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contentsEDITORIAL ................................................................ 4…But what has IRRI done for the world lately?NEWS ......................................................................... 5Flood-proof riceA more powerful and efficient engine for riceInternational rice industry to gather in IndiaGM rice turmoilA greener rice industry<strong>Rice</strong> domesticated at least twiceVietnam export planAfrican rice newsPUTTING RICE ON THE AFRICAN AGENDA ........... 16The recent Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Congress in Tanzania helpedchart the course for the future of the rice industry insub-Saharan AfricaCONSERVING THE FUTURE .................................... 18As India’s rice-wheat belt grapples with decliningsoil health and water tables, a vanguard of young,innovative farmers and researchers is leading a newapproach that could hold the key to reversing theregion’s waning productivitySNAPSHOT .............................................................. 24<strong>Rice</strong> in harm’s wayPEOPLE ..................................................................... 8AchievementsKeeping up with IRRI staff2006 IRRI reunion brings together past,present, and futureBOOKS ...................................................................... 9BRINGING HOPE, IMPROVING LIVES ..................... 10<strong>Rice</strong> feeds roughly half the planet’s population andapproximately three-quarters of a billion of theworld’s poorest people depend on the staple tosurvive. A carefully focused agenda for continuedresearch on this vital crop is as important as ever.FROM GENES TO FARMERS’ FIELDS ...................... 28The practical application of gene discovery to developsubmergence-tolerant rice will help farmers avoidthe ravages of severe floodingIdentifying the submergence-tolerance geneThe mechanics of submergence toleranceTHE QUIET ACHIEVER ............................................ 32Recently retired rice scientist VethaiyaBalasubramanian has spent his life helpingpeople—and he’s not going to let retirementstop himBREEDING HISTORY ............................................... 34Forty years ago, a remarkable rice-breeding projectculminated in the release of a rice variety under anunremarkable name—IR8. This is the story of theresearch that would ultimately change the face ofagriculture across Asia.DONORS CORNER ................................................... 47Innovative research and extension are the keyto agricultural development: Korea’s RuralDevelopment Agency’s efforts over the last 100years have helped Korea achieve self-sufficiency inrice and other staple foodsRICE FACTS .............................................................. 48Asia and sub-Saharan Africa: rice in numbersKey information on rice situation, poverty, health,and malnutritionGRAIN OF TRUTH .................................................... 50How many rice varieties are there?I REMEMBER HONDA RICE ..................................... 39How the first Green Revolution rice variety—IR8—influenced life and death in the Mekong Deltaduring the Vietnam WarENVIRONMENT ....................................................... 45Thinking outside the boxAs society accepts the reality of global climatechange and begins to prepare for it, we need thetools to predict the risks we should expectOn the cover:An Indian farmerwith a bumper IR8harvest in 1967(see pages 34-38).cover photo IRRI filespublisher Duncan Macintosheditor Adam Barclayart director Juan Lazaro IVdesigner and production supervisor George Reyescontributing editors Gene Hettel, Bill Hardynews editor Juanito Goloyugophoto editor Ariel Javellanaphoto researcher Jose Raymond Panaligancirculation Chrisanto Quintanaprinter Primex Printers, Inc.<strong>Rice</strong> Today is published by the International <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute (IRRI), the world’sleading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and withoffices in 14 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused onimproving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers,particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information, visitthe CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org).Responsibility for this publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in this publicationInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.orgWeb (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.orgWeb (<strong>Rice</strong> Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.org<strong>Rice</strong> Today editorialtelephone (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725;fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: a.barclay@cgiar.orgshould not be construed as expressing IRRI policy or opinion on the legal status of anycountry, territory, city or area, or its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries.<strong>Rice</strong> Today welcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Potential contributorsare encouraged to query first, rather than submit unsolicited materials. <strong>Rice</strong> Todayassumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited submissions, which shouldbe accompanied by sufficient return postage.Copyright International <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute 2006


Flood-proof riceNEWSAgene that enables rice to survivecomplete submergence has beenidentified by a team of researchersfrom the International <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute (IRRI) and the University ofCalifornia’s Davis and Riverside campuses.The discovery allows for thedevelopment of new rice varieties thatcan withstand flooding, and that couldoffer relief to millions of poor ricefarmers around the world. Flooding inSoutheast Asia alone costs farmers anestimated US$1 billion each year.Although rice thrives in standingwater, like all crops it will die if completelysubmerged for more than a fewdays. The development and cultivationof the new varieties are expected toincrease food security for 70 million ofthe world’s poorest people. The studyappeared in the 10 August issue of thejournal Nature.For more information, see Fromgenes to farmers’ fields on pages 28-31.A more powerful and efficient engine for riceAmajor international scientific effort prove that, the whole plant benefits.”was launched in July to develop and To meet this challenge, scientistsuse a radical new approach to boost at the workshop focused on enhancingrice production and avoid potentialthe rice plant’s photosynthetic ef-rice shortages, or even future famine. ficiency, or what’s known scientificallyKnowledge generated by the recent as converting rice from a C 3 plant tosequencing of the rice genome is offeringa C 4 plant, where the “C” refers to thenew insights into the possibility of carbon captured by photosynthesis forcompletely reconfiguring what’s known growth. To do this, C 4 plants—such asas the engine of rice production, the maize—use solar energy more effectivelyplant’s photosynthetic system.for growth.IRRI crop ecologist John Sheehy, The experts at the workshop suggestedconvener of a workshop on C 4 <strong>Rice</strong>that it will probably take another– Supercharging the <strong>Rice</strong> Engine, 3–4 years to achieve the proof-of-conceptheld at IRRI on 17-21 July, said, “Theneeded, and another 10–15 yearsphotosynthetic process is the engine of after that before the first C 4 varietiesgrowth for the rice plant. If we can im-would be available.International rice industry to gather in IndiaThe international rice industry is events—the 26th International <strong>Rice</strong>preparing to meet in India at a time Research Conference, the 2nd International<strong>Rice</strong> Commerce Conference, andof unprecedented change for the foodthat feeds almost half the planet. the 2nd International <strong>Rice</strong> TechnologyHeld every 4 years, the International<strong>Rice</strong> Congress (IRC) will bring According to Mangala Rai, secre-together all aspects of the ricetary of India’s Department and Cultural Exhibition.ofindustry with a special cus on the latest research,foscience,and technology.Hosted by the Indian Ministryof Agriculture and cosponsoredby the IndianCouncil for AgriculturalResearch (ICAR) and IRRI,the IRC will be held in Delhi on9-13 October and include three mainDAVE MACKILLAgricultural Research andEducation and ICAR directorgeneral, “The IRC2006aims to provide a commonplatform for sharingknowledge and expertiseon research, exten-sion, production, processing,trade, consumption, and relatedactivities with stakeholders.”GM rice turmoilSmall amounts of a genetically modifiedrice variety not approved forsale were detected in U.S. commercialsupplies in August. The long-grain“LibertyLink” rice, developed by BayerCropScience and known as LLRICE601, possesses bacterial DNA thatmakes the rice plants resistant to theherbicide glufosinate. Two other strainsof rice that produce the same transgenicprotein as LLRICE 601 have previouslybeen approved for sale. The U.S. Foodand Drug Administration issued astatement declaring that “the presenceof this bioengineered rice variety in thefood and feed supply poses no food orfeed safety concerns.”The discovery has hit the U.S. riceindustry, with Japan banning importsof U.S. long-grain rice and Europe acceptingonly shipments that have beenverified free of LLRICE 601 followinga U.S. Department of Agricultureapprovedtest. Since the 18 Augustannouncement of the contamination,prices for U.S. rice have dropped. Bayeris facing lawsuits from three U.S. ricefarminggroups seeking damages tocompensate farmers for falling prices.KOREAN AGRICULTURE CELEBRATES:Korea’s Rural Development Administration(RDA) celebrates its 100th birthday thisyear. Established in 1906 in Suwon, theagency—then known as the Experiment Stationfor Agricultural Encouragement—has ledKorea’s modern agricultural research as wellas disseminated technology and educatedfarmers. About 1,000 people participatedin a 30 August–3 September celebration,Korean agriculture—100 years and beyond.Korean Minister of Agriculture and ForestryHis Excellency Hong-Soo Park (left) and RDAAdministrator In-Sik Kim (right) are seenhere inspecting high-yielding rice cultivarsdeveloped by the RDA’s National Institute ofCrop Science. For more on the RDA, see Donorscorner on page 47.PARK HYUNG-GEUN, RDA<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 20065


African rice newsNew Africa rice leaderPapa Abdoulaye Seck of Senegal (picturedright) will succeed KanayoNwanze, whose second and final termends in November, as director generalof the Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center (WARDA). HisExcellency Adamu Bello, HonorableMinister for Agriculture and NaturalResources of the Federal Republic ofNigeria, in his capacity as the chair ofthe WARDA Council of Ministers, madethe announcement at an extraordinarysession of the WARDA Council on 22June 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria.At the time of the announcement,Dr. Seck was director general of theSenegal Agricultural Research Instituteand adviser to the prime ministerof Senegal. A member of the executivecommittee of the West and CentralAfrican Council for Research and Developmentand of the Global Forum onAgricultural Research, he also servedas chair of the Forum for AgriculturalResearch in Africa.Dr. Seck said, “One of my cherisheddreams has been fulfilled: to be in astrategic position to serve Africa better….My work at WARDA will be builton the pillars of transparency, equity,scientific excellence, strengthening ofthe national agricultural research systems,and an open-door policy towardsall partners.”Growing rice demandThe demand for rice in Africa, whichaccounts for 20% of world rice imports,is growing at around 6% per year. About20 million farmers in sub-SaharanAfrica grow rice, while about 100 millionpeople depend on it for their livelihood,People’s Daily Online reported.In 2004, some 13.2 million tons of ricewere produced locally, while 5.9 milliontons were imported from elsewhere,costing the sub-Saharan African regionsome US$1.2 billion.ROTIMI FASHOLANigeria rice import banNigeria’s decision to ban rice importsfrom 2007 has been met with both enthusiasmand skepticism. Mike Ejemba,former secretary to the Presidential<strong>Rice</strong> Initiative Committee, warnedthat the government may be fined bythe World Trade Organization (WTO)or have WTO benefits withdrawn.“If Nigeria is found guilty, she wouldlose substantial revenue in millionsof dollars as penalty and legal bills,”he said.However, in an article entitledNigeria: the rice penalty, publishedin This Day in Lagos on 28 July, writerTayo Agunbiade hailed the move as partof an attempt to revive rice productionfor both local and international consumptionand a positive step towardreforming and diversifying the nation’seconomy.“Nigeria’s ban on the importationof rice should in no way attract a fineor withdrawal of WTO benefits. Onthe contrary, the nation should becommended for taking a bold step towardsaddressing some of its domesticproblems such as unemployment, andpoverty, as well as promoting agriculturaldevelopment and diversifyingthe foreign exchange earner base,”Agunbiade said.For a wrap-up of the recent Africa <strong>Rice</strong>Congress in Tanzania, see Putting rice onthe African agenda on pages 16-17.and productivity as well as upgradedrainage and irrigation systems incommercial paddy fields. The countryaims to increase its rice productionand reduce its imported-food bills. By2009, all local paddy farmers will berequired to plant high-yielding ricevarieties. Malaysia, which importsfrom Thailand and Vietnam, had set atarget to meet 90% of the local demandfor rice in the next 5 years, up from thecurrent 72%.<strong>Rice</strong> as food aid<strong>Rice</strong> made up 17% of global cereal foodaid deliveries in 2005, according to aWorld Food Program report. Globalcereal food aid deliveries totaled 7.1million tons, which accounts for 86%of all food aid delivered. In 2005,slightly more rice food aid—1.2 milliontons—was delivered than in 2004, butless than the 1.4 million tons deliveredin 2002 and 2003.Global food supplies at risk?Climate change may put global foodsupplies at risk because rising carbondioxide levels are unlikely to boostyields enough to compensate for factorssuch as higher ozone levels and drierconditions, according to a Universityof Illinois study published in Sciencemagazine. The researchers used openfieldtests to study how the world’s mainstaples—corn, rice, sorghum, soybeans,and wheat—would grow under conditionsprojected for 2050. Resultsshowed that crop yields were abouthalf those drawn from similar earlierexperiments conducted in enclosed testconditions.<strong>Rice</strong> News WorldwideIRRI’s <strong>Rice</strong> News Worldwide siteprovides links to a comprehensive listof the latest rice news stories. See foryourself at http://ricenews.irri.org.<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 7


IRRIAchievementsPEOPLEHANK BEACHELL briefs visiting philanthropistJohn D. Rockefeller III on IR8 in 1967.Henry “Hank” Beachell, one ofIRRI’s pioneer plant breeders whoworked in the 1960s on the first highyieldingmodern rice variety, IR8 (seeBreeding history on pages 34-38), celebratedhis 100th birthday on 21 September.Dr. Beachell, who joined IRRIin 1963, shared the 1996 World FoodPrize with former IRRI senior breederGurdev Khush. According to his WorldFood Prize biography, “The economicmagnitude of his achievement is in themultibillion dollar category; beyondthis, billions of people are now betterfed, enjoy better health, and haveincreased life expectancy, thanks toDr. Beachell and his unexpected andexemplary efforts in rice breeding.”M.A. Salam, chief scientific officerand head of the Plant BreedingDivision at the Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute in Gazipur, has wonthe Senadhira <strong>Rice</strong> Research Awardfor 2006. Dr. Salam was honored forhis outstanding contributions to thedevelopment of varieties for the rainfedlowlands of Bangladesh. The awardhonors the late Sri Lankan scientistDharmawansa Senadhira, one ofIRRI’s most successful rice breeders,who tragically died in a traffic accidentin Bangladesh in 1998.Keijiro Otsuka, chair of IRRI’sBoard of Trustees, has been namedpresident-elect of the International Associationof Agricultural Economists.He is set to begin the role at the association’sBeijing Conference in 2009.Philippine National Scientist andIRRI consultant Gelia Castillo receivedan Honorary Doctor of Science(Rural Sociology) degree, honoriscausa, from De La Salle Universityin Manila on 17 June. The universityrecognized Dr. Castillo’s “outstandingcontributions as a rural sociologist, andof her being the first social scientist toraise the level of research as a tool fordevelopment studies.”Deputy Director General for Operationsand Support Services WilliamPadolina has been appointed editorin-chiefof the prestigious PhilippineJournal of Science, a technical journalon natural sciences, engineering, mathematics,and social sciences.IRRI entomologist K.L. Heongwas appointed adjunct professor ofFAFUthe Fujian Agriculture and ForestryUniversity (FAFU) on 13 August. Dr.Heong—pictured (below left) receivingthe appointment certificate from FAFUVice President and Fujian Academyof Agricultural Sciences PresidentYou Minsheng, with the Wuyi Shan(mountains) in the background—wasalso announced winner of the Academyof Sciences for the Developing WorldPrize in Agricultural Sciences 2006.Glenn Gregorio and DanteAdorada of IRRI’s Plant Breeding,Genetics, and Biotechnology Division,and Cristina Sison, former IRRI nutritionist,shared the 2006 PhilippineAgriculture and Resources ResearchFoundation, Inc. Research and DevelopmentAward (research category) withAngelita del Mundo and AngelinaFelix of the University of the PhilippinesLos Baños College of HumanEcology, Jere Haas of Cornell University,and John Beard and LauraMurray-Kolb of Pennsylvania StateUniversity, USA. Their winning paperwas entitled <strong>Rice</strong> biofortification as aviable approach towards improvedhuman nutrition.Scientists Roland Buresh andMirasol Pampolino of IRRI’s Cropand Environmental Sciences Divisionreceived awards from the PhilippineSociety of Soil Science and Technology,1-2 June 2006, during the 9th AnnualMeeting and Scientific Symposium ofthe society at Central Luzon StateUniversity.Keeping up with IRRI staffNoel Magor, former IRRI representativein Bangladesh, is returningto the Institute’s Philippine headquartersto head the Training Center. Heis scheduled to begin on 3 October.Interim Training Center Head DavidShires will return to his position as acurriculum adviser and trainer.Former IRRI Operations ManagementHead Joe Rickman moved toMozambique in September to headthe new IRRI Africa office. AnotherAustralian, Terry Jacobsen, arrivedin August to take over as the new headof operations management.Gary Atlin, senior scientist inPlant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology(PBGB), leaves IRRI to take upa position at IRRI’s sister institute inMexico, the International Maize andWheat Improvement Center.Senior IRRI agronomist VethaiyaBalasubramanian has retired andplans to return to India, where hewill teach at Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity (see The quiet achiever onpages 32-33).Jill Cairns, formerly a postdoctoralfellow in the Crop and EnvironmentalSciences Division, has been appointedinternational research fellow,working on drought tolerance in rice.Agricultural economist Kei Kajisajoined the Social Sciences Division.8 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


