Now that my "intensive rice immersion course" is nearly at an end, as my visit to my friends who work and live at IRRI in the Philippines draws to a close, I thought I would offer the following references, just in case any of you are curious to learn more.
IRRI – International Rice Research Institute
IRRI, or the International Rice Research Institute, is a nonprofit independent research and training organization.
IRRI develops new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques that help rice farmers improve the yield and quality of their rice in an environmentally sustainable way. We work with our public and private sector partners in national agricultural research and extension systems in major rice-growing countries to do research, training, and knowledge transfer. Our social and economic research also informs governments to help them formulate policy to improve the equitable supply of rice.
Our mission
To reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure environmental sustainability through collaborative research, partnerships, and the strengthening of national agricultural research and extension systems.
Our goals
· Reduce poverty through improved and diversified rice-based systems.
· Ensure that rice production is sustainable and stable, has minimal negative environmental impact, and can cope with climate change.
· Improve the nutrition and health of poor rice consumers and rice farmers.
· Provide equitable access to information and knowledge on rice and help develop the next generation of rice scientists.
· Provide rice scientists and producers with the genetic information and material they need to develop improved technologies and enhance rice production .
IRRI's goals contribute to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and ensure environmental sustainability.
Source: http://irri.org/
More info: http://irri.org/about-rice/rice-facts
Rice and food security
One fifth of the world’s population—more than a billion people—depend on rice cultivation for their livelihoods. Asia, where about 90% of rice is grown, has more than 200 million rice farms, most of which are smaller than 1 hectare. Rice-based farming is the main economic activity for hundreds of millions of rural poor in this region. In Africa, rice is the fastest growing staple. This increase in the demand for rice is also true for Latin America and Caribbean countries.
In most of the developing world, rice is equated with food security and closely connected to political security. Changes in rice availability, and hence price, have caused social unrest in several countries.
To keep rice prices stable and affordable at around $US300 million a ton, IRRI estimates that an additional 8-10 million tons of rice needs to be produced every year.
The challenge, above anything else, is to produce this additional rice with less land, less water, and less labor, in more efficient, environmentally-friendly production systems that are more resilient to climate change, among other factors.
“Never an Empty Bowl”
IRRI and the Asia Society have launched a new food security report for Asia in Mumbai, calling for increased investment in rice research.
India is an "indispensable partner" in rice research - to help address poverty and food security.
The report, Never an empty bowl: sustaining food security in Asia, emphasizes the importance of rice as the primary staple food in Asia and a major source of income for Asian farmers. Existing global efforts to combat hunger and achieve food security are evaluated in the report, which also recommends more research on: climate change mitigation for farming, farming infrastructure, and market price stability.
“India, which is the second biggest producer of rice and where rice is a staple for more than 65% of the population, is an indispensable partner in spearheading rice research,” said IRRI Deputy Director General for Research, Dr. Achim Dobermann, who helped launched the report.
Source: http://irri.org/news-events/media-releases/india-launch-of-food-security-report-focuses-on-rice
CSISA – Cereal Systems Initiative South Asia
“This project seeks to decrease hunger and malnutrition and to increase food and income security of resource-poor farm families in South Asia through the accelerated development and inclusive deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, and policies.”
Source: http://www.ilri.org/csisa
STRASA- Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and Asia
The Project:
The poorest rice producers produce their crop under rainfed conditions, in which drought, submergence, and poor soils, i.e., salinity, reduce yields and harm their livelihoods. Recent advances in genetics and breeding have made the development of tolerant rice varieties feasible and their cultivation can substantially contribute to poverty alleviation in rainfed environments. For these areas, the project seeks to achieve, within the next ten years, a 50% increase in yield in farmers’ fields, using improved cultivars and enhanced management practices. In the short term the project will disseminate improved, stress-tolerant rice varieties to at least 400,000 households in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; in the longer term it expects varieties tolerant of drought, submergence, and/or salinity to benefit at least 18 million households. In addition, the project aims to build capacity of researchers and seed producers; and promote the exchange of elite germplasm. The project will identify the regions where stress-tolerant varieties will have maximum impact and develop a network for seed production and adoption.
