Hotline Archives

An information summary for supporters of international agricultural research
Published by the INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Vol. 10 No. 3  September 2000

An international team of researchers led by an American economist has confirmed for the first time a strategy to help solve three of the most pressing and chronic problems facing the developing world: poverty, environmental degradation, and food security. The breakthrough follows a call by those attending last month's G8 summit in Japan for more efforts to solve the problems of the developing world, especially through technology transfer. This new research suggests that strategies that make a real difference are already available, but until now it had been very difficult to measure their actual impact.

However, an independent study of the impact of improved rice varieties and other crops has found that over the past 40 years, these crops have significantly reduced prices for poor consumers, saved thousands of hectares of forests from being turned into farmland, and reduced the number of malnourished children. The results are especially significant for rice, as it is the food that feeds half the world. The research, led by respected American economist Dr. Robert Evenson from Yale University, is the first major attempt to assess the economic impact of improved crop varieties, not just rice but also other important food staples such as wheat, maize, barley, cassava, and potato.

Dr. Hans Gregersen, head of a panel that reviewed the research and professor at the College of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota in the United States, said that the project had been a collaborative effort involving impact assessment experts from many of the centers that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), of which the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is a member.

Dr. Evenson and his team found that the development of improved rice varieties between 1970 and 1995 had substantial impact in four major areas. Their findings indicate that were it not for the development of improved varieties, rice prices for consumers could have been up to 41 percent higher; rice-producing nations would be importing up to 8 percent more food; millions of hectares of forests and other fragile ecosystems would have been lost; and between 1.5 and 2 percent more children would have been malnourished in developing countries. This seemingly small figure in percentage terms translates into millions of better-fed children in reality.

IRRI-China success in sustainable pest management in Yunnan

A team of scientists from IRRI and Yunnan Agricultural University plans to extend the experiment called "Exploiting Biodiversity for Sustainable Pest Management" to 60,000 hectares in the Red River Valley of Yunnan in southwestern China by the end of 2000. The move followed the team’s success last year in controlling the spread of rice blast disease over 3,342 hectares of rice fields that enabled farmers to increase their income by about US$150 per hectare.

Dr. Tom Mew, head of IRRI’s Entomology and Plant Pathology Division and coordinator of the project, explained that the simple management strategy involved interplanting of hybrid rice and glutinous rice. The experiment’s success has gone even further than defeating the blast problem and increasing farmers’ income. Fungicide has been substantially reduced and the effectiveness of natural genetic resistance to blast is expected to last longer, Dr. Mew explained.

IRRI developed the project three years ago in consultation with the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Work began at a time when modern agriculture was being criticized as the cause of frequent epidemics and pest problems because of genetic uniformity, high fertilizer and chemical inputs, and high production through monoculture of single cultivars across large areas. The blast problem in China involved all these factors. It quickly became the project’s first priority.

"Our challenge was to simulate a situation in which natural resistance to pests or diseases was diversified through a varietal deployment strategy in actual rice farming," Dr. Mew said. "We focused on interplanting, or growing different varieties of rice in the same field. In the beginning, doubt and skepticism existed." But an experiment in 1997 covering a few hectares suggested that interplanting could achieve 92 to 99 percent control of rice blast as well as attain an unexpected double success by boosting farmers’ yields, which increased by ½–1 ton per hectare. In 1998, 812 hectares were planted with hybrid rice and glutinous rice, four rows of one and one row of the other. The crop was sprayed with fungicide only once. Yields reached 9 tons of hybrid rice and nearly 1 ton of glutinous rice per hectare. Even more impressive was the fact that within the interplanted crop, the incidence of blast fell to 5 percent from a normal level of 55 percent, and yield loss dropped from 28 percent to zero.

"The key is to use different varieties with different resistance genes," Dr. Mew said. "Never plant the same varieties every season. Rotate them. Never again allow the pathogen to dominate. Achieve an equilibrium." He gave credit to NARS researchers who collaborated in the biodiversity project, particularly Professors Chen Hairun and Zhu Youyoung of Yunnan Agricultural University.

The director general of IRRI, Ronald P. Cantrell, recently defined the Institute’s position in the ongoing debate on the impact of biotechnology on rice production and rice cultures in the NHK television program "Global Forum." He stressed the following:

For 40 years, IRRI has been committed to evaluating different options and technologies that could help improve the lives of poor rice farmers and consumers via sustainable increases in production and improved crop management. Biotechnology appears to provide exciting new opportunities in these areas.

IRRI's role is not to promote biotechnology or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Its role is to objectively evaluate the new strategies and options that biotechnology may offer the rice industry and work with its partners in the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of rice-producing nations to see if such strategies are suitable and sustainable in different countries.

IRRI seeks the freedom to find answers on biotechnology, especially in relation to rice. It would be wrong for such debate to impede basic research to study whether such technologies are safe, sustainable, and suitable for rice-producing nations in the developing world. Such countries must be allowed the right to make their own decisions on biotechnology, which they cannot do if access to such technology is denied them.