PEOPLE2006 IRRI reunion brings together past, present, and futureMore than 150 people (former andpresent staff and families) attendedthe 2006 IRRI Alumni Reunionon the campus of the University ofCalifornia-Davis in Davis, California,FORMER directors general Klaus Lampe (left) andNyle Brady contributed their recollections for theIRRI History Project.23-25 June. The program encouragedgreat fellowship through a barrio fiestaon Friday evening and a Saturday scientificsymposium, followed by a tourof rice fields and farms in this region ofCalifornia, which is the second-largestrice-producing state in the U.S. afterArkansas.During the fiesta, Davis MayorRuth Asmundson (who had visitedIRRI earlier in 2006 and is a Los Bañosnative) made honorary citizens of allthe IRRI alumni in attendance. Duringthe Saturday symposium, Duncan Macintosh,IRRI spokesperson and headof Visitors and Information Services,brought the group up to date on IRRI’snew strategic plan and recent eventsand discussed how the large IRRIalumni contingent in the U.S. can keepin better touch with the Institute.As part of the IRRI History Project,which is an element of preparations forthe 50th anniversary, Gene Hettel, headof IRRI’s Communication and PublicationsServices, interviewed (on videoJUST BEFORE the IRRI reunion, on 22 June 2006 inSacramento, California, Gene Hettel, head of IRRI’sCommunication and Publications Services, presentedto Mrs. Liz Havener a 1/4-size duplicate plaque ofthe original that names the auditorium in IRRI’sChandler Hall in memory of Robert Havener, whoserved as interim director general in 1998 and whopassed away in August 2005.tape) IRRI pioneers in attendance,including former directors generalNyle Brady (1973-81) and Klaus Lampe(1988-95). IRRI history was a runningtheme throughout the event and historicalmaterial, including photos andvideo footage shown there, can now beseen at www.irri.org/about/history.asp.AURORA HETTEL (2)BooksEnvironment and Livelihoods inT ropic al Coa stal Zone s:Managing Agriculture-Fishery-Aquaculture Conflicts (edited byC.T. Hoanh, T.P. Tuong, J.W. Gowing,and B. Hardy; co-published by CABInternational, International WaterManagement Institute [IWMI], andIRRI; 309 pages). This book focuses onthe challenges people face in managingagricultural crops, aquaculture, fisheries,and related ecosystems in inlandareas of coastal zones in the tropicsof Asia, Africa, Australia, and SouthAmerica. These challenges can createconflicts in theuse of naturalresources betweendifferentstakeholders.Through manycase studies,t he aut hor sd i s c u s s t h enature of theconf licts andidentify whatis known and not known about how tomanage them. For example, some casestudies relate to the trade-offs betweenenhancing agricultural production byconstructing embankments to keep outsaline water and maintaining not onlythe variety of rural livelihoods but alsobrackish aquatic biodiversity. Othercase studies provide the lessons learnedfrom the conversion of mangrove foreststo shrimp farms. For a copy, go towww.cabi-publishing.org.<strong>Rice</strong> in Our Life: A Reviewof Philippine Studies (by Gelia T.Castillo; co-published by De La SalleUniversity’s Angelo King Institute forEconomic and Business Studies andthe Philippine <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute;182 pages). According to the PhilippineDaily Inquirer, Dr. Castillo, eminent ruralsociologist and Philippine NationalScientist, has written “what’s probablythe most lucid summary of scientificstudies, over the past 30 years, on acereal that can make or break presidents.”In a delightful prose style, shehighlights the remarkable changes inthe past three decades in the Philippinerice economy and society. For example,she writes, “The integrity of rice sciencedeserves to be respected so the cultureof rice will rise above the culture ofpolitics. Whether rich or poor, in a veryunequal society like ours, rice is the onething we have in common.” She pointsout that rice farming now relies moreon hired laborthan on familylabor. <strong>Rice</strong>-farminghouseholdsare increasinglyless reliant onr i c e f a r m i n gfor householdincome, whichindicates thatsome membersof those households are earning incomefrom other sources. Purchasinginformation: contact Dr. Ponciano Intal,Jr., De La Salle University, 10th Floor,DLSU-CSB-Angelo King InternationalCenter, Arellano Avenue corner EstradaSt., Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines.<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 20069


IRRI STRATEGIC PLANBringing hope,improving livesIf all goes as planned, in2010—while the International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute(IRRI) is celebrating its50th anniversary—theinitiatives spelled out in theInstitute’s new Strategic Plan (thePlan) will already be starting tohave impact. IRRI titled the PlanBringing hope, improving lives, asthat is precisely what the Institutehopes to do for rice producers andconsumers around the world.by Jay Maclean and Gene Hettel<strong>Rice</strong> feeds roughly half the planet’s population and approximatelythree-quarters of a billion of the world’s poorest people dependon the staple to survive. A carefully focused agenda forcontinued research on this vital crop is as important as ever.The Plan, to be officially unveiledby IRRI Director General RobertZeigler during International <strong>Rice</strong>Congress 2006 in New Delhi on 9October, is also designed to enableIRRI to do its part in helping partnersand nations across the globe to reachthe United Nations MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) by 2015.Developing the Plan took nearly12 months. IRRI consulted widelyamong its partners and stakeholdersand sought expert guidanceARIEL JAVELLANAthroughout. Says Dr. Zeigler, “Duringthese deliberations, we concludedthat the MDGs related to hunger,poverty, environmental sustainability,and nutrition and health formed asound basis and direction for IRRI’sfuture activities. So, we developed fivestrategic goals (see page 12) and sevenresearch programs (see page 11) toachieve them to reflect this thinking.”Achieving IRRI’s firstgoal—Reduce poverty throughimproved and diversified rice-basedsystems—will take the Institutebeyond its traditional focus on riceproduction (increasing productivityor “filling the rice bowl”), whichrequired an emphasis on favorableirrigated areas, to “filling the purse,”a major effort to improve farmers’incomes in unfavorable rainfedareas. Nevertheless, rice supplieswill need to remain plentiful toprovide reliable food that even thepoorest can afford. In SoutheastAsia, South Asia, and sub-SaharanPETER FREDENBURGAfrica, rice consumption in 2015is projected to be, respectively, 9million tons (11%), 14.9 million tons(13%), and 6.8 million tons (52%)above 2005 levels (for more details,see <strong>Rice</strong> facts on pages 48-49).“This means relatively les<strong>sr</strong>esearch emphasis for IRRI on yieldgains for irrigated rice—for whichthere is now strong capacity amongthe national agricultural researchand extension systems (NARES),particularly in Asia,” says Ren Wang,IRRI’s deputy director general forresearch. “Instead, IRRI’s focuson intensive production systemswill shift more to sustainability.In addition, by targeting the MDGon eliminating extreme hungerand poverty as our first strategicgoal, we are opening profound newopportunities for IRRI to improvethe economic and social well-being ofpoor rice consumers and farmers.”“Rainfed areas coincide to alarge extent with regions of severeand extensive poverty where rice isthe principal source of staple food,employment, and income for the ruralpopulation,” says Mahabub Hossain,interim leader of the new programon Raising productivity in rainfedenvironments: attacking the rootsof poverty (see map on page 13).Up to now, success has beenlimited in increasing productivityin rainfed rice ecosystems—hometo 80 million farmers on 60 millionhectares. <strong>Rice</strong> yields in theseecosystems remain low at 1.0 to2.5 tons per hectare and tend to bevariable due to erratic monsoons.Poor people in these ecosystemsoften lack the capacity to acquirefood, even at lower prices, becauseof poor harvests and limitedemployment opportunities elsewhere.Recent research successeshave underscored the potential forimprovements in the rainfed area.For example, a team of researchersfrom IRRI and the University ofCalifornia have identified a gene thathelps rice survive prolonged flooding,and which will allow breeders todevelop new submergence-tolerantrice varieties (see From genes tofarmers’ fields on pages 28-31).AILEEN RONDILLAIRRI's new programs1. Raising productivity in rainfed environments:attacking the roots of poverty2. Sustaining productivity in intensive rice-basedsystems: rice and the environment3. East and Southern Africa: rice for rural incomesand an affordable urban staple4. <strong>Rice</strong> and human health: overcoming theconsequences of poverty5. <strong>Rice</strong> genetic diversity and discovery: meetingthe needs of future generations for ricegenetic resources6. Information and communication: convening aglobal rice research community7. <strong>Rice</strong> policy support and impact assessment forrice research“Our primary objective will beto enhance household food securityand income in these rainfed areasof Asia,” says Dr. Hossain. “Withrapid advances in genetics andgenomics, the chances of developinghigh-yielding, drought- and floodtolerantvarieties for the rainfedsystem—and, consequently, helpingfarmers to diversify their farmingsystems and thus their income—aremuch greater now than ever before.”Sub-Saharan Africa is now one ofthe world’s major poverty zones and10 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200611


IRRI STRATEGIC PLANThe relationship between IRRI’s new strategic goals and the Millennium Development GoalsIRRI strategic goalsGoal 1: Reduce poverty throughimproved and diversified rice-basedsystemsGoal 2: Ensure that rice production issustainable and stable, has minimalnegative environmental impact, andcan cope with climate changeGoal 3: Improve the nutrition andhealth of poor rice consumers andrice farmersGoal 4: Provide equitable access toinformation and knowledge on riceand help develop the next generationof rice scientistsGoal 5: Provide rice scientists andproducers with the genetic informationand material they need to developimproved technologies and enhancerice productionA direct contribution toward achieving the MDGsAn indirect contribution toward achieving the MDGsMillennium Development Goals1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8The United Nations MillenniumDevelopment GoalsThe goals provide a focus for globalefforts to meet the needs of theworld’s poorest people. IRRI’s newstrategic plan ensures the Institutewill do its part in achieving them.1. Eradicate extremepoverty and hunger2. Achieve universalprimary education3. Promote gender equalityand empower women4. Reduce child mortality5. Improve maternal health6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria,and other diseases7. Ensure environmentalsustainability8. Develop a global partnershipfor developmentGoal 1 targets this vast region as well.“About 130 million people inEast and Southern Africa (ESA) livein extreme poverty and more than85% of these depend on agriculture,”says Joseph Rickman, interimleader of the new program on Eastand Southern Africa: rice for ruralincomes and an affordable urbanstaple. A large number of these peopleare rice consumers and many aresmall rice producers. A significantinvestment in agriculture is critical toeradicate hunger and poverty in ESA.“Rural poverty in ESA could besignificantly reduced if the efficiencyof local rice production wereimproved in the key rice-growingareas of Kenya, Mozambique,Tanzania, and Uganda,” saysRickman. “Our research agendahere will also focus on enhancingsmall farmers’ access and linkageto markets. We will collaborateclosely with the Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center(WARDA), the national programs,and advanced research institutesto capitalize on both the existingknowledge within the countries andthe available international expertise.”It is critical that the stability andproductivity of rice agroecosystemsin Asia and Africa not be taken forgranted and that their use by futuregenerations not be jeopardized. “ThatIRRI has staff based in 14 countriesThe Philippines (headquarters)BangladeshCambodiaChinaIndiaIndonesiaKoreaLao PDRMyanmarNepalNigeria (IRRI–Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center liaison)MozambiqueThailandVietnamis why our second goal is to Ensurethat rice production is sustainableand stable, has minimal negativeenvironmental impact, and can copewith climate change,” says Dr. Zeigler.<strong>Rice</strong>-growing areas areamong the world’s most enduring,environmentally sound, andproductive agroecosystems, andincreased rice production in recentdecades has had a significantimpact on poverty reduction.“<strong>Rice</strong> ecosystems provide basiccommodities and regulatory services,including nutrient and water cycling,and biological control to reduce pestand disease outbreaks,” says DavidJohnson, interim leader of the newprogram Sustaining productivity inintensive rice-based systems: riceand the environment. Poor peopleoften depend on these “ecosystemservices” to provide their needs asthey are often without infrastructureto obtain clean water, food, and fuel.Environmental sustainability andecosystem services are threatened,12 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


however, by the loss of biodiversity,climate change, and inappropriatemanagement systems often due toland, water, or labor shortages.“Strategies are urgentlyneeded to preserve the naturalresource base while improvingproductivity in rice agroecosystemsin the face of changing physicaland socioeconomic environments,”says Dr. Johnson. “IRRI will focuson land management, biodiversity,water availability and productivity,and the impact of climate change todevelop and promote technologiesand options to sustain riceproducingenvironments.”Nutritional deficiencies,especially in women and childrenin both Asia and Africa, often gohand in hand with extreme povertybecause poverty is a major factorlimiting diversity in the diet. “Hence,our third goal is to Improve thenutrition and health of poor riceconsumers and rice farmers,” saysDr. Zeigler. Reliance on a singlestaple, such as polished rice, doesnot provide the requisite suite ofminerals and vitamins necessaryfor healthy growth and developmentand leads to widespread nutritionaldeficiency in many of the 1.2 billionpeople in Asia and sub-SaharanAfrica living in extreme poverty.Gerard Barry is the interimleader of the new program <strong>Rice</strong>and human health: overcoming theconsequences of poverty, whichwill bring together the multiple ricebiofortification projects (including theHarvestPlus Challenge Program—seeBreeding for nutrition on pages24-26 of <strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 2, No. 2)and other health-related effortsthat already investigate germplasm,farm practices, and policy options.Underpinning maximum successin meeting many of the MDGs isthe need to solve the widespreadproblems of health and nutrition thatdebilitate people and hinder economicgrowth. Poor nutrition is manifestedin invisible nutritional deficiencies(hidden hunger) and in malnutrition(visible hunger). “In addition,” saysDr. Barry, “poor health in the contextof rice cultivation may be relatedPOVERTY AND RICE distribution and irrigation by country, and subdivisions for China and India. The size of thepie diagram is scaled (not linear) to the total rice area in a country. There is a clear relationship between theprevalence of rainfed rice and the level of poverty.IRRIto chronic and infectious diseasesfrom water and from vectors suchas rodents and mosquitoes, as wellas illness attributed to the improperhandling of farm chemicals.”For much of the work inthis program, the delivery chainincludes partners in NARES for theco-development and deploymentof germplasm (seeds and thegenetic material they contain) andagricultural practices. However, IRRIwill greatly expand its interactionswith the public health sector indeveloping countries, for bothpolicy and delivery effectiveness.“This process has alreadybegun in the Golden <strong>Rice</strong> Networkfor India and the Philippines andthis will serve as a model for otherproducts,” explains Dr. Barry. “Theexisting structures in the Golden<strong>Rice</strong> Network and in HarvestPlushave already brought together manyof the relevant national and regionalinstitutions needed for impact.”Developments that will affect allof the efforts mentioned so far arethe rapidly increasing availabilityand affordability of informationand communication technology,such as the Internet, mobilephones, and powerful computers.These new technologies havecreated important opportunitiesto allow people with commoninterests to form communities,communicate, and collaborate.“They have also raised newobligations for IRRI to curate,exchange, and share not only itsown body of information, data,<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200613


