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Now publ<strong>is</strong>hed quarterlywww.irri.orgInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute January 2004, Vol. 3 No. 1January 2004, Vol. 3 No. 1INTERNATIONALYEAR OF RICE:Nationalcommitteesplan for 2004FERAL PLAY:Wide crosseswith wild riceArt of <strong>Rice</strong>Exhibition in California regards food for the spiritISSN 1655-5422


i<strong>Rice</strong>Sciencefor a BetterWorld<strong>Rice</strong> covers much of Asia,so improved varieties that needless pesticide leave a cleaner,greener environment<strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong>LifeI N T E R N A T I O N A L Y E A R O F R I C E 2 0 0 4


contents Cover Don Cole, courtesy UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural H<strong>is</strong>toryEditor Peter FredenburgDeputy editor Adam BarclayArt director Juan Lazaro IVContributing editors Duncan Macintosh, Gene Hettel, Bill HardyDesigner and production superv<strong>is</strong>or George ReyesPhoto editor Ariel JavellanaPrinter Primex Printers, Inc.<strong>Rice</strong> Today <strong>is</strong> publ<strong>is</strong>hed 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 11 other countries, IRRI <strong>is</strong> 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 <strong>is</strong> one of16 centers funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information,v<strong>is</strong>it the CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org).Responsibility for th<strong>is</strong> publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in th<strong>is</strong> publicationInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.org; Web (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org;Web (<strong>Rice</strong>web): www.riceweb.org; Web (<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 2401;fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: p.fredenburg@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 subm<strong>is</strong>sions, which shouldbe accompanied by sufficient return postage.Copyright International <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute 2004


JIN-GON AHNNEWSIRRI attracts technology transfers from South KoreaKwang-Ho Park of the Korea NationalAgricultural College in Seoul has developednew labor-saving direct-seeding technologyfor adoption by IRRI stakeholders.The machinery uses lightweight steel wheelsthat allow a conventional tractor to operateeasily in paddies and a tractor-toweddirect seeder that sows pregerminated seedin rows and covers it with sand or silicatefertilizer.As economic development draws laboraway from agriculture, more farmers willadopt labor-saving practices such as directseeding — which, however, still suffers poorseedling establ<strong>is</strong>hment, weed problems,lodging and inferior grain quality.“Th<strong>is</strong> will improve crop establ<strong>is</strong>hmentfor direct seeding and help prevent lodging,”said Shaobing Peng, IRRI crop physiolog<strong>is</strong>t.$3 million to boost food securityThe Asian Development Bank approved inNovember a US$3 million grant for agriculturalresearch projects to boost food securityin poor regions of 14 Asian countries. IRRIwill develop with national partners croppingsystems and technologies to stabilize andincrease rice productivity in unfavorablemonsoon-dependent rice environments inBangladesh, India, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines,Thailand and Vietnam. Two otherConsultative Group on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR) centers — theWorldF<strong>is</strong>h Center and the InternationalCenter for Agricultural Research in the DryAreas — will implement projects.Asian rice supplies assuredThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) resolved in August to establ<strong>is</strong>h anEast Asia Emergency <strong>Rice</strong> Reserve Systemto ensure adequate supplies of the region’sstaple food. The min<strong>is</strong>ters also welcomedmovement toward developing an ASEAN“It will also reduce bird damage becauseseed <strong>is</strong> protected under fertilizer or sand.”IRRI’s ongoing collaboration withSouth Korea’s Rural Development Admin<strong>is</strong>tration(RDA) includes developing japonicarice for temperate regions and high-altitudetropics. IRRI and RDA co-sponsored in Octoberthe 2nd <strong>Rice</strong> Technology Transfer Systemsin Asia course at the RDA InternationalTechnical Cooperation Center (pictured).Sixteen participants from 12 Asian countriesstudied technology transfer successesand made field v<strong>is</strong>its to Korean agriculturaldevelopment and cooperative projects.Separately, more than 60 Filipinoalumni of RDA’s training and scient<strong>is</strong>t exchangeprograms met in September in LosBaños, Laguna, to form the Philippine-RDA(Korea) Alumni Association.Briefly Briefly BrieflyFood Security Information System to helpstrengthen regional food security.<strong>Rice</strong> Today goes quarterly<strong>Rice</strong> Today <strong>is</strong> doubling its publication frequencyfor International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004,appearing in mid-January and the beginningof April, July and October. Readers are urgedto complete and return survey postcards inthe October 2003 and January 2004 <strong>is</strong>suesor by logging on to www.irri.org/ricetoday/readerssurvey.asp.New rice CD-ROMsThe IRRI-supported Mountain AgrarianSystems (SAM) Program has released aCD-ROM in Engl<strong>is</strong>h, French and Vietnamesecovering the project’s first-phase(1998-2002) efforts to improve agriculturalproductivity, natural resourcemanagement and living standards in theVietnamese highlands. The material <strong>is</strong> alsoavailable at www.knowledgebank.irri.org/sam/intro.html. Another new CD-ROM4 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004Pesticide-reduction projectwins yet another awardAn initiative to reduce insecticide use inVietnam has won the International GreenApple Environment Award. K.L. Heong, IRRIsenior entomolog<strong>is</strong>t, collected the awardfrom the U.K.-based Green Organizationin a November ceremony at the Houses ofParliament in London.Dr. Heong and h<strong>is</strong> collaborators motivatedrice farmers to reduce insecticidespraying by communicating sound sciencethrough popular media, notably a series of radioskits that proved extremely popular withVietnamese farmers. The process quicklyspread over the Mekong Delta to reach 2million farmers. Insecticide use plunged by53% without affecting rice yield.“Most farmers in the Mekong nowknow that early season insecticide spraying<strong>is</strong> unnecessary,” said Nguyen Huu Huan,vice director general of Vietnam’s Plant ProtectionDepartment and one of Dr. Heong’scollaborators. The initiative has since beencarried to central Thailand and the RedRiver Delta of northern Vietnam.While in London, Dr. Heong was interviewedon the BBC News World Edition.In 2002, Dr. Heong and h<strong>is</strong> team wonthe St. Andrews Prize for Environment andthe Golden <strong>Rice</strong> Award from Vietnam’s Min<strong>is</strong>tryof Agriculture and Rural Development.(Th<strong>is</strong> just in — the team’s Three ReductionsInitiative, which builds on its experiencewith pesticides, won the 2003 Golden <strong>Rice</strong>Award. Details in <strong>Rice</strong> Today in April.)provides access to 3 decades of literatureon the golden apple snail, its ecology andmanagement options. To order, contactAgricultural Librarians Association of thePhilippines President Salome Ledesma(omecledesma@yahoo.com) or Phil<strong>Rice</strong>Librarian Elaine Joshi (ejoshi@philrice.gov.ph).India moots sharp r<strong>is</strong>e for researchThe Indian Agriculture Min<strong>is</strong>try has proposedra<strong>is</strong>ing India’s annual contributionto international agricultural research fromthe present US$750,000 to $10 million. AgricultureMin<strong>is</strong>ter Rajnath Singh describedsuch an increase as appropriate consideringIndia’s position in the world today and itsstake in agricultural development.Seed health recommendationsThe Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry andIRRI’s Seed Health Unit held in Novembera workshop on “<strong>Rice</strong> seed health testingpolicy for safe and efficient germplasm


ARIEL JAVELLANA$25 million Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for HarvestPlus Cereal centers explore optionsfor closer ties — but how close?NUTRITIONISTS AND PLANT SCIENTISTS from 14 countries met at IRRI on 6-8 October for the HarvestPlus <strong>Rice</strong> Cropmeeting to plan strategies for alleviating malnutrition through the development of high-nutrition rice under the leadershipof HarvestPlus Program Director Howarth Bou<strong>is</strong> (1st row, 7th from left) and HarvestPlus <strong>Rice</strong> Crop Leader SwapanDatta (on Dr. Bou<strong>is</strong>’ right). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the following week a grant of US$25million that would cover half of the program’s 4-year budget. The announcement generated widespread press coverage.Meetings in Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines map collaborationSenior representatives of IRRI and itsnational partners in Vietnam met inHanoi on 18-19 September for the firstVietnam-IRRI workplan meeting since November1998. Participants agreed on threecommon research goals: establ<strong>is</strong>hing andmaintaining food security both nationallyand at the household level, reducing poverty,and protecting the environment. The workplan,which will remain in force until 2006,identifies three broad areas of collaboration:germplasm development through varietalimprovement and germplasm exchange,integrated pest and nutrient management,and capacity building through training andinformation exchange.Similar areas, with the addition ofmovement” at IRRI. Participants reviewedcurrent knowledge of rice seed-borne pathogensand policies on seed health testing andmade recommendations on developing seedhealth testing standards, plant quarantinepolicies, pest identification, and testingprocedures and methodologies.<strong>Rice</strong> in drought-prone areasParticipants at an IRRI-hosted workshopin November for the Challenge Program onWater and Food Theme 1 examined waysto improve water and food productivity indrought-prone and saline areas. The fiveresearch themes of the program are 1) cropwater-productivity enhancement, 2) multipleuses of upper catchments, 3) aquaticecosystems and f<strong>is</strong>heries, 4) basin-level watermanagement, and 5) national and globalpolicies for water management.Frozen harvestThe CGIAR agreed at its annual generalmeeting in October to freeze the activities ofsocioeconomic and policy <strong>is</strong>sues, mark collaborationbetween IRRI and Indonesia,whose workplan meeting in Bogor on 29-30 September was hosted by the IndonesianAgency for Agricultural Research andDevelopment.In the Philippines, a policy dialogueon “Maximizing impact of agricultural innovationsystems in rice production” on21-22 October attracted to the Philippine<strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute representativesfrom IRRI, the Department of Agriculture,NGOs, media, farmer groups and provincialagricultural offices. The dialogue aimed toassess and map a response to the technologyneeds of farmers in provinces with lowrice yields.Briefly Briefly BrieflyFuture Harvest Foundation, a public awarenessand fundra<strong>is</strong>ing arm of the CGIAR, andthe group’s Public Awareness and ResourceCommittee. Members also agreed to subsumethe International Service for NationalAgricultural Research within the InternationalFood Policy Research Institute, witheffect in May.Brown rice revivalThe Asia <strong>Rice</strong> Foundation will launchth<strong>is</strong> year a national campaign to promotebrown rice. Foundation Chair Emil Javierannounced the campaign at a symposiumon the supply and demand of brown rice atIRRI in November (see page 38).Systems workshop in IndiaMore than 40 senior policymakers, researchersand agricultural developmentpractitioners participated last Novemberin a workshop on “Socioeconomic dynamicsof rice production systems in eastern India”in New Delhi. The workshop was sponsoredIRRI and the International Maize andWheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)have agreed to explore alternatives forcloser collaboration. In a joint statement<strong>is</strong>sued in October, the institutes’ boardchairs said the d<strong>is</strong>cussions were foundedon anticipated gains based on the institutes’complementary goals and mandates,research synergies in the social sciencesand biotechnology (especially in light ofcolinearity in the genomes of cereal crops),and possible economies of scale in informationmanagement, capacity building andintellectual property management.IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrellsaid that several options would be considered,ranging from an informal relationshipwith more joint planning to a completemerger. “We had a series of donor meetings,”he added. “We did not hear one negativecomment about the d<strong>is</strong>cussions.”The Rockefeller Foundation agreed toform an oversight committee chaired byRockefeller President Gordon Conway anda working group of external consultants toexamine the options and write a report ford<strong>is</strong>cussion at a joint meeting of the twoinstitutes’ boards in mid-2004.Dr. Cantrell said that the InternationalCrops Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics was considering joining the d<strong>is</strong>cussionsand that the West Africa <strong>Rice</strong> DevelopmentAssociation (WARDA) – The Africa<strong>Rice</strong> Center would also be welcome.by the joint Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch-IRRI project that documents andanalyzes patterns of change in rice productionsystems of eastern India over the past30 years in order to inform technologydesign and policy improvement.Highland strategies exploredA workshop on “Strategies for sustainabledevelopment of agricultural productionsystems in the highlands of the GreaterMekong Subregion (GMS) countries” tookplace on 12-16 September in Kunming, thecapital of China’s Yunnan Province, beginningwith a 2-day study tour of uplandareas showing how land use has changedwith crop intensification. The workshopwas jointly organized by the Consortiumfor Unfavorable <strong>Rice</strong> Environments, Bureauof Agriculture of Yunnan Province,Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciencesand IRRI, with sponsorship from the AsianDevelopment Bank and Chinese Min<strong>is</strong>tryof Agriculture.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 20045


RICE IN THE NEWSINDIA INKI R R I r e c e n t l y g a r n e r e d a f a i r s p l a s ho f p r e s s c o v e r a g e i n S o u t h A s i aIn a speech delivered on 18 Septemberin the Indian capital of New Delhi, IRRIDirector General Ronald Cantrell commentedon how funding constraints werehindering the development of water-savingrice varieties. Th<strong>is</strong> provided the focus for an18 September Reuters report picked up thenext day by the Economic Times newspaper.“There <strong>is</strong> no doubt the most important<strong>is</strong>sue in rice over the next 20 to 30 years <strong>is</strong> theavailability of freshwater,” Dr. Cantrell said,citing the effect of deforestation and pollutionon freshwater supplies and competition fromhouseholds and industry. He added that evidencenow ex<strong>is</strong>ts that farmers can grow highyieldingvarieties of rice much like wheat, withalternate wetting and drying of the soil.Dr. Cantrell cautioned, however, thatresearch into how to grow more rice usingless water was “a slow process” that fundingcuts were making even slower.The Financial Express newspaper focusedits coverage of Dr. Cantrell’s speechon h<strong>is</strong> encouraging the Indian rice industryto diversify its export-bound production ofaromatic rice beyond basmati varieties. Apolicy of promoting traditional non-basmatiaromatic varieties would improve farmers’income, the director general said.Dr. Cantrell was speaking at the launch inNew Delhi of A Treat<strong>is</strong>e on the Scented <strong>Rice</strong>sof India, a book co-edited by R.K. Singh, ricegenetic<strong>is</strong>t and IRRI lia<strong>is</strong>on scient<strong>is</strong>t for India,and Prof. U.S. Singh of G.B. Pant Universityof Agriculture and Technology. (The samemonth saw the launch in New Delhi of thebook Boro <strong>Rice</strong>, a collaboration by R.K. Singh,IRRI Social Sciences Div<strong>is</strong>ion Head MahabubHossain, and scient<strong>is</strong>ts in eastern India and atthe Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute.)Funding slumpThe next day, 19 September, found Dr.Cantrell speaking at the Directorate of <strong>Rice</strong>Research in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Areport in The Hindu Business Line attributedto Dr. Cantrell the observation that internationalass<strong>is</strong>tance for agricultural research hadslumped by 40 percent. Dr. Cantrell was quotedas saying that funding for research in Asiain particular was suffering from a “little bit ofsuccess” — the achievement of food securitywithout solving the problem of poverty — andfrom the redirection of funds to Africa.In Dhaka on 9 September, The NewNation newspaper ran a story looking aheadIRRI-INDIAR.K. SINGH launches h<strong>is</strong> book on scented rice flankedby H.K. Jain (left), former director of the IndianAgricultural Research Institute, and Ronald Cantrell.to the communication fair of the IRRImanagedproject Poverty EliminationThrough <strong>Rice</strong> Research Ass<strong>is</strong>tance (PETRRA)on 10-11 September, coinciding with the IRRIBoard of Trustees meeting in the Bangladeshicapital. The Daily Star newspaper placed onthat day’s front page a report on the 8 Septemberdialogue on “Sustainable agriculturalgrowth in Bangladesh: Should we go for biotechnologyfor rice improvement?” — whichincluded IRRI Social Sciences Div<strong>is</strong>ion HeadMahabub Hossain and IRRI biotechnolog<strong>is</strong>tSwapan Datta.The Daily Star then ran a story perday about rice research. On Wednesday,10 September, it featured an editorial byAbdul Bayes, professor of economics at JahangirnagarUniversity, on saline-affectedrice-growing areas, touching on the CoastalWater Management Project under PETRRA.On Thursday it offered front-page coverage ofAgriculture Min<strong>is</strong>ter M.K. Anwar’s opening ofthe PETRRA communication fair. On Fridayit covered the reception of Dr. Cantrell andIRRI Board Chair Angeline Kamba by PrimeMin<strong>is</strong>ter Begum Khaleda Zia in her office (pictureon page 24). And on Saturday the paperreported on its front page the succession ofincoming Board Chair Keijiro Otsuka and how“Bangladesh saved US$229 million a year [infood imports] through an annual investmentof $18 million in rice research, irrigation developmentand agricultural extension.”The Daily Star covered a PETRRAsponsoreddialogue on 28 September onhow Bangladesh could boost its exports ofaromatic rice, which featured IRRI AgriculturalEngineering Unit Head Joe Rickmanemphasizing the need for careful milling.It publ<strong>is</strong>hed on its 1 November front pagea warning from IRRI’s Dr. Hossain that,despite progress in controlling its birth rate,Bangladesh must feed 2 million more peopleeach year (a story picked up by China’s XinhuaNews Agency). On 18 November, an editorialby Prof. Bayes considered a paper coauthoredby Dr. Hossain that demonstrated the benefitsthat infrastructure development conferson farm income.In Sri Lanka, the 22 November <strong>is</strong>sueof the Daily News covered the participationover the previous 2 days of IRRI DeputyDirector General for Research Ren Wang aschief guest of the 15th Annual Congress of thePost Graduate Institute of Agriculture of theUniversity of Peradeniya. At the congress, Dr.Wang reportedly l<strong>is</strong>ted the challenges facingrice research as 1) achieving food security atboth the national and household level, 2)improving farmers’ livelihood and eliminatingpoverty, 3) balancing the intensificationof production with sustainability goals toproduce more and better food using fewerinputs while conserving the environment,and 4) nurturing a new generation of ricescient<strong>is</strong>ts and farmers.Journal papers• Plant D<strong>is</strong>ease, the journal of the AmericanPhytopathological Society, publ<strong>is</strong>hed in Octobera 14-page paper, Using genetic diversity toachieve sustainable rice d<strong>is</strong>ease management,co-authored by Hei Leung (IRRI), YouyongZhu (Yunnan Agricultural University),Imelda Revilla-Molina (IRRI), Jin Xiang Fan(Agriculture Department of Yunnan), HairuChen (Yunnan Agricultural University), IreneoPangga (IRRI), Casiana Vera Cruz (IRRI) andTwng Wah Mew (IRRI).• Crop Protection, the journal of the InternationalAssociation for the Plant ProtectionSciences, publ<strong>is</strong>hed a 7-page paper, A participatoryexerc<strong>is</strong>e for modifying rice farmers’beliefs and practices in stem borer lossassessment, co-authored by IRRI scient<strong>is</strong>tsM.M. Escalada and K.L. Heong, which detailsfindings in pesticide reduction research in thePhilippines.Also…The Brit<strong>is</strong>h Broadcasting Corporation reportedon 21 October that archaeolog<strong>is</strong>ts hadfound 15,000-year-old rice in central Korea. Thed<strong>is</strong>covery of 59 carbonized grains by Lee Yungjoand Woo Jong-yoon of Chungbuk NationalUniversity pushed back the date for the earliestknown cultivation of rice by 3,000 years. Feaston the story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3207552.stm.6 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