Food safety is rightly a crucial issue in the biotechnology debate and must be fully addressed and resolved to the satisfaction of all sides. But it is vital that any concerns do not prevent the basic research that we will need to answer the very questions such a debate will generate.

All sides in the GMO debate must have the facts and objective evaluations of the new opportunities provided by biotechnology if the millions of poor rice farmers and consumers in the developing world are ever to really benefit from all the promises made so far. Only research and scientific effort can find the facts and the answers needed to ensure that real results are achieved.

In issuing this statement, Dr. Cantrell cited Vitamin A rice as an excellent example of the perils of the biotechnology debate. While IRRI considers rice enriched with vitamin A through genetic modification an exciting new option provided by biotechnology, many months of research are still required to establish whether this so-called Golden Rice will ever make it into the bowls of rice consumers, yield well, be susceptible to pests and diseases, and be palatable, Dr. Cantrell said. In relation to food safety, consumer acceptability and biodigestibility need to be addressed, he said.

IRRI has announced the launch of a new Internet media and information tool for journalists and members of the general public interested in rice research and related issues. The address of the Institute's new Media Hotline Internet site is www.cgiar.org/IRRI/pa/index.htm, or it can be reached by clicking on the Media Hotline logo on the main IRRI homepage at www.cgiar.org/irri.

While the new service will offer a wide range of features not previously available on IRRI's three main Web sites, IRRI Home, Riceweb (www.riceweb.org), and Riceworld (www.riceworld.org), the main aim of the Media Hotline, as its name suggests, is to provide the latest and most up-to-date information on IRRI and its research. Journalists accessing the site can expect to find the hottest news and latest information released by the Institute. In addition, the site will offer a range of other interesting services including a comprehensive library of all press and photo releases issued by the Institute since 1999. It will also contain a selection of speeches by the Institute's senior management and scientists as well as answers to frequently asked questions about IRRI, its research, and the rice industry in general.

IRRI spokesperson Duncan Macintosh said that the aim of the new Internet site is to enable the media to have access to information about the Institute and its work more easily. The Media Hotline site also features links to a comprehensive list of all IRRI scientists including brief biographical details and areas of particular expertise. "Journalists can now select the scientist they may want to interview based on their own criteria and then we will just make the introduction," Mr. Macintosh said.

Other features of the site are detailed information on all of IRRI's key donors, the research projects they support, and the history of their relationship with the Institute. In the same section, titled "Facts About Cooperation," comprehensive information is also available on IRRI's relationships with its important research partners in the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of the world's rice-producing nations. IRRI is also planning to use the Media Hotline site to combat any misinformation circulating on the Internet or in the media about its research, especially in relation to biotechnology. A "Letters" section will provide a library of all the letters published by IRRI in an effort to correct such misinformation and clarify the Institute's position in key public debates. Certain sections of the site remain under construction and several areas are still to be fully updated, but a wide range of information is already available. Materials obtained from Media Hotline, including all photos, may be freely used and quoted provided due credit is given to IRRI.

IRRI and the College of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, have been working as partners in the Upland Rice Research Consortium (URRC). The URRC aims to develop technologies to improve the food security of upland farmers. As part of this research program, a socioeconomic study of upland rice production systems in the northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam began in 1997. The objectives of the study are to (a) characterize upland rice production systems; (b) assess food security of upland farmers; (c) evaluate the effect of population pressure and market access on cropping pattern, farm household economy, and food security; and (d) suggest appropriate technologies and policies for improving food security of upland farmers. The project will end this year. A workshop titled "Commercialization, land use changes, and food security in the uplands of northern Vietnam" will be held on 28-29 September at the College of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen University, Thai Nguyen (about 80 km north of Hanoi). In this workshop, the project outputs will be presented to representatives of the provinces studied, national and regional policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders. Papers from related projects implemented by other institutions will also be presented.

A new high-yielding rice variety developed and being field-tested by IRRI in its experimental plots impressed Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen during his visit to the Institute on 17 August, the second day of a three-day state visit to the Philippines. The new rice plant has a yield potential of 12.5 tons per hectare under ideal conditions. Dr. Gurdev S. Khush, IRRI's principal plant breeder, told the visitors that this potential represents an increase of 25 percent over current high-yielding varieties. Cambodian farmers have made tremendous progress in reestablishing their "lost" traditional rice varieties after a protracted civil war. The International Rice Genebank at IRRI made the restoration of these traditional rice seeds possible. Cambodia today is a leading partner with IRRI in rice research.

Scientists from IRRI recently met with a high-ranking government delegation from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. With a large population, Tamil Nadu is grappling with the problems of food security for its millions of citizens. The delegation, led by the State Minister of Agriculture, Veerapandi S. Arumugam, learned about current research in raising the yield potential of rice, hybrid rice, and the Crop and Resource Management Network. The delegation also included Agriculture Secretary N. Athimoolam and Director K. Arulmozhi, Professor S. Kannaiyan, the vice chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, and Dr. P. Moorugesa Boopathi. The delegation visited IRRI's agricultural machinery unit where agricultural engineer Dr. Rob Bakker explained to Minister Arumugam the tillering capacity of the PT-6 hand tractor. The IRRI-developed machine has a field tillering capacity of about 1–1½ hectares per 8-hour day.