IRRI STRATEGIC PLANand experience but also that of theworld’s knowledge about rice in allits forms,” says Dr. Zeigler. “Thiswill not only enhance global riceresearch efforts but also empowerdeveloping-country rice scientistswith state-of-the-art informationand knowledge and their associatedtools. So, our fourth goal is to Provideequitable access to information andknowledge on rice and help developthe next generation of rice scientists.”According to GrahamMcLaren, interim leader of thenew program Information andcommunication: convening aglobal rice research community,this effort will build on manyglobal investments in informationand technology within and outsideIRRI’s parent organization, theConsultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR).“Through this program, we areformally attempting to consolidateall IRRI research and developmenton information and communicationtechnology for rice science andextension under a single coordinatedactivity,” says Dr. McLaren. “Weplan to place bioinformatics andcommunication tools directly in thehands of crop scientists, extensionagents, and farmers to deliver impactthrough two major pathways, whichwill enhance the capacity of IRRI’ssix other research programs todeliver impact more effectively.“The first pathway is Internetdissemination via a World <strong>Rice</strong>Community Portal of restructuredand cross-linked information on cropscience and extension. The secondpathway is direct engagement ofscience and extension communitiesusing current communicationtechnologies, both new, such asWeb portals, videoconferencing,and cell phones, and traditional,such as radio and television.”Another ingredient in the mixthat will continue to contributeto the impact of IRRI’s researchagenda is the rice germplasm ithas assembled over nearly half acentury. “IRRI now maintains, onbehalf of humanity, the world’s mostcomplete and diverse collection ofrice germplasm,” says Dr. Zeigler,“and this leads to our fifth andfinal goal, to Provide rice scientistsand producers with the geneticinformation and material they needto develop improved technologiesand enhance rice production.”According to Hei Leung, interimleader of the new program <strong>Rice</strong>genetic diversity and discovery:meeting the needs of futuregenerations for rice geneticresources, there are still significantgaps in IRRI’s germplasm collectionand, despite the advanced stateof knowledge of the rice genome,information is scant on what diversityof genes exists within the rice genepool, what these genes do, and howthey may help meet the needs of riceproducers and users. Meanwhile,genetic erosion in the field continues.“We expect a greater demand forspecific genetic resources to addressproduction and environmentalproblems in the future,” says Dr.ARIEL JAVELLANAJON NASO/THE STAR-LEDGERLeung. “This will translate intoa greater demand for the geneticknowledge and tools that are neededto identify and use resourcesthat meet specific needs.”Through genomics (the scienceof discovering genetic structure,variation, and function, and theinterrelationships among these),genetic knowledge can now beintegrated across species, leadingto accelerated discovery of genefunctions. Furthermore, genome-wideanalysis has the potential to revealnew insights about genetic pathways,and create new opportunitiesto meet both anticipated andunforeseen challenges.“Bringing together germplasmconservation, diversity analysis,and gene discovery under this singleprogram,” says Dr. Leung, “presents aunique opportunity to maximize theutility of conserved and customizedgermplasm. This program will offera comprehensive, well-documentedgermplasm base, a public researchplatform to enable gene identification,and genetic knowledge for prioritytraits. Building on the investmentsand achievements made in germplasmcharacterization, functionalgenomics, and bioinformatics, IRRIis poised to play a major role in genefunction discovery, applications ofgenetic knowledge, and conservationand sharing of genetic resources.”The last new program, whichwill be critical to achieving the fivePlan goals, is <strong>Rice</strong> policy supportand impact assessment for riceresearch. According to Dr. Zeigler,the impact of rice research onpoverty reduction and environmentalsustainability depends on policiesand appropriate technologies thataddress farmers’ livelihood needs.“To effectively set researchpriorities, we must understand thebroad trends in socioeconomic andpolicy environments that affect theeconomics of rice production,” hesays. “This involves analyzing trendsin rice production and consumptionat national and subnational levels andshifts in comparative advantages inrice production relative to other cropsacross regions and ecosystems.”According to interim programleader Sushil Pandey, IRRIaims to provide sound advice topolicymakers, research managers,and donors regarding researchpriorities and the design ofagricultural interventions throughpolicy analyses, livelihood studies,and impact assessments focusedon rice-based systems of Asia.“By making regional comparisonsof rice economies and associatedlivelihoods, the program will helpproduce a global view of the driversof change and their impacts,”says Dr. Pandey. “In addition, wewill develop research approachesand tools that will have widerapplication for policy researchand impact analysis.” We will alsoclosely partner with NARES to helpbuild their capacity for broaderIRRI’s new Frontier ProjectsDrought and productivity in unfavorable rice environmentsRecent IRRI research has shown that the drought tolerance trait is strongly influenced bygenes and gene networks with large effects. This project will scale up their detection, analysis,and delivery for use in marker-aided breeding. By incorporating genes for this trait fromrice and other species into widely grown rice varieties, technologies can be developed withnational agricultural research systems and provided to farmers to enhance and stabilize theirrice yields and income. (See Diagnosing drought on page 32 of <strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 5, No. 3.)Climate change and sustainabilityClimate change brings new problems for the sustainability of rice production. Further, changesin air quality and composition, acid rain, and Asian “brown” clouds will produce a newbio-climate for food production systems. <strong>Rice</strong> cultivation is often viewed as a contributorto climate change through the production of greenhouse gases. Given the essential role ofrice in the food system, solutions must be sought that not only minimize the impact of riceproduction on the environment but also sustain productivity and environmental quality.Strong science will decipher the causes and effects involved, improve germplasm adaptationto expected future climatic conditions, and mitigate the negative effect of agriculture onclimate. (See Climate change initiative ramps up on page 5 of <strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 5, No. 3.)A much more productive and efficient rice plantPlants like maize and sorghum have a more efficient photosynthetic mechanism (called C 4 )for converting energy to biomass than rice (a so-called C 3 plant). C 4 plants are also moreefficient in nitrogen and water use, and are generally more tolerant of high temperatures.Genomic sciences and comparative biology may be able to break the yield ceiling of rice andenhance its water- and nitrogen-use efficiency by changing the photosynthetic mechanismin rice to that of the more efficient plants. IRRI has formed a C 4 rice consortium of seniorscientists from both advanced research institutes and developing countries to chart andconduct research to develop a C 4 rice plant. (See A more powerful and efficient engine forrice on page 5.)socioeconomic and policy analysesof the agricultural sector. NARES,sister CGIAR centers, and advancedresearch institutes will all have keycollaborative roles in the program.”IRRI has a 46-year history ofinvesting in visionary “frontier”research—research that, whensuccessful, has revolutionizedagriculture. The original frontierproject was none other than theincorporation of semidwarf genesto create the modern high-yieldingvarieties that began with the releaseof IR8 40 years ago and spurredthe Green Revolution in rice. (SeeBreeding history on pages 34-38.)Three new Frontier Projects,involving work on drought tolerance,climate change, and producing a moreproductive and efficient rice plant(see IRRI’s new Frontier Projects,above), are intended to accentuatethe Institute’s commitment toachieving its new goals. Says Dr.Wang, “They will constitute noveland focused research on problems ofstrategic importance to future riceproduction and the environment.The projects will be undertaken bymulti-institutional, internationalresearch teams, and we expect thatsignificant portions of the researchwill be conducted at collaboratinginstitutions in both developedand developing countries.”Jay Maclean is a freelance writer andinformation specialist with more than 30years’ experience in agriculture and fisheries.Complete details of IRRI’s exciting Strategic Plan 2007-2015, Bringing hope, improving lives,are available online in pdf format at www.irri.org/bringinghope/improvinglives.pdf. Hardcopies are available upon request from the office of IRRI’s Director for Program Planning andCommunications at dppc-irri@cgiar.org or DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines. IRRI’sMedium-Term Plan, 2007-09, which provides details on the seven research programs for thefirst 3-year period of the Strategic Plan, is available online at www.irri.org/mtp2007-09.14 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 15


PARTICIPANTS at the Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Congress included(front) Josephine Maseruka, a journalist from NewVision, Uganda; (second row, left to right) MpokoBokanga from the African Agricultural TechnologyFoundation, Kenya, and rice breeder Susan McCouchfrom Cornell University, USA; (third row, left toright) Yousouf Dembele, Leonard Ouedraogo, ThioBouma, and Ibrahim Ouedraogo, all from the Institutde l’environnement et des recherches agricoles,Burkina Faso.Putting rice on the African agendaby Savitri MohapatraThe recent Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Congress in Tanzania helped chart the course for the futureof the rice industry in sub-Saharan Africa<strong>Rice</strong> was one of thecornerstones of the AsianGreen Revolution. Willit play a similar rolein sub-Saharan Africa(SSA)? Participants at the Africa<strong>Rice</strong> Congress in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania, on 31 July–4 August2006, urged African governmentsto recognize the strategic role of riceand urgently put in place policiesand infrastructure to transformthe rice sector in the region.The first of its kind in SSA, theCongress brought together morethan 200 participants, includingnational and international ricescientists, policymakers, economists,international nongovernmentalorganizations, representativesfrom rice networks in West andEast Africa, farmers’ associations,the private sector, the donorcommunity, and media. The mainpurpose of the Congress was tochart the way forward for riceresearch and development in SSA.<strong>Rice</strong> is of significant importanceto food security in many Africancountries. Although per capitarice consumption in some Asiannations is declining, it is growingrapidly in most countries in SSA.Annual demand for rice in SSA isincreasing by 6% per year, fueledby rapid population growth andchanges in consumer preferences.VICKY NTETEMA, BBCBureau Chief in Dar esSalaam, Tanzania, interviewsa Tanzanian ricefarmer during the Africa<strong>Rice</strong> Congress.Although rice production inSSA rose from 6.2 million tons ofpaddy (unhulled) rice in 1980 to 12.6million tons in 2005, it has not beenable to keep pace with increasingdemand. As a result, the quantity ofrice imported yearly by the regionincreased from 2.5 million tons in1980 to 7.2 million tons in 2005.<strong>Rice</strong> imports cover more than 45%of SSA’s consumption and representa third of world rice imports.Since only 4–6% of worldrice output is subject to trade,Aliou Diagne, impact assessmenteconomist from the Africa <strong>Rice</strong>Center (WARDA), cautioned that SSAwould be ill advised to rely on thi<strong>sr</strong>elatively “thin” world rice marketfor its growing rice demand. “SSAshould urgently review its rice importpolicy to avoid a crisis in the nearfuture,” he said at the Congress.Dr. Diagne emphasized theneed for African smallholderfarmers to get a more level playingfield to access markets, inputs,PAPA ABDOULAYE SECK (left), whois set to become director generalof WARDA in November 2006,prepares to speak while WARDAentomologist Francis Nwilene(center) and IRRI agronomistVethaiya Balasubramanian assist.and credit. “While SSA’s 36million farmers scrape a livingout of rice farming in a liberalizedmarket, Asian and American ricefarmers are highly supported bytheir governments,” he said.Confirming the vital needfor government support to therice sector, World Food PrizeLaureate and former International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute (IRRI)principal breeder Gurdev Khushsaid that the development of highyieldingvarieties alone couldnot have provided the boost inrice production that led to India’sGreen Revolution in the 1960s.“It was a combination of successfactors that included the government’sdecision to support its rice farmersby providing a fertilizer subsidy,price support, and a ready market,in addition to irrigation, roads,and machinery,” said Dr. Khush.The Congress participantsacclaimed the achievements ofWARDA’s partnership-basedresearch, especially its New <strong>Rice</strong>for Africa (NERICA) varieties. “Weare just witnessing the beginning ofthe NERICA revolution in Africa,”stated Keijiro Otsuka, chair of IRRI’sROTIMI FASHOLA (3)Board of Trustees. Discussionsbegan on the development ofnext-generation NERICAs.The need to strengthen thecapacity of human resourcesof the whole range of ricestakeholders—from researchers toextension workers, farmers, andprocessors—was underscored.A Committee of EminentPersons comprising mainly thekeynote speakers at the Congressprovided overall guidance to thediscussions on some of the criticalissues relating to rice researchand development in SSA.The committee included Dr.Khush; Ruth Oniang’o, member ofparliament, Kenya; Eric Tollens,Catholic University of Leuven,Belgium; Susan McCouch, CornellUniversity, USA; Marco Quinones,Africa director of Sasakawa-Global2000; Toshiyuki Wakatsuki, KinkiUniversity, Japan; Prof. Otsuka;Oumar Niangado, SyngentaFoundation, Mali; Mpoko Bokanga,African Agricultural TechnologyFoundation, Kenya; Kallunde Sibuga,Sokoine University, Tanzania;and Richard Musangi, Kenya.The Congress was organized byWARDA, in association with the Westand Central Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Research andDevelopment Network and the Eastand Central Africa <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchNetwork, under the aegis of theTanzanian Ministry of Agriculture,Food, and Cooperatives. Sponsorswere the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the Canadian Fundfor Africa, the Sasakawa AfricaAssociation, the West and CentralAfrican Council for AgriculturalResearch and Development, theAssociation for StrengtheningAgricultural Research in Eastern andCentral Africa, the European Union,and the Rockefeller Foundation.The first Congressional Honorwas bestowed on Kanayo F. Nwanze,in recognition of his outstandingcontribution to rice research anddevelopment in Africa duringhis term as WARDA directorgeneral from 1996 to 2006.Savitri Mohapatra is head ofcommunications at the Africa<strong>Rice</strong> Center (WARDA).Resolutions of the first Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Congress• Given that Africa has to import almost 50% of the rice it needs and that demand isincreasing at the rate of 6% per year, rice should be one of the cornerstones of a GreenRevolution for Africa that anticipates the needs of future populations.• Transform the low level of available scientific expertise in sub-Saharan Africa, where thereare only 83 scientists per million people, compared with 1,100 scientists per million inindustrialized countries and 785 per million in Asia. The Congress resolves that for the GreenRevolution to succeed in Africa, a new capacity-building program focusing on the developmentof a multidisciplinary cadre of scientists and extensionists is urgently needed.• To accelerate farmer adoption of New <strong>Rice</strong> for Africa (NERICA) varieties and other improvedtechnologies, concerted actions by a broad partnership including governments, researchinstitutions, the private sector, and local, regional, international, and nongovernmentalorganizations are needed. The Congress recognizes the value of micro-financing andparticipatory learning as powerful means both for technology dissemination and fordeveloping appropriate infrastructure to improve access to seeds, fertilizer, mechanization,and market systems.• The Congress is deeply appreciative of the support and hospitality of the government ofthe United Republic of Tanzania. It recognizes the role played by the Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center(WARDA), not only in African agriculture and, therefore, in the continent’s economicgrowth but also in providing leadership in rice science and development. Desirous,therefore, of the necessity for the Center to continue to provide such leadership in ricedevelopment in Africa, the Congress resolves and urges all stakeholders to maintain theCenter’s identity, as previously resolved by the WARDA Council of Ministers in September2005 and the National Experts Committee in June 2006, and to strengthen its capacityfor the welfare of African rice farmers.16 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200617


Conservingthe futureStory and photos by Adam BarclayAPPROPRIATE MACHINERY—such as these drill seeders—is key tothe conservation agriculture approach. Equipment like this allowsfarmers to reduce seed and fertilizer waste, seed through existingcrop residue, and incorporate residue into the soil.Right now, though, that promise isexciting. And, make no mistake—conservation agriculture could bevery important indeed. This isn’tabout niche farming to supplementthe way things have always beendone. This is about feeding a nation.Agriculture in India is currentlyat a cros<strong>sr</strong>oads. In many areas—especially on the most productivefarms in the rice-wheat belt ofthe Indo-Gangetic Plains in thecountry’s northwest—decades ofconventional farming have begun totake their toll. Years of the intensiveirrigation required to grow rice havesucked the water table down, andit is dropping further each year.On top of this, the combinationof flooding the fields and the everincreasinguse of inputs, suchas fertilizer, has led to sick anddeteriorating soil. The situationis simply unsustainable.“This is one of the biggestproblems, although we don’t see thatyet,” says J.K. Ladha, International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute (IRRI)representative to India and IRRI’s<strong>Rice</strong>-Wheat Coordinator. “Right now,productivity is maintained becausefarmers are putting in more chemicalinputs. But I think it’s just a matterof time—five, ten years down theroad—and we’ll really start to see thevisible effects of land degradation.”If that isn’t disheartening enough,you can add another problem tothe mix. Fewer and fewer of India’syoung want to farm. Growing upwatching their parents work theirfingers to the bone, often for littlereward, has dissuaded a generationthat sees a brighter future in India’sburgeoning urban economy. And,often, they have the understandingand support of their parents.“Both my sons want to get outof farming,” explains Akhtar, a45-year-old farmer from Kalugarhivillage in the northwestern stateof Uttar Pradesh. “My land is sosmall, I don’t make profits—I can’tfulfill my children’s needs. I wantthem to get out. I’m not againstchildren staying on the farm. Butmy land will be divided betweenmy children—more fragmentation.This is already a problem. Weshould look for alternatives.”But what are the alternatives?In the next few years, scientistsand farmers will discover whetherconservation agriculture is one ofAs India’s rice-wheat belt grapples with declining soil healthand water tables, a vanguard of young, innovative farmersand researchers is leading a new approach that could holdthe key to reversing the region’s waning productivityYou’ve been farming for20 years. You do thingsas your father did them,and his father beforehim. Then, one day,a scientist visits your farm. Youdiscuss the problems that have beengetting worse for the past few years.Productivity is declining and youneed more fertilizer to get the sameyields. You both agree that somethingdifferent needs to be done. Together,you decide on a new approach.Despite some skepticism,you allocate a significant portionof your land to a trial. But, earlyin the season, this experimentis looking disastrous. Your croplooks terrible. Your neighborstell you you’re crazy and laughat you. You seriously considerplowing the whole field under.Now jump ahead to harvesttime. That same plot of land is nowadmired by your neighbors as oneof the best in the area. The otherfarmers are lining up to try the samething in their fields next season.On top of that, you’ve saved moneyand helped the environment.Conservation agriculture, asthis new approach is known, is stillyoung. We won’t know for a few yearsyet whether it lives up to its promise.DR. JAT points to an experimental field at theProject Directorate for Cropping Systems Researchin Modipuram, Uttar Pradesh. The field is part of anexperiment on tillage and residue management inthe rice-wheat cropping system. A field worker (left)at the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute inKarnal, Haryana, helps load just-harvested rice. Dr.Ladha (top, at right) talks to Uttar Pradesh farmerAkhtar Khan about the progress of his conservationagriculture trials.18 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200619


