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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.
2 History of the International Rice Research InstituteThe success of those operations was widely recognized. In particular, theProgram in Mexico, under the brilliant leadership of J. George Harrar, hadmanifestly demonstrated that an intensive, problem-oriented research andtraining activity could transform a food-deficit country to a food-surplus onein about a decade.Rice was not included in any of the country programs, but foundationofficers were aware that it was the major food crop in most of Asia andincreasingly felt that it merited specific attention. To become familiar with thestate of rice research and with the major problems facing rice farmers, and todetermine how the Rockefeller Foundation might contribute to rice researchand education, Warren Weaver, director of the Foundation’s Division ofNatural Sciences and Agriculture, and Harrar, deputy director, went to Asiain 1952 and again in 1953.Their travels in the rice-growing countries, visits to scientific and educationalinstitutions, and talks with government officials confirmed that therewas real need for an international rice research center in Asia.In October 1954, Weaver and Harrar prepared a paper for the Board ofTrustees of the foundation, in part setting forth the various reasons forestablishing “An International Rice Research Institute in Asia.” Because theirreport contains the first presentation of the need for such a center, its mainarguments are quoted.”Before DNSA 1 officers went on the trip primarily devoted to rice,through Asia and Southeast Asia, there had been suggestions from severalsources that perhaps the Rockefeller Foundation should aid in setting upand financing a single large international institute, somewhere in Asia,devoted to rice research. Having gathered information on this subject frommany individuals from the rice-producing countries from (as far East as)Japan, around Southeast Asia, and as far West as India and Pakistan, wewould now sum up this particular possibility as follows:Advantages of a single definitive center for rice research in Asiaa) International, or at least multiple-country, cooperation in any field ofscience is, broadly speaking, a good thing. It furnishes a basis for internationalfriendships and understanding, and contributes toward a pattern ofglobal living which is undoubtedly a desirable and necessary part of thefuture.b) The basic problems concerning rice are universal problems, which canbe properly attacked in one central laboratory which would then make theresults available to all. Many of the really fundamental physiological,biochemical, and genetic problems are essentially independent of geographyand are certainly independent of political boundaries; so that theseproblems could effectively and efficiently be attacked in one central institute.1Division of Natural Sciences and Agriculture.
Page 2 and 3: An Adventurein Applied Science:A HI
Page 4: ContentsDedication viiAbout this pu
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Page 14 and 15: PrefaceThe International Rice Resea
Page 18 and 19: An international institute for rice
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Developing and staffing the program
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86 History of the International Ric
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Princess (now Queen)Beatrix of theN
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Establishing administrative policie
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In the early years, IRRIused its ow
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Chapter 4Early Researchand training
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Early research and training results
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CHAPTER 5Financing of IRRIThe purpo
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Financing of IRRI 149foreign assist
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156 History of the International Ri
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Creation of other international cen
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Creation of other international cen
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Aerial view of IRRI in1981.However,
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IRRI today 181neering Department: K
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IRRI today 183In spite of this high
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IRRI today 185turn, received geneti
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IRRI today 1871. Research to assist
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Appendices 189materials could readi
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Appendix 2OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENTINTER
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Appendices 193ate to concentrate on
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Appendices 195estimates for buildin
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Appendices 197(4) Development of pr
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Appendices 203b. To pass upon the b
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Appendices 205Article VIIMISCELLANE
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