.

ADB has a long-standing partnershipwith the Consultative Group on Interna-tional Agricultural Research (CGIAR),recognizing much in common between themissions of the CGIAR and ADB in im-proving agricultural productivity, conserv-ing soil and water resources, protectinggenetic diversity, and bolstering humanresources. Agricultural research contin-ues to be relevant to ADB operations anddevelopment objectives as a means ofreducing poverty in Asia.

From 1975 to 1995, ADB channeled

its nancial support to the CGIAR largelythrough individual grants to specic centersfor specic purposes, which ranged fromimproving training facilities to establishingregional collaborative networks. FollowingBoard approval of the ADB policy paper onagriculture and natural resources research(ANRR) in 1995, support for this sector has

been channeled through annual umbrella

regional technical assistance (RETA), witheight approved grants to date totaling $38.5million.

ADBs policy on ANRR addresses threestrategic objectives: sustainable manage-ment of natural resources, improvedagricultural productivity and poverty reduc-tion. With ADB linked to farmers and localstakeholders through its partnerships withinternational agricultural research centersand national agricultural research systems,the bank ensures that technology is simpli-ed into understandable language andprocedures, knowledge is disseminated andinstitutionalized, and community participa-tion encouraged.

The International Rice Research Insti-

tute (IRRI) is the CGIAR center that has re-ceived the most ADB support, starting withthe banks rst TA project with a CGIARcenter, a grant in 1975 to buy equipment forthe IRRI Training Center. Since that year,

ADB has supported 22 IRRI-led projects.Other main TA recipients have been theInternational Crops Research Institute forthe Semi-Arid Tropics, International WaterManagement Institute, and WorldFish Cen-ter. Altogether, 14 international agriculturalresearch centers have enjoyed ADB support.

Comprehensive guidelines

ADBs project-based support to the CGIARhas gone hand-in-hand with efforts to

improve the focus and quality of that re-search. In April 2003, the bank formulatedcomprehensive guidelines for submittingand evaluating proposals under the annual

ANRR RETA. Following procedures de-tailed in the guidelines, the nal selection ofprojects for the eighth such grant resultedfrom one of the most in-depth consulta-tions ever carried out within ADB regionaldepartments.

To promote dialogue and coopera-tion among national agricultural-sectormanagers, national and internationalresearch institutions, and donors, the

bank is this year facilitating two regionalforums on ANRR, in Central Asia in

August and in South Asia in September.The forums will highlight signicantachievements and benets resultingfrom research funded by ADB and otherdonors, as well as strengthen linkagesamong donors, country programs andresearch outputs.

ADBs experience in developmentassistance shows that agricultural re-search pays a handsome return in terms

of alleviating rural poverty, promotingrural productivity, employment andsustainable natural resource use, andimproving incomes and living stan-dards. ADB will continue to serve as animpartial adviser to agricultural development and a broker assisting efforts thatstrengthen cooperation toward sustain-able economic growth and develop-ment t roug agr cu tura researc anextension.

MS. DAYAL is a senior agriculture specialist inthe Agriculture, Natural Resources and SocialSectors Division of ADBs Regional and Sustain-able Development Department.

Agricultural researchinvestments pay b y P r a t i m a D a y a l

ADB

ADB


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NEWS

Briefy Briefy Briefy Briefy Briefy Briefy

Rice TodayJuly-September 2004 Rice TodayJuly-September 2004

ce Todayupliftedong Kong Dragon Airlines is markingternational Year of Rice 2004 by offeringce Today in its airport lounge and rst andsiness class cabins on all routes. Dragon-r operates 20 passenger aircraft betweenong Kong and 28 other Asian destinations,cluding Beijing, Taipei, Phnom Penh,ngkok and Tokyo. This is perhaps the rst

me that an airline anywhere has stocked asearch institute newsletter alongside theual gossip magazines and internationalws and business weeklies.

ce Knowledge Bank in Nepale Nepal Agricultural Research CouncilARC) and IRRI held on 28 April an orien-ion workshop for establishing the Nepaluntry site of the Rice Knowledge Bank.e Knowledge Bank provides practical

rice knowledge and training materials thathelp rice researchers and extension workers

better meet farmers needs. It promises tobecome a repository for current rice knowl-edge relevant to the various agroecologies ofNepal, with information accessible throughthe Internet, on CD or in print.

Plant breeding team honoredIRRIs Plant Breeding, Genetics and Bio-chemistry Division breeding team wasrecognized at the 28 April Annual Rice Va-rietal Improvement Group meeting of thePhilippine National Seed Industry Council.The team was honored for the Philippinerelease in 2003 of two new rice varietiesfor the irrigated lowlands Matatag 3,

which is resistant to rice tungro virus, andAngelica, which is high-yielding and hasgood resistance to bacterial leaf blight.

Rice with that?Fast-food chain McDonalds is showcasingGraindell, IRRIs book for children, in itscurrent Bright Minds Read campaign, whichstarted in April at all 241 of its outlets inthe Philippines. McDonalds launched thecampaign to empower the Filipino childthrough encouragement and promotion ofreading as a fun and enjoyable activity forgrowth in mind, character and values. IRRIis one of t hree publishers that McDonaldsinvited to participate in the reading andliteracy campaign.

Scientic excellence recognizedTen scientists from Africa, Latin Americaand Asia were recognized in May by theInternational Fund for Agricultural Re-search, a foundation dedicated to fosteringscientic excellence in agriculture through

the Consultative Group on International Ag-ricultural Research (CGIAR). The successfulscientists, who will spend up to 3 months

working with world-class researchers atCGIAR centers, are Helga Rodriguez VonPlaten, Christian O. Thine, Zachee Ngoko,Xue-Jun Ge, Jules Bayala, Geetha Rani,Peter Gathumbi, Tilahum T. Habtemichael,Drissa Hema and Reuben Muasya.

Award for Bangladesh video projectThe Poverty Elimination Through RiceResearch Assistance communication proj-ect Learner-centered video production toenhance women-to-women extension ofpostharvest innovations in Bangladeshreceived a Bronze Award for effective com-munication from the International VisualCommunications Association at a ceremonyin London in March.

Step forward for biodiversityCape Verde and Egypt became on 1 April therst governments to sign the agreement toestablish the Global Crop Diversity Trust.The trust, which aims to raise US$260 mil-lion from governments, foundations andcorporations, will provide a permanentsource of funding for collections of cropdiversity around the world. This diversityis an essential source of the traits scientistsneed to adapt crops to farmers food andlivelihood needs and to changing environ-mental conditions.

IRRI scientists at grains confabSeveral IRRI scientists featured at the 18-19March 4th National Grains PostproductionConference in Cebu City, Philippines, orga-nized by the Philippine Rice PostproductionConsortium, of which IRRI is a founding

member. IRRI speakers includeDatta (on Golden Rice researcDawe (rice marketing in the PhMartin Gummert (IRRIs posthorities), Cristina Sison (rice biofoand Eugene Aquino (developingmoisture meter). A forum on cPhilippine grain postproductionlower costs, simple designs andrying as key farmers needs.

More rice for less waterA new Australian method for selwater-use soils for rice productiduced risk of salinity is being arice farmers. The approach, devthe Cooperative Research Centtainable Rice Production, uses elnetic induction to create a picturto a depth of 5 meters or more,

Ronald Cantrellhas announcedhis resignation asdirector general ofIRRI effective 31December 2004. Ina 2 April statementto institute stafffollowing IRRIsannual Board ofTrustees meeting,Board Chair Kei-

jiro Otsuka saidDr. Cantrell wasstepping down forhealth and fam-ily reasons. Dr.Cantrell took up theposition of directorgeneral in Septem-

ber 1998 and led the institute through

many major challenges and decisions.Ron Cantrell provided the steadying

hand, strong leadership and intel-ligent management IRRI needed,said Dr. Otsuka. The institute

went through an uncertain pe-riod in the mid- to late-1990s,

with one director general depart-ing unexpectedly to be replaced

by a temporary appointment. But,within a year or so of his arrival,Dr. Cantrell had got the institute

back on track. After successfully negoti-

ating a tumultuous start, Dr.Cantrell had to deal with twoof the biggest challenges fac-

ing agriculturalresearch in thedeveloping world.

A continuing de-cline in funding hitIRRI hard in 2002,

when Japan cut itsfinancial support

by almost 50%,causing painfulstaff cutbacks.