FARMERS INSPECT a seed drill at a Central Soil SalinityResearch Institute field day in October 2005 at theinstitute headquarters in Karnal, Haryana.them. In India’s rice-wheat belt,conservation agriculture holdsgreat potential as part of an urgentand necessary change in the waypeople think about agriculture.That potential is currently beingassessed in an Asian DevelopmentBank-sponsored project, Enhancingfarmers’ income and livelihoodsthrough integrated crop andresource management in therice-wheat system in South Asia.The project, which is managed byIRRI under the leadership of Dr.Ladha, falls under the umbrellaof the <strong>Rice</strong>-Wheat Consortiumfor the Indo-Gangetic Plains.Collaborating institutes includethe International Maize and WheatImprovement Center along withthe national agricultural researchand extension systems of India,Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.One of the keys to its successis not only that it maintains orincreases productivity but alsoPotential benefits of key conservation agriculture technologies.Conservation agriculturetechnologiesLaser levelerZero-tillageCrop residue mulchDry seedingDrill seederGreen manure (Sesbania)Crop diversification (raisedseedbeds, intercropping)Potential benefits relative to transplanted riceCuts water use; fewer bunds and irrigation channels; better soilnutrient distribution; less leaching of nitrates into groundwater;more efficient tractor use (reduced diesel consumption); increasedarea for cultivation.Less labor required; soil physical structure is maintained (reducednutrient loss, soil health maintained); less water required; avoidslarge cracks in soil after dry periods; can keep previous crop’<strong>sr</strong>esidue in field for mulch (if appropriate drill seeder is used forseeding); subsoil layer is not compacted by tractors (compactedsubsoil impedes root growth).Increases soil water-holding capacity, increases soil quality,reduces weed pressure, avoids burning.Less water required; less labor required (especially at peaktransplanting time); postharvest condition of field is better forsucceeding crop; deeper root growth (meaning better tolerance ofdry conditions, better access to soil nutrients).Precise seeding (reduced seed rate); applies fertilizer and/orherbicide simultaneously with seed (increased input efficiency);seeds through previous crop’s residue; incorporates previous crop’<strong>sr</strong>esidue into soil (adds to soil fertility).Fast early growth suppresses weeds; after herbicide treatment, itacts as mulch (reduces evaporative water loss; adds soil organicmatter plus nutrients—especially nitrogen—to the soil).Two to three crops grow simultaneously (e.g., rice, chickpea,pigeon pea, maize); increased income; increased nutritionalsecurity.that it is economically viable. If itcannot help farmers increase theirincomes, it is doomed from thestart. Several characteristics ofconservation agriculture—such aszero-tillage and direct seeding—arelikely to save farmers money (formore information on direct seeding,see The direct approach on pages12-18 of <strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 5, No. 2)and, so far, farmers have achievedyields as high as or higher thanthose obtained by the conventionalpractice of transplanting seedlingsinto flooded fields (see table belowfor a description of conservationagriculture principles).Any gains from conservationagriculture will be limited if onlya few scattered farmers becomeconverts—true success will meanwide-scale adoption across the ricewheatbelt. But, with any technology,good potential is no guarantee ofsuccess. More than 20 years ago,S.K. Sharma, director of the ProjectDirectorate for Cropping SystemsResearch (PDCSR) in Modipuram,Uttar Pradesh, was heralding thebenefits of direct-seeded rice, but itwas never taken up in farmers’ fields.“There were concerns about weedmanagement in direct-seeded rice,but now several technologies alloweffective control of weeds,” says Dr.Sharma. “Further, people said youneed more water for direct-seededrice. This is a myth! By using directseededrice, farmers cut water use.”Yashpal Saharawat, a soilscientist based at the IRRI-Indiaoffice in Delhi, points out thegrave importance of such watersavings. “In India, farmers areusing underground water very fast.Currently, in Haryana’s Karnalregion, for example, the watertable is dropping at around 1 meterper year. But farmers using directseeding in this region are reducingtheir water use by around 25%.”When Dr. Sharma firstchampioned direct seeding, itwas in some ways ahead of itstime. The ideas were good but themachine technologies that wouldmake it attractive to farmers werenot available. That is no longerA COMMON SIGHT: smoldering piles of rice straw (left)pouring carbon dioxide into the air and reducing soilorganic content. This is one of the practices thatDrs. Saharawat (left) and Gathala want to end. Withmachinery that can sow seeds through crop residue,leaving the stubble alone is a much more attractiveoption—as can be seen below, where rice seedlingsare growing through wheat straw. Right, Drs. Saharawatand Gathala crouch in a rice field that has been dryseededafter zero-tillage, thus reducing water use,labor requirements, and cracked soil.IRRI-INDIA OFFICEthe case. Recent advances inmachinery, along with growingshortages of labor and water andconcerted research and technologydissemination efforts, mean thetime is ripe for a fresh approach.According to R.K. Gupta, theregional facilitator of the <strong>Rice</strong>-WheatConsortium, machinery has a key roleto play if conservation agricultureis to succeed on a wide scale.“Recently developed machinesallow more precise seeding,” explainsDr. Gupta. “Seeders are now availablethat can meter the seed rate andsimultaneously apply fertilizer. Suchprecision allows farmers to reducethe amount of seed and fertilizerthey use and so save money.”The new seeders can alsoplow through the residue of theprevious crop. The rotor disk drill,for example, can seed throughup to 7 tons per hectare of looseresidue. This offers two significantadvantages. First, it allows farmersto leave their fields untilled,resulting in a big savings of labor.M.L. Jat, senior agronomist atIRRI-INDIA OFFICEDR. S.K. SHARMA,from the ProjectDirectorate forCropping SystemsResearch inModipuram, UttarPradesh, helpedpioneer directseeding.PDCSR, says that through reducedlabor—using traditional methods,farmers plow at least 10 times—zerotillagealone can save farmers3,000 rupees (US$65) per acre (0.4hectare). Yields are more or less thesame as for conventional tillage,but even where they are slightlyless, farmers win economically.The second big advantage ofzero-tillage is that farmers can leavethe residue of the preceding cropin the field. That residue can thenact as mulch, providing the soilwith moisture and nutrients, andsuppressing weed growth. And, asa double bonus, farmers no longerneed to burn the residue, a practicethat can harm the environment aswell as soil and human health.“We’ve developed some very goodmachines that can actually pick upthe straw and then, after drilling theseed and putting fertilizer into place,throw the straw back for mulch,” saysDr. Ladha. “If those machines becomepopular, then we are really into theconservation agriculture concept.”One of the reasons for tillingthe land is to ensure that the soil ismoist enough for germination. Sowhy is zero-tillage, combined withdirect seeding, now possible? Theanswer, again, lies in the availabilityof appropriate machinery. Olderseed drills opened large furrowsof 7.5–10 cm. If you used these todirect-seed an untilled field, theseeds would quickly dry out. The new,precise machines leave much smallerfurrows, thereby eliminating this risk.“Presently, we have around 2million hectares under zero-tillage in20 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200621


the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India,”says Dr. Jat. “This is after 3 or 4 years.We have a total of 10 million hectaresunder the rice-wheat cropping systemin this region. I expect that, in thecoming years, the whole area willgo under conservation agriculturepractices, including zero-tillage.”Another aspect of conservationagriculture that is gaining favoris planting the legume Sesbaniasimultaneously with rice. After25–30 days, farmers spray theircrop with a herbicide that killsthe Sesbania along with otherbroadleaf weeds, but doesn’t affectthe rice plants. The quick-growingSesbania initially suppresses weedgrowth—often enough for farmersto perform one less hand weeding,thus saving 1,500 rupees ($32). Then,after spraying, the Sesbania leavesact as mulch, further suppressingweed growth, reducing evaporativewater loss, and providing around15 kg per hectare of nitrogen.One challenge, though, isproviding equitable access tomachinery, as many farmers can’tafford their own seeders. A singlemachine, however, can serviceseveral farms. Currently, groupsof farmers share machines or rentthem from larger farmers. Thesame system is gaining momentumwith laser land levelers.According to Dr. Jat, laserSAMAR SINGH (with microphone), senioragronomist at the International Maize andWheat Improvement Center-India Office,talks to farmers at the Central Soil SalinityResearch Institute field day in October2005. One of Dr. Singh’s research areas isthe co-planting of Sesbania with rice tosuppress weed growth, act as mulch, andprovide extra nitrogen.leveling, which was first promotedfour years ago on just a few hectares,has now been adopted on morethan 3,000 hectares. By ensuringa perfectly flat, horizontal field,the technology reduces the needfor bunds and irrigation channelsand can cut average water use by20–25% as well as reduce laborrequirements. Further, the resultantuniform application of water leadsto uniform distribution of nutrientsin the soil and the fewer bunds andchannels mean a 4–5% increase incultivated land. Also, an undulatingfield leads to an accumulation ofnitrogen fertilizer in low-lyingareas, increasing the chance ofnitrates polluting the groundwater.“It’s such an attractivetechnology; farmers really like tohave it, and it’s really an entry point,”adds Dr. Ladha. “Once you’ve leveledthe land, zero-tillage becomes easy,water management becomes easy, andweed management becomes easy.”A major part of the reasonfor the success of machineryadoption by farmers in this regionis the consultation with farmers.“We consider our farmers a<strong>sr</strong>esearch partners rather thanresearch clients—and there is abig difference between a partnerand a client,” explains Dr. Jat.But all the machinery in theworld is no good if no farmers arearound to use it. So, in the face ofthe exodus from the farm to thecity, who will produce India’s food?Fortunately, there is light on thehorizon. A new breed of farmers isemerging from India’s agriculturalcommunities. Young and innovative,they believe in science, they are opento new crop management systemsand technologies, and they contradictthe idea that farming is some sortof hell from which to escape.“Older farmers often see farmingas merely a livelihood,” says M.K.Gathala, an IRRI agronomist basedin Modipuram. “These young farmerssee it as a business. They understandthe market, they’re aware of issueslike water and soil health. If they havea problem, they’ll go to the scientistsand the private sector; they won’twait for someone to come to them.”Sandeep Kumar, a 25-yearoldfarmer from Lalpur village inModipuram, typifies the new breed.UTTAR PRADESH farmerSandeep Kumar standsin a field of sugarcaneresidue. Newly developeddrill seeders can happilysow rice seeds throughresidue this thick, meaningSandeep can avoid theeconomic and environmentalcosts of burning ordisposal.22 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


Changing a mindsetThe families of Akhtar Khan and Pradeep Singh have farmed near Kalugarhi villagein Modipuram, Uttar Pradesh, for generations. Both 45 years old, they first triedconservation agriculture in the 2005 season, each dedicating 1 acre (0.4 hectare) todirect-seeded, zero-tilled rice. Akhtar recalls the initial skepticism of his neighbors.“This was a complete shift, moving from puddling,” he says. “My neighbors said, ‘You’recrazy!’ Now, some of them are also trying it. The price of diesel [used to pump water] hasgone up like crazy; zero-tilled rice saves water and therefore saves money.”It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, though. Pradeep explains that they encountered someearly challenges.“Weed management is one problem,” he says. “I feel the problem is worse in zero-tilledversus tilled land. I can overcome this, but I have to put in more herbicides. But I won’tgive up. These problems can be solved.”In addition, the first zero-tilled seeds did not germinate as well as hoped, although thisis improving as the farmers optimize settings—such as seed depth—on the drill seeder.IRRI’s J.K. Ladha emphasizes that early problems are to be expected: “Whenever youbring in new technology, it’s never a clean sweep. Never. There are always problems youhave to solve.”Both Pradeep and Akhtar, who have two and four children, respectively, are concernedabout the next generation.“Farming is becoming less attractive,” says Pradeep. “The younger generation wantsto get out. We have seen benefits from conservation agriculture, but not yet on a largerscale. We don’t know if this will work on a large scale. But the involvement of internationalcenters gives us hope and confidence. Having the scientists come is having a very positiveimpact on our children, too.”Part of the solution, suggests Pradeep, lies in changing the way farmers think aboutfarming.“Our fathers and forefathers were stubborn,” he says. “They wouldn’t listen to anybodyabout new technologies. But, because of our education, we’re ready to change thatmindset.”And, in the face of farming’s trials and tribulations—the rising costs, the declining soilhealth, the backbreaking work—Pradeep and Akhtar remain philosophical.“One of my children has left the farm already; the second is trying to get out,” saysPradeep. “His father is trying to keep him here! I have 30-odd years of experience and Ican’t pass this on to my children—this is deeply frustrating. But, sitting here, people thinkthe outside world has no problems. But it’s full of problems. I’m happy. I want to stay here.At least I have time in the evenings to sit with my wife.”FARMERS PRADEEP SINGH (center) and Akhtar Khan (left) contemplatechange with Drs. Ladha (arms raised) and Jat (right).“We have a group of young,educated farmers,” explainsSandeep. “We’re saving a lot ofmoney and water. We want to adoptconservation agriculture as a whole.Our natural resources are beingdegraded; we need to sustain them.I hope this whole area will go forthese technologies. We were thefirst farmers to adopt. At first, theFARMERS ATthe Central SoilSalinity ResearchInstitute field dayin October 2005.district administration didn’t believe,but after I showed them that minewas the best field in the area, theybelieved. Last year there was onefield—mine. Next year, there will be50! Next year, I want to plant othercrops using conservation agricultureprinciples and technologies.”If a major shift is to take place,much more is needed than to merelydisseminate technology and trainpeople to use it.“What is required is a change inmindset that prompts farmers tounderstand that good farm managementis essential,” says Dr. Gupta.Younger, scientificallyknowledgeable, innovative farmerswill lead the next generation; havingthem on board the conservationagriculture bandwagon is crucial.The next few years will revealwhether conservation agriculturetakes hold and lives up to its earlypromise. The signs are good, though,and it is indisputable that somethingneeds to change. The farmers whohave tried it for themselves areenthusiastic—and it is these pioneerswho will ultimately lead the way.Time and again, when asked abouttheir early experiences, one commonanswer emerged: “My neighborslaughed and said I was crazy. Nowthey want to do the same as me.”<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200623


RICEin harm’s wayOn 24-28 July 2006, intrepid IRRI photographersAriel Javellana and Jose Raymond Panaliganbraved the area around the base of Mayonvolcano, in Bicol, Philippines (see map,right). Mayon, famous for its near-perfect conicalshape, began showing increased volcanic activityin mid-July (see centerfold on pages 26-27). Theactivity continued throughout August and, as<strong>Rice</strong> Today went to press, the Philippine Instituteof Volcanology and Seismology was maintainingan 8-km danger zone and recorded the volcano’sstatus at alert level 4, “which corresponds to ahigh probability for a hazardous eruption.”Although a boon to our photographers, thevolcano has the capacity to cause great hardship forthe surrounding rice-farming communities. Asidefrom causing danger to life and limb, lava, ash falls,and pyroclastic flows—fast-moving mixtures of hotgas, rocks, and ash that travel quickly down themountain—can also damage or destroy crops, housing,and infrastructure. Presented here are some images ofMayon volcano and the people who live in its shadow.Clockwise from main photo (left): Steaming lava on the mountainside in Barangay Tagas, Daraga,Albay Province; a woman protects herself from the sun—and ash—in Bonga Gully; 57-year-old ricefarmer Sofroneo Rodriguez—whose farm was damaged in Mayon’s 1984 eruption—sought refugewith his family in the Sitio Bical evacuation center; Rodriguez’s granddaughter occupies herself atSitio Bical; Rodriguez’s son, who takes turns with other family members to return to the farm eachnight to guard against looters and thieves; lava creeps toward the bell tower of the old Cagsawachurch—one of the only structures remaining above the lava that buried Cagsawa town in the1814 Mayon eruption, which killed more than 1,000 people.Bicol Region, Luzon Island,PhilippinesPhilippine Sea24<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 25


Ariel Javellana26 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200627<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006, Vol. 5, No. 4<strong>Rice</strong> fields at the edge of Mayon volcano’s 8-km danger zone, near Legaspi City in the Philippines’ Bicol Region, 27 July 2006.