THE ART OF RICEFood for the spiritThe most ambitious exhibition inthe 40-year h<strong>is</strong>tory of the FowlerMuseum of Cultural H<strong>is</strong>tory <strong>is</strong>its current offering, The Art of<strong>Rice</strong>: Spirit and Sustenance in Asia. Thethought-provoking and eye-opening show<strong>is</strong> also proving to be a delicious coup for th<strong>is</strong>museum at the University of California atLos Angeles.As a detailed and buoyant Los AngelesTimes review stated: “The Fowler hasdemonstrated that the popular grain [rice]has provided a lot more than bodily nour<strong>is</strong>hmentfor the diverse peoples who havebeen eating it every day for the last 10,000years, and that th<strong>is</strong> hardy crop has had aremarkably civilizing influence on a largeswath of humanity.”In a similar vein, the magazine Humanitiesasserted that the Fowler Museumhas shown that, “over the centuries, ricehas been more than a diet staple: it <strong>is</strong> asymbol of spirituality.” The periodical <strong>is</strong>publ<strong>is</strong>hed bimonthly by a major funder ofthe exhibition, the National Endowment forthe Humanities.GENE HETTELSacred grainAs they enter the hall, v<strong>is</strong>itors witness a keymoment in Javanese mythology, depictedin traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry,when the beloved rice goddess Dewi Sri createsthe sacred grain. In nine thematicallyarranged galleries, exhibits range from JapaneseZen paintings and rare stone-glazedsake bottles from the 17th to 19th centuries,to intricate Indonesian textiles and modernworks created for popular festivals markingthe agricultural cycle.The final d<strong>is</strong>play, named The Future of<strong>Rice</strong>, features a photograph, by Ariel Javellana,of IRRI’s seed-storage facility, preserv-ing for future generations thegenetic heritage of rice.The guiding force andindefatigable planner of theexhibition <strong>is</strong> Roy Hamilton,curator of the Fowler’s Asianand Pacific Collections. A textilesspecial<strong>is</strong>t by training, Dr.Hamilton can also lay claimto being a rice expert after7 years’ researching, selectingand acquiring items forThe Art of <strong>Rice</strong> — a wealthof ceramics, sculptures, ricegoddess statues, puppets,woodblock prints, vessels,plain and extraordinaryfarm tools, woodcarvings,baskets, and paraphernaliafor performing rice rituals(see the inside back cover).“Th<strong>is</strong> took a tremendousamount of work andtime, particularly negotiatingloans and signing agreementswith other museumsand private parties,” Dr.Hamilton recalled. “I couldgive a 30-minute lecture oneach of the more than 200items in the show.”Guiding a tour of the galleries,he pointed out an early 20th centuryJapanese bridal robe. “The sake imps — orshojo — decorating th<strong>is</strong> material provide asign of good luck for the bride,” he said beforeturning to granary figures of the Ifugaopeople of the northern Philippines. “Thesebulul, cons<strong>is</strong>ting of a male and female pair,include an infant, which makes explicitthe connection between rice and humanfertility.”Mix of materialsDr. Hamilton <strong>is</strong> most excited about theexhibition’s wide-ranging mix of materialsfrom many Asian countries. “I had neverbefore dealt with contemporary paintings,”he said, “and the ones from Korea and thePhilippines are simply fantastic.”From its gala opening on 4 October,the exhibition will continue at the Fowleruntil April. It will then move to Napa, California,where it will run from September toNovember, before shifting again in 2005to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a final run fromCOURTESY UCLA FOWLER MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORYTHE EXHIBITION BOOK shows on its cover a detail of a 1930s paintingon cloth of rice farming in Bali; Dr. Hamilton (below) in h<strong>is</strong> office.February to April.Accompanying the exhibition <strong>is</strong> a bookthat, weighing in at 552 pages and morethan 2 kg, ranks as the Fowler’s largest-everpubl<strong>is</strong>hing venture. Also called The Art of<strong>Rice</strong>, the book, which <strong>is</strong> available throughthe University of Washington Press, preservesthe structure of the exhibition withsections corresponding to galleries.“Both the exhibition and book havecast a very broad net, so I think there <strong>is</strong>something to interest almost everybody,”Dr. Hamilton said. “For the book, I workedwith 27 experts from a dozen countries andencouraged them to write about what theyfound inspirational.”Among the essays, both scholarly andpersonal, <strong>is</strong> one regarding the d<strong>is</strong>appearingrice rituals of the Ifugao. The contributorsare Aurora Ammayao and her husband,Gene Hettel, head of IRRI’s Communicationand Publications Services. An adaptedexcerpt from th<strong>is</strong> chapter follows on thenext page.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 20047


THE ART OF RICECONTOURSOF CHANGEby Aurora Ammayao with Gene HettelA member of acelebrated Philippinemountain tribecontemplates theerosion of her nativeculture and the ancientrice terraces that havenurtured itExcerpt from . . .ARIEL JAVELLANA


My MAmerican husbandcertainly <strong>is</strong> not aloneas a foreigner with akeen interest in theIfugao and our riceterraces. My people have been thesubject of articles that date back tothe early days of National Geographicmagazine. Dean C. Worcester, thenthe secretary of the interior of thePhilippine Islands, featured the Ifugaoin a special September 1912 <strong>is</strong>sue ofthe publication devoted entirely to theheadhunters of northern Luzon. Inthat <strong>is</strong>sue, he considered the Ifugao tobe barbarians who were nonethelessexcellent hydraulic engineers, asdemonstrated by their marvelous riceterraces.Nine decades later, foreignersare still fascinated with headhunting.The practice was abandoned long agoby the Ifugao, but we still have notescaped that moniker. In the 2000book The Last Filipino Head Huntersby David Howard, we are described,along with our s<strong>is</strong>ter tribes the Bontocand Kalinga, as having among ourelders the last living headhuntersin the Philippines. I seriouslydoubt that anyone nowalive has ever beena headhunter.Throughout the 1990s and intothe 21st century, there has beencontinued interest in the directionand pending d<strong>is</strong>appearance of our2,000-year-old rice terraces andrelated rituals and culture. In 1995there was a flurry of activities andmeetings in Manila and Banaue— some of which I attended — toformally nominate our rice terracesfor inclusion in the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (UNESCO) WorldHeritage L<strong>is</strong>t as a protected culturallandscape.Later that year, when officiallyadding the terraces to the l<strong>is</strong>t,UNESCO stated: “For 2,000 years,the high rice fields of the Ifugaohave followed the contours of themountain. The fruit of knowledgepassed on from one generation tothe next, of sacred traditions and adelicate social balance, they helpedform a landscape of great beauty thatexpresses conquered and conservedharmony between humankindand the environment.” During itsannual summit in December 2001in Helsinki, UNESCO noted itscontinued deep concern for the riceterraces by putting them on its L<strong>is</strong>t ofWorld Heritage in Danger. It stated,in part: “Despite efforts to safeguardthe site by the Banaue <strong>Rice</strong> TerracesTask Force and theIfugao Terraces Comm<strong>is</strong>sion, moreresources, greater independenceand an assurance of permanence areneeded.”Fewer tour<strong>is</strong>ts preferredTeodoro Baguilat, governor of IfugaoProvince, stated in the local press thathe would prefer to have fewer tour<strong>is</strong>tsin the area to facilitate the terraces’preservation. He also said that oncethe terraces are commercialized,more hotels and establ<strong>is</strong>hmentswill sprout like mushrooms. Duringa conversation I had with him inMay 2002 in h<strong>is</strong> office in the townof Lagawe, he clarified that tour<strong>is</strong>mcould be part of a strategy to helpdevelop the rice terraces and provideadditional income for the people.“Although part of the country’scultural heritage, the terraces are stillprimarily agricultural land,”he said. He <strong>is</strong> afraid thatthe goals of tour<strong>is</strong>mAURORA AMMAYAOARIEL JAVELLANA


THE BANAUE RICE TERRACES, seen from the popular tour<strong>is</strong>t viewpoint (previousspread) and more closely (bottom left), received in 1995 recognition asa protected cultural property on the UNESCO World Heritage L<strong>is</strong>t. TeodoroBaguilat (top left), governor of Ifugao Province, emphasizes the need topreserve the rice terraces more for the Ifugao people than for tour<strong>is</strong>ts. Thepriests, or mumbaki, Yogyog Dogapna (th<strong>is</strong> page top, at left) and BuyuccanUdhuk, pictured here in April 2001 after their last performance, are now intheir 80s and too ill to continue their ritual duties. The author’s father,Ammayao Dimmangna (pictured below in 1975), was a mumbaki until hebecame a Chr<strong>is</strong>tian in the mid-1980s.officials may not always support what<strong>is</strong> really needed to preserve our riceterraces and best serve the people.“Let’s not preserve the terracesfor the tour<strong>is</strong>ts, but for the Ifugaothemselves,” he told me emphatically.I agree with Mr. Baguilat that thegovernment should focus on <strong>is</strong>suesof concern to Ifugao rice farmers,including infestations of rats andgolden snails as well as enhancingthe irrigation systems for mountainfarms. Perhaps most important of all<strong>is</strong> educating our youth to appreciatethat their culture revolves around ricecultivation — and to consider stayingin the region instead of moving to thelowlands to seek their fortunes.Glimmer of understandingAs politicians continue to d<strong>is</strong>cusswhat to do, some ordinary Ifugaocitizens, for their part, express a widerange of feelings and are engagedin a variety of activities related tothe preservation of the Ifugao riceterraces and the traditions and culturetied to them.Since 1995, when my husbandwas stationed in the Philippines asa science writer and editor for IRRI,we have made an effort to recordon videotape the various ritualsassociated with the rice-growingcalendar. With the help of AnaDulnuan-Habbiling, the matriarchof the tumoná (leading family) inTucbuban village for whom mylate father sometimes officiatedas a mumbaki (priest) at variou<strong>sr</strong>ice rituals, we have been able todocument many hours of ceremonies,particularly the post-transplanting(Kulpe) and the harvest (Ingngilin)rites. We felt that we could at leastshow these tapes to our threehalf-Ifugao children and futuregrandchildren, giving them a glimmerof understanding of what theirmother’s culture once was.Some professional Filipinovideographers and filmmakers<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004— namely Fruto Corre and Kidlat deGuia — have had the same idea. Mr.Corre recently won recognition fromthe Film Academy of the Philippinesfor h<strong>is</strong> ethnographic work Ifugao:Bulubunduking Buhay, a 45-minute11MERVIN KEENEY GENE HETTEL


GENE HETTEL (3)AURORA AMMAYAOTHE KULPE RITUAL being performed by BuyuccanUdhuk (left) and the Ingngilin, which involves offeringsto the gods (center). Ana Dulnuan-Habbiling(right), pictured here with her granddaughter, strivesto maintain traditional rice rituals despite being apracticing Catholic. Women transplant rice (below)on one of the Ifugao <strong>Rice</strong> Terraces.video that documents the painfuldilemmas experienced by my peopletoday. He skillfully establ<strong>is</strong>hes theconnections between the terraces andour traditions — indeed, how theyenrich and nour<strong>is</strong>h each other. Thevideo’s message <strong>is</strong> that if the terracesd<strong>is</strong>appear, so will our traditionand culture. Th<strong>is</strong> tape has beencommercially packaged and <strong>is</strong> sold inmany video stores and bookstores inManila and elsewhere.Mr. de Guia’s work debutedinternationally on the D<strong>is</strong>coveryChannel on 26 December 2001, aspart of its Young Filmmaker series. Init, he shows how we Ifugao ourselvescan document our d<strong>is</strong>appearingrituals and traditions using small,handheld video cameras. Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong>exactly what my husband, Gene, and Ihave been doing since 1995, albeit asamateurs.Even though the productionof these programs may have beenmotivated in part by profit, I think it<strong>is</strong> still a good thing that our ritualsand culture are being documented forboth Ifugao and the world at large.In viewing these programs, however,I could not help noticing that manyof the rituals depicted appear to havebeen staged expressly for the camera.Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> something that Gene and Iavoided — at least initially — in ourown videotaping. In 1995, th<strong>is</strong> wasstill possible when, in July, we tapedseveral hours of the rice harvest ritualin Lugu, performed by local mumbakiYogyog Dogapna and BuyuccanUdhuk. The ritual would have beenheld regardless of whether or not theyhad known that we were coming torecord it.Only 6 years later, in June2001, in an attempt to rerecordthe Ingngilin with better cameraequipment and from different angles,I had to pay three mumbaki fromoutside the area to perform the ritualat Ana Dulnuan-Habbiling’s familygranary. If we had not come, it wouldhave been the first time that a harvestritual was not held in Ana’s granary.Preserving ritualsI asked Ana, who has been apracticing Catholic for many years,why she still pers<strong>is</strong>ts to preservethe post-transplanting and harvestrituals. She replied that it <strong>is</strong> herfamily, after all, that has beentraditionally responsible for takingthe lead in performing the ricerituals. “I do not want to be theone remembered for ending th<strong>is</strong>centuries-old tradition here inour village,” she said. Most likelyneither Yogyog nor Buyuccan,who are now in their 80s and bothill, will be able to continue theirritual duties. So, emulating Mr.de Guia’s effort, she requestedthat Gene and I provide her witha copy of the videos of the ritualsthat we recorded in her granary overthe years. “We will make do withwatching your tapes on telev<strong>is</strong>ion,”she said. “It will be better thannothing.”