Added to this wasthe growing inter-national debateover biotechnologyand how it could

be used to benetpoor rice farmersand consumers.

Dr. Otsukaemphasized that

IRRI now neededto find new can-didates of Dr.Cantrells caliber.We especially

want to encouragegood candidates

with outstandingexpertise in rice science and who fullyunderstand the international rice indus-try, he said. The position is one of themost important and influential in the riceindustry today. Other topics raised by Dr. Otsuka fol-lowing the 29 March-2 April board meetingincluded the boards acknowledgment of thefavorable External Program and Manage-

IRRI DIRECTOR GENERALRonald Cantrell (left)with Egyptian DeputyPrime Minister YoussefWally.

Collaboration between IRRI and theKorean Rural Development Administra-n (RDA) took another step forward at theth RDA-IRRI Collaborative Research andaining Workplan Meeting at IRRI on 19-April. Participants assessed the progresscollaboration in 2002-03 and developed

2004-05 RDA-IRRI collaborative work-an, including new project proposals. Theeeting also highlighted the achievements40 years of Korea-IRRI partnership one research and development.

Meanwhile, breeding collaboration

between IRRI and the RDA at the NationalInstitute of Crop Science (NICS) in Suwon,South Korea, has made progress againsta serious pest problem of japonica rice bysuccessfully developing brown planthopper-resistant japonica rice breeding lines.

A new source of resistance to brownplanthopper was identied in two IRRI

breeding lines and incorporated into two japonica rice cultivars, Jinbubyeo andJunambyeo, using conventional and mo-lecular breeding methods. These researchmaterials will be shared with scientists

SHAKING HANDS after the signing of the 2004-05 RDA-IRRI collaborative workplan are Moon-Hee Lee (left), director general of theKorean National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in Suwon, South Korea, and Ren Wang, IRRI deputy director general for research.Looking on are (from left) William Padolina, IRRI deputy director general for p artnerships; K.L. Heong, deputy head of IRRIs Ento-mology and Plant Pathology Division (EPPD); Nollie Vera Cruz, EPPD senior scientist; Jae-Kweon Ko, senior rice breeder at HonamAgricultural Research Institute; Sant Virmani, IRRI principal scientist in plant breeding; Darshan Brar, senior scientist in IRRIs PlantBreeding, Genetics and Bioche mistry Division (PBGB); Mark Bell, head of IRRIs International Programs Management Ofce (IPMO);Ho-Yeong Kim, EPPD senior scientist; Hung-Goo Hwang, director of the Breeding and Genetics Division of NICS; Ji-Ung Jeung, seniorresearch scientist in the IRRI-Korea Ofce; K.K. Jena, PBGB se nior scientist and IRRI country representative for Korea; Tom Mew,IRRI principal scientist in plant pathology; and Jojo Lapitan, IPMO senior scientist.

working in two oth-er NICS-affiliatedinstitutes, the Ho-nam AgriculturalResearch Instituteand the Yeongnam

Agricultural Re-search Institute,for their breed-ing programs toimprove japonicaresistance to brownplanthopper.

DR. LEE (center) examinesplants with resistance tobrown planthopper. With himare Hung-Goo Hwang (left),director of the Breeding and

Genetics Division of NICS,and K.K. Jena, IRRI countryrepresentative for Korea.

ooperation with Korea advances in conference rooms and laboratories Rice institute director general will step down at the end of 2004

INTO EGYPT. IRRI Board of Trustees Chair Keijiro Otsuka and DirectoRonald Cantrell (rst row, fourth and fth from left) pose with princresearchers at the Rice Research and Training Center at Sakha, EgyptCantrell and Otsuka also met with Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister YWally, who also serves as minister of agric ulture and land reclamatioan 8-12 May visit to Sakha and the Rice Technology Training Center andria. Dr. Wally and Badawi A. Tantawi, head of the Egyptian Rice RProgram, expressed appreciation for IRRIs contributions to the tremincrease in rice production in Egypt, where the average yield climbe5.4 t/ha in 1970 to 9.2 t/ha in 2003, one of the highest yields in th

ment Review in March and his aof IRRIs nancial situation, abhe was cautiously optimistic. Hcomed three new board membeK. Oniango (Kenya), Ronald (USA) and Baowen Zhang (Chi

bid farewell to three departingCalvin Qualset (USA), Mike Gand Emanuel Serro (Brazil).JI

-UNGJEUNG

EGYPTGOVERNMENT


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NEWS

Briefy Briefy Briefy

8 Rice TodayJuly-September 2004

with evaluation of soil chemical properties.The technique helps farmers minimize theamount of irrigation water escaping into thegroundwater system.

Library capacity buildingIRRI librarians Carmelita Austria, Lea DelosReyes and Mila Ramos trained librarians at

a capacity-building workshop on 20-21 Mayat Benguet State University, Philippines, for

PhilAgriNet, a network that aims to builda central database of Philippine techni-cal agricultural literature outputs, andthe International Information System forthe Agricultural Sciences and Technology(AGRIS).

Science Council meetingThe new Science Council of the Consulta-tive Group on International Agricultural

The Asian Development Bank hasapproved a US$750,000 Japanese Fundfor Poverty Reduction grant for a project toreduce postharvest losses on rice farming in

Vietnam and Cambodia. The project aims todevelop a comprehensive training package

in cost-effective postharvest methods thatwill improve food security, boost livelihoodsand reduce poverty in villages that rely onrice production.

The training will be provided to threefarming intermediary institutes in eachcountry. The institutes will work with atleast 800 farmers and 10 rice millers toteach drying and pesticide-free storage tech-niques and improve rice-milling techniques.Spoilage caused by poor storage techniquescan rob farmers in Vietnam and Cambodiaof half or more of their household grainsupplies.

The Vietnamese and Cambodian gov-ernments will together contribute $25,000

in kind to fund the project, and IRRI theexecuting agency for the grant, which can

be utilized until 2006 will add $165,000in kind, for a total of $940,000. IRRI-developed equipment will be adapted usinglocally available materials to ensure that it isaffordable to farmers, and farmers and ricemillers will be taught about the workings ofthe local rice market, including consumerpreferences, quality requirements and pric-ing mechanisms.

Research, IRRIs parent group, held itsformal inaugural meeting on 12-15 May at

the International Center for AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas, Syria. Chaired

by Per Pinstrup-Andersen, former directorgeneral of the International Food PolicyResearch Institute, the council consists of

Virender Lal Chopra, Ken Fischer, outgoing

IRRI board member Michael Gale, RichardHarwood, Alain de Janvry, Keiji Kainuma,Onesmo ole-Moi Yoi, Lisa Sennerby-Forsseand Hans Gregersen.

Pest management on CDIRRI and the Malaysian Agricultural Re-search and Development Institute jointlyimplemented in May a CD-based trainingcourse on integrated pest management(IPM) for research and extension person-

nel in Malaysia. This type of training, based

on information in IRRIs Rice KnowledgeBank, allows the institute to reach more

participants with fewer resources. Thecourse was structured around the themesof ecology, updates on pest managementpractices, sociology, and the communica-tion and implementation aspects of IPM.The training was mostly CD-based, and

only a few topics were delivered in face-to-face lectures.

Indian transgenic cropsThe Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) will develop transgenic varieties of14 selected crops, including rice resistantto stem borer and fungal infections. Othercrops slated for development include stem

borer-resistant sorghum and maize andpod borer-resistant pigeonpea and chick-

pea. At the March national conference on

Postharvest project forCambodia and Vietnam

Correction:A photo caption on page 25 ofthe April-June issue ofRice Today misidenti-

ed V.N. Singh as H.N. Singh.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN BHUTAN: International Programs Management Ofce Senior Scientist Jojo Lapitan(front row, third from left) led a project-management course on 27-29 April in Wangduephodrang, Bhutan.Providing technical assistance toward developing Bhutans research and human resource capacity, the coursewas attended by 16 senior Bhutanese research and administrative ofcers from renewable natural resourcesresearch centers, watershed projects and the Natural Resources Training Institute.

AWARD-WINNING FARMERS:The Vietnamese Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Devel-opment promoted in Aprilthe Three Reductions farmingtechnique locally knownas Ba Giam Ba Tang byhonoring farmers who pro-duced crops with the lowestinputs and highest output,thus maximizing prots. Thecampaign, which encouragesfarmers to reduce their seed,pesticide and fertilizer rates,has spread to thousands of

farmers in the Mekong Deltathrough radio, TV, posters andleaets.

