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RACHELLE WARD, a Yanco cereal chemist, whocarried out much of her PhD research at IRRI,is responsible for researching grain qualityat Yanco.RICE BREEDER Russell Reinke, seen here checkinghis plants in a Yanco Agricultural Instituteexperimental field, says that water productivityis fundamental to Australian rice research.PETER SNELL is thebreeder tasked withdeveloping cold-tolerantrice varieties that canwithstand the coolnight-time temperaturesthat hit Riverina even insummer.has been indisputably successful sinceits beginnings in the early 20th century.A husband and wife who had movedto Australia from Japan, Isaburo (Jo)and Ichiko Takasuka, planted Yanco’sfirst experimental crop in 1915, provingthat rice could be grown in Australia.Subsequently, seed was importedfrom the similar soils and climate ofCalifornia, where a rice industry hadalready been established. With theCalifornian varieties a success, ricegained a foothold in the Riverina, aregion of New South Wales (see mapon page 16), and a vibrant industry thusemerged.When not ravaged by drought,the industry has carved a growingdomestic and international nichefor the medium-grain japonica ricein which it specializes, exportingapproximately 80% of overallproduction to around 70 countries inrecent nondrought years.If the Australian rice industry’ssuccess can be boiled down to twofundamental bones, they would be therice region’s favorable climate (droughtnotwithstanding) and the uniqueintegration of the farming, research,and commercial arms of the industry.These factors combined result in someof the highest yields in the world, witha regional average of around 10 tons perhectare and some growers achievingmore than 14 tons.Russell Reinke, who runs the ricebreeding program at Yanco with fellowbreeder Peter Snell, says that, given themagnitude of water issues in Australia,there is a constant drive to improve waterefficiency. This has been achieved usingseveral approaches, including breedingmore water-efficient rice varieties,ensuring that rice isn’t grown on leakysoils, and simply pushing the yieldenvelope to grow more rice per hectarewithout using more water.“The other thing we’ve done isto reduce growth duration while notsacrificing yield,” says Dr. Reinke.“When you can sow a variety 2 or 3weeks later in the season, you’ve avoideda certain amount of evaporation from thewater surface.”The next step, he says, is to developvarieties that can be established underan aerobic system (in the same way thatdryland crops such as wheat are grown)and put standing water on the field onlywhen it’s needed most, from around themiddle to the end of the growing season.Cold-tolerance puzzleThe Riverina’s temperate climate helpsrice growers in several ways. First, almostno rice pests or diseases occur. Second,there’s a huge amount of sunlight—almostdouble that of the wet season in thetropics. And, third, there’s a big differencein minimum and maximum temperaturesduring the summer growing season—hot days and cool nights. This meansminimal respiration losses overnight andstrong growth during the day. However,sometimes the night temperature falls toofar.“The estimate is that we lose 1ton per hectare one year in three, andmore than 2 tons per hectare one yearin 10 to the cold,” says Laurie Lewin,Dr. Reinke’s predecessor as head of thebreeding program at Yanco.After water-use efficiency, thebiggest target for breeders is coldtolerance, which is also linked to waterproductivity. A body of standing wateracts as a thermal blanket, retainingprotective warmth when the ambienttemperature drops too low. Create a20 Rice Today April-June 2010