Feral playb y A d a m B a r c l a yp h o t o g r a p h y b y A r i e l J a v e l l a n aCrop scient<strong>is</strong>ts usewide crosses to breedinto cultivated ricevarieties the hardinessof their wild kinDARSHAN BRAR, shown standing before IRRI’s greenhouses and(top) pollinating a modern rice variety with a wild relative, <strong>is</strong>pushing the envelope of what <strong>is</strong> possible in transferring usefulgenes and traits into modern cultivars. Matatag 9 (above), acommercial cultivar with tungro d<strong>is</strong>ease res<strong>is</strong>tance that Dr. Brarand h<strong>is</strong> colleagues recruited from wild rice, has been released tofarmers in the Philippines.AILEEN DEL ROSARIO-RONDILLAOutbreaks of grassy stuntvirus once ruined riceharvests and broughthardship to poor farmersin South and SoutheastAsia. Today, most commercial ricevarieties developed by IRRI andits national partners have effectiveres<strong>is</strong>tance to the virus — res<strong>is</strong>tanceborrowed from a wild cousin ofcultivated rice that may no longerex<strong>is</strong>t in nature.“In the 1970s, grassy stunt viruswas a major problem,” said DarshanBrar, a rice breeder in IRRI’s PlantBreeding, Genetics and Biochem<strong>is</strong>tryDiv<strong>is</strong>ion. “IRRI scient<strong>is</strong>ts screened7,000 rice lines for res<strong>is</strong>tance to thevirus. Fortunately, one of the wild ricelines, a single line of Oryza nivarafrom India, was found to be res<strong>is</strong>tant.”In 1974, IRRI released threevarieties with grassy stunt res<strong>is</strong>tancederived from O. nivara.“It’s a classic example of a genethat wasn’t available in cultivated ricebeing taken from wild rice,” addedDr. Brar, a special<strong>is</strong>t in such widecrosses. “It has had a major impact ondeveloping varieties.”Th<strong>is</strong> early success in widecrossing — so called because of thelarge genetic gap separating the twoparental lines — suggests the potentialbenefits of tapping wild species foragronomically desirable traits. Italso illustrates the practical value ofpreserving natural habitats and thebiodiversity they harbor.“That population of O. nivarafrom Uttar Pradesh, India, has neverbeen found again,” reported GurdevKhush, former IRRI principal plantbreeder and 1996 World Food Prizelaureate. If these “truly pricelessseeds,” as Dr. Khush describedthem, had not been gathered forconservation in the International <strong>Rice</strong>Genebank at IRRI, the trait of strongres<strong>is</strong>tance to grassy stunt might havebeen lost forever. Drive a species toextinction, and you stand to lose farmore than the plant itself.Every minute of every day, nativehabitat d<strong>is</strong>appears somewhere onearth. The reasons for th<strong>is</strong> destructionare many. Homes and infrastructureare built for an ever-growingpopulation. New farmland <strong>is</strong> created.Some natural areas are cleared outof necessity and some out of greed,but every loss of natural habitat r<strong>is</strong>ksimpover<strong>is</strong>hing biodiversity.No one knows how many speciesex<strong>is</strong>t on the planet. It <strong>is</strong> estimatedthat, for every one of the 2 millionor so species that scient<strong>is</strong>ts havedescribed, between 5 and 50 othershave yet to be d<strong>is</strong>covered. Habitatdestruction <strong>is</strong> driving to extinctionspecies we never even knew ex<strong>is</strong>ted.Included among them may be wildrice varieties potentially useful to thewide-crossing work of Dr. Brar.Novel genes“Wild species themselves areagronomically very poor,” heexplained. “For example, they maybe low yielding and have a longharvest period, poor plant type,seed-shattering — seeds that falloff the plant before maturity — andother traits that breeders and farmersdon’t want. But they may also havea unique property or novel genes— some useful factor, like res<strong>is</strong>tanceto d<strong>is</strong>eases or insects, or tolerance ofenvironmental stresses. We want tointroduce those kinds of traits fromthe wild species into cultivated rice, sothe cultivated rice will have strongerres<strong>is</strong>tance to a particular stress.”


“Because wild germplasm <strong>is</strong> notyet thoroughly exploited,” added Dr.Khush, “there <strong>is</strong> still great potentialto develop new modern rice varieties.IRRI’s research in th<strong>is</strong> area <strong>is</strong> at theforefront. No other rice wide-crossingprogram exceeds it in scope andproductivity.”Scient<strong>is</strong>ts have identified 20 wildrice species, within each of which areup to hundreds of different geneticlines. It <strong>is</strong> impossible to speculate onhow many more wild rice lines may beout there, or how many have alreadybeen lost to land clearing. Wild ricecertainly tolerates a wide range ofextreme conditions, including aridenvironments, acidic soils and highaltitudes. David Mackill, head ofIRRI's Plant Breeding, Genetics andBiochem<strong>is</strong>try Div<strong>is</strong>ion, points out thatth<strong>is</strong> natural variability makes wildspecies valuable.“To look at them, diversity withineach wild species doesn’t appear asgreat as in cultivated rice,” said Dr.Mackill. “But there’s a lot of geneticvariability in wild species, often morethan in cultivated rice. There arelikely to be alleles — different formsof genes — in wild species that are notpresent in rice. Wide crossing <strong>is</strong> a wayto cast our net more broadly and getsome of these diverse genes into therice genome.“One of the things that Darshanhas done <strong>is</strong> push the envelope of whatcan be transferred by crossing plantsDR. BRAR RESCUES an embryo from awide cross and (top right) places it ina nutrient medium that will allow itto grow. Naf<strong>is</strong>ah (top left), a mastersscholar from Indonesia who works withDr. Brar, examines rice chromosomesfrom a wide cross to determine therelationship between cultivated andwild rice.that are not really even compatible,”Dr Mackill added. “He’s developeda number of ways to get genes outof these very difficult species intocultivated rice.”Viable offspringThe more d<strong>is</strong>tantly related any twoparent plants are, the more difficultit <strong>is</strong> to produce viable offspring.Crossing two lines of cultivated O.sativa <strong>is</strong> relatively easy. Try crossingO. sativa with, for example, theAfrican wild species O. brachyantha,and you have trouble producinganything at all, let alone a viableplant that possesses desired traits.Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> where a painstaking techniqueknown as embryo rescue comes in(see sidebar opposite). Because thecrosses between two d<strong>is</strong>tantly relatedspecies of rice rarely produce viableseeds, prom<strong>is</strong>ing embryos need tobe physically removed under themicroscope and grown in the lab.Even when a wild rice species<strong>is</strong> related to O. sativa closelyenough that a direct cross <strong>is</strong> usuallysuccessful, the progeny always inheritundesirable traits from the wildparent. Weeding these out by crossingand re-crossing with the O. sativaparent <strong>is</strong> a long and laborious process.“Th<strong>is</strong> kind of technology— genetic enhancement throughwide crossing — <strong>is</strong> an excitingway to capture useful genes forincreasing res<strong>is</strong>tance to pests,d<strong>is</strong>eases and environmental stresses,16 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


and improving sustainability andnutritional quality,” said Dr. Brar.“During the last 10 or 20 years,there has been a revolution inmolecular biology. The answers tomany questions for which we weren’texpecting answers are becomingclearer and clearer.”Since IRRI started experimentingwith wide crossing a few decadesago, the institute has notched upsome impressive successes in thearea of pest res<strong>is</strong>tance. In additionto grassy stunt res<strong>is</strong>tance, scient<strong>is</strong>tshave transferred to cultivatedvarieties res<strong>is</strong>tance to the debilitatingbacterial blight (BB), blast and tungrod<strong>is</strong>eases. A wide-crossed tungrores<strong>is</strong>tantvariety (Matatag 9) hasbeen released in the Philippines as astop-gap variety for tungro hot spots.Wide crossing has also producedrice res<strong>is</strong>tant to brown planthopper,the insect pest that carries a doublewhammy by transmitting grassy stuntvirus. Four such varieties — derivedfrom a wide cross with O. officinal<strong>is</strong>,an Asian wild rice — have beenreleased in Vietnam.The transfer of BB res<strong>is</strong>tancefrom the wild species O. long<strong>is</strong>taminata,found in Africa, tells the tale ofhow the combination of wide crossingand new techniques in molecularbiology <strong>is</strong> having impact. A specificgene found in O. long<strong>is</strong>taminata —known as Xa21 — offers rice a broadspectrum of res<strong>is</strong>tance. There aremany races of BB, and any res<strong>is</strong>tantplant <strong>is</strong> unlikely to be immune toall of them. Xa21 does an excellentjob, though — in the Philippines, forexample, there are nine prevalent BBraces, and Xa21 offers res<strong>is</strong>tance to allof them.Traditionally, finding out whethera new line of rice was res<strong>is</strong>tant to ad<strong>is</strong>ease entailed physically inoculatingeach individual plant. Today, atechnique known as molecularmarker-ass<strong>is</strong>ted selection has madeth<strong>is</strong> process — and the subsequentdevelopment of res<strong>is</strong>tant commercialvarieties — far quicker and easier.Researchers take a sample of a riceplant, extract its DNA and examineit in the lab to determine whethera particular plant has inheritedManaging a m<strong>is</strong>matchCrossing cultivated rice, Oryza sativa,with a d<strong>is</strong>tant wild relative can bedifficult. Any of a number of barrierscan combine to prevent a successful cross.There <strong>is</strong> no guarantee of producing any sortof progeny at all — and even if a hybridresults, it will almost certainly be sterile.Into the breach step Darshan Brar and h<strong>is</strong>colleagues in IRRI’s Plant Breeding, Geneticsand Biochem<strong>is</strong>try Div<strong>is</strong>ion, who are expert ata technique called embryo rescue.Embryo rescue requires the physicalexc<strong>is</strong>ion under a microscope of prom<strong>is</strong>ingembryos from their impover<strong>is</strong>hed seeds.These embryos then grow in t<strong>is</strong>sue culturein the lab until the resulting plants aremature enough to be transferred to soil andeventually crossed with their cultivated ricea specific trait. Th<strong>is</strong> method hasfacilitated the transfer of Xa21 andits associated BB res<strong>is</strong>tance to manycommercial rice varieties in the ricegrowingworld.Coming of ageWild rice and wide crossing are alsointegral to the production of most ofthe hybrid rice grown commerciallyin the world today. Hybrid rice — ricewith two different varieties as parents— came of age in China and <strong>is</strong> nowbecoming increasingly popular insubtropical Asia. Although farmersmust buy new seed each seasonbecause seed saved from a hybridcrop performs badly, hybrid rice canyield up to 20 percent more grainthan traditional inbred varieties.To produce hybrid rice, you needd<strong>is</strong>tinct male and female parents. Toachieve th<strong>is</strong>, one of the parents mustpossess a trait known as cytoplasmicmale sterility (CMS), which rendersthat parent purely female.DR. BRAR SELECTS a prom<strong>is</strong>ing embryo and places itin the nutrient medium.parent. The process of determining whether they exhibit their wild parent’s useful trait canthen begin. Breeders cross the rescued hybrid with its O. sativa parent; the progeny fromthat cross <strong>is</strong> crossed again with O. sativa and so on — using embryo rescue each time.Th<strong>is</strong> backcrossing <strong>is</strong> repeated until the resulting plant <strong>is</strong> almost identical to the original O.sativa parent and yields a fertile seed. If things go according to plan, the only significantdifference in the new plant <strong>is</strong> that it possesses the desired wild rice trait.Although embryo rescue <strong>is</strong> not a technically difficult procedure, the painstaking natureof the process derives from the sheer number of times it needs to be performed. As many as98% of the seeds created from wide crosses don’t even carry an embryo, and any resultingembryo won’t necessarily possess the sought-after wild rice trait. Therefore, breeders needa very large sample of wide-crossed seeds — up to several thousand, hundreds of whichmay be embryo rescue candidates — to have a chance of finding at least one with thedesired trait.“The vast majority of commercialhybrid rice has a CMS source derivedfrom wild rice,” said Dr. Brar.“The d<strong>is</strong>covery of CMS, by Chinesescient<strong>is</strong>ts, <strong>is</strong> another major exampleof how wild rice has contributed to awidening of the gene pool.”Just as crops that are res<strong>is</strong>tantto pests greatly reduce the needfor pesticides, crops that competesuccessfully with weeds could leadto major cuts in herbicide use. Incollaboration with the West Africa<strong>Rice</strong> Development Association(WARDA) – The Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center,IRRI <strong>is</strong> currently working withan African rice, O. glaberrima, toachieve that result.Oryza glaberrima <strong>is</strong> cultivated ina small area of West Africa and so <strong>is</strong>not, strictly speaking, a wild rice, butit <strong>is</strong> a relatively d<strong>is</strong>tant relation of O.sativa. More to the point, it has a traitthat Dr. Brar and h<strong>is</strong> team are keen tobreed into some of IRRI’s commercialvarieties — weed-competitive ability.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200417


DR. BRAR EXAMINES an example ofthe wild species Oryza rufipogon,which donated tolerance to acidsulfate soils to IRRI’s popular, highyieldingvariety IR64, as Philippinestaff researcher Joie Ramos andKofi Bimpong, a masters scholarfrom Ghana, look on. The resultingcultivar, AS 996 (bottom), <strong>is</strong> popularamong farmers in Vietnam.quite new. We call it aerobic rice.”Everyone these days <strong>is</strong> trying todo more with less, and rice farmersare no exception. If wide-crossedrice varieties help farmers producemore grain using fewer resources— particularly water, pesticides andherbicides — farm communities willprosper, poor rice consumers willhave more cash for necessities otherthan rice, and pressure to plow underthe last remaining areas of relativelyund<strong>is</strong>turbed nature will decrease.On top of the better-knownbenefits of conserving naturalhabitats, successful deployment ofrice cultivars improved through widecrossing helps maximize the chancesof d<strong>is</strong>covering, preserving andbenefiting from as-yet-und<strong>is</strong>coveredspecies of wild rice. Given the righttraits in wild rice, scient<strong>is</strong>ts likeDr. Brar and h<strong>is</strong> team will developcommercial varieties that are bothfriendlier to the environment andbetter able to nour<strong>is</strong>h the poor.“I come from a rural farmingfamily and I really know, practically,how essential it <strong>is</strong> to improve cropplants,” said Dr. Brar. “More broadly,if you want to help society — tocontribute to humanity as a scient<strong>is</strong>tby improving access to better-qualityfood — then I think th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> a goodapproach.”Mr. Barclay <strong>is</strong> an Australian YouthAmbassador assigned for a year toIRRI, where h<strong>is</strong> duties include servingas deputy editor of <strong>Rice</strong> Today.A weed-competitive plantsuppresses the growth of weedsthat would otherw<strong>is</strong>e stifle its owngrowth. Researchers still have muchto learn about the mechanics ofweed competitiveness — how plantscompete underground for water andnutrients and how some even exudesubstances that inhibit the growth oftheir rivals — but rapid early growththat shuts out competitors and deniesthem the energy of the sun appearsto be a major factor. Such weedcompetitiveness, said Dr. Brar, <strong>is</strong>especially useful where farmers adoptdirect seeding of rice fields in place ofthe more labor-intensive practice oftransplanting seedlings.“When you grow rice by directseeding, the weeds may overpower itand strongly affect rice productivityand yield,” he explained. “If we cantransfer weed-competitive ability intocultivated rice, then the rice grownby direct seeding will automaticallysuppress weeds and reduce the needfor herbicides.”IRRI’s success in breeding ricevarieties with res<strong>is</strong>tance to pests andd<strong>is</strong>eases offers encouragement as theinstitute now refocuses on breedingfor tolerance of so-called abioticstresses such as drought and saline oracid soils.“There’s good potential to findalleles in wild species that willcontribute to agronomic traits relatedto abiotic stress,” said Dr. Mackill.“Darshan has shifted h<strong>is</strong> emphas<strong>is</strong>toward f<strong>is</strong>hing for desirable genes thatmay not be obvious at first sight.”Prize winnerDr. Brar and h<strong>is</strong> colleagues havealready crossed IRRI’s popularIR64 cultivar with O. rufipogon, awild species that naturally growsin acid sulfate soils in Vietnam. Incollaboration with Vietnam's CuuLong Delta <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute(CLRRI), one of the resulting lines(AS996) has been released in Vietnamfor commercial cultivation. It nowoccupies 100,000 ha of moderatelyacidic soil and recently netted CLRRIa prize from the Vietnam Union ofScience and Technology Associationsfor its popularity with farmers in lessfavorablerice-growing areas.Dr. Mackill continued: “Drought<strong>is</strong> the No. 1 abiotic stress in rainfedrice. If you could calculate the damagein terms of yield loss, it would be veryhigh, probably at the top of the l<strong>is</strong>t.But the thinking <strong>is</strong>that there will bewater shortageseven in irrigatedareas. And we arelooking at trying tobreed rice that <strong>is</strong>adapted to using lesswater. Perhaps thesoil would not beflooded as it usually<strong>is</strong> with rice. Th<strong>is</strong>idea of developinghigh-yielding ricefor nonfloodedconditions <strong>is</strong> reallyBUI CHI BUU / CLRRI18 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200419