Fromgenestofarmers’ fieldsby David Mackill<strong>Rice</strong> is considered asemiaquatic plant, andit thrives in the wettestagricultural environments.However, most rice varietieswill be heavily damaged and die ifthey remain underwater for morethan 4 days. A few varieties—suchas the traditional Indian varietyFR13A—can tolerate 2 to 3 weeksof submergence and rapidly recoverwhen the water subsides. Thisis important for the vast rainfedlowland areas of Asia whereintermittent flooding causes frequentsubmergence. Estimated croplosses are around a billion dollarsannually. Compounding the problem,submergence stress tends to be morecommon in areas where poverty isJOSE RAYMOND PANALIGAN (2)The practical application of gene discovery to developsubmergence-tolerant rice will help farmers avoid the ravages of severe floodinghigh. <strong>Rice</strong> production in these areasis highly variable due to flooding.Relief may be at hand, though.Researchers at the International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute (IRRI) andthe University of California (UCRiverside and Davis) have recentlydiscovered a gene from FR13A thatis responsible for that variety’sstrong tolerance of submergence.This gene belongs to a class of genesknown as “ethylene response factors”or ERFs. The significance of theresearch—recently reported in thescientific journal Nature 1 —is that itprovides new tools to develop ricevarieties that combine high yields andtolerance of temporary submergence.Submergence-tolerant varietieshave been known for a long time,and submergence tolerance has beena breeding focus at IRRI since theearly 1970s. In India, varieties likeFR13A (FR stands for flood resistant)were selected from farmers’ varietiesas early as the 1940s and showed ahigh level of submergence tolerancecompared with other varieties. FR13Aand other tolerant varieties werecrossed with high-yielding semidwarfvarieties (which are shorter thanmost traditional varieties and thu<strong>sr</strong>esistant to damage from rain andwind), producing short varieties with1Xu K, Xia X, Fukao T, Canlas P, Maghirang-Rodriguez R, Heuer S, Ismail AI, Bailey-Serres J, Ronald PC, Mackill DJ. 2006. Sub1A is an ethyleneresponse factor-like gene that confers submergence tolerance to rice. Nature (10 August 2006)IRRI RESEARCHERS Abdelbagi Ismail(left), Sigrid Heuer (second from right),and Dave Mackill (right) examine a submergence-tolerancescreening experimentin an IRRI greenhouse while associatescientist Alvaro Pamplona (center) andGina Vergara look on. Top left, assistantscientists Jessica Rey (left) and DarleneSanchez prepare DNA samples for analysisin the lab.tolerance of submergence. Despitecontinuing efforts by rice breeders,these varieties were not adopted byfarmers because of unacceptabletraits such as poor taste or inadequateadaptation to the location.Work on the genetics ofsubmergence tolerance began inthe early 1990s. Graduate studentKenong Xu and I—then working forthe Agricultural Research Serviceof the United States Department ofAgriculture and UC Davis—usedmolecular markers (a molecularmarker is a segment of DNA thatis linked to a gene that controls animportant trait and can easily bedetected in the lab) to map a regionof DNA on rice chromosome 9 thatwas responsible for most of thetolerance. We named the gene (orgenes—at the time, we didn’t knowwhether it was a single gene or severallinked genes) Sub1 (Submergence1).This began the search topinpoint the genes responsiblefor submergence tolerance.We were then joined by PamelaRonald, an associate professor at UCDavis. Ten years of hard work by Dr.Xu plus a strong contribution fromhis wife, Xia Xu, would ultimatelyunravel the DNA sequence of theSub1 region. The group was joinedby molecular biologists Julia Bailey-Serres and Takeshi Fukao at UCRiverside and Sigrid Heuer at IRRI,who helped analyze the genes inthe Sub1 region (see Identifyingthe submergence-tolerance gene,page 30). IRRI plant physiologistAbdelbagi Ismail and his team havebeen studying the mechanism ofaction of Sub1 (see The mechanics ofsubmergence tolerance, page 31) aswell as management options for thenew submergence-tolerant varieties.Parallel to the gene-hunting workis research using marker-assistedselection (see On your mark, getset, select! on pages 28-29 of <strong>Rice</strong>Today Vol. 3, No. 3) to develop newsubmergence-tolerant varieties byintroducing Sub1 into widely grownvarieties. Using marker-assistedselection, breeders can selectivelytransfer a small chromosomefragment containing a beneficialgene or genes, while leaving therest of the genes untouched. Forexample, the IRRI team hasdeveloped a version of the widelygrown variety Swarna—grown onmore than 5 million hectares in Indiaand Bangladesh—that contains thechromosome segment containingthe Sub1 gene, while the genes in allother chromosomal regions are thoseof Swarna. This ensures that thesubmergence-tolerance trait is addedwithout changing other desirableproperties—such as high yield,acceptable taste, and good regionaladaptation—of the recipient variety.The IRRI group has producedsubmergence-tolerant versions ofthree widely grown rice varieties:Swarna and Samba Mahsurifrom India, and IR64 from IRRI.Three more are near completion:Thadokkham 1 from Laos, CR1009from India, and BR11 fromBangladesh—each currently grownwidely in their respective countries.These new varieties do not showany differences from the originalsexcept for the submergence tolerance.Experiments at IRRI showed that theSub1-enhanced version of Swarnaachieves the same yields as “regular”Swarna under normal shallow-waterconditions (about 5 tons per hectare),but, when subjected to 12 days ofsubmergence about 4 weeks afterplanting, followed by a return toshallow conditions, Swarna-Sub1 hasmore than double the yield of SwarnaRICE FARMERS from Kaudikol village inthe Indian state of Orissa wait for floodwatersto recede. This area experiencesflooding as deep as 2.5 meters for up to3 weeks each year.GINA VERGARA28 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200629


YIELD VERSUS TIME submerged for “regular” Swarnaand Swarna-Sub1. Plants were completely submerged14 days after transplanting of 14-day-old seedlingsin field plots at IRRI.(3.5 tons per hectare versus 1.6tons per hectare—see figure above).Swarna-Sub1 was grown at researchstations in India and Bangladeshin 2005 and is being tested infarmers’ field experiments in 2006.Dr. Mackill is the head of IRRI’sPlant Breeding, Genetics, andBiotechnology DivisionFunding for this study was provided by theU.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S.Agency for International Development,and the German Federal Ministry forEconomic Cooperation and Development.Identifying thesubmergencetolerancegeneby Sigrid HeuerMarker-assisted selectioncan be implemented atdifferent levels, like a mapcan be drawn at different scales orresolutions. That means, in molecularterms, that the higher the resolutionof the genetic map the closer weare to the actual gene responsiblefor a particular trait—submergencetolerance in this case. Being veryclose to the responsible gene isimportant for our breeding approach.Because we are transferring toleranceDAVE MACKILLto widely grown and well-adaptedvarieties, we don’t want to changethem in any way other than to makethem submergence-tolerant. Closemarkers allow us to develop plantsthat carry only the tolerance gene,and that remain otherwise identicalto the variety that farmers knowand like. In the case of Sub1, wewent down to the highest resolutionpossible by sequencing the DNAin the chromosomal region wherewe expected the submergencetolerancegene to be located.Within the Sub1 region, wefound several genes and needed toanalyze all of them to determinethe actual submergence-tolerancegene. By testing the expression ofthese genes and their response tosubmergence stress, we narroweddown the number of candidate genesto three. These three genes—Sub1A,Sub1B, and Sub1C—all belong to thesame type of regulatory genes, knownas ethylene response transcriptionfactors (ERFs). Transcription factorscan switch the expression of othergenes on or off and therefore oftenhave important regulatory functions.We then discovered that someintolerant varieties have only twocopies of these ERF genes (Sub1A isabsent) and that tolerant rice varietieshave Sub1A and Sub1C genes thathave slightly different sequences thanthe same genes in intolerant varieties.This pointed to Sub1A as the majordeterminant of submergenceI WILL SURVIVE: the one remaining live plantcomes from a line derived from Swarna-Sub1’ssubmergence-tolerant parent variety, FR13A. Thisis part of a new experiment to identify novelsubmergence-tolerance genes.tolerance. However, we needed moreevidence. We therefore tested whetheror not Sub1A could confer tolerance ofsubmergence to previously intolerantplants. To do this, our partners atthe University of California, Davis,introduced the tolerant form of theSub1A gene into the intolerant ricevariety Liaogeng and, indeed, theplants produced were submergencetolerant.These plants now providea very useful tool to study thefunction of the Sub1A gene in detail.Our partners in UC Riversidehave compared the expression ofgenes in rice plants with and withoutthe Sub1 locus and we have learned alot about the genes that are regulatedby Sub1. In the future, we also needPOPULAR RICE VARIETIEScontaining the submergencetolerancegene will be much morelikely to survive floods like thisone in Cambodia.SIGRID HEUER30 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


to study the genes that regulate Sub1.We already know that whentolerant varieties are submerged,Sub1A is induced and Sub1C issuppressed. Interestingly, whenintolerant varieties are submerged,we see the opposite: Sub1A is hardlydetectable and Sub1C expression ishigh. It therefore seems that a balanceof Sub1A and Sub1C expression isimportant for tolerance (in additionto differences in the sequence). Wenow want to identify the genes thatdetermine when and to what extentSub1A and Sub1C are expressed.The identification of tolerancegenes and their interaction withother genes is important because ithelps us to better understand theunderlying mechanisms and theregulation of stress tolerance. Certaingenes probably have importantfunctions in other stresses as well,such as drought or salinity. Intimateknowledge of the genetics behindtolerance of, or susceptibility to, thesestresses might one day allow breedersto develop multi-stress-resistant ricevarieties by adding to establishedvarieties a few key regulatory genes.Sub1A will surely be one of these.Dr. Heuer is a molecular biologistin IRRI’s Plant Breeding, Genetics,and Biotechnology Division.The mechanicsof submergencetoleranceby Gina Vergara and Abdelbagi IsmailAsubmerged rice plant facesseveral problems ranging frominadequate growth to damageand death. For example, low lightlevels inhibit photosynthesis, slowergas exchange results in lower carbondioxide intake for photosynthesis andlower oxygen intake for respiration,and gases trapped in the water,such as ethylene, promote plantelongation and chlorosis (yellowingor discoloration of the normallygreen parts of the plant), with aconsequent loss of photosyntheticarea. Therefore, our research teamexamined the mechanics thatallow rice plants with the Sub1genes to tolerate submergence.The Indian variety FR13Acan survive submergence becauseof some key physiological traitsthat emerge when the plant isunderwater. FR13A maintains ahigher carbohydrate supply in itsshoots before submergence anddoes not greatly elongate, meaningit conserves energy that can then beused for survival. It also experiencesslower carbohydrate depletion andhigher rates of alcoholic fermentationas a way of providing energy formaintenance processes in the absenceof oxygen underwater. And, whensubmerged, FR13A maintains higherchlorophyll levels—allowing relativelybetter photosynthesis duringsubmergence and also after the waterrecedes to resume its growth andrecovery—than intolerant varieties.As survival strategies,maintenance of higher carbohydratelevels before and during submergenceand minimization of both elongationgrowth and chlorosis had the moststriking effects. To demonstrate this,our team inhibited the synthesis ofethylene—which reduces its chanceof affecting a submerged plant’ssurvival—in submerged conditions.This resulted in an improved survivalrate for submergence-intolerantvarieties but not for submergencetolerantvarieties such as FR13A.This suggested that Sub1 reducesa plant’s sensitivity to ethyleneand therefore reduces elongationand chlorophyll degradation undersubmerged conditions. This increasesAN IRRI FIELD experiment to evaluate Swarna (left) andSwarna-Sub1 (right), which carries the submergence-tolerancegene. Fourteen-day-old seedlings were transplanted in the fieldand, 14 days later, submerged for 12 days. Shown here 60 daysafter transplanting, Swarna-Sub1 is doing well while few Swarnaplants have survived.the chance of survival in two ways.First, less energy is wasted onelongation. Second, the plant needsintact chlorophyll to generate moreenergy during submergence andto resume active growth duringrecovery from submergence.More supporting evidencecomes from data comparing theperformance of Swarna and newlydeveloped Swarna-Sub1. Undersubmerged conditions, Swarna morethan doubled its length, elongating byas much as 150%. The submergenceintolerantcheck variety, IR42, almosttripled its length, elongating by 180%.Swarna-Sub1, however, less thandoubled in length, with significantlyreduced elongation of only 55%.This is comparable with FR13A,which showed 52% elongation.How did this translate into anability to survive tolerance? Theresults were impressive—70% and80% of, respectively, Swarna-Sub1and FR13A plants survived. Thiscompares with a mere 8% of IR42and 21% of “regular” Swarna plants.Because of Swarna’s shortstature, and because Sub1 furtherinhibits elongation during flooding,Swarna-Sub1 is unsuitable inareas prone to flashfloods wherewater tends to stay in the field ata depth greater than 30 cm. Forsuch conditions, IRRI is developingtaller Sub1 varieties. Swarna-Sub1is better suited to areas wherefloodwater recedes to shallowerdepths following submergence.Dr. Vergara is a postdoctoral fellowand Dr. Ismail is a senior plantphysiologist in IRRI’s Crop andEnvironmental Sciences Division.SUDHANSHU SINGH<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200631


TheQuietAchieverby Trina Leah MendozaRecently retired rice scientist Vethaiya Balasubramanian has spent hislife helping people—and he’s not going to let retirement stop himARIEL JAVELLANAIf you turn on the TV or flipopen a magazine, it’s notuncommon to see a Hollywoodstar, a famous athlete, ora high-profile socialite insome far-flung region, minglingwith the poor, assisting at medicalclinics, or handing out care packages.Perhaps these celebrities genuinelywant to help. Or perhaps theiragents convinced them that somepositive publicity would help boosttheir profile. Far from these stagemanaged,filmed, and photographedexcursions, however, you will findfar less famous people doing workthat often goes unrecognized butprobably achieves far more.Vethaiya Balasubramanian,recently retired senior agronomistat the International <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute (IRRI), is one such person.Serving as IRRI Africa coordinatorsince 2005, Dr. Bala, as he’s known tohis colleagues, was involved in settingup rice research and developmentprograms in eastern, central, andsouthern Africa. He also worked inthe training and delivery of IRRItechnologies in both Asia and Africa.Dr. Bala first stepped aboardIRRI in 1991 as chief of the IRRI-Madagascar project, advising andtraining staff on soil and resourcemanagement, and rice-basedcropping systems. As IRRI’s CropResources Management Networkcoordinator from 1994 to 2001,he helped the Institute’s partnercountries source, evaluate, andadapt promising crop resourcesand management technologies.The foundations for Dr. Bala’simpressive career were laid in hisnative India. After earning hisbachelor’s degree in agriculture andmaster’s degree in soil science andagricultural chemistry at India’sTamil Nadu Agricultural University,he took his Ph.D. in agronomy andsoil science at the University ofHawaii, USA. His next step wasa big one—saying goodbye to theU.S., he ventured into one of theglobe’s poorest regions, spendinghis next 16 years in the Africancountries of Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana,Cameroon, and Madagascar.“I lived in small villages with nowater or electricity,” recalls Dr. Bala.We collected rainwater to quenchour thirst and cook our food. WeIRRI TRAINING CENTERused kerosene refrigerators witha lamp at the bottom. I lived likethat in Rwanda for five years.”And although development inAfrica still has a long way to go,Dr. Bala believes that advancesin other regions have helped.“The governments and scientistsin Africa are more fortunate nowbecause they can use the latesttechnologies. They don’t have to gothrough long periods of researchbecause the technologies areavailable elsewhere, like in Asia,and can be used and modified.”IRRI’s stimulating scientificatmosphere has been a sourceDR. BALA TEACHES IRRI rice production courseparticipants about nitrogen management in riceusing a chlorophyll meter.32 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


of great satisfaction for Dr. Bala,and has given him the chance toshare his 4 decades of accumulatedknowledge. In the 5 years beforehis retirement, he was heavilyinvolved with the Institute’s TrainingCenter, co-presenting the riceproduction course and a workshopon scientific writing and presentationskills for young scientists.“I really want to share what Iknow, and all the technologies, allthe information, all the skills that Ihave,” he says. “I want to transfer myknowledge to developing countries’scientists so they can, in turn, trainfarmers and help them produce morefood and better their livelihoods. Ifwe can’t produce more food to feedthe poor, there’s going to be a lot moreconflict and problems in the world.”In Dr. Bala’s 15 years at IRRI, hecites the leaf color chart—a simplepiece of technology developed incollaboration with the Philippine<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute and used forfertilizer management (see Chart hitfor N sync on page 33 of <strong>Rice</strong> TodayVol. 3, No. 4)—as one of the mostsuccessful developments for rice.“We have more than one millioncharts distributed all over Asiaand in a few countries in Africaand Latin America,” he says.Dr. Bala considers integrated cropmanagement another IRRI successstory. This approach brings togethertechnologies to provide farmers witha basket of options that offer solutionsto a wide array of problems. Thestrategy, he says, is doing very well,particularly in Vietnam, Indonesia,and southern India. He mentionsdirect seeding and drum seeding asbooming technologies that IRRI hashelped develop and disseminate (seeDrumming up success on pages 22-27of <strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 4, No. 2, and Thedirect approach on pages 12-18 of<strong>Rice</strong> Today Vol. 5, No. 2, respectively).Dr. Bala also helped pioneer themodified mat nursery, which is nowbeing adopted in several countries(see Making mats matter, right).When Dr. Bala returns to hishometown in Voimedu, India—thedate is set for October 2006—it isn’tto slow down. He plans to teach atA 29-YEAR-OLD Dr. Bala, then an East-West CenterFellow studying for his Ph.D. at the University ofHawaii, forgoes rice for bananas during a culturalexchange and exploration tour in 1970.Tamil Nadu Agricultural Universityand, starting with his own village,has taken on IRRI’s goal to reducepoverty and hunger. Dr. Bala’sRevive Your Village project willestablish—with his own money—a“village knowledge center” in hishometown, which will serve as aplay area for preschool children, areading room and lending library, acomputer room, a preventive healthadvisory clinic, and a training hall.Making mats matterProducing young and robust riceseedlings is a challenge for ricefarmers everywhere. To help meetthis challenge, scientists from IRRI and theTamil Nadu Agricultural University in Indiahave developed an improved method ofcrop establishment: growing seedlings in amodified mat nursery.The technology establishes seedlings in alayer of soil mix arranged on a firm surface.It also uses less land and requires fewerseeds and inputs, such as fertilizer and water,reducing nursery costs by up to 50%.The key is the modified mat nursery’s soilmixture, which is composed of seven partssoil, two parts well-decomposed chickenmanure, and one part charred rice hulls. Themix is poured into a wooden frame laid on topof banana leaves or plastic sheeting, whichprevents the roots from penetrating into thesoil, making it easier to pull seedlings outand thus minimizing root damage.Pregerminated seeds are sown uniformly,sprinkled with soil, and patted gently toembed them at about 2–3 cm into the soilbed. They are then watered and coveredwith banana leaves or plastic. The nurseryis watered twice a day for 5 days, and keptcovered for the first 4 days to protect theBALASUBRAMANIAN PERSONAL ARCHIVES“I want to improve the educationand training facilities in rural areasand remove the gap between the skillsand capabilities of rural and urbanchildren,” Dr. Bala explains. “Frommy village, I want to develop a modelthat can be duplicated all over Indiaand in other countries as well.”Dr. Bala knows he has a long wayto go, but it is his way of giving backto his country—his thanks for theopportunities he has had. He feelsblessed to have had the chance tospend his life helping people in need.“When I look back, I’m reallyproud that I had the strengthand courage to work in extremeconditions with different groups ofpeople,” he says. “For each country,each university, and each instituteI've worked with, I feel that I’ve reallydone something for them. They’rehappy to see me when I go back andvisit. That is really satisfying.”Trina Mendoza is a communication specialistwith the Irrigated <strong>Rice</strong> Research Consortium.seedlings from either drying up or gettingwashed away by heavy rains. On the fifthday, the cover is removed, and the nurseryis flooded to a 1-cm water level aroundthe beds. After 15–20 days, the seedling<strong>sr</strong>each the four-leaf stage—which favorsquick establishment in the field and rapidgrowth—and are ready for transplanting. Thisis much quicker than the 25–35 days requiredfor traditional wet-bed nurseries.The technology has already been adopted insouthern India, and was recently introducedin Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, East Timor,and the Philippines. One major advantageof the method is that it can be applied inall countries and on all soil types, as longas the soil is kept moist. In areas wheremodified mat nurseries have been successfullyimplemented, they have produced robust,fast-growing seedlings, an additional 20–40%yield, and about US$100–250 additionalincome per season for farmers.IRRI TRAINING CENTER<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200633


