Sustainability of rice in the global food system - IRRI books

Part III contains nine chapters:
• Fischer explains the overall picture of rice in the Asian region.
• Peng and Senadhira review the genetic development of rice since the Green Revolution
and analyze aspects of plant development that are being studied to improve
the nutritional value of the plant.
• Reichardt et al present soil nutrient conditions in both wet-rice and dry-rice regimens.
Rice grown in flooded fields produces higher yields, but most of the world’s
rice is rainfed. Because water is a scarce resource, some areas have potential for
intensified crop production.
• Cohen et al examine work in progress to quantify risk probability and risk magnitude
of damage to crops from insects, plant diseases, and weeds.
• Olofsdotter et al show the importance of developing integrated weed management
systems in which several control measures are combined and herbicide use
is minimized.
• Bhuiyan et al analyze how water management and rice production systems can
be improved to obtain more rice per unit of water supplied.
• Price and Balasubramanian address the need for knowledge-intensive resource
management encompassing “smart” equipment and increased information to farmers
to improve production and environmental quality.
• Wassmann et al examine the key effects of agricultural production on the environment,
including the benefit of increased CO 2 for rice yield and the effect of
methane emission from rice.
• Bennett et al discuss research strategies to enhance rice plants through N 2 fixation,
apomixis, and perenniality. They conclude with an overview of the challenges
to achieving higher rice yield from the perspectives of systems analysis
and mathematical modeling.
Part IV addresses the use and conservation of biological diversity for
agroecosystems, especially rice. It also describes the use and management of genetic
diversity of the rice gene pool and the indigenous biota of rice landscapes.
• Fischer analyzes the importance of biodiversity to the sustainability of rice.
• Bellon et al investigate the threats and challenges that the conservation of rice
genetic diversity faces from changing socioeconomic and cultural conditions, as
well as from the development and widespread adoption of modern varieties.
• Schoenly et al explain the rich biodiversity of microbial, floral, invertebrate, and
vertebrate populations found in tropical rice fields. The challenge is to find the
best ways to inventory, characterize, and assess such diversity and interconnected
communities.
Part V addresses economic considerations.
• Evenson looks at the major features of the genetic improvement of rice and review
studies that attempt to value rice genetic resources. He assesses the comparative
role of genetic improvement and its prospects in the Second Green Revolution.
6 Greenfield and Dowling