Special section: RICE AND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSMillennium Development GoalsDEPEND ON RICE RESEARCHAchieving most of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals spelled out by the United Nations3 years ago hinges on policymakers recognizingthe essential role rice plays in the lives andlivelihoods of most of the world’s poor. A renewedemphas<strong>is</strong> on th<strong>is</strong> reality has marked recent gatherings ininternational agricultural research.IRRI’s parent organization, the Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR), welcomedalmost 1,000 policymakers, scient<strong>is</strong>ts and developmentspecial<strong>is</strong>ts to the group’s annual general meeting on 28-31October in Nairobi, Kenya — the only country to host theheadquarters of two CGIAR research centers, the WorldAgroforestry Center and International Livestock ResearchCHRIS STOWERS (4)Institute. Much of the d<strong>is</strong>cussion at the CGIAR meetingfocused on defining the achievements and challenges ofthe CGIAR research centers in terms of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals.“People are d<strong>is</strong>covering that the goals have practicalvalue,” said Mike Jackson, IRRI’s director of programplanning and coordination. “They provide researchorganizations with a touchstone for assessing the relativemerits of different projects in a tight funding environment.And they provide policymakers and funding agencies witha framework to guide their investments.”Some 7 weeks before the CGIAR confab, an IRRIBoard of Trustees meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh,coincided with a 2-day communication fair sponsoredby the IRRI-led project PovertyElimination Through <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchAss<strong>is</strong>tance (PETRRA) in cooperationwith the Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute. The PETRRA fair attractedsome 2,000 v<strong>is</strong>itors each day to seefor themselves the progress madeby the 45 research-for-developmentsubprojects under the innovativePETRRA umbrella.All PETRRA subprojects use riceresearch and extension as the entrypoint to spur rural development andimprove the lives of rice growersand consumers alike. Th<strong>is</strong> reflectsthe conviction that research to helpfarmers grow rice more efficiently,profitably and sustainably <strong>is</strong> theessential first step toward achievingsix of the eight United NationsMillennium Development Goals.1Eradicate extremepoverty and hunger: Mostof the world’s poorest andleast foodsecurepeoplelive in riceproducingAsia. Manyare ricefarmers andeven more areslum-dwellersor landless farm laborers who buytheir daily rice. <strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong> so central totheir lives that any solution to globalpoverty and hunger must includeresearch that helps farmers earn a decent profit whilegrowing rice that <strong>is</strong> affordable to consumers.2Achieveuniversal primary education:Asia’s poorest spend 20-40% of their income onrice. Helping farmers grow rice more efficientlymeans cheaperrice for consumers,higher income forproducers, and moremoney for bothto invest in theirchildren’s education.More efficient ricefarming techniquesalso lighten the laborburden on farmhouseholds, leavingchildren more timefor their studies.ARIEL JAVELLANA3Promotegenderequalityand empowerwomen: Womentraditionally shouldermany of the chores ofrice farming and todayare assuming additionalresponsibilities as theirmenfolk seek off-farmemployment. Researchthat makes rice farming more efficient frees women togrow cash crops and independently pursue remunerativeactivities to support personal fulfillment and cover schoolfees for all of their children, boys and girls alike.CAROLYN DEDOLPH4 & 5Reduce child mortalityand improve maternalhealth: Because Asia’spoorest depend on rice formost of their calories andprotein, many suffer dietarydeficiencies of iron, zinc andvitamin A. Globally, “hiddenhunger” for these essentialmicronutrients afflicts more than half of humanity,especially women and young children. Making rice morenutritious will help protect those most vulnerable tohidden hunger.7Ensure environmental sustainability:<strong>Rice</strong> occupies more farmland in Asia than anyother food crop — 60% or more in the poorestcountries. <strong>Rice</strong> research that improves the productivity ofex<strong>is</strong>ting fields boosts harvests in line with growth in thenumber of mouths to feed, without encroaching on forestsand other natural areas. Research that optimizes farmers’pesticide and fertilizer use improves their income as itprotects the environment.20 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200421


CGIARAnnual General Meeting 2003Scientific Support Team award celebratesFilipinos’ role in sustainable developmentFilipino researchers have wonfor the 3rd consecutive yearthe world’s most prestigiousaward for a scientific supportteam in publicly funded agriculturalresearch. The award was announcedon 27 October at the annual generalmeeting in Nairobi of the ConsultativeGroup on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR), which each yearpresents the CGIAR Excellence inScience Awards.The winning team compr<strong>is</strong>es33 Filipino scient<strong>is</strong>ts working in theGenetic Resources Center (GRC)at IRRI. The researchers operatethe GRC, which manages theInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Genebank, andplay a central role in the center’sachievement of significant scientificadvances in the conservation anduse of rice genetic resources. Theteam <strong>is</strong> responsible for storing,testing, multiplying, characterizingand documenting seed samples fromthe world’s most comprehensivecollection of rice genetic resources— 110,000 samples of traditionaland modern varieties of cultivatedrice, as well as wild species — andd<strong>is</strong>tributing them to farmers, plantbreeders and other scient<strong>is</strong>ts.“We aim to protect traditionalvarieties of rice so that they canbe used to help poor rice farmersthroughout the world,” said RuaraidhSackville Hamilton, head of theGRC. “We are open to any nation,including those who do not deposittheir traditional varieties with us,provided they agree not to infringethe sovereign rights of nations overtheir biodiversity.”Reputation for excellenceThe Filipino team has been instrumentalin building the genebank’<strong>sr</strong>eputation for excellence. The recentexternal review of CGIAR genebankoperations cited it as the “best in theCGIAR system” and “a model forothers to emulate.”The team developed anonline Manual of Operations thatdocuments all daily managementoperations and <strong>is</strong> used by manynational and regional genebanks asa guide and d<strong>is</strong>tance-learning tool.The GRC team has also supportednational and regional genebanks byestabl<strong>is</strong>hing and upgrading geneticresources facilities and conductinggenebank and data-managementtraining in Bangladesh, Cambodia,India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar andthe Philippines.Genebank Manager Flora deGuzman, who traveled to Nairobito receive the award, said that IRRIhas been actively conserving ricebiodiversity for 4 decades, since theestabl<strong>is</strong>hment of the genebank in 1962.“Over the past decade, therehave been significant changes andimprovements to genebank facilitiesand operations, particularly in seedproduction and conservation, datamanagement and research,” said Ms.de Guzman.Since 1986, the genebank hasd<strong>is</strong>tributed 250,000 seed samples,facilitating the free movement ofgermplasm among 96 countries. Th<strong>is</strong>includes repatriating 32,000 ricesamples to 34 countries of origin.Restoring traditional rice varietiescan increase farmers’ income — andso advance Millennium DevelopmentGoals — as dramatically demonstratedin the IRRI-led project ExploitingMEETING CHALLENGES WITH ENERGY AND CHARISMA“Two of the most remarkable years of my life,” saidAngeline Kamba, summing up her term as chair of theIRRI Board of Trustees. “IRRI faces some enormouschallenges, not least of which <strong>is</strong> the urgent need tocontinue to develop reliable new sources of funding. Th<strong>is</strong>was one of the central <strong>is</strong>sues during my time as chair, andI’m pleased to say that some prom<strong>is</strong>ing new strategies arebeing developed by the institute.”Mrs. Kamba, IRRI’s first female or African boardchair, took over from Sjarifudin Baharsjah of Indonesiain January 2002. She was scheduled to hand over to theincoming chair, Keijiro Otsuka, a respected Japaneseagricultural econom<strong>is</strong>t, at the end of December.“As someone with no direct connection to rice orrice research, I had some concerns about what I couldcontribute to an institute like IRRI,” she recalled. “Now,at the end of my term, I’m pleased at what I and my fellowcontinued on page 2422 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004ANGELINE KAMBA withthe Earth Institute’sJeffrey Sachs (left) andCGIAR Chairman IanJohnson at the CGIARannual general meetingin Nairobi.YUSUF WACHIRA / IMAGE HUNTERS (3)


THE AWARD-WINNING Genetic Resources Center support team: (left to right, 1st row) Amita Juliano, NeliaResurreccion, Emerlinda Hernandez, Teresita Santos, Adelaida Alcantara, Ma. Elizabeth Naredo, Flora de Guzman,Ma. Socorro Almazan, Digna Sal<strong>is</strong>i and Renato Reaño; (2nd row) Alicia Lap<strong>is</strong>, Imelda Boncajes, JacquelineManuel, Isabelita de Mesa, Yolanda Malatag, Veronica Mangubat, Minerva Eloria, Lydia Angeles, Minerva Macatangay,Maridee Pontipedra, Wilma Lumaybay, Gregorio Mercado and Florencio Villegas; (3rd row) BernardoMercado, Arnold Gonzales, Noel Banzuela, Bernardino Almazan, Felix Llanes, Vicente Arcillas, Melencio Lalap,Romulo Quilantang and Remegio Aguilar (not pictured, Mario Rodriguez). The other winners (inset) in Nairobi.AILEEN DEL ROSARIO-RONDILLABiodiversity for Sustainable PestManagement, which netted lastyear’s support team award. Theresearch saw high-value but d<strong>is</strong>easesusceptibletraditional rice varietiesinterplanted with d<strong>is</strong>ease-res<strong>is</strong>tanthybrids to produce, with reducedspraying of fungicide, a healthycrop worth nearly US$281 more perhectare than a crop of hybrids alone.Access to the traditional varietiesstored by the GRC was pivotal to theproject’s success.Genetic resources also supportIRRI’s hybrid rice breeding team,which won the award in 2001.Other winnersOther winners th<strong>is</strong> year includedAbdul Mujeeb Kazi of the InternationalMaize and Wheat ImprovementCenter, who was named OutstandingScient<strong>is</strong>t for generatingand making available new geneticdiversity for wheat improvement.Honored as Prom<strong>is</strong>ing YoungScient<strong>is</strong>t was Jonathan Crouch, theglobal theme leader for biotechnologyat the International Center forResearch in the Semi-Arid Tropics,who led the effort to develop theupstream biotechnology and geneticenhancement program at the centerand was instrumental in establ<strong>is</strong>hingits Applied Genomics Laboratory.Two papers received the OutstandingScientific Article award.Dietary aflatoxin exposure andimpaired growth in young childrenfrom Benin and Togo was publ<strong>is</strong>hed in2002 in the Brit<strong>is</strong>h Medical Journal,Vol. 325. The co-authors are three researchersat the International Institutefor Tropical Agriculture: K. Cardwell,A. Hounsa and S. Egal, along with Y.Y.Gong, P.C. Turner and C.P. Wild ofthe University of Leeds, and A.J. Hallof the London School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine. The study documenteda striking association betweenmalnutrition in children and theirexposure to aflatoxin, thus revealingthe need to address aflatoxin contaminationin stored food grains.The prize-sharing paper Africanpastoral<strong>is</strong>m: Genetic imprints oforigins and migrations was publ<strong>is</strong>hedin 2002 in Science, Vol. 296, by OliverHanotte, Joel W. Ochieng, YasminVerjee and J. Edward O. Rege of theInternational Livestock ResearchInstitute, and Daniel G. Bradley andEmmeline W. Hill of the SmurfitInstitute at Trinity College in Ireland.The first continent-wide study of thegenetic diversity of cattle in Africa,the paper reports 7 years’ research incharacterizing, conserving and usingindigenous animal genetic resourcesfor the benefit of Africa’s poor.The Outstanding Partnershipaward recognized the Vitamin A forAfrica (VITAA) Program, coordinatedby the International Potato Center, forits work with 44 local and internationaldevelopment organizations to<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004implement the program in sevenAfrican countries. VITAA <strong>is</strong> a researchand public health initiative to combatwidespread vitamin A deficiency bypromoting new varieties of orangefleshedsweet potatoes.The winner of the award forOutstanding Journal<strong>is</strong>m wasIndian journal<strong>is</strong>t Pallava Bagla forh<strong>is</strong> article Drought exposes cracks inIndia’s monsoon model, publ<strong>is</strong>hedin 2002 in the prestigious journalScience, and for a body of scientificarticles publ<strong>is</strong>hed in mainstreammedia and reputed journals.M.J. Williams of the WorldF<strong>is</strong>hCenter received the OutstandingCommunications award for theF<strong>is</strong>h for All Campaign, which ra<strong>is</strong>edawareness of the ways f<strong>is</strong>h contributeto the food needs of 1 billion of theworld’s poor, provide livelihoods to120 million low-income wage earners,and are challenged by a degradingnatural resource base.CGIAR CHAIRMAN Ian Johnson arrives at the meetingflanked by Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori (left)and Agriculture Min<strong>is</strong>ter Kipruto Arap Kirwa.23


continued from page 22board members have been able to achieve — with theenergetic support of IRRI management, for which I wouldlike to take th<strong>is</strong> opportunity to express my gratitude.”IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell pra<strong>is</strong>ed Mrs.Kamba’s enormous contribution to the institute duringwhat has been a challenging period.“Clearly the most painful and difficult experienceduring her term,” he said, “was the retrenchment in 2002,which saw the institute lose 170 staff because of a fundingdownturn. Thanks to her leadership and steady hand, theinstitute was able to emerge stronger and with a brighterfuture.”The energetic and char<strong>is</strong>matic Mrs. Kamba brought tothe job a wealth of experience. A librarian by training, shehas served the government of Zimbabwe as public servicecomm<strong>is</strong>sioner, director of the National Archives (whichled to a term as vice president of the International Councilon Archives), and Zimbabwean representative (and laterchair) of the Inter-governmental Council for the GeneralInformation Program of the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In theinternational arena, she has served on the boards of CABInternational and the journal Information Development.Mrs. Kamba played a key role at many IRRI-relatedevents. “One of the highlights for me was the International<strong>Rice</strong> Congress in Beijing in September 2002, which ChinesePresident Jiang Zemin graciously opened,” she recalled. “Th<strong>is</strong>confirmed the enormous respect IRRI <strong>is</strong> privileged to enjoyamong the rice-producing nations of the world.”Mrs. Kamba’s swan song representing IRRI was atthe annual general meeting of the Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Nairobi atthe end of October. “It pleased me greatly that the CGIARwas finally able to hold one of its annual get-togethers inAfrica,” she said, “and that I could participate as an IRRIrepresentative.”Mrs. Kamba said that her one regret was leaving IRRIbefore the events marking International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004.“As a cultural activ<strong>is</strong>t, I hope that there will be anextensive cultural componentin the events marking theInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong>,”she added, referring to herwork with the SouthernAfrican Association forResearch into Culture andDevelopment, Harare(Zimbabwe) InternationalFestival of the Arts,and UN/UNESCOWorld Comm<strong>is</strong>sionon Culture andDevelopment. “Iunderstand very wellthat rice <strong>is</strong> more thanjust food in Asia — it’sa way of life.”DRIK (4)PRIME MINISTER Begum Khaleda Zia received IRRI Board Chair Angeline Kamba during the Septemberboard meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Viewing an experimental field (top left, from left) are AdilsonSerrãp, board member; Keijiro Otsuka, incoming board chair; Mahabub Hossain, SocialSciences Div<strong>is</strong>ion head; and Mike Jackson, director for program planning and development.Cutting the ribbon at the PETRRA Communication Fair (above right) <strong>is</strong> Min<strong>is</strong>terfor Agriculture M.K. Anwar, flanked by IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell(left) and State Min<strong>is</strong>ter for Agriculture Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.Dr. Cantrell and Min<strong>is</strong>ter Anwar (bottom far right) huddle.Farmers (bottom right) learn about seed health.Sustainable development in DhakaThe IRRI-led project Poverty EliminationThrough <strong>Rice</strong> Research Ass<strong>is</strong>tance (PETRRA)and Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute jointlyorganized a 2-day communication fair at theSheraton Hotel in Dhaka on 10-11 September. Theevent coincided with a meeting of the IRRI Board ofTrustees in Dhaka, its first-ever meeting in Bangladesh.The objective of the fair was to publicize theportfolio of ongoing research, experiences and resultsof the PETRRA project (www.petrra-irri.org), aresearch-for-development project funded by the UnitedKingdom’s Department for International Development.Since its launch in 1999, PETRRA has explicitly aimedto contribute to Millennium Development Goals byhalving extreme poverty by 2015.The fair d<strong>is</strong>played progress to date on the 45subprojects operating under the PETRRA umbrella.It also provided an opportunity for stakeholdersengaged in PETRRA subprojects to touch base with eachother and see how their subprojects fit into the largerpicture of sustainable rural development and achievingMillennium Development Goals. Donors and prospectivedonors, meanwhile, had a chance to learn more aboutth<strong>is</strong> innovative and competitive approach to organizingand delivering development aid. Finally, the fair was anopportunity to emphasize the central role agriculture playsas an engine of poverty reduction.The fair featured 47 stalls presenting research-inprogresson technology development, d<strong>is</strong>seminationpathways and methods, and policy. D<strong>is</strong>players includedPETRRA and its subprojects, the Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong>Research Institute, Bangladesh Agricultural DevelopmentCorporation, Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> Foundation, and Forumfor Information D<strong>is</strong>semination on Agriculture. Some80 farmers, male and female, were available alongsideresearchers in the stalls to d<strong>is</strong>cuss their experiences.The estimated 4,000 people attending the fairincluded students, donor representatives, civil servants,members of nongovernmental organizations, developmentworkers, agricultural scient<strong>is</strong>ts,journal<strong>is</strong>ts, farmers and housewives.Presiding at the opening ceremony,which attracted some 500 guests to theSheraton ballroom, was M.K. Anwar,min<strong>is</strong>ter for agriculture of the People’sRepublic of Bangladesh. In h<strong>is</strong> speech,Mr. Anwar emphasized the need todevelop an agricultural marketingsystem and pursue crop biotechnology.Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, memberof Parliament and state min<strong>is</strong>ter foragriculture, also spoke, reporting thatthe government had lowered bankinterest rates for investments in agriculture.Speaking for IRRI were Board Chair Angeline Kambaand Director General Ronald P. Cantrell, who stressedthat ensuring a balanced diet for Asian rice consumers andprofitability for Asian farmers meant growing more riceon less land so that farmers could plant other crops. Otherspeakers included Agriculture Secretary Ayub Quadriand Fazle Hasan Abed, the d<strong>is</strong>tingu<strong>is</strong>hed founder of theBangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and IRRIboard member.A seminar on PETRRA and the Poor took placein the afternoon of the launch day, followed the nextday by a seminar on Challenges for Communication ofAgricultural Research Results. Panel<strong>is</strong>ts emphasizedcrop diversification and marketing, as well as thed<strong>is</strong>semination to farmers of information on new researchand technologies. They also noted that m<strong>is</strong>sing linksbetween scient<strong>is</strong>ts and breeders on the one hand, andthe farming community on the other, could be bridgedby strengthening agricultural extension and informationservices and by using print and electronic media.24 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200425