Breeding historyby Tom Hargrove andW. Ronnie CoffmanIRRIForty years ago, a remarkable rice-breeding project culminated inthe release of a rice variety under an unremarkable name—IR8.This is the story of the research that would ultimately change theface of agriculture across Asia.34 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006U.S. PRESIDENT Lyndon B. Johnson makes an impassionedspeech during his October 1966 visit to IRRI. He said, “If weare to win our war against poverty, and against disease, andagainst ignorance, and against illiteracy, and against hungrystomachs, then we have got to succeed in projects like this,and you are pointing the way for all of Asia to follow.” ExaminingIR8 in the Institute fields in August 1967 are IRRI breederHank Beachell (crouching), visiting philanthropist John D.Rockefeller III (left), and IRRI Director Robert Chandler. IRRIbreeder Peter Jennings briefs visitors on IR8 in April 1966,only 7 months before its official release (inset).URBITO ONGLEO (3)Asia was desperate for foodafter World War II. Onlymassive shipments of U.S.grain prevented famine.<strong>Rice</strong> was, and is, Asia’s lifeblood.That’s why the Ford and Rockefellerfoundations pooled resources and, in1960, established a modern researchcenter to focus on the world’s mostimportant crop: the International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute (IRRI),based in Los Baños, Philippines.Robert Chandler, IRRI’sfirst director, assembled a teamwith a mission: to develop ahigh-yielding rice variety.IRRI scientists knew that thearchitecture of the tropical riceplant was the main constraint toyield increases. Traditional ricevarieties are tall, with long, weakstems. When a farmer fertilizes atall plant, it “lodges,” or falls over.Photosynthesis ceases, and grainrots in the water, or rats eat it.A short, nonlodging rice plantthat would convert nutrients tograin and hold the panicle (theterminal shoot of the rice plantthat produces grain) upright—adwarf or semidwarf—was neededto accelerate rice production.IRRI didn’t invent the dwarfconcept. Scientists had alreadyestablished it in other crops. Dwarfsorghum was already available.And semidwarf rice varieties35


THE TALL Peta variety, one of IR8’s parents, towers overits more resilient offspring. Because of its shorter, stouterstature, IR8 was less prone to lodging (falling over), whichcaused severe yield losses in the taller traditional varieties.had already been developed andreleased in mainland China, largelyunknown to the rest of the world.More significant, in 1946, S.C.Salmon, a geneticist with GeneralDouglas MacArthur’s OccupationArmy in Japan, had sent seeds ofNorin 10, a dwarf wheat variety thathe found in a Japanese agriculturalexperiment station, to Orville Vogel atWashington State University. Withina few years, Dr. Vogel had developedGaines, a semidwarf wheat varietythat spread rapidly across the U.S.Pacific Northwest. Vogel sent seedswith the Norin 10 dwarfing gene toNorman Borlaug of the RockefellerFoundation wheat program inMexico. Dr. Borlaug used those seedsto breed semidwarf wheat varieties.The most successful was 8156—giventhat name for Dr. Borlaug’s 8,156thcross. 8156 yielded bountifullyand made Mexico self-sufficient inwheat production by the mid-1960s.Seeds of 8156 spread to Pakistan,where it was called “MexiPak,”then to Turkey, Iran, and India.In 1949, the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nationsestablished the International <strong>Rice</strong>Commission, which commissioned anindica-japonica hybridization projectbased in Cuttack, India. Its missionwas to cross the short japonica, ortemperate, rice with taller indica, ortropical, varieties, to develop shortstaturedvarieties with higher yieldpotential. Shorter rice varieties suchas ADT 27 and Mahsuri, selectedfrom the japonica × indica crosses,were widely planted across theIndian subcontinent in the 1960s.Meanwhile, U.S. rice breederswere irradiating seeds of tallU.S. varieties, hoping to inducea short-statured mutant. Amongthose pioneers were Nelson Jodanof Louisiana State University’<strong>sr</strong>ice research center in Crowley,Louisiana, and Henry (“Hank”)Beachell of the Texas A&M Universityrice research center near Beaumont,Texas. But their selections had highsterility and were not successful.In 1957, the RockefellerFoundation sent Peter Jennings, ayoung plant pathologist, to Arkansas,Texas, and Louisiana to learn aboutrice in order to develop new ricevarieties for Latin America. TheRockefeller Foundation then sent Dr.Jennings to Mexico and Colombia.Dr. Jennings and SterlingWortman, later to become IRRI’sassociate director, traveled acrossAsia in 1960, looking at ricevarieties, meeting rice scientists, andinterviewing prospective traineesand staff. “Be on the lookout fora dwarf rice,” Dr. Beachell recallsadvising them. Dr. Beachell visitedthe fledgling IRRI as a consultant in1962, then returned to Beaumont.In India, Drs. Jennings andWortman encountered TaichungNative 1 (TN1), a Taiwanesevariety that was probably the firstwidely grown semidwarf varietyin the tropics. TN1 yielded farbetter than tall varieties, butwas highly susceptible to majordisease and insect pests.Dr. Jennings joined IRRI ashead of the Varietal ImprovementDepartment in 1961. Among theIRRIGENE HETTELgermplasm assembled at that timewas Dee-geo-woo-gen (DGWG) fromChina, a parent of TN1, and clearlyits source of dwarfism. But at thattime the nature of inheritance ofDGWG’s short stature was unknown.Dr. Chandler described DGWGas “a high-yielding, heavy-tillering,short-statured variety from Taiwan.”Dr. Jennings and Akiro Tanaka,hired from Japan as IRRI’s firstplant physiologist, conceptualizedthe semidwarf rice plant andsystematically studied the causes,and effects, of lodging during IRRI’sfirst 3 years. In his 1982 book, Anadventure in applied science: ahistory of the International <strong>Rice</strong>Research Institute, Dr. Chandlerwrote about lodging research:By supporting tall varieties such asPeta and MTU-15 with bamboo sticks,Jennings found that tall varieties yieldedessentially as well as did lodging-resistantvarieties. Moreover, the lodging-susceptiblevarieties, when supported, responded wellto nitrogen applications, whereas theunsupported plants showed a decidednegative response. … This proved beyonddoubt that lodging per se was the primarycause of low yields when traditionaltropical varieties were subjected to modernmanagement methods.Dr. Chandler made severalreferences to IRRI’s breedingobjectives in the first IRRIAnnual Report (1961-62). Thesection “Varietal Improvement”almost gives a blueprint for theAFTER A BUMPER crop in his first season growingIR8, Indian farmer K.N. Ganesan was somoved by the new variety that he named hissecond son in its honor—IR-ettu in Tamil, andsigned as Irettu. Here, father and son stand ina field of a different variety, IR50, in 1983.36 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


variety, yet to be developed, thatseveral years later would turnrice production on its head:It would seem that the following plant typemight be useful in the near future throughoutmuch of the tropics—a combination ofshort, stiff culms bearing erect, moderatelysized, dark-green leaves; responsiveness inyield to fertilizer; mid-season maturity andin most cases, photoperiod sensitivity topermit double cropping practices. Theseobjectives are being pursued […] with bothindica by indica and indica by japonicahybridization.Not much was known aboutthe genetics of tropical ricevarieties at the time, so IRRIhired a geneticist—Te Tzu Chang,from Taiwan—in its first group ofscientists. Dr. Chang began studyingthe inheritance of plant height.Jennings made 38 crosses in late1962; 11 of them included the dwarfparent DGWG, TN1, or I-geo-tze(IGT)—another dwarf from Taiwan.The eighth IRRI cross—fromwhich IR8 was eventually selected—was of Peta, a tall, vigorous varietyfrom Indonesia, and DGWG.From that cross, 130 seeds wereformed. Those seeds were plantedin pots in IRRI’s screenhouseand produced the first, or F 1 ,generation of plants. All were tall.Seeds from the F 1 plants weresown in the field, and produced about10,000 second-generation (F 2 ) plantsthat segregated by height in a ratio ofthree talls to one dwarf. Dr. Jenningsimmediately recognized this as aMendelian ratio—named after GregorMendel, who became known as thefather of genetics for his 19th-centuryresearch into the inheritance of traitsin pea plants. This was a key result—itmeant that dwarfism in DGWGwas controlled by a single gene andwas therefore simply inherited,making the job of developing acommercially usable semidwarfvariety immeasurably easier.Dr. Jennings immediatelybrought Drs. Chandler and Wortmanto the field to see the segregatingplants. He then cabled the good newsto Dr. Beachell in Texas. “That’swhen we knew we had it [meaningthat DGWG could be used to breedan improved semidwarf variety],”Dr. Beachell recalled years later.With this discovery, Dr. Jenningspersuaded Drs. Chandler andWortman to exchange a cytogeneticsposition in the Varietal Improvementprogram for a second breeder tohelp with the increase in field workthat would obviously come. Theyagreed, and Dr. Jennings suggestedDr. Beachell, who arrived in 1963.Tall, late-maturing plantsfrom the Peta-DGWG cross werediscarded, and only short, earlymaturingplants were saved.Seeds were “bulked” and plantedin a nursery where they could bescreened for susceptibility to the riceblast fungus. In 1963, Dr. Jenningsdeparted IRRI for study leave,leaving the material in the hands ofnewly arrived Dr. Beachell. From thethird (F 3 ) generation, Dr. Beachellselected 298 of the best individualplants. Seeds from each plantwere sown as individual “pedigreerows”—the fourth (F 4 ) generation.From row 288, a singleplant—the third one—was selectedand designated IR8-288-3. Itsseeds, the F 5 or fifth generation,were grown to produce thebasic IR8-288-3 seed stock.IR8-288-3—which was eventuallynamed as variety IR8—was asemidwarf rice, about 120 cm tallwith strong stems that held theplant upright, even when heavilyfertilized. It was also nonsensitiveIRRI STAFF load IR8seeds for distributionto farmers in 1966.to photoperiod, or daylength,scientists would later learn. Thatmeant it could be grown in manylatitudes, at any time of the year.“The seed [of IR8] was uniformenough for trials in other countries,but a couple of years later Dr.Beachell devoted considerableeffort to producing an extremelypure strain that would serve asa uniform seed source of IR8 forthe future,” Dr. Chandler wrote.Meanwhile, seeds of IR8-288-3 and other promising lines werebeing sent for testing by nationalrice programs across Asia.“IRRI’s policy was free accessto all of our genetic material,”Dr. Beachell said. “It was madeavailable to the world.”In the 1966 dry season, S.K. DeDatta, a young Indian agronomistwho had joined IRRI in early 1964,examined the fertilizer responseof IR8, along with other ricevarieties. “We wanted to determinemaximum yields under the bestmanagement possible,” he said.Dr. De Datta was amazedwhen he harvested the trials inMay. IR8 averaged 9.4 tons perhectare, yielding as high as 10.3tons per hectare in one trial.Average yields in the Philippinesthen were about 1 ton per hectare.Dr. De Datta took his yielddata to Dr. Jennings, then toDr. Beachell. “Let’s go see Bob[Chandler],” Dr. Beachell said.But, at that moment, Dr.<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200637IRRI


Chandler was chairing a seminar—the news would have to wait anotherhour. After what seemed muchlonger, Drs. Beachell and De Dattafinally saw their director. Sensingthe pair’s excitement, Dr. Chandlersuggested they move to his office.Dr. De Datta showed his data,and Dr. Chandler was excited.“The whole world will hear aboutthis,” Dr. Chandler said. “We’re goingto make history!” He then shookhands, congratulating Dr. Beachell forhelping develop IR8 and Dr. De Dattafor discovering and demonstratingthe semidwarf’s yield potential.“The IR8 yield data were the mostexciting thing that ever happenedto me,” Dr. De Datta later recalled.Soon, similar reports of dramaticyield increases were coming toIRRI from across Asia, including11-ton harvests in Pakistan.Dr. De Datta prepared hiswidely published “yield response”graph, showing how yields of IR8rose with increased fertilization,while those of traditional varietiesactually declined (see figure above).Philippine President FerdinandMarcos heard about the new rice, andflew to IRRI by helicopter on 3 June1966. Dr. Jennings and others briefedthe president by a plot of IR8 nextto Peta, a tall, traditional variety.Dr. De Datta recalls PresidentMarcos’s reaction: “Do you meanthat little rice can out-produce ourvigorous Philippine varieties?”the president asked. Dr. De Dattaassured him that it could.“No kidding?” Marcos responded.President Marcos soon orderedthat IR8 seeds be multiplied asIR8 PICTURED next to its parents:Peta, a tall, vigorous variety fromIndonesia, and the Taiwanese dwarfvariety DGWG.THE RESPONSE TO nitrogen fertizer of two semidwarfrice varieties—IR8 and Taichung Native 1—andof Peta, a tall, traditional variety, in the 1966 dryseason on IRRI’s experiment farm.rapidly as possible. Marcos’sgoal was to make the Philippinesself-sufficient in rice productionduring his first term of office.It was. During the last halfof 1966 alone, 2,359 Philippinefarmers came to IRRI by bus, onbicycle, and on foot, from 48 of thecountry’s 56 provinces, to get seeds.The new rice yielded bountifully,but had major disadvantages.Foremost was its bold, chalky grain,which distracted from its marketappearance as polished rice. Thegrain also had high breakage duringmilling. And IR8 had high amylosecontent, which made it harden aftercooling. (Dr. Beachell remembers ayoung Filipina saying, “I don’t likeIR8 because it scratches my throat.”)Dr. Beachell recalls theconsensus view of the IRRI seedcommittee: “We needed to moveas fast as possible. There was notenough rice to go around. We hadto have something to alleviate therice shortage. Enough rice was moreimportant than grain quality.“So, would we release the lineas a variety, or wait to improve it?We knew IR8’s limitations, but alsoknew we had the plant type. IR8would be the prototype for futurevarieties. We decided to spread it.”The seed committee decided toformally name IR8-288-3 as IR8on 14 November 1966. The newswas released on 28 November.Dr. Chandler later wrote:He [Beachell], Jennings, and Chang madea fine team. When I was asked, some yearslater, who, among the three senior scientistsin the Varietal Improvement Department,should receive the coveted John ScottAward for the creation of IR8, I replied thatthe prize should be split among the three:Jennings for selecting the parents andmaking the cross, Beachell for identifyingIR8-288-3 from among the multitude ofsegregating lines, and Chang for havingbrought to the immediate attention ofIRRI breeders at the start the value of theshort-statured varieties from Taiwan suchas Dee-geo-woo-gen, I-geo-tze, andTaichung Native 1.Pioneer rice scientists such asDrs. Jennings, Beachell, Chang,and De Datta, as well as others whoplayed key roles in developing andtesting IR8—such as Dr. Tanaka andanother plant physiologist, BenitoVergara—proved Dr. Chandler right.IR8, and IRRI, did indeed “makehistory.” IR8 changed the world foodsituation and initiated what is nowcalled the Green Revolution in rice.Tom Hargrove, a former IRRI editor, is nowcoordinator, Information and CommunicationsUnit at IFDC, an International Center for SoilFertility and Agricultural Development inAlabama, USA (Tomhar66@swbell.net).IRRIW. Ronnie Coffman, a former IRRI rice breeder,is now international professor of plant breedingand director of international programs,College of Agriculture and Life Sciences atCornell University in New York, USA.38 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