The poorest rice producers produce their crop under rainfed conditions, in which drought, submergence, and poor soils, i.e., salinity, reduce yields and harm their livelihoods. Recent advances in genetics and breeding have made the development of tolerant rice varieties feasible and their cultivation can substantially contribute to poverty alleviation in rainfed environments. For these areas, the project seeks to achieve, within the next ten years, a 50% increase in yield in farmers’ fields, using improved cultivars and enhanced management practices. In the short term the project will disseminate improved, stress-tolerant rice varieties to at least 400,000 households in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; in the longer term it expects varieties tolerant of drought, submergence, and/or salinity to benefit at least 18 million households. In addition, the project aims to build capacity of researchers and seed producers; and promote the exchange of elite germplasm. The project will identify the regions where stress-tolerant varieties will have maximum impact and develop a network for seed production and adoption.
Further information: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/learning/Pages/grantee-irri-stress-tolerant-rice-development-for-farms-africa-asia.aspx
Another site visited by the team:
TNAU – Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
This Story appeared in the Hindu newspaper the day after Dr. Zeigler’s speech at Annamalai University in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu.
India has vital role to play in global rice agenda: IRRI chief
Special Correspondent
CUDDALORE: In the global rice agenda, India has a vital role to play because of its rich rice ecologies and vast pool of scientific manpower, according to Robert S.Zeigler, Director General of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Philippines.
He was delivering a special lecture organised under the aegis of the agronomy department of Annamalai University at Chidambaram near here on Wednesday.
Mr. Zeigler said that India's food security had a bearing on the international food security because it happened to be a major rice producer in Asia. However, the country was facing many challenges to retain the rice production at the present level.
The primary problems were that land, labour and water were moving away from rice, that is, these three aspects were becoming scarce. Most of the rice-growing areas were located in the delta region and therefore were at sea level. Any rise in sea level would drastically affect the rice-growing areas. Flood was another factor that gravely cut into production and according to statistics 10 million hectares of rice lands in Asia were lost every year to the floods.
The climate change too had its negative impact on rice yield and it was estimated that every one degree Celsius rise in temperature would reduces 10 per cent of yield.
Mr. Zeigler said that the IRRI was developing submergence-resistant rice varieties that could survive even 17 days of flooding. For instance, the Swarna (Sub 1) tried in Uttar Pradesh had started yielding good results and the seeds would be distributed to about one million farmers over a period.
The rice production in 1991 was put at 350 million tonnes and considering the requirements for 2035 it must go up to 550 million tonnes. The supply-demand gap could be bridged only through judicious planning, involving the policy makers and all the stakeholders such as the farmers, farm scientists and the public and private sectors, he said.
Mr. Zeigler opined that the farm policy should be based on ground reality and should not be driven by commercial interests and not be at the behest of the pesticide and fertilizer manufacturers.
‘Golden rice'
The Director General revealed that the IRRI was evolving the ‘Golden rice' — GR1 and GR2 varieties that would have carotenoid level of 8 ug/g and 20 ug/g respectively — rich in Vitamin A.
It was expected to be released in two-three years time, he said.
The IRRI was also working on rice varieties that would address the diabetics' problem but categorically said that it was not into production of Bt rice. He called for redoubling the efforts to create more number of rice scientists to overcome the challenges.
He hinted that the IRRI and Annamalai University could have joint Ph.D and post-doctoral programmes in the next five to six years. On the occasion, Mr. Zeigler released a compact disc, a brief documentary on “farming livelihoods,” promoting the integrated farming system.
Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University M.Ramanathan said that the visit of Mr. Zeigler would inspire and motivate the students and scholars and raise the glory of the university to a new level. U.S.Singh, IRRI, New Delhi, Rm.Kathiresan, Head of Department of Agronomy, and Crissan Zeigler participated.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