NATIONAL COMMITTEES PLAN FOR INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICEIn the run-up to International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004,several Asian countries establ<strong>is</strong>hed nationalcommittees to coordinate observance of the yearand made progress in formulating plans. Th<strong>is</strong>report describes the state of play when <strong>Rice</strong> Today wentto press at the beginning of December and should notbe taken as definitive or complete. Partly to stay up-todateon national plans for the year, IRRI will set up anInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> homepage to complementthe homepage operated by the Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) of the United Nations atwww.rice2004.org. Keep an eye out at www.irri.orgfor a new link.The Philippine NationalSteering Committee forInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> agreedat its meeting on 14 Novemberthat the flagship joint activity for the year would bea World Food Day program on 16 October, to whichYear launched in New YorkJacques Diouf, director general ofthe Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations,formally launched InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004 at a special eventon 31 October at the United Nationsheadquarters in New York.International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004 <strong>is</strong>an international drive led by the FAOand supported by governments andinternational organizations, includingIRRI, to focus attention on the vitalrole of rice in ensuring global foodsecurity and alleviating poverty andmalnutrition. Forty-four UN membercountries endorsed a proposal initiatedby the Philippines to dedicate 2004to th<strong>is</strong> important crop.“Almost a billion households inAsia, Africa and the Americas dependon rice systems as their main source ofemployment and livelihood,” Dr. Diouftold UN delegates during the launch.“About four-fifths of the world’s rice<strong>is</strong> produced by small-scale farmersand <strong>is</strong> consumed locally. <strong>Rice</strong> systemssupport a wide variety of plants andanimals, which also help supplementrural diets and incomes. <strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong> thereforeon the frontline in the fight againstworld hunger and poverty.”Dr. Diouf added that rice productionand consumption <strong>is</strong> a pivot ofmany cultures around the world, shapingreligious observances, festivals,customs, cu<strong>is</strong>ine and celebrations.“It’s time for the global communityto work together to increase riceproduction in a sustainable way thatwill benefit farmers, women, childrenand, especially, the poor,” Dr. Dioufstressed. “The Year of <strong>Rice</strong> will act asa catalyst for country-driven programsthroughout the world. We aimto engage the entire community ofstakeholders, from rural farmers to thescientific institutions that mapped therice genome, in the m<strong>is</strong>sion to increaserice production in a manner thatpromotes sustainability and equity.Many member countries have alreadyformed national committees for the InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong>, and they willserve as the dynamic link between ourit plans to invite as guest of honor FAO Director GeneralJacques Diouf.The committee resolved to introduce a rice componentinto Environment Week in June, in coordination with theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources, andthat all participating agencies should feature rice in theiranniversary programs during the year. Additionally, theDepartment of Tour<strong>is</strong>m will take the lead in organizingRock for <strong>Rice</strong> concerts at various state universities andtour<strong>is</strong>t sites such as the h<strong>is</strong>toric Intramuros d<strong>is</strong>trictof Manila. The department will seek private-sectorsponsors for the concerts.The committee has adopted the mascotof the Philippine <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute(Phil<strong>Rice</strong>), Palayman, as its official mascotfor International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>.IRRI, which has its headquarters atLos Baños, in the Philippine province ofLaguna, will host three separate v<strong>is</strong>itingPalayman days for farmers, diplomats and PhilippineIRRI SPOKESPERSON Duncan Macintosh (right) withMahmoud Solh, director of the Plant Production andProtection Div<strong>is</strong>ion of FAO’s Agriculture Department,at the launch.international v<strong>is</strong>ion and the practicalrealities in local people’s lives.”Launch activities included anInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> exhibitionon 27-31 October at UN headquartersin New York that featured rice plantsfrom Cornell University, literature onrice (including <strong>Rice</strong> Today, International<strong>Rice</strong> Research Notes, <strong>Rice</strong> Almanacand Graindell), a slide show,photographs and posters, and demonstrationsof the FAO and IRRI Websites, including the <strong>Rice</strong> KnowledgeBank and the educational children’ssite developed by IRRI to accompanyits Graindell storybook.KATHERINE LOPEZPRC GOVERNMENTDAVY SURYADI (left) of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat lookson as Prime Min<strong>is</strong>ter Wen Jiabao of China joinsASEAN heads of state in signing an InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong> poster at the ASEAN+3 Summit inBali on 7 October. At a meeting on 18-22 Augustin Kuala Lumpur of ASEAN, Chinese, SouthKorean and Japanese min<strong>is</strong>ters of agriculture andforestry, IRRI Director General for PartnershipsWilliam Padolina led IRRI’s first active participationin an ASEAN event.government officials. The institute <strong>is</strong> refurb<strong>is</strong>hing the<strong>Rice</strong>world Museum and Learning Center to accommodatethe expected surge in the number of v<strong>is</strong>itors in 2004and <strong>is</strong> planning special exhibitions on rice and theenvironment (February-April), biotechnology (May-August), and Graindell and rice culture (September-December).The National Comm<strong>is</strong>sion on Culture and the Arts'Subcommittee on Science and Technology Museumsof the Philippines will use rice as a major theme foractivities next year. Four of the 14 member museums havesubmitted plans. UST Museum, at the University of SantoTomas, Manila, will present in June and July an exhibitof paintings on rice themes and a science exhibit from theUST Research Center for Natural Sciences. The PhilippineScience Heritage Center will print posters featuringoutstanding scient<strong>is</strong>ts in rice research and technology,tapping Phil<strong>Rice</strong> to publ<strong>is</strong>h a book, 100 Years of <strong>Rice</strong>Research, expected out in May. Malabon Zoo in Manilawill plant rice gardens around the grounds to create a“see and feel” exhibit of the rice plant. Museo Pambata ngMaynila will d<strong>is</strong>play a special exhibit on rice varieties andsponsor monthly activities for children, including cookingwith rice, rice arts and crafts, folk dances on planting rice,and storytelling.The National Steering Committee Secretariat met on18 November to prepare for the media briefing set for 12December. Agriculture Secretary Lu<strong>is</strong> P. Lorenzo servesas chairman of the National Committee, and Tour<strong>is</strong>mSecretary Richard J. Gordon and Asia <strong>Rice</strong> FoundationBoard Chair Emil Q. Javier are co-chairs. Phil<strong>Rice</strong>,headed by Executive Director Leo Sebastian, serves asthe National Committee Secretariat, with ass<strong>is</strong>tance fromIRRI.DR. LEOCADIO S. SEBASTIANExecutive DirectorPhil<strong>Rice</strong>, MaligayaScience City of Muñoz, Nueva EcijaTel: (+63-44) 456-0354lsebastian@philrice.gov.phDR. ROGELIO C. CUYNOAsia <strong>Rice</strong> FoundationSEARCA, UPLB CampusCollege, LagunaTel: (+63-49) 536-2285rogervcuyno@yahoo.comMS. KAREN ELOISSA T. BARROGAProgram LeaderPhil<strong>Rice</strong> Technology Promotion,MaligayaScience City of Muñoz, Nueva EcijaTel: (+63-44) 456-0651 to 52, ext 500kbarroga@philrice.gov.phMS. JENNIFER C. JARA-RABARAExecutive Ass<strong>is</strong>tantOffice of the Executive DirectorPhil<strong>Rice</strong>, MaligayaScience City of Muñoz, Nueva EcijaTel: (+63-44) 456-0112jenjara@philrice.gov.ph26 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200427


Indonesia got the process off to agood start in October. Min<strong>is</strong>ter ofAgriculture Bungaran Saragih markedWorld Food Day by announcing, at anevent in Ambarawa, Central Java, the<strong>is</strong>land nation’s participation in International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>and, at the same time, the release of a new rice cultivar.Representatives of min<strong>is</strong>try agencies met in midmonthto plan activities — as did the Indonesia <strong>Rice</strong> Foundation(IRF).The IRF will work closely with the Indonesian Agencyfor Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD)in several activities throughout the year. In January orFebruary, an all-night puppet show will usher into fulloperation a museum dedicated to agro-tour<strong>is</strong>m and ricein the Kuwiran d<strong>is</strong>trict of Solo, Central Java. In Marchand April, the Indonesian Institute for <strong>Rice</strong> Research(IIRR) will organize separate rice walks for policymakers,students, farmers, extension workers and children designedto instill appreciation of rice research and technology.The IRF will hold in May or June its fourth seminar onthe cultural aspects of rice, addressing specifically rightsto rice lands of the indigenous Minangkabau people inBukittinggi, West Sumatra. In July or August, a seminar inJakarta will focus on gender <strong>is</strong>sues in rice production andrelated activities.September and October will bring another celebrationof World Food Day and the launch of an IRF-sponsoredbook entitled <strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong> Beautiful, a collection of drawingsInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong>, call home!Our thanks to IRRI country offices and the International ProgramsManagement Office (IPMO) for news about International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>preparations in host countries. We encourage national committees andorganizations marking the year anywhere in the world to keep us up-to-dateregarding plans and to supply reports and photos of events as they happen.Contact IRRI Spokesperson Duncan Macintosh, and please copy your messageto <strong>Rice</strong> Today (p.fredenburg@cgiar.org and a.barclay@cgiar.org). Additionally,IRRI’s collaborators can communicate through IRRI IPMO. Media inquiries shouldgo to Mr. Macintosh.Duncan MacintoshMa. Angeles (“Pong”) QuilloySpokespersonIPMO IYR CoordinatorInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute International <strong>Rice</strong> Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777 DAPO Box 7777Metro ManilaMetro ManilaPhilippinesPhilippinesTel: (+63-2) 580-5600 ext. 2725 Tel: (+63-2) 580-5600 ext. 2837Fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 Fax: (+63-2) 580-5699Email: d.macintosh@cgiar.orgEmail: m.quilloy@cgiar.orgThe Food and Agriculture Organization has establ<strong>is</strong>hed a special secretariat tosupport national committees’ and organizations’ efforts to publicize InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong> activities and an information office for media inquiries.International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> SecretariatFAO, Room C-789Viale delle Terme Caracalla0100 Rome, Italy 0100 Rome, ItalyTel: (+39-06) 5705-5133 Tel: (+39-06) 5705-6257Public Information OfficerInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> SecretariatFAO, Viale delle Terme CaracallaFax: (+39-06) 5705-6347 Fax: (+39-06).5705-6347Email: <strong>Rice</strong>2004@fao.orgEmail: IYR-Information-Officer@fao.orgGERMPLASM SPECIALIST Appa Rao (center) explains Lao-IRRI Project work toAustralian Ambassador Jonathan Thwaites (left) and Claes Kjellström, firstsecretary at the Swed<strong>is</strong>h Embassy responsible for developmentcooperation, during an International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> VIP v<strong>is</strong>it.by Indonesian elementary school children. Finally, inNovember or December, Jakarta will be the venue for aspecial conference on rice and poverty alleviation with theexpected participation of IAARD, IRF and IRRI.Pending the naming of an official national committeefor International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>, the interim contact personsfor the year are:DR. JOKO BUDIANTODirector GeneralIndonesian Agency for AgriculturalResearch and Development (IAARD)Jl. Raya Ragunan No. 29, PasarmingguJakarta Selatan 12540Tel: (+62-21) 7801242Fax: (+62-21) 7800644Email: webadm@litbang.deptan.go.idDR. IRSAL LASDirectorIndonesian Institute for <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchJl. Raya No. 9, Sukamandi 41256Subang, West JavaTel: (+62-260) 520157Fax: (+62-260) 520158Email: balitpa@v<strong>is</strong>ion.net.idDR. HARYONODiv<strong>is</strong>ion Head, Science and Technologyand Public RelationsIAARDJl. Raya Ragunan No. 29, PasarmingguJakarta Selatan 12540Tel: (+62-21) 78831114Fax: (+62-21) 7800644Email: webadm@litbang.deptan.go.idDR. SJARIFUDIN BAHARSJAHChairmanIndonesia <strong>Rice</strong> FoundationTel: (+62-21) 7657608Fax: (+62-21) 7660220Email: baharsjah@hotmail.comLaos got a jump on InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong> as the NationalAgricultural Research Center seta series of VIP v<strong>is</strong>its between lateOctober and mid-November 2003.The v<strong>is</strong>its were scheduled early because the next bigharvest will not occur until November 2004, near theend of International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>. Among the scheduledv<strong>is</strong>itors were the ambassadors of India, Australia,Switzerland, Japan and the United States; the deputyambassador of Germany; the country directors of theWorld Bank and Asian Development Bank; staff ofAusAID, Japan International Cooperation Agency,U.S. Agency for International Development, and WorldFood Program; the resident representatives of theUnited Nations Development Program and the Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UnitedKARL GOEPPERT28 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


Nations; and a representative from the Sw<strong>is</strong>s Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation office in Hanoi.Host of the 2004 summit of the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations, Laos has named its NationalCommittee for International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>, as follows.H.E. DR. SIENE SAPHANGTHONG (CHAIR)Min<strong>is</strong>ter of Agriculturec/o Dr. Phouang Par<strong>is</strong>akPravongviengkhamDeputy Permanent SecretaryMin<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture and ForestryP.O. Box 811, Vientiane, Lao PDRFax: (+856-21) 412349Email: doae@mao.gov.laMR. KOUANG DOUANGSILAHead, National <strong>Rice</strong> Research ProgramNational Agriculture and ForestryResearch Institute (NAFRI)P.O. Box 4195Vientiane, Lao PDRkouang@laotel.comTel: (+856-21) 770082, 770092Fax: (+856-21) 770082DR. LEENA M. KIRJAVAINENFAO RepresentativeP.O. Box 1640Vientiane, Lao PDRTel: (+856-21) 413205, 414503Fax: (+856-21) 414500Mobile: (020) 5-508910Email: FAO-LA@fao.org (and copy topersonal email: Leena.Kirjavainen@fao.org)KARL GOEPPERTIRRI Representative to LaosP.O. Box 4195Vientiane, Lao PDRTel: (+856-21) 770082, 770201Fax: (+856-21) 770082k.goeppert@cgiar.orgkarl@laotel.comThailand moved ahead at ameeting on 14 October that calledfor organizing a grand ceremonycelebrating International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>at the Queen Sirikit Convention Hallin Bangkok. Organizers will invite foreign ambassadors,representatives of rice-export and -import companiesand, to preside at the ceremony, one of Their Majesties.Also resolved at the meeting was to organize at the ImpactArena Convention Hall, Muangthong Thani, Bangkok, aworkshop/poster session on the various aspects of rice— economic, social and technological. Another meetingwas scheduled for late November.The members of the Thai National Committee forInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> (with additional responsibilitiesin parentheses) are: Min<strong>is</strong>ter, Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agricultureand Cooperatives (Chairman); Permanent Secretary,Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture and Cooperatives (ViceChairman); Permanent Secretary, Office of the PrimeMin<strong>is</strong>ter; Permanent Secretary, Min<strong>is</strong>try of Commerce;Director, Bureau of the Budget; Director General, PublicRelations Department; Governor, Tour<strong>is</strong>m Authorityof Thailand; Director, Thai Airways InternationalPublic Co., Ltd.; President, Thai Farmer Association;President, <strong>Rice</strong> Exporters Association; President, Thai<strong>Rice</strong> Mills Association; Deputy Permanent Secretary,Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture and Cooperatives (Secretary);Director General, Department of Agriculture (Ass<strong>is</strong>tantDR. TAWEE KUPKANCHANAKULNational CoordinatorIRRI Cooperative Project withthe Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture andCooperativesP.O. Box 9-159, ChatuchakBangkok 10900THAILANDTel: (+66-2) 5795249, 5799493,5611581Fax: (+66-2) 5614894Office location: <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchInstitute, Department of Agriculture,Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900Secretary); DirectorGeneral, Department ofAgricultural Extension(Ass<strong>is</strong>tant Secretary); andSecretary General, Officeof Agricultural Economics(Ass<strong>is</strong>tant Secretary).For more information,contact the IRRI-Thailandnational coordinator.IRRI scientific publicationoffers $3,000 in prizesfor research papersor 28 years, International <strong>Rice</strong> Research Notes (IRRN)Fhas actively d<strong>is</strong>seminated rice research results to thelarger scientific community. To mark International Yearof <strong>Rice</strong> — and to recognize how rice researchers fromnational agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) advance rice-relatedknowledge and technology — IRRN has announced its Best Article Award.The IRRN editorial board and invited reviewers will evaluate subm<strong>is</strong>sionson the bas<strong>is</strong> of scientific content, originality, relevance and organization. Therewill be up to six winning papers, one each from the six sections of IRRN:plant breeding, molecular biology and biotechnologygenetic resourcespest science and managementsoil, nutrient and water managementcrop management and physiology• socioeconomicsEvaluators will consider all subm<strong>is</strong>sions for publication received by IRRNbetween 1 August 2003 and 31 July 2004 that report on research conducted in adeveloping country and l<strong>is</strong>t a NARES rice scient<strong>is</strong>t as the first author (additionalauthors may come from any organization). The format and rules for publ<strong>is</strong>hing in IRRNare available on the Web at www.irri.org/publications/irrn/IRRNInstructions.asp,and back <strong>is</strong>sues can be viewed at www.irri.org/publications/irrn/index.asp. Thefirst author of each winning paper will receive a US$500 cash prize. Winning paperswill be publ<strong>is</strong>hed in the December 2004 <strong>is</strong>sue of IRRN.In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UnitedNations will select one winner each from the entries submitted in two categories,genetic resources and agronomy (that <strong>is</strong>, crop management and physiology), forits International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004 Global Contest for Best Scientific Articles. Thetwo FAO winners will be announced in Rome on World Food Day, 16 October.For details, contact the IRRN Managing Editor, IRRI, DAPO Box7777, Metro Manila, Philippines. Fax: (+63-2) 580-5699, 891-1174. Email:t.rola@cgiar.org.South Korea will celebrateInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> with aninternational conference on 13-14 September, prior to the IRRIboard meeting scheduled for 15-17 September at Suwon.The plan <strong>is</strong> to have two committees, international andnational. Moon-Hee Lee, director general of the NationalCrop Experiment Station of the Rural DevelopmentAdmin<strong>is</strong>tration, <strong>is</strong> the chair of the national committee.Four other committee members have so far been named.DR. MOON-HEE LEE (CHAIR)Director GeneralNational Crop Experiment Station, RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6601Fax: (+82-31) 295-5410Email: mlee@rda.go.krDR. DAE-GEUN OH (INTERNATIONALSECRETARY)DirectorInternational Technical CooperationCenter, RDA250 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-707Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 299-2270Fax: (+82-31) 293-9359Email: daegeun@rda.go.krDR. HUNG-GOO HWANG (GENERALSECRETARY)Director, <strong>Rice</strong> Genetics and BreedingDiv<strong>is</strong>ionNational Crop Experiment Station, RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6635Fax: (+82-31) 295-5410Email: hghwang@rda.go.krDR. JE-KYU KIM (ACADEMICSECRETARY)Director, <strong>Rice</strong> Physiology andProduction Div<strong>is</strong>ionNational Crop Experiment Station,RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6645Fax: (+82-31) 295-5410Email: jkk2000@rda.go.krDR. KSHIROD K. JENA (MEMBER)Temperate <strong>Rice</strong> Breeder and IRRIRepresentative for KoreaIRRI-Korea OfficeNational Crop Experiment Station,RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6871Fax: (+82-31) 294-8185Email: kjena@rda.go.krcontinued on page 31<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200429