IPMO

NGUYENHUUHUAN


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RICE IN THE NEWS

Briefy


An editorial in the 24 May edition of theNew York Times welcomed a statementin the 2004 annual report of the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Na-tions that genetically modied foods aresafe to eat. It repeated the reports mainconclusion regarding the real problem

with genetically modied crops: they arenot aimed at helping the worlds hungry.The editorial continued: Agriculture

is the livelihood of 70% of the worlds poor,a population that is growing considerably,even as soil and water are becoming de-pleted. Billions are already malnourished

because their staple crops supply few nu-trients. Genetic engineering can help on

both counts.

The poor need a gene revolution tofollow the 1960s Green Revolution, whichhelped hundreds of millions by increasingthe yields of wheat, rice and other crops. But

so far, theres only been a gene revolution foragribusiness. The genetically engineered foodindustry is controlled by a few corporations,such as Monsanto and DuPont. They havelittle incentive to work on crops poor peoplegrow, or to share their licensed technology.

New York Timescalls for a gene revolution for the poor

Keijiro Otsuka, chair of IRRIs Board ofTrustees and vice president of the Inter-national Association of Agricultural Econo-mists, warned in an editorial published on 1

April in the Canberra Times that alleviatingrural poverty in Asia and quelling the in-stability it causes requires revitalized donor

support for publicly funded rice research.Rice directly or indirectly supports

hundreds of millions of people, so improv-ing farmers ability to grow rice efcientlyand sustainably is essential for ensuringfood security, alleviating poverty and im-proving the well-being of rural and urbanpopulations alike, wrote Dr. Otsuka, add-ing that the potential for success is greaterthan ever.

The recent sequencing of the ricegenome is now providing more scientic

knowledge of the rice plant than has beengathered in the 15,000 years of its cultiva-tion, he said. The development of morenutritious rice varieties promises to help

combat the malnutrition that aficts hun-dreds of millions of people who depend onrice for most of their calories. However, de-clining support is preventing the delivery ofnew technologies to farmers.

Meanwhile, in the edition ofPaddy andWater Environmentpublished online on 25February, IRRI Director General Ronald P.Cantrell addressed the challenges and op-

To allow widespread research on poor-coun-try crops, these companies must release thetechnology for humanitarian use. Wealthycountries must sponsor research. The 13 March edition of The Hindunewspaper reported on a public debate onBiotechnology and shaping the future o

rice, held in Chennai, India, the previousday by the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation(www.hindu.com/2004/03/13/stories/2004031311740500.htm). It said debatersachieved a consensus that thorough discussion on various aspects of genetically modi-

ed seeds and food should be held before anal decision on adopting the new GM technology is taken. Panelists supporting theuse of biotechnology for improving cropsnutritional value and resistance to pestsand disease were M.K. Bhan, secretary othe Indian governments Department of Bio-technology; William James Peacock, chie

of the Australian Commonwealth Scienticand Industrial Research Organization; andGerard Barry, IRRI-based coordinator othe Golden Rice Network. Suman Sahaipresident of the Delhi-based NGO GeneCampaign, dissented.

portunities for rice-based farming in theInternational Year of Rice and beyond.

There are two major challenges involving rice in Asia, he wrote. The rst isensuring the ability of nations to meet theirnational and household food security needs

with a declining natural resource base, espe-cially regarding water and land. [] The sec-ond challenge as stated by the UN as oneof its eight Millennium Development Goals is the eradication of extreme poverty andhunger. Rice is so central to the lives of mos

Asians that any solution to global povertyand hunger must include research that helps

poor Asian farmers earn a decent, reliableincome by growing rice that is affordable topoor consumers.

Dr. Cantrell noted that stiffer competition from industrial and domestic usersfor limited water supplies is creating anurgent need to improve crop water productivity. About 70% of the water currently

withdrawn from all freshwater sourceworldwide is used for agriculture. In Asiairrigated agriculture uses 90% of the totadiverted freshwater, and more than half ofthis irrigates rice. Until recently, such waterusage has been taken for granted, but thiscannot continue. We must help farmers produce the larger harvests required by future

generations while using no more water thanthey use today, and probably less.

Canberra Timesconsiders security role of rice research

The Philippine chapter of the Associationfor Communication Excellence in Agri-culture, Natural Resources, and Life andHuman Sciences unveiled its new logo inMay, as IRRI staff won a swag of awards inthe U.S.-based associations 2004 Critiqueand Awards Program.

Aurora Ammayao and husband GeneHettel won a Gold Award and the Outstand-ing Professional Skill Award in writing fortheir chapter in the bookArt of Rice: Spirit

and Sustenance in Asia, published by theUCLA Museum of Cultural History (anadapted excerpt of the chapter appearedin the January 2004 issue ofRice Today);

Ariel Javellana, Christian Concepcion andDuncan Macintosh won a Gold Award forIRRIs International Year of Rice poster set;Meg Yandoc, Gina Santos, Vic Alarcon, JoeIbabao and Gene Hettel won a Silver Awardfor theIRRI Bulletin electronic newsletter;

and Juan Lazaro IV, Ariel Javellana andGene Hettel won a Bronze Award for anIRRI Rice Image Bank advertisement.

transgenics in agriculture, ICAR DirectorGeneral Mangala Rai said that the council

will move ahead with transgenic crops fol-lowing Planning Commission approval.

All about riceThe Asia Rice Foundation launched in Feb-ruaryAll About Rice , a new quarterly publi-

cation designed to enlighten readers abouttopical rice issues. The rst edition focuses

on Organic Fertilizer in Rice: Myths andFacts. The editors encourage submissions,which should provide information that willhelp readers understand specic issues, mo-

bilize public support and increase apprecia-tion for rice. Send submissions and queriesto: The Asia Rice Foundation, Los Baos,4031 Laguna, Philippines; tel/fax (+63-49)536-2285; email [email protected]. Visitthe foundation at www.asiarice.org.

New logo and awardsfor communicators


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RICE IN THE NEWS


14 March with a report that the Rice Export-ers Association of Pakistan and the All IndiaRice Exporters Association had agreed inNew Delhi to jointly promote exports of

basmati rice (www.nancialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=54749).

We will jointly ght any possible in-fringement on geographical indications on

basmati rice, which is our common heri-tage, Sharma quoted Adbul Rahim Janoo,head of the Pakistani delegation, as saying.We will also jointly promote basmati inthe overseas market. India and Pakistantogether export more than 1 million tons of

basmati rice per year.Sharma urged in the next days Fi-

nancial Express similar promotion andprotection for other scented South Asianrice varieties (www.nancialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=54785).

Christopher Surridge, a senior biology editor ofNature, investigated in the 25 March edition ofthe journal (Vol. 428) the controversy surroundingthe system of rice intensication (SRI). In someways, the debate resembles that currently raging

over organic agriculture, he wrote. For advocates,SRI is a grassroots movement to resist the inuenceof global agribusiness by reducing dependence onchemical inputs. Detractors call it a waste of timethat is diverting resources from more promising ap-proaches such as genetic engineering. The journalField Crops Research (Vol. 88, Issue 1) took a criticallook at SRI with the article Fantastic yields in thesystem of rice intensication: Fact or fallacy?, by J.E.Sheehy, S. Peng, A. Dobermann, P.L. Mitchell, A. Fer-rer, Jianchang Yang, Yingbin Zou, Xuhua Zhong andJianliang Huang, and the discussionAgronomic UFOs ,by Thomas R. Sinclair and Kenneth G. Cassman. (SeeGrain of Truth, pages 42-43.) Also in Field Crops Research (Vol. 87, Issue 1) is

the short communication Trends in Rice-WheatAreain China, by IRRI economist David Dawe and SteveFrolking and Changsheng Li, both of the Institute forthe Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the Universityof New Hampshire. Combining two methods of estimat-ing the area of farmland planted to rice and wheat inrotation in China yielded an estimate of 3.4 millionha, much less than gures found in the literature,

which run as high as 13 million ha. The Manila Times reported on 5 February the launchby Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ofve hybrid varieties collectively known as GloriaRice, quoting farmers who reported doubling theirharvests to 10 t/ha. On 6 March, Todaynewspapercontrasted the governments forecast of yields 2 to 3times higher than the current national average of 3t/ha with the assertion of the farmers group Masipagthat such high yields are possible only under the idealconditions experienced by few farmers. The Xinhua News Agency reported in mid-April on ahybrid rice exhibition at Sanya, Hainan, and Chineseefforts to export hybrid rice technology globally. Thereport said that hybrid rice area in 2003 reached

1 million ha in South and Southeast Asia. Chinesehybrids were reportedly doing exceptionally well inEgypt, producing 35% more grain in saline-alkali soilthan in normal soil. Another Xinhua report said thatHainan Province will establish ve natural reservesfor endangered wild rice, which it called the giantpanda of the botanical world. The April edition of International Development

Review, the in-house publication of the British De-partment for International Development (DFID), and 1March edition ofNew Agriculturalist on-line (www.new-agri.co.uk/04-2/focuson/focuson2.html) both reviewedDFID-funded research in India and Bangladesh by IRRIweed scientist David Johnson and his collaborators oncontrolling weeds in direct-seeded rice. Derryn Hinch hosted on 21 May an Independence BallforEast Timor, whose 500 invited guests were asked tobring a bag of rice with $2 taped to it to cover shippingcosts to the famine-threatened nation. The Australiantalkback radio host decided to take things a step further,asking listeners to his program on Melbourne radio sta-tion 3AW to do the same. The campaign raised US$40,000and more than 10 tons of rice.