The author (left) withformer Viet Cong politicalofficer Tran Van Rangon the Xa No Canal inthe lower Mekong Deltain 1988. Rang has justexplained why he didn’thave me killed 18 yearspreviously, when he’dhad the chance.I RememberHonda <strong>Rice</strong>VO-TONG XUANby Tom HargroveHow the first Green Revolution rice variety—IR8—influencedlife and death in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam WarThe Green Revolution in rice has been documented throughoutmuch of Asia, but few think of Vietnam in the 1960s and ‘70sas a “Green Revolution country.” That’s because IR8 arrived atthe height of a brutal war that overshadowed an agriculturaltransformation in the countryside. <strong>Rice</strong> means life itself in Vietnam,and was used both as a weapon and as a tool for peace. I havestrong memories of the war: Huey choppers, mortars, ambushes,and needless deaths. But I also remember Honda <strong>Rice</strong>.A VIETNAMESE family of five on a motorbikein 1974. Vietnamese farmers quickly dubbedIR8 “Lua Honda” (Honda <strong>Rice</strong>) because onegood crop bought a new motorbike.Tom Hargrove, August 20064 June 1988, in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam(Chuong Thien Province during the war)I’m stunned. I struggle for the right words, then simply ask, “Whydidn’t you kill me, Tu Rang?”“Because you brought the new rice seeds, and our farmersneeded them.”IRRI<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200639


“But did you know I wasa U.S. Army officer?”“Of course. Your civilianclothes didn’t fool anyone.”The former Viet Cong—literally,Vietnam Communist, the commonname for the National LiberationFront—and I look into each other’sfaces, something we never didin 1969-70. He’s smiling, buthe’s hard—it shows. He’s alsotelling the truth. I can sense it.“I was less than a kilometeraway whenever you traveled thiscanal in 1969,” Tran Van Rang says.Today, Tu Rang is vice-chairman ofthe Vi Thanh People’s Committee.But, two decades ago, he was thelocal Viet Cong political officer. Iknow that political officers heldultimate power in the Communistinfrastructure—they gave ordersto military commanders.“You were entering my territorywhen you came here,” Tu Rangcontinues. “The local farmersall supported the RevolutionaryForces, and reported on you.“But I didn’t have you killedbecause of the new rice seeds.”THE AUTHOR in the countrysidedeep in the MekongDelta in 1969.THE AUTHOR (right) and TranVan Rang on the Xa No Canal inthe lower Mekong Delta, 1988.This trip is getting heavy, I think,as our sampan cuts north through themuddy waters of the Xa No Canal.New rice seeds. To me, they’reone of the world’s most powerfultools for peace. That’s why I madethe Green Revolution my profession.But I learned about thoseseeds—especially IR8 or Honda<strong>Rice</strong>—here, in the midst of carnage.Had there been no war, rice wouldn’thave become such a part of my life.Now I must face a new reality: thoserice seeds probably saved my life.VO-TONG XUANHARGROVE PERSONAL ARCHIVESThe lower Mekong Delta ispeaceful and beautiful now. But Iremember it as ugly, dangerous,and one of the most tragic placeson Earth. To me, this is still 1969-70. We’ve just passed Duc Long. Iremember friends being killed inan ambush north of this village …in a sampan that I was supposedto have taken. Tu Rang must haveordered that ambush. I know I’msafe now, but I’ve never traveledthis canal without an M-16 andbandolier of ammunition.“Has any other American beenhere since the war?” I ask Dr. Vo-TongXuan, my host and vice-presidentof the University of Can Tho. Xuan,who is now the rector of AngiangUniversity, in the Mekong Delta, hadworked as a research fellow at theInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute(IRRI), where I’d worked since 1973.“No, you’re the first foreigner—of any nationality—to be in thelower Ca Mau Peninsula sincethe war ended in 1975.”I can do it only becauseI work with rice.2006: looking backVietnam veterans and historianshave recently queried me aboutthe origin and history of the termHonda <strong>Rice</strong> in the war. Interesting,considering that the war ended 31years ago. Or did it? Wars never reallygo away, for those who lived them.War and rice. Anyone whowants to understand the war shouldknow the role that rice played. Ilearned about rice as a young U.S.Army officer deep in Vietnam’sheavily contested Mekong Delta atthe height of the war, in 1969-70.IRRI released the semidwarfIR8 to farmers in late 1966. Withina couple of years, it was the mostwidely grown rice variety everknown. IR8 launched the GreenRevolution in Asian rice.The Western press called IR8the miracle rice. Its official namein Vietnam was Lua Than Nong,or “<strong>Rice</strong> of the Farming God.”But Vietnamese farmersquickly dubbed IR8 Lua Honda—orHonda <strong>Rice</strong>—because one good40 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


HAVING TEA in the Ba Lienhome in 1988 are the author(second from left), Ba Lien’sgranddaughter Huyen Xuan Dep(center, holding baby), andBa Lien (far right).VO-TONG XUANcrop bought a new motorbike.How did I get into rice inVietnam? I was raised on a WestTexas cotton farm. I received myB.S., a double degree in agriculturalscience and journalism—along withan Army officer commission—fromTexas A&M University in 1966.I then finished an M.S. at IowaState University and, in 1968,reported to Infantry OfficersSchool at Ft. Benning, Georgia.I arrived in Vietnam in June 1969as a first lieutenant. The legendaryJohn Paul Vann (made famous by thebook and movie A Bright ShiningLie) ran the war in the Mekong Delta.Vann reviewed my records, saw myfarm and educational background,and assigned me, as an adviser to theVietnamese military and government,to Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MAC-V) Team 73 in ViThanh in Chuong Thien Province,in Vietnam’s southern Ca MauPeninsula. Seventy percent of ChuongThien’s population was rice farmers.Chuong Thien was an awfulplace for a dryland cotton farmer.The average elevation was lessthan 1 meter, and 97% of itsland was covered by water—ricefields or swamp—during the6-month monsoon season.Chuong Thien was also a VietCong (VC) stronghold. The U.S.military constantly classified it asone of the two least secure SouthVietnamese provinces. Putting itanother way, Chuong Thien was one ofthe VC’s two most secure provinces.A dozen U.S. advisers werekilled in Chuong Thien during my1-year tour. Five were killed insampans. These boats were ouronly transport, unless we couldhitch a ride on helicopters, alongthe rivers and canals during 6 or7 months of monsoon rain. Noone survived a sampan ambush.Our casualties may not seemhigh, but only 160 Americans werestationed in Chuong Thien, and only30 or 40 advisers worked outside thesmall provincial HQ in Vi Thanh.Chuong Thien was also theonly Delta province with no civilianagricultural adviser, assigned bythe U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID). The wordwas, none would go there. Butno one asked if I wanted to go toChuong Thien—the Army sent me.U.S. President Lyndon B.Johnson, or LBJ, had visited IRRIin October 1966, accompanied byPhilippine President FerdinandMarcos. LBJ appreciated farmers,and went into the IRRI experimentfields to see IR8 (see main photo,pages 34-35). LBJ made a historicflight later that day, to CamRanh Bay, Vietnam, “to visit ourboys over there.” Johnson laterpressured USAID to promotethe hardy IR8 in Vietnam.IR8 had arrived in Chuong ThienProvince in 1968—a year before me.The first IR8 seeds were smuggledinto Vietnam in 1967 by my colleagueJose Ona, a Filipino agronomistwho had done his M.S. research atIRRI, then was hired as USAID riceagronomist for the Mekong Delta.A friend at IRRI had harvested theIR8 seeds from IRRI experimentalplots, and given them to Ona.<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200641


Ona then set up IR8demonstration plots in eachprovince of the Mekong Delta. Ifeel safe in saying that no farmtechnology—anywhere—ever spreadfaster than IR8 seeds in the Delta,even at the height of the fighting.A farmer named Ong Ba Lienplanted the first Honda <strong>Rice</strong> seedsin Chuong Thien Province in late1967. He was the best farmer in theregion, and Ona and I later testedand demonstrated IR8 and IR5,another IRRI variety, on his farm.I felt not only welcome but, rarer inthose days, safe on Ba Lien’s farm,even though the area ranged fromdangerous to suicidal for Americans.When I arrived in 1969, farmerswere already growing IR8 on almost1,000 hectares across the province.I was soon bringing IR8 seedsto farmers, who suffered as much asany people I’ve ever known, acrossChuong Thien, a province that thewar had torn brutally. We traveledmostly by sampan on brown-watercanals and rivers with Vietnameseagricultural cadres and soldiers.But sometimes by Hueyhelicopters. I could spot IR8 easilyfrom choppers, because it remindedme of a “crew cut.” IR8’s short,stiff stems held it erect, whilethe tall traditional varieties fellover and lay flat. Thus, IR8 couldconvert nutrients to heavy headsof grain, and hold them upright.That genetic trait made IR8outyield any rice that tropicalAsia had ever known. Farmersstarted harvesting 5 or 6 tons perhectare from fields where yieldshad stagnated at 1 or 1.5 tons forcenturies. Traditional rice varietiestook 160 to 200 days to mature,so farmers could grow only onecrop per year using the monsoonrain. IR8 matured in about 130days, so farmers could grow twocrops per year. The new rice wasalso nonsensitive to daylength,so farmers anywhere could growit, at any time of the year.By mid-1970, IR8 was plantedon about half of Chuong Thien’<strong>sr</strong>ice land, land that was scarredby bomb and artillery craters.That’s what made it tough tocome to a personal peace withVietnam. In my other role, as anArmy officer, I called a lot of thebombs and artillery that left thosescars, and sometimes killed ormaimed farmers who were gratefulfor the IRRI seeds. War and peace.Working with both was hard.The new rice seeds werethe only good thing—other thanwonderful Mekong Delta farmfamilies—that I saw in the war.To me, new seeds offerhope. Maybe that’s why Imade rice improvement—thenlater, overall internationalagricultural development—myprofession after Vietnam.But I learned about thoseseeds in a setting of death.What did the Viet Cong thinkabout IR8? In the first couple ofyears, the VC opposed IR8, callingit a plot of the “imperialisticAmericans.” But, in 1970, the VCTHE AUTHOR (far right) and Vietnamese staff at the <strong>Rice</strong> Research Station inMy Tho, in the Mekong Delta in late 1974, a few months before Saigon fell.HARGROVE PERSONAL ARCHIVES42 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


DESPITE THE TURMOIL ofthe war, IRRI maintained apresence in Vietnam. Here,the Institute’s inauguraldirector, Robert Chandler,talks to trainees from theNational <strong>Rice</strong> ProductionTraining Center just outsideSaigon in August 1969.IRRIchanged its position and issued anew directive. VC cadres were nowto learn IR8 culture, and take thenew seeds to contested or “liberated”(meaning VC-controlled) zones.IR8 in North VietnamInformation is scarce about howIR8 and other IRRI varieties spreadin North Vietnam during the war.I’ve read that in 1968 or 1969,an Eastern European vessel—Ibelieve it was Polish—purchaseda shipload of IR8 seeds at Dhaka(then in East Pakistan) and quietlyoff-loaded the seeds at Haiphong,the main North Vietnamese port.From there, the seeds went tofarmers in the Red River Delta.A former high-ranking NorthVietnamese agricultural official toldme that IR8 reached North Vietnamin other ways. Some of the few NorthVietnamese soldiers who went backnorth on the Ho Chi Minh Trailcarried a kilo or two of IR8 seeds.IR8 was called Nong Nghiep 8,or “Agriculture 8,” in North Vietnam.But I’m sure the farmers weren’t toldthat the high-yielding seeds werebred at an institute then fundedentirely by the Ford and Rockefellerfoundations, spawned by capitalism.Yet neither foundation intended forthose seeds to be used for war.Back to the Mekong Delta,two decades laterThe Army discharged me in 1970.In early 1973, I joined IRRI, thesource of those seeds that hadimpressed me so greatly. My familyand I moved to the Philippines,and I spent the next 19 yearsfollowing the world’s rice crop.In 1988, IRRI sent me toVietnam to write about IRRI’s impactthere. It was my first return sincethe war ended in 1975. I probablycould have returned to Vietnamyears earlier, but I was afraid ofhow I might react, emotionally.“Can we go look at therice in the old Chuong ThienProvince?” I asked my friendand host, Dr. Vo-Tong Xuan.That led to the most emotionaljourney of my life. Soon afterarrival in Vi Thanh, Tu Rang, Xuan,and I were traveling by sampan 8kilometers up the Xa No Canal tovisit Ong Ba Lien, the farmer who hadplanted the first IR8 in Chuong Thien.I was never sure about BaLien’s politics. I doubted that hehad any. Honda <strong>Rice</strong>, or IR8, wasthe bond of our friendship.Tu Rang speaks: “Of course,Ba Lien supported the NationalLiberation Front during the war.His two sons-in-law were Viet Congcolonels. One was a revolutionaryhero. And his wife is my aunt, andhelped us gather information on you.”“Ba Lien never told me that,”I reply.“How could he?”Tu Rang’s words are numbing,but I knew that most farmers alongthe Xa No probably supportedthe VC, at least at night. I bearno animosity; I’m still alive.We dock along the canal andfollow the ex-VC to a familiar palmthatch home beneath coconut palms,surrounded by bougainvillea, ina grove of banana, papaya, andmangosteen. The house is somuch smaller than I remember.Ba Lien is in his seventies now,and his beard is scraggly and white,but I recognize him easily. We shakehands and embrace. We sit at a roundtable, where we had often sharedsimple meals of fish and rice. A crowdgathers, and someone pours green<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200643


THE AUTHOR (tallest) and Ong Ba Lien (center, next to the author) at the Ba Lien home.I had just given Ba Lien’s granddaughter, Huyen Xuan Dep (holding book), a Vietnamesecopy of Field Problems of Tropical <strong>Rice</strong>, an IRRI booklet that helps identify common pestand soil problems.VO-TONG XUANtea. I talk about my family, IRRI …anything to hold back the emotionas Ba Lien throws me back in time.“Do you remember Jose Ona,who brought the Honda <strong>Rice</strong>?” Iask. Xuan translates. “And how in1970, Jose smuggled 2 kilograms ofIR20 seeds from the Philippines?”Those IR20 seeds—the first in allof Vietnam—were precious, becauseIR20 was IRRI’s first improvementover IR8. Yields were slightly lower,but IR20 had better grain qualityand resisted several insects anddiseases without pesticides. Onaand I gave the IR20 seeds to Ba Lienin trust, because we knew he’d givethem the care they deserved. Withina few years, IR20 had replacedIR8 across the Mekong Delta.Yes, Ba Lien remembersthe same things I remember—Honda <strong>Rice</strong>, Ona, IR20.A shrill voice breaks mythoughts: “Uncle Tom! The tallAmerican!” A young woman rushesthrough the crowd and graspsmy shoulder. Xuan asks her toslow down, then translates.“I remember you so well.I’m Huyen Xuan Dep, Ba Lien’sgrandaughter—the little girl youcarried around the farm on yourshoulders.” She now balancesher own baby on a hip.All I can say is, “Yes, but Ican’t do that now.” I can’t talkanymore, so Ms. Dep and I walkoutside to the concrete patiowhere Ba Lien dries rice.I pull a copy of Field Problems ofTropical <strong>Rice</strong>, in Vietnamese, frommy bag. I coordinated publicationof the IRRI booklet, with 158 colorphotos to help farmers identify ricepests. I’m proud that Xuan and Iraised the money to print 160,000copies of the Vietnamese edition—enough to give one copy to everyagricultural brigade in Vietnam.Ms. Dep clutches at, then flipsthrough, the booklet. She thrustsan open page at me. “This is ourproblem now!” It’s thrip damage.THE AUTHOR in 2003, during his fourth return toVietnam since the war. This time, my son Milesand I were filming a documentary.MILES HARGROVEI introduce her to entomologistNguyen Van Huynh, like Xuan, anIRRI alumnus. We all go to the field.The rice looks bad, and Huynhconfirms that thrips are theproblem. IRRI variety IR13240,resists most pests, but not thrips.Huynh tells her how to save thecrop, if she can get the chemicals.We go back to the house. “Whathappened to the bomb shelter?”I ask. “It was in that corner.”“We don’t need a bomb shelteranymore.” I’d made a bad joke, andeveryone knew it. But it was okay.It’s finally time to leave. About30 Vietnamese have gathered atthe canal to see us off. “We knowit was hard for you to come here,”Ms. Dep says, as tears streak hercheeks. “We are deeply moved thatyou remember us after all the years.”I should have taken herchild for a ride around thefarm on my shoulders, I think.But it’s too late now.A dozen Vietnamese are crying aswe climb into the sampan for the tripback to Vi Thanh. Me too, I guess.Much of this article is adapted fromHargrove’s book A Dragon Lives Forever:War and <strong>Rice</strong> in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta,originally published by Random House/Ivy,now available from AuthorHouse.com.44 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