IRRI REUNIONThe next IRRI alumni reunion will be atMichigan State University in East Lansing,Michigan, in June on 25 (Asia <strong>Rice</strong> FoundationUSA annual meeting), 26 and 27 (mainreunion activities), and perhaps 28 (universityactivities). Housing and Reunion Central willbe at the Kellog Center on the university campus,a short walk from downtown. A reunionroom rate of $85 applies to a block of 100rooms reserved on a first-come, first-servedbas<strong>is</strong>. For reservations, call (+1-800) 875-5090 and mention the IRRI Alumni Reunion.If you can’t make 1-800 calls, contact Vermont-basedIRRI alumnus Walt Rockwood(+1-802-685-2282, redrock@sover.net).INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTERNSHIPIntellectual Property Rights (IPR): TechnologyTransfer, Use and Management <strong>is</strong> an internshipprogram on 11-16 July at MichiganState University (MSU) focused on technologytransfer, use and management within thecontext of the General Agreement on Tariffsand Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization(WTO). The internship program will providehands-on training in the day-to-day handlingof IPR <strong>is</strong>sues in university, business and legalenvironments. Application deadline <strong>is</strong> 15June. The nonrefundable reg<strong>is</strong>tration fee <strong>is</strong>US$250, and the course fee (nonrefundableafter 30 June) <strong>is</strong> $3,100, including instruction,information packages, local travel, meals andlodging. Checks should be payable to MichiganState University and mailed to InternshipCoordinator, Dr. K.M. Maredia, Institute ofInternational Agriculture, 416 Plant and SoilSciences Bldg., Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Other contactinformation: tel (1-517) 353-5262, fax (+1-517)432-1982, email kmaredia@msu.edu.FERTILIZER TRAININGThe International Fertilizer DevelopmentCenter (IFDC) has announced its schedule oftraining programs for 2004. Program descriptionsand online reg<strong>is</strong>tration are available atwww.ifdc.org: Integrated Soil Fertility Management(in French) on 19-23 April in Lome,Togo; Innovative Management Practices forNitrogen Use Efficiency on 26-30 April inDhaka, Bangladesh; Indigenous ResourceDevelopment for the Fertilizer Sector on 31May-4 June in Dakar, Senegal; AgriculturalInput Regulatory Systems on 16-20 Augustin Pretoria, South Africa; Market InformationSystems on 13-17 September in Accra, Ghana;and Fertilizer Marketing Management on 22November-3 December in Dubai, United ArabEmirates. IFDC reserves the right to cancelany program or change the dates and/orvenue of any program without liability forcompensation.OTHER CONFERENCES, MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPSEvent Contact Date/LocationInternational Conference on Information www.epegenorth.gr/secreteriat.html 18-20 Mar / Thessaloniki, GreeceSystems & Innovative Technologies inAgriculture, Food and Environment16th Biennial International Plant Res<strong>is</strong>tance http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/ 21-24 Mar / Baton Rouge, USAto Insects Workshop and Conference calendarframe.htmlAssuring Food and Nutrition Security in (IFPRI) s.hill-lee@cgiar.org 1-3 Apr / Kampala, UgandaAfrica by 202011th International Symposium on xrzhang@chem.tsinghua.edu.cn 5-8 May / Beijing, ChinaAnalytical Chem<strong>is</strong>try15th International Plant Protection Congress ippc2003@ipmchina.net11-16 May / Beijing, ChinaISTA Seed Symposium 2004 www.seedtest.org 13-15 May / Budapest, HungaryBIO 2004 International Biotechnology www.bio.org 6-9 Jun / San Franc<strong>is</strong>co, USAConvention and Exhibition7th International Conference on Philippine iias@let.leidenuniv.nl, www.iias.nl/ 16-19 Jun / Leiden-Studies: “The Philippines: Changing iias/agenda/icophil Amsterdam, NetherlandsLandscapes, Humanscapes andMindscapes in a Globalizing World”5th International Postharvest Symposium postharvest2004@unimi.it, 6-11 Jun / Verona, Italywww.soihs.it/postharvest2004Agricultural Biotechnology: Finding Common NABC@cornell.edu13-15 Jun / Guelph, CanadaInternational Goals7th International Symposium on Inorganic www.enaag.org 23-27 Jun / Wageningen,Nitrogen Assimilation in Plants: From theNetherlandsGenome to the Agro-EcosystemsCOL’s 3rd (Biennial) Pan-Commonwealth pam.wyse@aut.ac.nz, 4-8 Jul / Dunedin, NewForum on Open Learning www.col.org/pcf3 ZealandAmerican Phytopathological Society Annual aps@sc<strong>is</strong>oc.org, www.sc<strong>is</strong>oc.org 24-28 Jul / Spokane, USAMeeting/4th International Weed ScienceCongress31st Annual Meeting of the Plant Growth www.griffi n.peachnet.edu/ 31 Jul-4 Aug / Charleston, USARegulation Society of Americapgrsa/events.htmlAmerican Society of Agricultural Engineers www.asae.org/meetings/index.html 1-4 Aug / Ottawa, CanadaAnnual International Meeting12th International Symposium onwww.biologie.fu-berlin.de/SIP12-Berlin 7-12 Aug / Berlin, GermanyInsect-Plant RelationshipsIFDC 2004: Agricultural Input Regulatory hrd@ifdc.org, hrdu@ifdc.org, 16-20 Aug / Pretoria, SouthSystems www.ifdc.org Africa2004 IRRI GROUP TRAINING COURSES (TENTATIVE LISTING)CourseDurationTarget dateCoordinator(s)/(wk)course facilitator*Engl<strong>is</strong>h for Conversation 2 9-20 Feb A Arboleda/D Gavino<strong>Rice</strong> Breeding (with IRIS component) 3 9-27 Feb G Atlin/E CastroARBN Genomics Workshop 1 23-26 Feb H Leong/A ArboledaDeveloping Integrated Nutrient 2 1-12 Mar R Buresh/D GavinoManagement Options for Delivery<strong>Rice</strong> Production I 2 15-26 Mar V Bala/E CastroBasic Experimental Designs and Data 1 19-23 Apr G McLaren/Analys<strong>is</strong> Using IRRISTAT for WindowsV Bartolome/S MagadiaScientifi c Writing and Presentation 2 17-28 May D Shires/A ArboledaIntroduction to the SAS System 1 21-25 Jun G McLaren/V Bartolome/S Magadia*Intensive Engl<strong>is</strong>h 1 12 5 Jul-10 Sep A Arboleda/D GavinoGenetic Engineering, Food Safety & Awareness 1 Sep S Datta/D Gavino<strong>Rice</strong> Production II 2 6-17 Sep V Bala/E CastroWater Management 1 Oct B BoumanLeadership Course for Asian Women in Ag R & D 2 8-19 Nov T Par<strong>is</strong>/G Zarsadias*Intensive Engl<strong>is</strong>h 2 3 15 Nov- 3 Dec A Arboleda/D GavinoAnalys<strong>is</strong> of Unbalanced Data 1 15-19 Nov G McLaren/V Bartolome/S MagadiaGrain Quality Management 1 TBA J Rickman/D GavinoIntellectual Property Rights 1 TBA TBAIN-COUNTRY COURSESORYZA2000, China 1 Apr B Bouman<strong>Rice</strong> Technology Transfer Systems in Asia (RDA) 2 27 Sep-8 Oct J Lapitan/G ZarsadiasGrain Quality Management, Cambodia 1 TBA J RickmanGrain Quality Management, Bangladesh 1 TBA J RickmanWater Management, Myanmar 1 TBA J RickmanTractor Training, India 1 TBA J RickmanIntegrated Pest Management, Malaysia 2 TBA KL HeongIntegrated Pest Management, Vietnam 2 TBA KL HeongIntegrated Pest Management, Thailand 2 TBA KL HeongIntegrated Pest Management, Iran 2 TBA KL HeongTBA = to be arranged. * = after 5 pm classes only. For details, email IRRI-Training@cgiar.org.30 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


continued from page 29In Bangladesh, Hamid Miah, IRRI-Bangladesh lia<strong>is</strong>on scient<strong>is</strong>t, hasassumed lead planning responsibilityfor IRRI-Bangladesh activitie<strong>sr</strong>elated to International Year of <strong>Rice</strong>.Ass<strong>is</strong>ting Dr. Miah <strong>is</strong> K.M. Enamul Kabir, admin<strong>is</strong>trativecoordinator. After exploring possibilities for collaborationon events with the Bangladesh <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute,Forum for Information D<strong>is</strong>semination on Agriculture,<strong>Rice</strong> Foundation, Department of Agricultural Extension,Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation, andrepresentatives of rice exporters, Dr. Miah will initiatea meeting with the Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture. One focusof activities will likely be at least one subproject underthe project Poverty Elimination Through <strong>Rice</strong> ResearchAss<strong>is</strong>tance.DR. M.A. HAMID MIAHLia<strong>is</strong>on Scient<strong>is</strong>tIRRI-BangladeshG.P.O. Box 64Ramna Dhaka 1000Tel: (+880-2) 882-7210, 881-7639,881-7640Fax: (+880-2) 882-5341h_miah@bdonline.comOffice location: House 39, Road 23,Block J, Banani, Dhaka 1213MR. K.M. ENAMUL KABIRAdmin<strong>is</strong>trative CoordinatorIRRI-BangladeshG.P.O. Box 64Ramna Dhaka 1000Tel: (+880-2) 882-7210, 881-7639,881-7640Fax: (+880-2) 882-5341enamulk@dhaka.netOffice location: House 39, Road 23,Block J, Banani, Dhaka 1213G. Kalloo, with members drawn from variousorganizations. Committee meetings have so far developeda broad agenda for celebrating the year and calculatedexpenditures for various activities.The National Confederation of Agriculture <strong>is</strong> planningan Indian Agricultural Congress in March to markInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong>. Two farmers associations,one from Uttar Pradesh and one from Haryana, havecommitted themselves to celebrating the year with variousactivities including seminars, farmers fairs and field v<strong>is</strong>its.Several state agricultural universities are finalizing plansfor activities to mark the year.DR. G. KALLOO (CHAIR)Deputy Director General (CropScience)ICAR Horticulture Div<strong>is</strong>ionKr<strong>is</strong>hi Anusandhan Bhawan IINew Delhi 110 012Tel: (+91-11) 2585-1068, 2584-2284/85/62/70/71 Ext. 1422gkalloo@icar1.nic.inDR. R.K. SINGHIRRI RepresentativeInternational <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institute1st Floor, CG Block, NASC ComplexDev Prakash Sastri Marg, PusaNew Delhi 110012Tel: (+91-11) 2584-1292/1295/2803/3299/3802Fax: (+91-11) 2584-1801r.k.singh@cgiar.orgChina has selected Tang Shengyaoas the official in charge of handlingInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong>sues.In India, a national committeehas been constituted by the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Researchunder the chairmanship of its deputydirector general for crop science,MR. TANG SHENGYAODiv<strong>is</strong>ion ChiefInternational Cooperation Department, Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture#11 Nongzhanguan Nanli, Beijing 100026, PROCTel: (+86-10) 6419-2489Fax: (+86-10) 6500-4635tangshy@agri.gov.cn2 0 0 4 C A L E N D A R H I G H L I G H T SJapan-IRRI rice research conferenceIRRI’s flagship rice research conference in 2004 willtake place in Japan on 4-7 November. Organized by theJapanese Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture, Forestry and F<strong>is</strong>heries, theconference will be held in Tsukuba City, 40 km northwest ofNew Tokyo International Airport, and will feature the latestin rice research from all over the world. For details, pleasecontact Dr. K.L. Heong at k.heong@cgiar.org.FAO International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> launch conferenceThe Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN willhold its International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> inaugural conference — <strong>Rice</strong>in the Global Economy and Sustainable Production Systems— on 12-13 February at its headquarters in Rome, Italy. Fordetails, please v<strong>is</strong>it the official International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> Website at www.rice2004.org.Mekong rice and development conferenceVietnam’s Min<strong>is</strong>try of Agriculture and Rural Development willhost on 15-17 October in Ho Chi Minh City a 3-day conferencefocused on rice and development. For more details, pleasecontact Dr. K.L. Heong at k.heong@cgiar.org.Korean international rice conferenceSouth Korea will host an international conference on 13-14September on the theme <strong>Rice</strong> Science for Improving HumanWelfare in the 21st Century. The meeting will take place inthe city of Suwon. For details, please contact Dr. K.K. Jena atkjena@rda.go.kr.World Food DayOn 16 October, all countries will celebrate World Food Day.FAO will lead these international activities with its ownspecial events at its headquarters in Rome. In addition,most rice-producing and -consuming countries will organizespecial rice-focused World Food Day activities. For details,please v<strong>is</strong>it the official International Year of <strong>Rice</strong> Web site atwww.rice2004.org.FAO Asia-Pacific min<strong>is</strong>terial conferenceFAO will hold on 17-21 May its annual Asia-Pacificmin<strong>is</strong>terial conference in Beijing, which will likely includeactivities focused on rice. For details, please v<strong>is</strong>it the officialInternational Year of <strong>Rice</strong> Web site at www.rice2004.org.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200431