Also

Meager grain harvests over the pastseveral years, especially in China, areraising a chorus of concern that the rela-tive bounty of recent decades may soon bea thing of the past. The New York Times,

Asian Wall Street Journal,Asia Times, andGlobe and Mailare among the newspapers

that since March have published majorfeatures suggesting structural causes fordeclining grain harvests, diminished stocksand soaring prices.

Lester Brown, founder of the World-watch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute(www.earth-policy.org), has long warned ofglobal famine. Lately, more people seem to belistening. Martin Mittelstaedt, writing in the22 May edition of Canadas prestigiousGlobeand Mail, said the American media magnateTed Turner came upon [Browns] new book

[Plan B, rescuing a planet under stress anda civilization in trouble] and thought its

worrisome content was so persuasive thathe bought more than 3,000 copies for dis-tribution to people he knows.

Mittelstaedt reported that total globalgrain reserves stood at 280 million tons in late2003, down from more than 500 million tonsin 1999. Citing Brown, he blamed three mainenvironmental trends : global warming, wa-ter shortages in many parts of the world andfarmland degradation in China.

Factoring in economic causes, reportsattributed the decline in land sown to grainin China to urbanization, deserticationand reforestation efforts to combat it, loss

of irrigation supplies, a shift to higher-valuecrops, and a decline in double-cropping dueto farm labor shortages.

The Asian Wall Street Journalre-ported on 9 March: Sudden price surgesfor Chinas most precious staple, rice,

have caught several big cities off guardand prompted urgent measures to ensuresupply. Among them was a governmentpledge of $1.2 billion in rural subsidies toget farmers to grow more grain and workto smooth supply bottlenecks.

Jim Yardley, writing in the 2 May edi-

tion of the New York Times, focused on of-ten illegal land conversion in China. Since2002, China has lost more than 13,500square miles [3.5 million ha] of farmland,

he wrote. Last year alone, more than 2% ofall farmland was lost.

Citing farm-gate and world-marketprice declines that are driving thousandsfrom an increasingly unprotable business,

Alan Boyd noted in a March edition of theAsia Times that global rice stocks are ex-

Harvest shortfalls and higher grain prices viewed as a worrying trend

Cooperation in South Asia on zero tillage, basmati promotion

The 10 March edition of the Financial

Express newspaper in India and the 29March online edition of the Daily Timesnewspaper in Pakistan covered an agree-ment by subcontinental rivals India andPakistan to cooperate in soil-conservationtechnologies and sustainable agriculture.

The stories cited Mangala Rai, directorgeneral of the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR), saying that the regionalmeeting of the IRRI-supported Rice-WheatConsortium in Islamabad in February hadpaved the way for bilateral cooperation

between the two countries after 8 years of

stymied progress in the consortium due toadverse political relations. The agreementcalls for bringing 1 million ha, including900,000 ha in India, under zero tillage.

Ashok B. Sharma, author of the Fi-nancial Express article, followed it up on

pected to decline by 20 million tons, reduc-ing reserves to about 3 months of supply.China and India, the biggest consumers, willexperience the largest drops.

Mittelstaedt was especially alarmed atthe effect of global warming on plants abil-ity to fertilize their seeds. He cited research

conducted at IRRI that found that the fer-tilization of rice seeds falls from 100% at 34degrees to near zero at 40 degrees.

Its the work that we have been doing

with colleagues at the University of Florida,Gainesville, commented John Sheehy, spe-cialist in crop ecology and crop modeling,

when he saw the article. The bit that getsleft out is that were trying to work on a solu-tion to the high-temperature problem, butnding it almost impossible to get funds.


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In the 27 February edition ofScience (Vol.303, No. 5662, pages 1281-1283), Den-nis Normile reported on efforts to achievecloser cooperation, and perhaps a merger,

between IRRI and the International Maizeand Wheat Improvement Center (CIM-MYT). The aim of the crown jewels of the

Consultative Group on International Agri-cultural Research (CGIAR), he wrote, is aheightened and more centralized effort touse genomics to enhance germplasm.

We know now that the major cerealshave a majority of their genes in common,IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrell wasquoted as saying. Normile added that thetwo institutes taking advantage of thesimilarities among the cereals might leadto a shared genomics laboratory, jointlyappointed researchers and possibly even acommon board. Savings in lab costs could beaugmented by efciencies from centralized

bioinformatics efforts, intellectual-propertymanagement and training programs.

Normile explained that the initiativearose in response to lower funding levelsfor both centers and a donor-led diversionof money from basic germplasm research

into other areas. A recent evaluation by theWorld Bank of some 700 previous reportsand studies notes that CGIAR spending onimproving crop productivity declined by6.5% annually in real terms through the1990s and that training programs for thedeveloping world decreased by nearly 1%a year (see graphic), he reported. At the

same time, research into environmentalprotection and biodiversity were receiving

larger shares of a shrinking pie.The resulting erce competi-

tion among centers for scarce fund-ing isolated research programs ata time when germplasm researchefforts could have beneted fromgreater collaboration, especially

in biotechnology. While privatecompanies and universities inadvanced countries invested $8

billion to $10 billion in agricultural bio-

technology in the 1990s, says Uma Lele, anagricultural economist who led the WorldBank review, the CGIAR system spent just$25 million. For a billion poor people in the

world, that is just minuscule, she says.The combined weight of IRRI and

CIMMYT within the CGIAR has led tospeculation that the initiative which isoverseen by a committee chaired by Gor-don Conway, president of the Rockefeller

Foundation could shake up the structureof the entire group.

Perhaps the biggest question is howdonors will react, wrote Normile. Rock-efellers Conway, an agricultural ecologist,says that coupling a new functional ge-

nomics program to the existing germplasmbanks and eld-testing expertise of the twocenters will create a really powerful basis forproducing new crop traits that might appealto donors. So, too, might a report from theRockefeller Foundation offering a blueprintfor a new, improved CGIAR. The 19 April edition of the Financial

Express described an IRRI-CIMMYTmerger as the height of folly. Editorialist

Ashok B. Sharma wrote: One should no

think that the roles of IRRI and CIMMYTare over with the ushering in of the GreenRevolution. There are still millions of hungry people in Asia, Africa and Latin AmericaBoth IRRI and CIMMYT still have effectiveroles to play.

The national governments, in theinterests of greater public welfare, shouldincrease their funding to the CGIAR systemin general and to IRRI and CIMMYT in par

ticular. Also in the interest of greater publicwelfare, the CGIAR system should maintainits image as a global public-sector research

body working for public good.The CGIAR should not depend upon

funds from private sector.

The Manila Times on 20 Aprilreported that IRRIs budget hadfallen from US$44.49 million in 1993to $27.1 million (www.manilatimesnet/national/2004/apr/20/yehey/metro/20040420met6.html). Citing Dr. Cantrellit said IRRI is developing a long-termstrategy to tap Asian funding, beginning

this year with members of the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations.

The Daily Star newspaper examined arange of rice-related developments inBangladesh in March and April.

On 4 March, it covered a workshopon poverty mapping held at the Local Gov-ernment Engineering Department, whichparticipated in this IRRI-led project along

with the Bangladesh Agricultural ResearchCouncil and the Bangladesh Bureau of Sta-tistics (seePinning down poverty on page

30). Rural poverty is of direct concern forpolicymakers, planners, and implement-ers of agricultural and rural developmentprograms, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir,state minister for agriculture, was quotedas telling the workshop.

