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

CHAPTER 1An international institutefor rice research in AsiaRice is the principal food for half of mankind, and the people of Asia produceand eat 90% of all rice grown. In much of Southeast Asia, that grain providespeople with 70-80% of their calories and 40-70% of their protein. To countlessnumbers of Asians, then, rice is life.From the 1930s through the 1950s, rice yields in the less developed countriesof Asia stagnated at pitifully low levels. For example, the average yield(as reported by FAO) for the 6 countries of Burma, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,the Philippines, and Thailand during the period 1934-38 was 1,360 kilogramsper hectare, and 20 years later (1954-58) it was essentially unchanged (1,400kg/ha).Before the 1950s, the less developed countries of Asia depended uponincreasing the land area planted to rice for producing enough food for theirexpanding populations. It was becoming evident, however, that the supply ofnew land suitable for growing rice was nearly exhausted and that the futureenlargements in production would have to be brought about by improvingyields on land already devoted to that crop. Furthermore, as the rice situationbecame more critical, population growth rates showed no signs of diminishing.In 1958, the world population was about 2.8 billion and United Nationsdemographers predicted that it would reach 6 billion by the year 2000.Already, with several hundred million malnourished people in the ricegrowingcountries, it was clear that widespread and drastic action had to betaken to avoid a serious food shortage in Asia. As Forrest F. Hill stated beforethe Ford Foundation trustees in 1959, “At best, the world food outlook for thedecades ahead is grave; at worst, it is frightening.” Such was the situation at thetime this narrative begins.ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT OF AN INTERNATIONALRICE RESEARCH INSTITUTEThe Rockefeller Foundation’s intensive work in the agricultural sciencesbegan in 1943 with the Mexican Agricultural Program. Later, similar countryprograms were established in Colombia (1950), Chile (1955), and India (1956).Those programs emphasized research on basic indigenous food crops andlivestock and the training of promising young scientists. In each program,American scientists worked side by side with their local counterparts with theaim of developing strong national leadership and building enduring researchand educational institutions.