An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

110 History of the International Rice Research InstituteIR8 ready for harvest.This field yielded 8.5 t/ha. Note the uprightleaves, short stems,and heavy tiliering.IRRI’s early crosses, it was the only high-yielding entry that did not have as oneof its parents a semidwarf variety from Taiwan.In late 1967, the IRRI seed committee agreed to name IR5-47-2 as IR5.Simultaneously, the farm department at IRRI produced considerable seed fordistribution both in the Philippines and in other countries.In concentrating largely on the development and testing of IR8, the foregoingdescription of IRRI's rice breeding program does not do justice to theInstitute’s early efforts to produce superior rice varieties for the tropics. Awhole series of lines was developed with a plant type that was similar to IR8’sand with one of its parents a popular tall, disease-resistant tropical variety withacceptable grain quality. These were distributed all over Asia and to a largeextent in Latin America and Africa. Finding some of these materials excellentfor their own requirements, many countries gave them names and releasedthem as national varieties.When, in 1966, IR8’s superior yielding ability was recognized, the varietywas used as a parent in more than 70 of the 270 crosses made at IRRI that year.This was done to retain the excellent plant type and fertilizer responsivenesswhile introducing such characteristics as early maturity and resistance to blast,