The article added: Noting that therural poverty is not spread evenly acrossthe countryside, the state minister saidthere was a need for detailed informationon hot spots of poverty so that the govern-

ment can target the development programmore precisely.

The 18 April edition reported on a2-day workshop on Uptake Methods andPathways organized by the Department of

Agricultural Extension and the IRRI-ledproject Poverty Elimination Through RiceResearch Assistance. At the workshop, Ag-riculture Minister M.K. Anwar pointed outthat agriculture receives only 2.47% of thecountrys annual development budget, downfrom 22% in 1979. He promised that the next

budget will include measures favoring farm-ers to lower high rice production costs.

On the front page of its 23 April edition,theDaily Star covered a dialogue on Wom-ens contribution to rural economic activities:Making the invisible visible, organized by

the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Agri-culture Minister Anwar, State Minister for

Agriculture Alamgir, and Awami League

Agriculture Secretary Mohammad AbduRazzaque were among those who addressed

the gathering, which was chaired by FazleHasan Abed, member of the CPD Board oTrustees and chairman of the BangladeshRural Advancement Committee.

Representing IRRI were Social Sciences Division Head Mahabub Hossain andgender specialist Thelma Paris. Dr. Hossainrecommended channeling agricultural creditthrough women and new government projects to train women in improved agriculturatechnologies and support their income-generating activities around the homestead.

The article quoted Dr. Paris as addingStereotyped notions that rural women arehousewives should be discarded and replaced by the recognition that their roles in

production and their contributions to familyincome are crucial for improving the liveli-hoods of the household.

Sciencescrutinizes crown jewels initiative

Daily Starcovers poverty mapping, technology uptake and women in farming in Bangladesh

A changing set of research priorities*

Increasingproductivity Training

+2.7%+3.1% +3.1%

0.8% Savingbiodiversity

Protectingthe

environment

Betterpolicies

6.5%*Average annual change in CGIAR research

expenditures, 1992-2001. Source: CGIAR


11/36

Rice, the worlds most widely consumed grain, plays a unique role in combating global hunger.

Reecting this, the World Food Prize has recognized seven scientists and world leaders for their

exceptional achievements in rice more than in any other area of food production. This trend

reinforced on 29 March at a ceremony at the United States Department of State hosted by Secretary

State Colin Powell. At this event, it was my pleasure and honor, as president of the World Food Prize

undation, to name two more scientists, Monty Jones of Sierra Leone and Yuan Longping of China, as

ipients of the World Food Prize for their efforts to improve rice productivity in Africa and Asia.

The Nobel-inspired World Food Prizeputs rice back on the menu

WORLDby AmbassadorKenneth Quinn

FOOD

THE IOWA STATE Capitol

Building in Des Moines de

out in celebration of the

US$250,000 World Food P


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Iowas international harvester

Born in a rural Norwegian-American community in northeastern Iowa on 25 March 1914,

Norman Borlaug was like hundreds of millions of beneciaries of his lifes work

worldwide raised on a family farm and rst educated in a one-room schoolhouse.

In the 1940s, armed with degrees in forestry and plant pathology, he began working in

a wheat-research program jointly sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican

government. His achievements in Mexico notably the development of short-strawedwheat cultivars able to produce high yields and resist disease were the beginning

of a distinguished career in ghting world hunger. After helping to reverse severe food

shortages in India and Pakistan in the 1960s, Dr. Borlaug continued his work in other

hunger-ravaged nations throughout the world, never losing sight of his goal to provide

food for the countless millions suffering the pangs of malnourishment.

As a result, Dr. Borlaug saved as many as a billion lives

throughout the world. For this unprecedented service to

humanity, the man now known as the father of the Green

Revolution received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

Yet, as he accepted the worlds premier humanitarian

honor, Dr. Borlaug realized that no provision existed for

regular recognition of the work of others in the ght

to end world hunger. There was no system to honor

the achievements of thousands of scientists, farmers,

political leaders and humanitarians working toward

global food security in elds as diverse as agriculture,

ecology, nutrition, economics, manufacturing and public

policy. He envisioned a World Food Prize, knowing

that establishing it would be a difcult task. However,

overcoming immeasurable challenges was nothing new to

Dr. Borlaug, so when the rst World Food Prize was awarded

in 1987, few were surprised by its success.

This years laureate announcement in March at the

Department of State in Washington, D.C., which did double

duty as a 90th birthday ce lebration for Dr. Borlaug, gave

Secretary of State Colin Powell the opportunity to express

sentiments that many have long cherished.

Thanks to Dr. Borlaugs pioneering work in the 1960sto develop varieties of high-yielding wheat, countless

millions of men, women and children, who will never know his name, will never go to bed

hungry, Sec. Powell observed. Dr. Borlaug has been an inspiration to new generations

across the globe who have taken up the ght against hunger.

On 10-12 July, the World Food Prize Foundation will join the Chinese Academy of

Agricultural Sciences to celebrate Dr. Borlaugs birthday again in Beijing, where the father

of the Green Revolution will be guest of honor along with Yuan Longping, Chinas

homegrown 2004 World Food Prize laureate at the International Symposium on Science

and Technology in Agriculture: Current and Future. In October, as people everywhere mark

World Food Day, the foundation will bring the celebration back home to Des Moines, Iowa

(see Ear of rice on page 17).

the world. The mission of the WorldFood Prize Foundation, which awardsthe annual US$250,000 prize, isthreefold: to recognize exceptionalachievement across the entire food

production and distribution process,to highlight how scientic innovationmight solve problems affecting the

process, and to inspire others todedicate their careers to helping to

feed the world and eradicate hunger.Yuan Longping, while at the

Hunan Academy of AgriculturalSciences in China, achieved a

major scientic breakthrough ashe developed the genetic materialsessential for breeding high-yieldinghybrid rice varieties. Now widelyconsidered the father of hybrid rice,

Prof. Yuan is being recognized fordeveloping hybrids that yield up to20% more grain than inbred varieties.

NORMAN BORLAUGS contribu-tions to world agriculture have

saved a billion lives.

The announcement coincidestly with the United Nationssignation of 2004 as theternational Year of Rice. The

remony in Washington attendedover 250 diplomats, experts andlicymakers including U.S. SecretaryAgriculture Ann Veneman andcques Diouf, director general of the

ood and Agriculture Organizationthe United Nations was notableanother respect. It served as a

surprise celebration of the 90thbirthday of Norman Borlaug, withSec. Powell leading the diplomaticcorps in singingHappy Birthday

to the World Food Prize founder(seeIowas international harvester

below).Now in its 18th year, the World

Food Prize honors individuals who

have made signicant contributionsto improving the quality, quantityor availability of food throughout

AT THE 29 MARCH laureate announcement at the Department ofState in Washington, D.C., are (from left) Ambassador KennethQuinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation and authorof this feature; John Ruan III, vice-chairman of the World FoodPrize Foundation; Alan P. Larson, under secretary of state foreconomic, business and agricultural affairs; Ann Veneman,secretary of agriculture; Colin Powell, secretary of state; JacquesDiouf, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations; Norman Borlaug; Andrew Natsios, admin-istrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

EMILYWESTERGAARD,THEWORLDFOODPRIZE

CIMMYT

THEAFRICARICECENTER(WARDA)

Further, Prof. Yuan has made aconcerted effort to educate others

about his discovery, thus spreadingthe benets to more than 10 other

countries worldwide. His work hasdirectly contributed to the productionof enough additional food to sustain60 million people.

Breakthrough achievementBorn in Sierra Leone, Monty Jones

became in 1991 the head of theUpland Rice Breeding Program of

the West Africa Rice DevelopmentAssociation (WARDA) The AfricaRice Center, one of 15 international

research centers funded through theConsultative Group on International

Agricultural Research by the WorldBank and other member donors. It

was in this position that he madehis breakthrough achievementof combining Asian and Africanrice varieties to develop a new

rice uniquely suited to the uplandconditions farmed by poor Africans.These varieties, which came to beknown as New Rice for Africa, orNERICA, provide African farmers

with much-needed alternatives toexisting rice varieties. As the father ofNERICA, Dr. Jones is credited withincreasing many African farmersupland rice yields by half or more.

