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

Early research and training results 117agricultural research centers, needed all the prestige it could earn. Althoughthe work of the entire Institute helped build a solid reputation, it was thenaming, distributing, and testing of IRRI rice varieties, of which IR8 was theforerunner and the best known, that gave the Institute its widest recognition.From the start, IRRI did not restrict in any way the use of the breedingmaterials it distributed. Many national programs have named varieties fromgenetic materials shipped out by the Institute. Moreover, IRRI varieties werenot infrequently given national names in other countries. IR8, for example, wascalled Padi Ria in Malaysia, Magyaw in Burma, and Peta Baru 8 in Indonesia.The historic significance of IR8, with its high yield potential under correctmanagement, is that together with the modern wheat varieties created byNorman E. Borlaug and his associates at CIMMYT in Mexico, it constituted anagricultural breakthrough which caused the great wave of optimism in themid- and late 1960s about the ability to feed the hungry millions in the lessdeveloped countries and which was popularly hailed as the Green Revolution.1PLANT PHYSIOLOGYWhile the breeders were making crosses, the plant physiologists were studyingthe characteristics of some of the parental types in order to understandbetter the morphological distinctions and physiological processes related toyield capacity.Coming from Japan, Tanaka naturally first thought of comparing thetropical japonica varieties from Taiwan with tropical indicas. In May 1962, heplanted Tainan 3, a ponlai variety, and Peta, the indica variety that was tobecome one of the parents of IR8 and IR5. He took measurements in the standsof the two contrasting varieties: percentage of available light reaching theground during the growing period, plant height, number of tillers at differentdates, time of panicle initiation, date of flowering and of maturity, and the dryweight of the various parts of the plant — panicles, live leaves plus culms, anddead leaves.Tanaka found some highly contrasting differences between the two varieties.The shorter, lower-tillering, upright-leaved ponlai variety Tainan 3 letmuch more light pass through to the lower leaves than did Peta. Both varietieshad been transplanted on 28 May and at about 1 July, the percentage of lightreaching the ground under Tainan 3 was 70%, but was only 20% in the densePeta stand.Until about 1 July, the two varieties were about even in plant height, butfrom then on, Peta kept growing taller while Tainan 3 tended to level off. Atmaturity, Peta had a height of 200 cm whereas the maximum height of Tainan3 was 140 cm.1 It is of historical interest that the first known use of the term green revolution was by the thenadministrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) William S.Gaud, who, on 8 March 1968 in Washington, D.C., addressed the Society for InternationalDevelopment on the subject, “The Green Revolution: Accomplishments and Apprehensions.”