J.K. LADHAPEOPLEGOVERNOR VISHU KANT SHASTRI (left) of the Indianstate of Uttar Pradesh presents IRRI DirectorGeneral Ronald Cantrell with an honorary doctoratedegree from the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Universityof Agriculture and Technology. The degreerecognizes IRRI’s outstanding collaboration, underDr. Cantrell’s guidance, with university scient<strong>is</strong>ts todevelop new technologies to improve the lives andsocial status of Indian farmers.Partners in progressStephen Hall has been named the incomingdirector general of the World-F<strong>is</strong>h Center, effective in February. Dr.Hall’s recent positions include professorof marine biology at Flinders Universityand director of the Australian Institute ofMarine Science. He succeeds Meryl Williams,who has led the WorldF<strong>is</strong>h Centerfor a decade.Shellemiah Okoth Keya has beenappointed director of research at WARDA,effective 15 January. Dr. Keya’s career inresearch management and admin<strong>is</strong>tration,university teaching, scientific publ<strong>is</strong>hing,and research consultancy spans more than3 decades. He was executive secretary tothe CGIAR Technical Adv<strong>is</strong>ory Committee(1996-2000) and its replacement, theInterim Science Council (2001-03).Wilfried Thalwitz, former CGIARchairman (1990-91), died on 3 Septemberin Brussels. He was 71. During h<strong>is</strong> tenure,the CGIAR expanded to include centers andprograms on water management, bananasand plantains, forestry, agroforestry, andaquatic resources. He <strong>is</strong> survived by h<strong>is</strong>wife, Margret, and two children.Keeping up with IRRI staffRonald L. Phillips of the U.S. andRuth Oniang’o of Kenya have beenelected to the IRRI Board of Trustees, 2004-06. Dr. Phillips <strong>is</strong> Regents’ Professor andMcKnight Presidential Chair in Genomicsand director of the Center for Microbial andPlant Genomics, University of Minnesota.Prof. Oniang’o <strong>is</strong> a professor of food scienceand nutrition at Kenya’s Jomo KenyattaUniversity of Agriculture and Technology.They replace Mike Gale, who <strong>is</strong> resigningto join the Science Council of the ConsultativeGroup on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR), and Angeline Kamba,the outgoing board chair.Zhao Kai-jun became IRRI lia<strong>is</strong>onscient<strong>is</strong>t to China on 30 September. Dr.Zhao replaces Tang Sheng-xiang, who<strong>is</strong> returning after 6 years with IRRI to theChina National <strong>Rice</strong> Research Institutein Hangzhou, where he will continue asnational coordinator of the InternationalNetwork for Genetic Evaluation of <strong>Rice</strong>.Gerard F. Barry joined IRRI on 3November as the new Golden <strong>Rice</strong> Networkcoordinator. Dr. Barry, who was director ofresearch for product and technology cooperationat Monsanto headquarters in St.Lou<strong>is</strong>, M<strong>is</strong>souri, works with plant breeders,biotechnolog<strong>is</strong>ts, intellectual propertyrights special<strong>is</strong>ts, and biosafety and regulatoryagencies in Asia to facilitate the developmentand deployment of Golden <strong>Rice</strong>.Zhikang Li, molecular genetic<strong>is</strong>t inPlant Breeding, Genetics and Biochem<strong>is</strong>try,has begun a 3-year posting at the ChineseAcademy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).Dr. Li continues to contribute to IRRIresearch in gene d<strong>is</strong>covery, allele miningand germplasm improvement while underappointment at CAAS as chief scient<strong>is</strong>t ofthe National Key Project on Crop GeneticResources and Genetic Improvement.Robert S. Zeigler, former IRRIplant patholog<strong>is</strong>t (1992-98), has beennamed director of the challenge programUnlocking Genetic Diversity in Crops forthe Resource-Poor. Dr. Zeigler has morethan 20 years’ experience in internationalagricultural research and management. Hewill be based at the International Maize andWheat Improvement Center in Mexico.Keijiro Otsuka, incoming chair ofIRRI’s Board of Trustees, was elected on22 August the International Associationof Agricultural Econom<strong>is</strong>ts vice presidentfor programs. Prabhu Pingali, formerIRRI econom<strong>is</strong>t (1987-96) and currentdirector of the Div<strong>is</strong>ion of Agricultural andDevelopment Economics at the Food andAgriculture Organization of the UN, waselected president of the 3,000-memberprofessional organization.David Johnson, principal scient<strong>is</strong>tsince 1999 at the Natural Resources Instituteof the University of Greenwich, U.K.,and earlier seconded for 7 years to the WestAfrica <strong>Rice</strong> Development Association (WAR-DA) – The Africa <strong>Rice</strong> Center, joined IRRI inSeptember as a weed scient<strong>is</strong>t in Crop, Soiland Water Sciences (CSWS). He succeedsAndrew Martin Mortimer, who servedas weed ecolog<strong>is</strong>t at IRRI from 1996.Chr<strong>is</strong>tian Witt, affiliate scient<strong>is</strong>tsince 1998 and coordinator of the soil nutritionproject Reaching Toward OptimumProductivity in CSWS, and a PhD researcherat IRRI in 1993-96, returned to Germany inDecember.Adam Barclay, IRRI’s first Australianyouth ambassador, arrived in September for ayear’s assignment in V<strong>is</strong>itors and InformationServices and as deputy editor of <strong>Rice</strong> Today.Monina Escalada, a long-time IRRIcollaborator, became an international researchfellow in IRRI’s International ProgramsManagement Office in October 2002,a change th<strong>is</strong> page failed to note until now.Gone aheadPeter Cox, agricultural econom<strong>is</strong>t with theCambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP),1998-2001, succumbed to cancer in Br<strong>is</strong>baneon 20 October. From 2001, Dr. Coxwas the technical adv<strong>is</strong>or to the director ofthe Catholic Relief Service. Prior to h<strong>is</strong> stintat IRRI, he lived and worked in Zambia,Bangladesh, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea,India and h<strong>is</strong> native Australia.Jose “Joe” Burgos, intrepid advocateof press freedom and founder ofalternative Philippine newspapers, died on16 November. He was 62. Mr. Burgos, whoserved as media consultant for the annualgeneral meeting of the CGIAR in Manila inOctober 2002, initiated in 1998 the organizationof the Philippine branch of the Asia<strong>Rice</strong> Media Advocacy Network.Denn<strong>is</strong> Melvin Wood, former cropprotection special<strong>is</strong>t at IRRI (1983-85),died on 25 October in a hunting accidentin Utah. He was 61. Following a 2-yearm<strong>is</strong>sion in India with the Peace Corps, Dr.Wood embarked on a career in internationalagricultural development, living and workingin the Philippines, Vietnam, Morocco,Indonesia, Holland and Tanzania.Zosimo Q. Pizarro, former IRRIassociate director of human resources(1984-91), passed away on 8 November. Mr.Pizarro also served IRRI as admin<strong>is</strong>trativeass<strong>is</strong>tant (1962-69), associate executive officer(1970-74) and senior admin<strong>is</strong>trativeassociate (1975-83).32 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


DONORS CORNERCooperating for peaceb y H . - J o c h e n d e H a a sFormer German ChancellorWilly Brandt once describeddevelopment aid as “thepeace policy of the 21st century.”Cooperation for development, touse the modern phrase, remainsan important priority of the Germangovernment and the FederalMin<strong>is</strong>try for Economic Cooperationand Development (Bundesmin<strong>is</strong>teriumfür wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeitund Entwicklung, orBMZ), which <strong>is</strong> responsible for theGerman government’s developmentpolicy.BMZ’s m<strong>is</strong>sion relates mainlyto the following areas:• helping to fashion the globalframework for development,• formulating bilateral and multilateralsupport strategies,• supporting partner countries’development programs andprojects and the developmentcooperation programs of NGOs,and• aiding in monitoring and evaluatingthe use of funds.BMZ does not implement individualdevelopment cooperation projectsand programs itself. Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> the task ofindependent organizations working on itsbehalf. The largest two of those organizationsare the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau,which provides concessional loansto developing countries, and the DeutscheGesellschaft für Techn<strong>is</strong>che Zusammenarbeit(GTZ) GmbH, which supports technicalcooperation.BMZ recognizes the need for urgentaction to help the 800 million peoplewho face hunger every day. Central toimproving the livelihoods of millionsof rural people in developing countries,fighting hunger and alleviating poverty onan environmentally sustainable bas<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong>BMZ’s support for the research centers ofthe Consultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR). BMZ, amember of the CGIAR from the group’sbeginning and a committed supporterof its research agenda, ranks among itstop 10 investors, contributing financial,OLIVER HANSCHKEH.-JOCHEN DE HAAS <strong>is</strong> the head of the Rural Development and GlobalFood Security Div<strong>is</strong>ion of BMZ.scientific, human and technical resources.Since 1971, German financial support forthe research work carried out at the centershas surpassed US$300 million.Today, a quarter of Germany’s financialsupport for the CGIAR <strong>is</strong> unrestrictedcore funding. The rest <strong>is</strong> targeted, orproject, funding that <strong>is</strong> awarded based onguidelines set by both the CGIAR and BMZ.BMZ has comm<strong>is</strong>sioned a GTZ project,the Adv<strong>is</strong>ory Service on AgriculturalResearch for Development (BeratungsgruppeEntwicklungsorientierte Agrarforschung,or BEAF), to admin<strong>is</strong>ter Germany’stargeted funding of internationalagricultural research. BEAF has offices inBonn and at the GTZ head office in Eschborn.As part of its mandate, BEAF adv<strong>is</strong>esBMZ on all <strong>is</strong>sues related to internationalagricultural research for development. Itsobjectives are to organize and admin<strong>is</strong>terGerman support to the CGIAR and someother international agricultural researchcenters, establ<strong>is</strong>h and improve contactsbetween research centers and developmentprojects, link these centers with theactive German research community,and ra<strong>is</strong>e public awareness forinternational agricultural researchfor development.BEAF <strong>is</strong> supported by an adv<strong>is</strong>orycommittee of members frompublic research organizations,the private sector and NGOs. Themultid<strong>is</strong>ciplinary group providesadvice on German strategies ininternational agricultural researchand gives recommendations onproject funding. BEAF cooperatesclosely with development organizationssuch as Capacity BuildingInternational (InternationaleWeiterbildung und EntwicklunggGmbH, or InWEnt) and scientificassociations such as the Councilfor Tropical and Subtropical AgriculturalResearch (Arbeitsgemeinschaftfür Trop<strong>is</strong>che und Subtrop<strong>is</strong>cheAgrarforschung, or ATSAF).BEAF also hosts the co-secretariatof the national German Forumon Research for Development(Deutsches Forum für EntwicklungsorientierteForschung, or DFOR).<strong>Rice</strong> <strong>is</strong> life for 2.5 billion peoplearound the world, and Germany <strong>is</strong> pleasedto have found a valuable partner in IRRI.Since 1974, German support for IRRI’<strong>sr</strong>esearch has totaled approximatelyUS$30 million. Klaus Lampe, a renownedGerman special<strong>is</strong>t in agricultural development,served as IRRI’s director generalin 1988-95, and German researcherscontinue to be active at the institute. Germanysupports a broad range of researchareas, from the development of new ricevarieties suitable for various rice ecosystemsto genome and biodiversity studies,improved management of soil and water,integrated pest management, and theincreasingly important question of howrice supplies can be assured in the contextof global warming.These challenges are likely to growin the future. The German government,BMZ and its implementing partners arecommitted to working with IRRI to meetthem.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200433


NEW BOOKSIRRI has added four new titles to itsinventory of more than 100 bookscurrently available on rice research.Check the IRRI online publicationscatalog at www.irri.org/pubcat/pubcontents.htm for pricing and orderinginformation on these and other titlesand for announcements about other newbooks as they become available.Breeding <strong>Rice</strong> for Drought-Prone Environments(by K.S. F<strong>is</strong>cher et al; fullyfunded by the Rockefeller Foundation;98 pages) <strong>is</strong> a manual that aims to helpplant breeders develop rice varieties fordrought-prone environments. Many of theworld’s poorest farmers work in rainfedareas where water supplies are unpredictableand droughts are common. In Asia,about half of all the rice land <strong>is</strong> rainfed.While rice yields in irrigated systemshave doubled and tripled over the past 30years, only modest gains have occurredin rainfed rice because of the complexityof improving rice varieties for changeableenvironments and the small investmentmade so far in breeding rice for droughttolerance.Drought tolerance must be integratedwith mainstream breeding programsaddressing agronomic adaptation, grainquality, and pest and d<strong>is</strong>ease res<strong>is</strong>tance.Th<strong>is</strong> manual, prepared in collaborationwith the University of Queensland, amplifiesand updates the section on droughttolerance in the IRRI book RainfedLowland <strong>Rice</strong> Improvement (Mackill etal 1996).IncreasingProductivityof Intensive<strong>Rice</strong> Systemsthrough Site-SpecificNutrientManagement(edited byA. Dobermannet al;co-publ<strong>is</strong>hedwith SciencePubl<strong>is</strong>hers,Inc.; 410pages) summarizes research in 1994-2001to develop a new concept for site-specificnutrient management (SSNM) in irrigatedrice systems and the tools needed forapplying it in farmers’ fields. Yield gainshave slowed in recent years, particularlyamong early adopters of Green Revolutiontechnologies. Although scient<strong>is</strong>ts are developingnew germplasm to ra<strong>is</strong>e ex<strong>is</strong>tingyield ceilings, future yield increases arelikely to be smaller than in the past andwill require more knowledge-intensiveforms of soil and crop management thatimprove input efficiency and, at the sametime, protect the environment. The integratedand efficient use of nutrients <strong>is</strong> oneof the key <strong>is</strong>sues for sustainable resourcemanagement in intensive rice systems.After reviewing the economics of riceproduction and productivity trends inAsia, most of the book presents the principlesof SSNM and the results of the firstphase of field-testing at numerous sites inAsia. Th<strong>is</strong> book demonstrates how longtermcommitment to interd<strong>is</strong>ciplinaryon-farm research forges prom<strong>is</strong>ing genericsolutions for resource management. Asnew tools such as a nutrient dec<strong>is</strong>ion supportsystem and a Practical Guide for NutrientManagement (Fairhurst and Witt2002) have been developed, the theoreticaldevelopmentof newnutrientmanagementconceptscontinues.Hybrid <strong>Rice</strong>for FoodSecurity,Poverty Alleviationand EnvironmentalProtection(edited by S.S. Virmani et al; 401 pages)offers papers covering progress madesince 1996 in hybrid rice breeding methodologies,biotechnological applications,seed production, agronomic managementand technology d<strong>is</strong>semination. Hybrid ricetechnology was successfully developed inChina during 1964-75, where it <strong>is</strong> grownon half of the country’s 30 million ha ofrice area. It <strong>is</strong> now under development insome 20 other countries, with 800,000 hacurrently under rice hybrids in Vietnam,India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia,Myanmar and the United States. Th<strong>is</strong>technology enables farmers to producemore rice per hectare and hour of labor,and so contributes to improved grainyields and farmers’ income, while creatingrural employment in hybrid seed production.Having contributed significantlytoward improved food security and environmentalprotection in China, hybrid ricealso has good prospects in other countries.The papers in th<strong>is</strong> book were presentedat the 4th International Symposium onHybrid <strong>Rice</strong> held in Hanoi, Vietnam, 14-17May 2002, which was attended by 187participants from 19 countries and threeinternational agencies (IRRI, the Foodand Agriculture Organization, and theAsia-Pacific Seed Association).Two-LineHybrid <strong>Rice</strong>BreedingManual (byS.S Virmaniet al; withsupportfrom theAsian DevelopmentBank; 88pages) describesconceptsandproceduresin a stepw<strong>is</strong>emanner foreasy learning of the technique. Breedinghybrid rice requires several concepts,skills and procedures that are strikinglydifferent from those used in breedinginbred rice. The availability of adequatelytrained technicians <strong>is</strong> an essentialprerequ<strong>is</strong>ite for developing and usingth<strong>is</strong> technology. Experienced hybrid ricescient<strong>is</strong>ts from China and IRRI preparedth<strong>is</strong> manual, which expands upon IRRI’searlier Hybrid <strong>Rice</strong> Breeding Manual(Virmani 1997).34 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


<strong>Rice</strong> publ<strong>is</strong>hing? Don’t make me pilaf!The original backpacker explores the world of ricethat thrives between crop science and cookbooksLonely Planet Publications, theAustralian guidebook company thatfound success in serving up Asia— and then the world — to budgettravelers, will soon publ<strong>is</strong>h a glossy coffeetablebook entitled <strong>Rice</strong> Trails.“Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> not in any sense a recipebook,” stresses author Tony Wheeler, who,with photographer Richard l’Anson, journeyedto 13 countries, 12 of them in Asia,to document the story of rice from field totable. “Nor <strong>is</strong> it academic. We wanted totell the human story of rice and show howit differed from country to country and yetin many ways stayed the same.”“I can pinpoint exactly where andwhen I first fell in love with rice,” beginsthe author’s introduction to <strong>Rice</strong>Trails. “It was in East Java in ’74. I wasin my mid-20s, recently married, and mywife, Maureen, and I had been travelingthrough Indonesia for several months.I’d certainly seen (and eaten!) lots of riceby that time. I was familiar with beautifulrice terraces in Nepal and many otherAsian countries, but in the country aroundYogyakarta everything came together.”The Wheelers had earlier traveledoverland from London to Australia, ajourney that produced, in 1973, the firstLonely Planet publication, the seminalshoestring travelers’ guide Across Asiaon the Cheap. When everything cametogether around Yogyakarta, the couplewere researching their second guide,Southeast Asia on a Shoestring, one of themost popular guidebooks ever publ<strong>is</strong>hed.Today, Lonely Planet employs about 150authors around the globe and more than400 office staffers in Melbourne, Oakland,London and Par<strong>is</strong>.<strong>Rice</strong> Trails may appear timed to cashin on InternationalYear of <strong>Rice</strong> 2004,but Mes<strong>sr</strong>s. Wheelerand l’Ansonstarted their projectmore than 2 yearsyears before theUnited Nationsdeclared the yeartag. The 160-pagebook, which willmeasure 24 × 30cm and retail forUS$40, <strong>is</strong> expectedto be available inMarch.“Richard and Ihave both traveledextensivelyin Asia,” says Mr.Wheeler. “So wewere aware of theenormous influenceof rice, notjust as the world’smost importantfood but also culturally,economi-LONELY PLANET (2)<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004TONY WHEELER gets h<strong>is</strong> feet wet in Bali, as Richardl'Anson (below) relaxes on a rice barge in Dhaka.cally and v<strong>is</strong>ually. The book even cover<strong>sr</strong>ice tour<strong>is</strong>m, those places where hotels orrestaurants have been strategically sited totake in views of rice paddies.”The book starts with the h<strong>is</strong>tory ofrice and its contribution to the growth ofcivilization in Asia. Following a tour of the“ricescapes” of Bali, Bangladesh, Philippines,Nepal and Australia, four chaptersdetail how rice <strong>is</strong> grown, harvested,processed and sold in countries at variouslevels of development. A chapter on theuses of rice takes in Japanese tatami matsas well as the countless forms in whichrice products reach the table. Next comesa chapter on the place of rice in ritual andreligious belief. Finally, a chapter on riceresearch takes readers to IRRI and theCentral Soil Salinity Research Center inKarnal, India.“Better rice plants, improved techniquesand superior equipment are allpart of the story, but at the end of the dayit’s the rice farmer who <strong>is</strong> the key to thewhole puzzle,” writes Mr. Wheeler. “Fortunately,IRRI and other rice researchersare uniform in their pra<strong>is</strong>e for farmers’adaptability and interest in adopting newtechniques and better plants. […] Thequick spread of IRRI’s new varieties <strong>is</strong>a prime indicator of the close attentionfarmers pay to their productivity.”35