In October, Prof. Yuan and Dr.Jones will travel to Des Moines,Iowa, to receive their award andparticipate in the 2004 World Food

Prize International Symposium, FromAsia to Africa: Rice, Bioforticationand Human Nutrition. Along withthe laureate announcement in

Washington, D.C., the Laureate

Award Ceremony and Symposium willlikely be remembered as a deningevent of the International Year of Rice(seeEar of rice on page 15).

Scientic and policyachievements related to rice theprimary food of 17 countries and

billions of individuals throughout theworld have greatly advanced the

struggle to feed some of the worldslargest and most undernourishedpopulations. Prof. Yuan and Dr. Jones

WORLD FOOD PRIZE laureates (from left) Monty Jones (2004), Yuan Longping (2004), M.S. Swaminathan(1987, pictured with Philippine President C orazon Aquino at IRRI in 1986), Robert F. Chandler (1988, withPhilippine President Diosdado Macapagal and John D. Rockefeller III at the formal dedication of IRRI in1962), Henry Beachell (1996, with Dr. Chandler and the Philippine and American rst ladies Imelda Marcosand Lady Bird Johnson at IRRI i n 1966) and Dr. Swaminathan again (with Lu Liangsh u, president of the Chi-nese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in 1985).

are the most recent World Folaureates honored for their wthis essential grain, adding achapter to the prizes rich his

of recognizing achievements production.

This history started withinaugural World Food Prize.

1987, M.S. Swaminathan becthe rst World Food Prize laufor his work in extending theRevolution to India, which lea doubling of that countrys t

wheat and rice output in justcropping seasons. Dr. Swamipromoted high-yielding rice v

TANGMIN

IRRI(4)


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veloped by the International Riceesearch Institute (IRRI) to Indianrmers through test plots and

monstrations, thus advancing avolutionary approach to agricultural

tension in India that reversed yieldagnation and helped feed millions.

The prize recognized progress ince again the following year, as IRRIs

unding director general, Robert F.handler, became the 1988 laureate.r. Chandler was selected for his rolepreventing widespread famine inia, as IRRI, under his leadership,

lped raise the continents ricervest by two-thirds. The prize alsocognized Dr. Chandlers continuedntributions after he moved on from

RRI to become the founding director

the Asian Vegetable Research andevelopment Center, where he wasstrumental in improving the dietsmillions of undernourished people

roughout the world.

Eight years later, in 1996, theWorld Food Prize honored HenryBeachell and Gurdev Khush, who

worked together at IRRI to developnew strains of rice with dramatically

improved yields. Dr. Beachell appliedto rice Norman Borlaugs principleof breeding sturdy, short-strawedcultivars. The results were semidwarf

rice cultivars that yielded nearly twiceas much grain as traditional varieties.Dr. Khush, a student of Dr. Beachellsat IRRI, carried on his mentors work

by breeding into these high-yielding

modern varieties improved resistanceto diseases and pests. The innovationsdeveloped by these two men led to ahigh-yielding and resilient rice varietythat at one point occupied over 70%

of the worlds rice lands.I witnessed, 3 decades ago while

working in the Mekong Delta, thedramatic impact of the rice varieties

developed by Drs. Beachell and Khush. The arrival of the new seedsfrom IRRI coincided with the buildingof new roads rice and roadstogether clearly driving dramaticimprovement in the quality of life.

But, where the road-building stopped,so did the spread of technology.

Rice scientists are not the onlyWorld Food Prize laureates who

have helped make the global riceharvest both more bountiful and moreeconomically and environmentallysustainable. The prize has gone toseveral individuals whose substantial

contributions to agriculture as a whole in the realms of government and

business as well as science beneted

BOBELBERT,THEWORLDFOODPRIZE

JESUSVICTOLERO

rice along with other crops and soenhanced global food security.

Disseminated knowledgeFormer Chinese Minister of Agriculture

He Kang, the 1993 World Food Prizelaureate, was recognized for settingpolicies that allowed China to becomeone of the most efcient rice-producing

countries in the world. Minister Hehelped rebuild a national infrastructurethat had been devastated by years ofneglect, notably restoring resourcesto Chinese agricultural universities,

which brought a vast increase in theuse of new rice-farming methods. Inaddition, Minister Hes efforts helped

disseminate knowledge of new high-yielding rice varieties to his nationsfarmers.

In 1997, Ray Smith and PerryAdkisson were awarded the World

Food Prize for addressing sustainablepest control, one of the greatestchallenges facing agriculture, notleast rice production. Drs. Smith and

Adkisson together developed what isperhaps the most environmentallyfriendly and cost-effective approachto pest control. The system, knownas integrated pest management,

stresses limiting the use of pollutingagricultural chemicals by employinginstead natural pest-control methods.

Each of these accomplishindividuals, through his uniqinnovative approach, has dedhis life to ensuring that the wadequately fed. It is to recogn

seless dedication that the WFood Prize exists. For their wrice, Prof. Yuan and Dr. Jone

women thus honored.

Dr. Quinn, former U.S. ambassaCambodia, is president of the W

Prize Foundation (www.worldf.org). Emily Westergaard and NYoung contributed to this articlmore about the International Y

Rice, see www.rice2004.org.

With the October 2004 World Food Prize

Harvest Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, the Corn

and Soybean State will become the venue for

arguably the worlds most focused observance of

the International Year of Rice. Highlights among

the more than 200 events statewide will be

celebrations of Norman Borlaugs 90th birthday

and the formal presentation of the World Food

Prize to the 2004 laureates, Monty Jones of

Sierra Leone and Yuan Longping of China.

Reflecting the origins of the new

laureates, the World Food Prize Foundation

has applied the theme From Asia to Africa

to its 13-14 October Symposium on Rice,

Biofortication and Enhanced Nutrition.

The distinguished speakers at the

symposium will be (in alphabetical order)

Catherine Bertini, United Nations under

secretary general, chair of the UN Nutrition

Council and 2003 World Food Prize laureate;

Howarth Bouis, director of the HarvestPlus

biofortification challenge program ofthe Consultative Group on International

Agricultural Research (CGIAR); Joachim von

Braun, director general of the In

Food Policy Research Institute of

Ronald P. Cantrell, director gen

International Rice Research Insti

CGIAR; Gordon Conway, presid

Rockefeller Foundation; Susan

professor of plant breeding in the

Rice Biotechnology Program

University; Pedro A. Sanchez, p

tropical agriculture at Columbia

2003 MacArthur fellow and 2002

Prize laureate; Alfred Sommer, d

Bloomberg School of Public Healt

Hopkins University; M.S. Swa

chairman of the M.S. Swaminatha

Foundation, co-chair of the UN

Projects Hunger Task Force and

Food Prize laureate; and Steven Tan

of the Genomics Initiative Task Forc

University and 2004 Wolf Prize rec

For more information on the 2004International Symposium or to regi

please visitwww.worldfoodprize.org

Ear of rice

RAY CHARLES and the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra keepthe music owing at the 2002 Laureate Ceremony in Iowa.At the IRRI Experiment Station in the Philippines (top,

from left), Gurdev Khush, 1996 World Food Prize laureate,examines a rice eld in 1999 with Norman Borlaug andSant Virmani, IRRI principal scientist in plant breedingand pioneer of tropical hybrid rice, and (bottom) ArnoldManza, Experiment Station senior manager, demonstrates theinstitutes modern rice mill to Yuan Longping in 2003.


14/36

When 39 membersof the Maniladiplomaticcommunity

urneyed 60 km southeast of

e Philippine capital for anternational Year of Rice openy at the International Rice

ore than the usual VIP tour. Afterspecting the International Riceenebank and the institutes state--the-art rice mill and experimentallds and laboratories, the guests

turned to their starting point, theceworld Museum and Learning

enter. After a brief ceremonyarking Riceworlds 10th anniversary

d a ribbon cutting, they indulgedan activity never before offered to

sitors at IRRI. They went shopping.Since that grand opening on 4

arch of the Riceworld Bookstore

d Coffee Shop, all visitors toRRIs headquarters in Los Baos,aguna, have the option of sipping

their favorite coffee as theybrowse for T-shirts, hats,publications and trinkets.Its not a bad way to roundout a couple hours of

garnering knowledge aboutthe grain that feeds half the

world.

September 1994, but marking the10th anniversary in March madesense beyond aligning the celebration

with the open day for diplomats. InMarch 1994, another high-powered

visit to IRRI by Gunther Beck,head of the Southeast Asia andPacic Department of the Germangovernment funding agency BMZ

set the languishing dream ofRiceworld on the road to reality.