ENVIRONMENTThinkingJOSEF SETTELE, an ecologistfrom the Center forEnvironmental Researchin Halle, Germany, comesto rice-growing Asia witha novel approach to largescaleenvironmental riskassessment.GREG FANSLOWoutsidethe boxby Greg FanslowAs society accepts the reality of global climate change and begins to prepare for it, we need thetools to predict the risks we should expectClimate change andhuman alterations of thelandscape—for agricultureand housing, for example—are virtually certain toaffect biodiversity and the stability ofecosystems. This is simply because,although certain species will befavored by changes, others will not.The simplicity, however, stops there.It is relatively easy to test howsomething like increased temperaturewill affect an organism. We canisolate almost any organism, put it ina box, and observe how it respondsto environmental changes we cansimulate in a controlled setting,such as a laboratory. We mightfind, for example, that warmingbenefits this isolated organism.But what if warming also benefitsa disease of this organism? Whatif temperatures become too warmfor other organisms on which ourhypothetical organism depends,such as its prey if it’s a predator ora pollinator of its host plant if it’san herbivore? What if warmingbenefits a competitor even more?Once we step outside the smallhypothetical box that defines just oneCalculating ComplexityEcosystems are remarkably complex,which makes it exceedingly difficultto predict their behavior. If we are lucky,we may be able to understand how onespecies affects another species, but, ina relatively simple hypothetical systemof 50 species, for example, each speciespotentially interacts with 49 other species.This gives us no less than 1,250 possibletwo-way interactions in a simple 50-species system. If you expand your frameof reference to larger areas with manymore types of ecosystems, it’s clear thateven a large group of dedicated scientistscouldn’t study even a small percentage ofthe possible two-way interactions usingtraditional controlled experiments, muchless the three- and four-way interactionsthat are often just as important.organism, or some isolated part of anecosystem, and start to ask questionsabout how it will interact with other“boxes” in the environment, we’requickly inundated with uncertaintyabout how environmental changewill reshape our world (see box).Another challenging aspect todeveloping an understanding ofinteractions between componentsof a complex system is the matterof communication. The differentscientific disciplines—which canbe thought of as different boxesin which scientists work—havetraditionally been viewed as distinctand have developed strikinglydifferent languages. As a result,interdisciplinary collaborationtends to be rare because gettingthrough language barriers withsomeone in a different disciplinerequires a lot of valuable timeand energy for people that don’tgenerally have a lot to spare.When you want to understand<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200645


ENVIRONMENTprocesses in a very large scalesystem, but can’t do experiments,modeling is a useful way to synthesizeinformation gathered independentlyabout components of a largersystem. However, a model thatcombines too many different piecesof information becomes unwieldyand difficult to interpret becauseresults can no longer be attributedto something happening in aparticular part of the overall system.Josef Settele, an ecologistfrom the Center for EnvironmentalResearch in Halle, Germany,thinks he has the right approach tounderstanding environmental risksover large areas. The European Unionhas given Dr. Settele more than 25million Euros (US$32 million) toimplement a project called ALARM(www.alarmproject.net), whichhas a scope matched only by theambition of its acronym: AssessingLArge-scale environmental Risks forbiodiversity with tested Methods.The objective of the project is “toapply our best understanding of howorganisms and ecosystems functionand use new ways to assess largescaleenvironmental risks. Ultimately,we want to provide informationthat can be used to reduce negativeimpacts on humans and, in turn,minimize negative human impacts—both direct and indirect,” says Settele.After recently expandingits geographic reach by addinginstitutions and scientists fromoutside the European Union, ALARMA MAP of Europe showing projected lossesof areas that are environmentally suitablefor amphibian species by the year 2050. 1Colors represent a six-class scale whereincreasing intensities of red representincreasing degrees of species loss.1Araújo MB, Thuiller W, Pearson RG. 2006. Climatewarming and the decline of amphibians andreptiles in Europe. Journal of Biogeography (specialissue: Species distribution modelling: methods,challenges and applications).will encompass a total of more than250 scientists from 69 institutions in33 countries, and will have a budgetof more than 25 million Euros.With the expansion of theproject to Asia comes the need totailor the ALARM approach forrice-growing systems and IRRIecologist K.L. Heong has beenenlisted to analyze long-term trendsin the biodiversity of parasiticwasps. If the project continuesto grow in the region, other ricescientists may be recruited as well.Dr. Settele is no stranger to ricefields either. He began his ecologycareer in the 1980s as a graduatestudent with an insect ecology projectin the Ifugao rice terraces in thePhilippines. He has now returnedto the rice fields of Asia to joinInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute(IRRI) scientists in applying anTHE ALARM project will helpresearchers predict how climatechange will affect rice-growingregions such as this area along theMagat River, which separates theplains of Nueva Viscaya and themountains of Ifugao Province inLuzon, Philippines.ARIEL JAVELLANAapproach he developed to predict theimpacts of complex environmentalchanges on the ecosystems of Europe.The feature of ALARMthat sets it apart from overlycomplex modeling exercises isthat it makes use of scientificnarratives (or “stories”) based onscientists’ best understanding ofthe environmental systems theystudy. ALARM puts these narrativestogether to paint a larger pictureof how something as large andcomplex as the environment of acontinent will respond to differentenvironmental driving forces.Just as challenging a<strong>sr</strong>eaching an understanding of howenvironmental change will play outis translating that understandinginto language that policymakers andthe general public can understand.To illustrate what he is tryingto do through the ALARM project,Dr. Settele likes to contrast differentforms of environmental storytelling.“Scientists tend to be reluctant to leta good story distract attention fromthe facts, while journalists or activistscan often be faulted for ignoring factsfor the sake of a good story,” he says.“The goal of ALARM is to finda compromise between these waysof telling environmental storiesand treat stories as the envelopes tocarry facts, and remember that factsare the basis of any good story.”Greg Fanslow is an environmentalconsultant at IRRI.46 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


DONORS CORNERInnovative research and extension arethe key to agricultural developmentby In-Sik KimThe Rural Development Administration(RDA), whichcelebrated its 100th anniversaryrecently (see page 5), isthe central government organizationresponsible for agricultural researchand extension in Korea. Since 1906,RDA and its forerunner, the ExperimentStation for AgriculturalEncouragement, have developednew technologies and extendedthese for the development of ruralareas and the agricultural sector.RDA’s efforts over the last 100years have helped Korea achieve selfsufficiencyin rice and other staplefoods through dissemination andpromotion of high-yielding cultivarsand improved production technologies.RDA has also taken greatsteps to improve the rural environmentand nurture new farmers.Now, Korean agriculture faces anincreasingly globalized agriculturalsector. At the same time, the ruralpopulation and the relativeeconomic importance of theKorean agricultural sectorare decreasing. Againstthis backdrop, RDA ischanging its researchand extension system andaccommodating Korean farmerswho seek applied technologiesthat can help increase their income.Amid the difficulties imposed byshifting domestic and internationalcircumstances, the expectation of theKorean people for rural developmentand agriculture has not changed.To meet the population’s demands,RDA announced on 9 May 2006the Innovation Program of RDA.Under the vision Technologydevelopment and extensionfor competitive agriculture andcherished rural community, RDAhas set three goals: ensure agriculturalcompetitiveness to help Koreareach a US$20,000 per capita grossnational product, increase qualityof life by enhancing the vitality ofrural areas, and educate agriculturalleaders to guide rural society.To implement these goals, RDAhas developed four basic courses foragricultural research and extension:address the bottleneck of agriculturaltechnologies and apply on-the-spotresearch directly to farms, developand extend technologies that leadto the formulation of a nationalpolicy for rural development, supportagricultural industrialization inthe form of biomedicine and otherfunctional materials, and establishbasic information and data (forexample, soil surveys over Korea’stotal agricultural area and collectionand analysis of genetic resources).To support these four basic courses,RDA has developed seven policyprojects: innovation of research anddevelopment at agricultural sites, customizedextension services, customer-centeredreorganizationof RDA, a more competitivesystem among RDA staff,strengthened customercenteredservice, progressivemarketing techniques for newRDA-developed technologies, andimproved laws and regulations forrural development and innovation.Along with these initiatives, RDAis strengthening its efforts to reducepoverty, hunger, and malnutrition indeveloping countries. For example,RDA recently created five alumni associationsconsisting of RDA traineesfrom Indonesia, the Philippines, SriLanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thesealumni associations will help sustainthe linkage and benefits betweenRDA and the trainees, and ensure theongoing transfer of technologies fromKorea to developing countries. Sincethe 1970s, RDA technology transfertraining programs have trained morethan 3,000 people from 111 countries,MR. KIM is the administrator of Korea’s RuralDevelopment Administration.mostly in Asia and Africa, on riceproduction and rural development.RDA collaborates closely withinternational organizations, internationalresearch centers under theConsultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR)—especiallythe International <strong>Rice</strong>Research Institute (IRRI)—andmany national agricultural researchand extension systems inAfrica, Asia, and South America.RDA has had particularly closepartnership with IRRI since IRRIwas established in 1960. This cooperationcan be divided into threestages. The beginning stage (1962-76)saw IRRI support RDA by providingindividual training for Koreanscientists. It is widely acknowledgedthat Korea achieved rice self-sufficiencyduring the Green Revolutionin the 1970s largely through IRRI’sassistance. In the developing stage(1977-90), RDA co-supported collaborativeprojects. Now, we are in themature stage (1991-present), duringwhich RDA has donated funds toIRRI through the CGIAR. Throughoutits partnership with IRRI, Korea’<strong>sr</strong>esearch and development capacityhas continued to improve and is nowhighly regarded by world standards.Now, it is time for RDA to findbetter ways to address world agriculturalissues and the global problemof poverty. In this light, the recentlyopened IRRI-Korea Office—housedat RDA’s National Institute of CropScience in Suwon—can contributenot only to the strengtheningof cooperation between RDA andIRRI but also to the continuingevolution of Korea as a worldleader in japonica rice research.RDA/SISA NEWS<strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200647


RICE FACTSAsia and sub-Saharan Africa:rice innumbersThis issue’s <strong>Rice</strong> facts presents some key informationon the rice situation in Asia and selectedrice-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa—wherethe International <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute (IRRI) is stepping up its efforts to improve riceproduction and reduce poverty. For an outline of IRRI’snew strategic plan and associated research agenda, seeKey Information on rice situation, poverty, health, and malnutritionRegion/countryEast TimorVietnamCongo, Dem RepAnnual aproduction,paddy(000 t)2003-05Bringing hope, improving lives onpages 10–15. The table also presentstelling information on povertyand health in the listed countries.• By 2015, the global rice-eatingpopulation is projectedto consume over 50 milliontons more than it did in 2005,with significant increases in2005-1517 21 13066 19904 6838South and Southeast Asiaand sub-Saharan Africa.• Most East Asian countries willreduce consumption, but it isunlikely there will be any surplu<strong>sr</strong>ice available for the worldmarket from this region. The highcost of production there meansthat East Asian rice would betoo expensive for the countriesin need of more rice to obtain it.So, reduced consumption in EastAsia is likely to lead to a reductionin rice area there as farmersswitch to other high-value crops.• Areas where rice is grown mostlyunder rainfed (rather than irrigated)conditions tend to correspondto low yields and extensivepoverty and malnutrition.• Despite Thailand being theworld’s largest rice exporter, averageyields are the second lowestin Asia. This is largely becausemost rice is grown under rainfedconditions. However, relativelylarge farm sizes and the productionfor export of high-value varietieswith superior grain qualitymean that poverty is diminishingin many Thai rice areas.• Although current rice consumptionin Africa is lower thanin Asia, sub-Saharan Africa’sconsumption will rise by around50% by 2015—the greatest proportionalincrease worldwide. Inthis region, almost half of riceneeds are met from imports.Nigeria is already the world’ssecond-largest rice importer.• Low African yields present botha challenge and a great opportunity.Since there is a large gapbetween actual and potentialyield, a large percentage increasein yield and overall productionis possible with the adoptionof improved technology.• A high proportion of the populationin almost every listedcountry—with the exceptionof some in East Asia—suffersfrom serious health problemsdue to undernourishment andunderweight. The proportion ofthe population living in povertyalso remains very high.ha = hectares; t = metric tons; kcal = kilocalories; paddy = unhulled rice. a FAOSTAT © FAO Statistics Division 2 August 2006. b Estimated using data from World <strong>Rice</strong> Statistics and CORIFA of FAO. Countrieswith very low yield and for which data are not available are assigned as 100% rainfed. c 2005 import data for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, East Timor, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Congo Dem Rep,Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and 2005 export data for China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan: USDA. d Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairsof the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision, http://esa.un.org/unpp, 21 March 2005. e Estimated by analyzing the trendfrom time series data for 1990-2002. f World Development Indicators 2004. g FAO, 2004. The State of Food Insecurity in the World.Rome: FAO. h Includes all other East Asian countries. i ... data not available. j Includes all other Southeast Asian countries.kIncludes all other African countries south of the Sahara. l World figures based on source except for rice consumption figures,which were based on estimates.This and a host of further informationpresented here clearly demonstratethat a continued, concertedrice research effort is essential ifwe are to help poor rice consumersand producers improve their lives.48 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 200649


grain of truthHow many ricevarieties are there?RUARAIDH SACKVILLE HAMILTONAcommon question but very difficult to answer.Depending on your definition of variety, the answercould be anything from zero to around 500,000varieties of Oryza sativa (Asian cultivated rice). In thetechnical sense used by taxonomists (biologists who classifyorganisms into groups based on evolutionary relationships),descriptions have been published of 14 varieties, butmost taxonomists now do not accept any of them as validtaxonomic varieties—so, in this sense, the answer is zero.Cultivated varieties (abbreviated to “cultivars” todistinguish from the taxonomists’ concept) are somethingdifferent, but even then we count different numbers fordifferent meanings. Many countries maintain an officiallist of recognized varieties releasedfor cultivation by farmers. Incountries with a legal system forprotecting plant breeders’ rights,these varieties may have beensubjected to rigorous tests todemonstrate that they are novel,distinct from other varieties,uniform, and stable.T he I nter n at ion a l R ic eInformation System (IRIS; www.iris.irri.org) recognizes around5,000 released varieties. The actualnumber may be greater than 5,000because no one has systematicallycollated all countries’ lists. It couldalso be less because the same genetic variety can be releasedin more than one country with different entries in IRIS,under the same or a different name.If you include traditional varieties (also known asfarmers’ varieties or landraces), the number goes upmarkedly. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundationin India claims that India alone has 100,000 traditionalvarieties still in use by farmers around the country, andanother 300,000 that have become extinct.However, the task of counting them becomes verydifficult. Traditional varieties predate legal systems ofvariety protection, and are named only for the farmer’s ownconvenience, not for legal purposes. Therefore, counting onename does not mean one variety (just like naming people—many different people share the name “Sarah” even thoughthey are unrelated). The same genetic entity may be knownby different names in different communities, and the samename may be used for different genetic entities.Depending on your definitionof variety, the answer couldbe anything from zero toaround 500,000 varietiesof Asian cultivated rice.In Laos, we have found 3,500 distinct names in use, butmany of the names are just generic terms like “black rice”or “glutinous rice,” each covering a multitude of differentgenetic entities. In a study of 95 samples of black rice fromdifferent parts of the country, we found no fewer than 45distinct varieties—and they can be enormously distinct.For example, leaf color varies from uniformly almost blackto variegated to normal green (a green-leaf variety can becalled black rice if some other part is black, such as the grainor the husk). So, the 3,500 names in Laos could represent10,000 or more distinct varieties.Moreover, unlike modern varieties, traditional varietiesare often genetically variable: plants of one variety differwithin a field, from field to field,and from year to year. Therefore,even deciding whether or not twoseed lots are sufficiently similar tobe classified as the same variety isnot a trivial task.So, how do I get 500,000 as anupper limit? It’s more or less a wildguess. India’s 100,000 may be anoverestimate, but, even if it is, it’sprobably not too wildly out. If thesmall Southeast Asian countrieseach have 10,000, India couldeasily have more than 50,000.Around 80 countries are riceproducers. As a large country in theprimary center of diversity of rice, it is not out of the questionthat India could have 10–20% of the worldwide total.And how many varieties do we have safely conserved inthe International <strong>Rice</strong> Genebank at the International <strong>Rice</strong>Research Institute? Right now, nowhere near the possiblehalf-million total. The answer is around 100,000. This upperlimit is simply the number of accessions that we keep andmanage as separate entities. We have not yet begun thechallenging task of classifying them into varieties or sortingout which ones, if any, are genetic duplicates.Our priority now is to document and unravel thisfantastic functional diversity of rice so that we can betterconserve it and use it for sustainable development in theyears to come.Dr. Sackville Hamilton is the head of IRRI’s T.T. Chang GeneticResources Center.50 <strong>Rice</strong> Today October-December 2006


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