RICE FACTSA fresh look at the world rice market for Asians who still equate food security with self-sufficiencyTRADING UPby DAVID DAWEEconom<strong>is</strong>tThe world food cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> of1973-75 continues to shapethe attitude of Asian policymakerstoward food security.Occurring as it did in a period ofvolatility in the world rice market, thecr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> has encouraged policymakersever since to pursue self-sufficiencyin rice at all costs. Analys<strong>is</strong> of thechanging structure of the post-WorldWar II market, and in particular ofsturdy trends over the past 2 decades,suggests that Asian rice importerscan now afford to rely on the worldmarket for assured access to adequatesupplies of affordable rice more thanwas warranted in the past.Throughout the second half ofthe 20th century, Asian rice harvest<strong>sr</strong>ose steadily in per capita terms andbecame more stable. Prices and theirvariability nevertheless exhibitedthree d<strong>is</strong>tinct phases. <strong>Rice</strong> prices werehigh and relatively stable in 1950-64, still high but substantially morevariable in 1965-81, and low and verystable in 1985-96 (Table 1).Table 1. Character<strong>is</strong>tics of the world rice economy for selected periods.1950-64 1965-81 1985-96Pre-Green Early Green Late GreenRevolution Revolution RevolutionProduction structureLevel (per capita) Low Medium HighVariability High Medium LowTrade structureNumber of commercially Many Few Manyoriented exportersPricesLevel High High LowVariability Low High LowAverage yield, world (tons/ha) 1.88 2.42 3.50Modern variety adoption(irrigated area)as percentage of plantedarea, end of periodBangladesh 0 (5) 22 (13) 54 (30)India 0 (37) 48 (42) 77 (51)Indonesia 0 (–) 61 (64) 81 (72*)Myanmar 0 (14) 53 (18) 61 (27)Philippines 0 (30) 79 (48) 87 (63)Thailand 0 (26) 13 (23) 18 (20)Vietnam 0 (–) 17 (41) 83 (51)Sources: production structure, trade structure, prices d<strong>is</strong>cussed in text; yield from FAOStaton-line electronic database (2002); modern variety adoption, irrigated area from IRRI World<strong>Rice</strong> Stat<strong>is</strong>tics electronic database (2001).(–) data not available. * 1991Trends in the level and stabilityof Asian rice production go a longway toward explaining recent trendsin world rice prices. Most strikingly,the plunge in world prices in 1982-84coincided exactly with a sharp increasein per capita rice production inAsia (Figure 1). Since th<strong>is</strong> productionsurge, the magnitude of year-to-yearfluctuations in per capita productionhas been markedly lower thanpreviously, with fluctuations greaterthan 3% occurring only 4 times in thepast 2 decades, compared to 22 timesin the 29 years from 1952 to 1980.The average absolute value of annualchanges in per capita production was4.4% in 1952-64, 3.7% in 1965-81, andjust 1.8% in 1985-96. Th<strong>is</strong> improvementin stability <strong>is</strong> due mainly to thespread of irrigation and improvedpest and d<strong>is</strong>ease control achieved inpart by the development of res<strong>is</strong>tantmodern rice varieties.But why were world rice price<strong>sr</strong>elatively stable in the earlier 1950-64period despite very unstable production?For most ofthe 20th century,the major riceexporters werein mainlandSoutheast Asia:Thailand, Myanmar,Cambodiaand Vietnam.(The UnitedStates <strong>is</strong> also amajor exporter,but its shipmentsof japonica ricewithin the Americasare peripheralto the worldmarket, whoseprices reflect theAsian trade inindica rice.) Duringthe 1950s, Myanmar and Thailanddominated world rice exports, withCambodia also being an importantplayer (Table 2). More important,exports were a large share of domesticproduction for these countries (Figure2), encouraging them to be commerciallyoriented, reliable suppliers.Thus, whenever a shortfall in Asianrice production occurred, one ormore would typically step in to fill thebreach and prevent world prices fromspiraling out of control.Constrained exportsThe situation had changed considerablyby the mid-1960s, when a majorEl Niño event led to a sharp fall of 6%in per capita Asian rice production in1965 (see <strong>Rice</strong> Today, Vol. 2, No. 2,pages 10-19). By th<strong>is</strong> time, Myanmarwas well into a period of sharp declinedue to restrictive government policies,and the proportion of Cambodia’sproduction that found its way ontothe world market was falling. SouthVietnam banned exports in 1965 andeven Thailand was becoming lesscommercially oriented and more willingto constrain exports to stabilizedomestic prices.By the 1970s, the world marketwas even more unsettled, as productionshortfalls caused by severeEl Niño and La Niña events wereexacerbated by the inaction of thetraditional commercial rice exporters— the situation that snowballed intothe world food cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong> of 1973-75.The subsequent reemergence ofThailand and Vietnam as commerciallyoriented rice exporters was amajor factor in buffering the worldmarket in 1998 in the face of a majorEl Niño event. Other key exporterscomplement Thailand and Vietnam— notably Pak<strong>is</strong>tan, China and India— and their willingness to supply the36 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004


world market lends added stability intimes of cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong>.e future?What does the future hold for theworld rice market? Prices declinedsubstantially in the last half of the1990s. The magnitude of th<strong>is</strong> droprecalls the steep decline that occurredin the early to mid-1980s, and thereasons behind it are similar: broadlyhigher production, curtailed Indonesianimports and a weak Thai baht.Stat<strong>is</strong>tical analys<strong>is</strong> of these factorsand other key trends suggests thatprices will remain near their currentlow levels for the medium term. Theone possible countervailing factor<strong>is</strong> the long-term slowdown in yieldgrowth that has occurred throughoutAsia. If yield growth continues todecelerate, and does so more quicklythan population growth, per capitaproduction will begin to decline,and th<strong>is</strong> may cause rice prices to r<strong>is</strong>eagain.That said, world prices will likelyremain generally stable in the nearfuture, just as they have during thepast 15 years, due to the prevalenceof irrigation in rice production, theFig. 1. Inflation-adjusted world market rice prices and per capita Asian rice production, 1951-2001. Note:Asia includes Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, North and South Korea, Laos, Malaysia,Myanmar, Nepal, Pak<strong>is</strong>tan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.Fig. 2. Ratio of exports to domestic production, 1950-2000: Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.Table 2. Leading rice-exporting and -importing countries for selected periods,with average annual level of exports/imports during each period (in millionsof tons of milled rice).ExportsCountry 1950-64 Country 1965-81 Country 1985-96Myanmar 1.52 USA 2.03 Thailand 4.97Thailand 1.38 Thailand 1.75 USA 2.52USA 0.80 China 1.62 Vietnam 1.26China 0.69 Myanmar 0.59 Pak<strong>is</strong>tan 1.19Cambodia 0.47 Pak<strong>is</strong>tan 0.58 India 1.05Egypt 0.22 Italy 0.34 China 0.88Italy 0.19 Egypt 0.32 Italy 0.61Vietnam 0.16 Japan 0.30 Australia 0.45Pak<strong>is</strong>tan 0.12 Australia 0.18 Uruguay 0.35Brazil 0.06 N. Korea 0.17 Myanmar 0.33World 6.05 World 9.23 World 15.36% of world total:Top 5 80% 71% 72%Top 10 93% 85% 89%ImportsCountry 1950-64 Country 1965-81 Country 1985-96Indonesia 0.70 Indonesia 1.02 Iran 0.79Japan 0.66 Vietnam 0.62 Brazil 0.62India 0.58 South Korea 0.51 Indonesia 0.60Malaysia &Singapore 0.53 India 0.42 China 0.50Sri Lanka 0.47 USSR 0.40 USSR/CIS 0.46Hong Kong 0.31 Hong Kong 0.36 Iraq 0.43E. Pak<strong>is</strong>tan 0.25 Sri Lanka 0.35 Saudi Arabia 0.42Cuba 0.20 Bangldesh 0.31 Senegal 0.39W. Germany 0.13 Malaysia 0.29 Hong Kong 0.38Philippines 0.11 Singapore 0.24 Malaysia 0.36World 6.10 World 9.30 World 15.11% of world total:Top 5 48% 32% 20%Top 10 65% 49% 33%Sources of raw data: Palacpac (1977) for 1950-60, FAOStat on-line electronic database (2002)for 1961-96. World exports and imports are not equal in any particular year in original datasources. USSR <strong>is</strong> not included in 1950-64 imports because of data availability constraints.improved pestand d<strong>is</strong>ease res<strong>is</strong>tanceof modernvarieties and — afactor that ha<strong>sr</strong>eceived littlefanfare — therenewed commercialorientationof major riceexporters. Noneof these trends <strong>is</strong>likely to reverse,and Myanmarand Cambodiamay rejoin theranks of stabilizingexporterswithin the nextdecade.Reducedprice variabilitydoes not guaranteethat the effectsof instabilityare negligible.The effects of even small price fluctuationson the welfare of producers andconsumers, especially the poor, canhave political repercussions. And,even in a quiet world rice market,financial-market liberalization mayheighten exchange rate fluctuationsthat, under free trade, translate intochanges in domestic rice prices a<strong>sr</strong>eadily as do changes in world riceprices. Asian governments need toformulate cost-effective policies todeal with these <strong>is</strong>sues.Nevertheless, the combination oflow and stable prices on the internationalmarket will likely continue forthe medium term, resulting in less r<strong>is</strong>kfor rice-importing countries that de-cide to rely on the world market moreheavily than they have in the past.Adapted from Dawe D. 2002. Thechanging structure of the world ricemarket, 1950-2000. Food Policy,27(4):355-370.<strong>Rice</strong> Today January 200437


grain of truthLet’s promote brown riceto combat hidden hungerEMIL Q. JAVIERChair, Asia <strong>Rice</strong> FoundationAgricultural advances in the past 3 decades have maderemarkable progress in providing affordable cerealsto most of the poor in the developing world. As aresult — and despite the continuingplight of 800 million desperatelypoor — we hear less these daysabout famine and severe calorie andprotein deficiency in sub-SaharanAfrica and South Asia, the two mostvulnerable regions.Now we must overcome the"hidden hunger" of the poor foressential vitamins and minerals.As cereals constitute the bulk ofthe diet of those who can’t affordmicronutrient-rich foods such asmeat, milk, fruits and vegetables,any increase in the vitamin andmineral content of staple grainshelps combat th<strong>is</strong> insidious form ofmalnutrition. High-quality proteinmaize, developed by the International Maize and WheatImprovement Center in Mexico, <strong>is</strong> now being popularizedin many developing countries. <strong>Rice</strong> cultivars high in betacarotene (provitamin A), iron and zinc are in the pipeline atIRRI and some of its national partners in Asia.There <strong>is</strong>, however, another strategy that has not receivedthe attention it deserves: encouraging the consumption ofwhole grains.Whole rice and wheat offer significant levels of proteinand essential vitamins and minerals, but most of thesenutrients are removed in the pol<strong>is</strong>hing stage of the millingprocess. In rice, pol<strong>is</strong>hing removes 15% of the protein, 85%of the fat, 90% of the calcium, 75% of the phosphorus,80% of the thiamine, 70% of the riboflavin and 68% of theniacin. Additionally, whole-grain rice — popularly calledbrown rice — <strong>is</strong> rich in dietary fiber, which protects againsthypercholesterolemia, diabetes and colorectal cancer. And,of course, bran functions as a gentle laxative.Brown rice also has high levels of phytic acid, whichdimin<strong>is</strong>hes the availability of essential minerals such asiron, phosphorus and calcium but protects people prone tokidney stones by reducing urinary calcium. (A mutant riceline low in phytic acid has been identified, and the characterhas been bred into a popular rice variety in the United States,halving its phytic acid content.)Whole rice offerssignificant levels of proteinand essential vitaminsand minerals,but pol<strong>is</strong>hing removesmost of these nutrients38 <strong>Rice</strong> Today January 2004Besides the nutritional benefits of consuming brownrice, there are two economic ones. First, foregoing pol<strong>is</strong>hingand whitening reduces the power demands of milling by asmuch as 65%. Second, with the branand the nutrient-rich embryo intact,and with fewer broken grains, wholegrainmilling recovery <strong>is</strong> as much as10% higher than for white rice. So, ifall the rice grown in the Philippines,for example, were consumed asbrown rice, there would be no needfor rice imports, which in 2002 costUS$200 million.Here’s the rub. Promotingbrown rice <strong>is</strong> a formidable challengebecause most Asian rice consumershave acquired a taste for pol<strong>is</strong>hedwhite rice. Before the advent ofmachine mills, people dehulled ricemanually by mortar and pestle. Formost, brown rice was the only rice.Today, Asians associate white rice with modernization andaffluence, and brown rice with backwardness and poverty.If brown rice were marketed in Asia as a fashionablehealth food, as in Europe and North America, people wouldbecome accustomed once more to its grittier texture andnutty flavor. At the household level, people would learnthat cooking brown rice requires a little more water andcooking time (or else 30 minutes of soaking). <strong>Rice</strong> millerswould adjust their machines to produce brown rice — an easyprocedure if demand makes the extra effort worthwhile.A significant drawback <strong>is</strong> shorter shelf life because thelipid-rich layer left on the whole grain <strong>is</strong> susceptible to microbialand insect damage. The hulling process — particularly usingmetal rollers — breaks up the bran cells, releasing their lipaseenzyme, which breaks down the oil in the bran, producing freefatty acids that cause rancidity and spoilage.The obvious solution <strong>is</strong> just-in-time hulling, but th<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong>n’t always practical. Experiments in the Philippines haveshown, however, that brown rice dehulled with rubber rollers,which are now commonplace, can be kept for 90-150 days atroom temperature (23 to 34°C) without vacuum packing, ifthe grain <strong>is</strong> dried to 14% mo<strong>is</strong>ture content. Brown rice witha higher mo<strong>is</strong>ture content can be packed in custom-sizedpolyethylene bags (2-5 kg) and then sealed, which <strong>is</strong> good for2 to 3 weeks’ storage — or longer in a refrigerator.


DON COLE, COURTESY UCLA FOWLER MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY (7)Art of <strong>Rice</strong>OBJECTS FROM THE ART OF RICE: Thai rice goddess, Mae Phosop (top left), in a commercial print with incense and rice cakes offeredfor her pregnancy ritual, which <strong>is</strong> conducted when grains begin to swell in the rice fields (1980, Fowler collection). (Continuing clockw<strong>is</strong>e)Korean painting of three elderly farmers in Eunhang Dong, by Jonggu Lee using acrylic on a paper rice sack, recalls time gone by (1991,collection of the art<strong>is</strong>t); Japanese snow boots made from rice straw (Fowler collection); Indian tableau constructed of dried clay, mud,straw, wood, paint, cloth, metals, plastic, enamel and string, on comm<strong>is</strong>sion by Gour<strong>is</strong>hankar Bandophadaya in West Bengal, shows theblue-skinned deity Annapurna giving rice to yellow-skinned Shiva, who sits on a throne between porcelain-skinned Bhringi and dark-grayNandi (2003, Fowler collection); Balinese figures of metal, wood, silk, plant fiber and glass, known collectively as Rambut Sedana, serveas receptacles for the rice goddess Bhatari Sri Dewi and her consort, Bethara Sedana, when a priest invokes the deities to take up temporaryresidence at the beginning of Balinese rituals (Mershon collection of Indonesian art); Javanese shadow puppet made of hide, horn, paint,thread and plastic, constructed on comm<strong>is</strong>sion by Daniel Mulyana in East Java, Indonesia, represents the rice goddess Dewi Sri (2002,Fowler collection); Ifugao carved-wood granary figures, or bulul, from the northern Philippines, normally cons<strong>is</strong>t of a male and femalepair, but th<strong>is</strong> set includes an infant to make the connection between the rice crop and human fertility (Thomas Murray collection).The Art of <strong>Rice</strong>: Spirit and Sustenance in Asia, an exhibition in the Fowler Museum of Cultural H<strong>is</strong>tory, Universityof California at Los Angeles, Sunset and Westwood Boulevards, Westwood. Open Wednesday-Sunday,12-5 pm (Thursday until 8 pm). No adm<strong>is</strong>sion charge; parking $7. For information, call (+1-310) 825-4361. Closes on 25 April and reopens at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts,Napa, California, in September-November, and at Honolulu Academy of Arts, February-April 2005.Major funding from National Endowment for the Humanities, Rockefeller Foundation, Getty GrantProgram, Henry Luce Foundation, and University of California Pacific Rim Research Program.


AsianGrain <strong>is</strong> a wellspring of everything Asian.Unmask the landscape of diversity that <strong>is</strong> Asia,as captured in magnificent photographs of itspeople, scenery, art, culture, h<strong>is</strong>tory and lifestyle.A virtual journey of d<strong>is</strong>coverybegins th<strong>is</strong> month.

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