Klaus Lampe, IRRI directorgeneral in 1988-95 and a Germannational himself, mentioned to Beck

that IRRI was considering plans forsome sort of rice education center.The idea was to develop a space that

Rice TodayJuly-September 2004

Rice revealed

with morein store

fter a decade of celebrating rice and instilling knowledge

f the essential grain, the Riceworld Museum and Learning

enter marks the International Year of Rice with a timely

elebration of itself

by Adam Barclay

FRANKLIM SILVA (bottom left), chancellor of the Portuguese Embassybrowses in the new Riceworld Bookstore and Coffee Shop. The exhibimuseum and learning center itself include traditional harvesting knivsickles from across Asia; (continuing clockwise) unthreshed bundles orice from Banaue, Philippines; rice-straw sandals from Nepal; a Philipharvesting knife; samples of wild, traditional and modern rice varietiThai ox cart used to transport harvested rice, farm implements and pwooden bulul gure opposite is a granary guardian of the Ifugao minmountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines.

photography by Al Benavente


15/36

was in hishands. GTZpromptlydonatedUS$73,000,and just

6 months

H.E. Karl-Friedrich

Mar

The idea

served as IRRI director general in1982-88 (see World food reprise onpage 12). Dr. Swaminathan pointedout that busloads of schoolchildrenarrived at IRRI every day to ndalmost nothing specically designedto foster in them an appreciation ofthe history and value of rice. He wrote

at the time of the need that youngstudents who come in large numbersto IRRI have an opportunity to learnabout the antiquity and fascinatinghistory of the rice plant.

By that time, IRRI hadaccumulated a number of artifactsthat were kept in a room at theTraining Center, Movillon explains.Many of the original artifacts, ifnot most of them, were donated byHarold Conklin, former curator ofanthropology at Yale Universitys

Peabody Museum of Natural Historyin the United States. According toDuncan Macintosh, head of IRRIsVisitors and Information Services,Riceworld would not be what it istoday without him.

Unsung heroHes an unsung hero of Riceworld,says Macintosh. Prof. Conklin hadbeen coming to the Philippines sincethe 1940s. He rst came to studythe Ifugao and the rice terraces ofnorthern Luzon. His most recenttrip was 2 years ago, when he was inhis 70s. On every trip hes made, hecouldnt help but collect artifacts. Hedidnt want to take them back to theStates, so he left them here at IRRI.

If Prof. Conklin kick-startedRiceworld with his collection, itwas a wide and

RICEWORLD SHOWCASES ricefestivals and customs, displayingbrilliantly colored kiping, the leaf-shaped rice-paste wafers that areused to decorate houses during thePahiyas festival, held on 15 May inhonor of San Isidro Labrador, thepatron saint of farmers, in Lucbanand surrounding towns in thePhilippines. Male and female bululgranary guardians (right) from thePhilippines.


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21

that grabbed hold of the wheel. Once things got moving,people volunteered to help us, reports Ben Vergara, IRRIdirector of administration in 1991-96 and probably the

person most responsible for driving Riceworlds initialdevelopment. We used to work until 11 at night. Some ofthe carpenters and other workers worked with no overtimepay, because it was fun.

A call went out to people far and wide who mightdonate exhibits or offer advice, attracting especiallyuseful suggestions from Yoshiko Yamamoto, a museumexpert at San Francisco State University. We wrote toIRRI people in other countries Thailand, Cambodia,Laos, Indonesia, Movillon recalls. They started sendingfarmers clothing. Embassy ofcials organized donationsfrom their countries.

The most striking and contentious exhibit in the Rice

Museum and Learning Center is Momi, the giant sculpture

sprouting wild rice seed by renowned Japanese artist Mit

Tanabe. Momi, Japanese for unhulled rice, communicates the vi

of wild rice at germination by depicting the seed protruding from

ground and sprouting both shoot and root. At 6 meters long a

meters tall, the brightly colored, wooden structure is impossible to

and, according to IRRI Visitors and Information Services Head D

Macintosh, elicits a wide range of responses from visitors.

Some people come in and say, What is that thing? What a of money! But the issue that all visitors to Riceworld have in their

when they leave

is wild rice, he

observes. Why?

Because the one

thing everybody

remembers is this

huge abstract

sculpture. Its a

very smart strat-

egy. Mr. Tanabe

wanted people

to talk about

wild rice, andhes been wildly

successful. No

one can walk

past Momi with-

out asking what it is. So his intent actually works extremely well, e

a lot of people think it doesnt. It took me a year to understand t

Tanabe approached IRRI with his Momi idea in the early

and constructed it over several months in 1994. The project was j

funded by IRRI and the newly formed Wild Rice Club of Japan, a gro

businessmen who, having grown weary of sponsoring golf tournam

decided to focus on something more socially worthwhile and respo

to Tanabes idea of promoting wild rice conservation. This year, the

is organizing the World Wild Rice Forum 2004 and Asian Wild Rice

Festival in Osaka on 8 August (see ad on page 39).After completing IRRIs Momi, Tanabe created a 33-meter-

4.5-ton stainless-steel rice grain for the Pathum Thani Rice Res

Institute in Thailand, which occupies a rice eld 70 km northea

Bangkok. His most

recent effort is an

11-meter- long

stainless-steel rice

sculpture donated

to Indias Central

Rice Research

Institute in 2002.

Tanabe plans

to start work this

year on anothergiant rice sculpture

in the far north

of Australia. With help

from the local Aboriginal

community who knew

about Australian varieties

of wild rice long before

anyone else he will carve

the structure into a natural

granite formation.

The Momi of all rice seeds

Rice TodayJuly-September 2004

RICEWORLD SUPERVISOR Paul Hilario (fth from left) guides a groupof visitors to the museum and learning center; Riceworld displays(top) on rice rituals, customs and festivals.

MITSUAKI TANABE supervises the installation in 19944-meter-tall Momi sculpture, which dwarfs Visitors OfFrances Tesoro (below).

IR

RI


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As you stroll through Riceworld,you learn the story of the essentialgrain. The rst exhibits link the ever-increasing global population withthe need to grow more rice andso the need for rice research to helpfarmers produce ample supplies of

affordable rice with minimal impacton the environment. These arefollowed by displays on rice-growingenvironments and examples oftraditional and modern rice-farmingimplements and technologies. Onearea showcases insects both ricepests and the farmers friends thatprey on them. Another informs aboutdifferent lineages of rice and theneed to conserve all rice varieties wild and cultivated, traditional andmodern.

Rice productsExhibits showcase rice products food, drink, footwear, hats, ornamentsand art as well as the role ofwomen in rice and the inuence ofrice on traditional cultures. A videofrom inside a traditional stiltedhut of the northern PhilippinesIfugao community shows priests, ormumbaki, performing rice-growingrituals.

Macintosh emphasizes thatRiceworld is not just a museumconcentrating on the past but also aforward-looking learning center.

The very use of the wordmuseum points out a fairlyfundamental problem, he says.Museums are what people know.Theyre what attract funding. Butwe as a scientic institute developtechnologies for the future, so whyshould we look back? Considering

Vintage farming equipmentfound lying around IRRI was sprucedup. Former IRRI scientist S.W.Ahn donated his familys dui-joo,a traditional Korean wooden ricecontainer. Visitors from the Mangyanethnic minority on the nearbyPhilippine island of Mindoro were

excited to see exhibits of traditionalrice-farming implements and donatedsome of their own in the knowledgethat Riceworld would preserve themfor future generations.

The new facility made IRRIa magnet for visitors, especiallyFilipino school groups. The number

of visitors ballooned from 34,000 in1994 to more than 120,000 in 1997.The following year, more carefulspacing of school groups pushed thenumber of visitors down to a moremanageable 71,000. In all, 650,000people have visited IRRI since thelearning center opened.

Riceworld offers a crash course inthe breadth and depth of rices placein the world particularly in Asia,but also on every other continentexcept Antarctica. The sheer diversityof cultural exhibits rams home theintegral role that rice plays in culturesworldwide.

A SAMPLING of the surprising variety of food and drink made from rice. The dui-joo (top) recalls traditionalgrain storage in Korea, and the Philippine buffalo cart (bottom) is one of several antique carts on display.


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the number of students that visit us more than 72,000 out of last yearstotal of almost 87,000 visitors itreally is an educational center.

To better engage the students,IRRI has just developed workbooksgraded by age group, adds RiceworldSupervisor Paul Hilario. These help

schoolchildren learn as they tour thecenter.

Hilario stresses that othervisitors including diplomats,scientists, farmers, politicians andtourists must not be forgotten.Riceworld needs to play more toits diverse audience and give them aricher learning experience, he says.Visitors would like more interactiveexhibits, and we dont yet haveenough of these. We plan to turnRiceworld into a place that caters to

all age groups. Most of the displayswill be student-centered, but for othervisitors wishing to investigate moredeeply, well provide information-on-demand exhibits.

The search for funding to keepRiceworld displays fresh and engagingwill no doubt suffer setbacks whichthe center has already learned toendure. Macintosh vividly remembersthe evening of Thursday, 2 September1999. He had arrived 4 months earlieras IRRI spokesperson and was stillworking out with management howreorganization would put Riceworldunder his care.

We had just nished work, herecalls. It was about 6 pm. I walkedout of another building and smelledsmoke then saw smoke risingfrom the back of Riceworld, near the

library. Just then, re engines startedto arrive. The re went on for 4 or 5hours after that, well into the night.There was heavy smoke all throughRiceworld, and you couldnt enterwithout breathing equipment.

The re, caused by rat damageto wiring, spread throughout theceiling. Fireghters smashed throughthe roof to extinguish it, but smokeand water caused considerabledamage, requiring Riceworlds closurefor several months. Movillon andRiceworld Assistant Harris Tumawisall but lived there while they rushed torepair exhibits and clean the buildingin time for IRRIs 40th anniversarycelebration in 2000.

Audiovisual facility

Completely gutted was Chandler Hall,a 192-seat auditorium at the heart ofRiceworld that wouldnt reopen untilApril 2001. Today, the refurbishedand upgraded audiovisual facility isone of the best in the region.

Hilario has taken the lead inrecovering some of Riceworldsmaintenance costs by openingChandler Hall for corporate andcommunity meetings and activities.He has also taken charge of upgrading

exhibits and implementing new ones.One plan is to dedicate a new roomto rotating exhibitions covering suchhot rice issues as genetic modicationand the environmental impact of ricefarming.

Agriculture isnt usually countedamong modern, knowledge-basedindustries. However, research byIRRI and its national partners amplydemonstrates how knowledge is asessential as good seed and sturdytools to farmers striving to improvetheir livelihoods by growing ricemore efciently and sustainably.Similarly, popular support for soundagricultural and food policies dependson widespread knowledge andunderstanding of the issues involved.

As Riceworld enters its second

decade, the museum and learningcenter renews its commitment to sat-isfying this hunger for knowledge.

Riceworld Museum and Learning Center

is open to the public 8 am-5 pm, Monday-

Friday, excluding public holidays. Admission

is free. Large groups should make prior

arrangements with Bita Avendao, tel (+63-

2) 580-5600, fax (+63-2) 580-5699, email

[email protected]. Riceworld Bookstore

and Coffee Shop offers rice-related books and

souvenirs, as well as snacks, coffee and cakes.

Rice TodayJuly-September 2004 23

RICEWORLD VISITORS learn about rice pests and the farmers friends that prey on them, including ( clockwisefrom top left) the adult moth of the rice greenhorned caterpillar, the grasshopper, the adult and pupa of therice skipper, the rice bug, the ladybird beetle (which preys on such pests as mealybugs, hoppers and aphids)and the yellow stem borer.


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The environment willalways feel the impact ofagriculture, not least of

rice farming. Rice is thestaple food of almost 3

billion people, and rice farms coveralmost 150 million ha more thanany other crop. Much of this landis ooded paddies, whose unique

environmental implications includeland leveling and terracing, heavy

water demand, and greenhousegas emissions. In addition, therice landscape is in many areas

extremely rich in biodiversity, thesurvival of which depends on carefulmanagement.

More than merely acknowledgingthe impact of agriculture on the

environment, the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) recentlyacted to ensure that environmentalsustainability will always be central

to its research program, as well asto its day-to-day operations at itsresearch campus and its relationship

with neighboring communities.IRRI management decided the time

was ripe to codify the instituteslongstanding commitment toenvironmental protection andsustainable rice production. Formal

implementation of the resultingEnvironmental Agenda will takeplace over the coming year.

The initiative arose partly inresponse to the 1992 Rio Earth

Summit and the 2002 World Summiton Sustainable Development inJohannesburg. These events rmly

established a global commitmto protect and conserve theenvironment while achieving

and economic development which inuence, and are inu

by, agriculture in general andfarming in particular. Compothis commitment, the UnitedMillennium Development Go

set a target of halving 1990 leof world poverty by 2015, whensuring environmental sustand reversing the loss of naturesources.

Environmental concernhave long been apparent in Iresearch, says Ren Wang, IRdeputy director general for reand a core contributor to the

Environmental Agenda. Buthe environmental approach holistic way, to consciously coto conserving the environme

achieving sustainable develoand to package it in this way that is something new.

TheEnvironmental Agenidenties seven key environm

whole wayGoing the distance with a holisticEnvironmen

Agenda that captures decades of experience

in environmental protection

The

by Adam Barclay

CENTRAL TO MAKING farming more envi-ronmentally friendly, and so preserving andrestoring such magnicent landscapes as thisone in Bhutan, is the application of integratedpest management. This includes adopting farmpractices that encourage the natural enemiesof insect pests, such as spiders ( right), andso eliminating the market for toxic and oftenmisapplied pesticides (overleaf).

GENE

HETTEL

IRRI


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initiatives: poverty and humanhealth; land use and degradation;water; biodiversity; farm chemicalsand residues; climate change; andbiosafety and genetically modiedrice. Dr. Wang points out that theagenda recognizes that environmentalconcerns act both ways; while IRRI

strives to reduce the impact of ricefarming on the environment, thechanging environment also affectsrice farming.

Global warming and otherenvironmental trends are alreadyhaving an impact on rice production,and this impact will increase, heexplains. Rice producers all overthe world need to understand theimplications of environmentalchange. For IRRI to help the nationalagricultural research and extension

systems of rice-producing countries,we need to continue to developtechnologies that can be used to copewith this change.

IRRIs commitment toenvironmental protection beginsat home on its research campus atLos Baos in the Philippines. Theinstitutes recycling scheme produces10 tons of usable compost per yearfrom lawn clippings and otherbiodegradable waste, and reduceswaste volume by as much as 70%.As well as reducing energy use, thescheme minimizes dumping, burningand burying.

TheEnvironmental Agendareinforces IRRIs community spiritby promoting environment-friendlyinitiatives implemented for and withthe institutes closest neighbors. Since2000, IRRI Community Projects havecontributed to the environmentallysustainable economic and socialdevelopment of poor communities in

the municipalities of Los Baos andBay. Dr. Wang points out that this isan example of an existing program atIRRI that benets from inclusion in aformal agenda.

You have to live in harmonywith your surrounding society, hesays. IRRI wants to emphasize this

harmony with respect to peopleand their environment. Buildinginitiatives like Community Projectsinto theEnvironmental Agendacan increase local environmentalconsciousness and commitment.By doing things ourselves in anenvironmentally friendly way, we canhelp and encourage our neighbors todo the same.

IRRIs research programpromises to extend the benetsof theEnvironmental Agenda to

the farthest corners of Asia andbeyond. These benets includestemming farm-chemical pollution bypromoting technologies that reduceand optimize their application, andconserving freshwater resources withwater-saving rice varieties and farmpractices. More broadly, IRRIs workto improve the health and livelihoodof poor rice farmers and consumersdirectly addresses the rural povertythat is the most intractable threat tothe environment.

Using crop biodiversityResearch by IRRI Principal ScientistTom Mew into using crop biodiversityto control rice disease has enjoyedstunning success in China and is nowbeing adopted in other countries.Dr. Mew investigated how to controlthe devastating fungal disease riceblast by interplanting two types ofrice, a blast-resistant hybrid and ahigh-value but disease-susceptible

traditional variety. The rows ofhybrids limit the transmission of thefungus between rows of traditionalplants, which nevertheless serveas refuges for the fungus, relievingpressure on it to overcome the hybridvarietys resistance. The techniquepreserves in place traditionalvarieties, extends the useful life ofmodern hybrids, and allows ricefarmers to dramatically improve theirincome while reducing fungicide use.

Also helping both the environmentand farmers

ricetoday vol. 3, no. 3

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