A data synthesis workshop for Long-Term Phosphorus Experiment (LTPE) site researchers, aimed at analyzing and synthesizing LTPE data collected to date, was held from 28 August to 1 September at IRRI. The LTPE, established in 1994 under the Upland Rice Research Consortium, is generating data intended for predicting long-term P dynamics and synergistic effects of P on other components of soil fertility in tropical Asian uplands. The LTPE specifically focuses on understanding phosphate dynamics under a range of soils, soil P supply characteristics, production potentials, phosphate additions, and legume-fixed nitrogen inputs in rice-legume rotational systems. It also focuses on establishing a long-term database on phosphate dynamics for developing diagnostic and predictive tools and decision aids for economical management of P in the uplands. The LTPE is presently operating in Siniloan and Matalom, Philippines; Sitiung, Indonesia; Fang, Thailand; Hazaribag, India; and Thai Nguyen, Thailand.

Sri Lanka has finalized a national plan for hybrid rice research and development with assistance from IRRI. Details of the plan were discussed during a National Workshop on the Hybrid Rice Network involving officials from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and IRRI representatives. The meeting was held at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute in Colombo where Dr. Ren Wang, IRRI deputy director general for research, met with the Sri Lankan Minister of Agriculture and Lands, D. M. Jayaratne. During the workshop, Dr. Sant Virmani, plant breeder and deputy head of the Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biochemistry Division at IRRI, discussed hybrid rice in the tropics and major issues involved in the development of a national hybrid rice research and development plan. Sri Lanka presently grows about 30,000 hectares of hybrid rice, achieving yields 15 to 20 percent greater than those of the best semidwarf inbred varieties.

Jan E. Leach, a distinguished professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University and IRRI’s first adjunct scientist and plant pathologist in the Entomology and Plant Pathology Division, was recently named Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell congratulated Dr. Leach for her accomplishment in behalf of the Institute. "Your continued success as an internationally recognized scientist-academic engaged in food and agricultural research, most especially on rice, is extremely well deserved," Dr. Cantrell said. "IRRI and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research need more scientists like you. It is my hope that your success will inspire more young graduates to apply their skills in the developing world."

IRRI feted the retiring executive director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Dr. Santiago R. Obien, during a recent testimonial dinner at the Los Baños-based Institute. IRRI praised Dr. Obien for being an active partner in implementing various IRRI-PhilRice projects from 1991 to 2000. Dr. Obien also served as a member of the advisory committee for the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER) from 1994 to 1995 and as a national coordinator of INGER. These roles resulted in the systematic release of new rice varieties and farmers’ adoption of appropriate rice technologies in the Philippines. Described as one of the "guiding fathers of the Philippine rice industry," Dr. Obien, who led PhilRice from 1987 to 2000, was praised by IRRI as a dynamic scientific administrator who "effectively espoused and promoted IRRI’s rice science efforts in the Philippines and throughout Asia." The director general of IRRI, Dr. Ronald P. Cantrell, presented a plaque of recognition to Dr. Obien at the recent testimonial.

Gender specialist Thelma Paris and assistant scientist Lina Diaz of the Social Sciences Division of IRRI tested and demonstrated a rice flour mill to rural women in Rangpur and Rajshahi districts in Bangladesh recently. The activity was conducted in collaboration with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the Grameen Krishi Foundation (GKF). The rice flour mill, designed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), can process up to 10 kilograms of dry rice. A study on the technical efficiency and social acceptability of the machine will be carried out in Bangladesh in partnership with BRRI and nongovernment organizations such as GKF and CARE-LIFE International. The machine is envisioned to be an appropriate technology to improve the livelihood of rural women.

Four new scientists joined IRRI recently. They are Joseph Frederick Rickman, Dr. Gary N. Atlin, Dr. Gary C. Jahn, and Dr. Richard M. Bruskiewich. Mr. Rickman, former agricultural engineer of the Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP), joined IRRI’s Agricultural Engineering Unit as its new head. Specializing in farm mechanization and small-scale irrigation systems, Mr. Rickman was a tutor in agriculture at the University of Queensland, Gatton, and senior extension/development officer at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Australia, before he joined CIAP in 1995.

Dr. Atlin, who joined IRRI’s Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biochemistry Division as an upland rice breeder, was an associate professor in the Plant Science Department of Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Canada. He has also worked as research associate in corn breeding, University of Guelph, Canada; associate geneticist, International Potato Center, Lima, Peru; research assistant and research associate in oat breeding, Iowa State University; and edible oil flax breeder, Biotechnica Canada, Inc.

Dr. Jahn was a crop protection specialist of CIAP for the past five years. Now an insect ecologist for the Entomology and Plant Pathology Division, Dr. Jahn was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand; research assistant, University of Hawaii; a National Science Foundation Fellow, University of Tsukuba, Japan; American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, USAID; policy analyst, OTA, U.S. Congress; and USAID environmental consultant before he joined CIAP.

Dr. Richard M. Bruskiewich joined the Biometrics Unit as bioinformatics specialist. Dr. Bruskiewich was a postdoctoral research scientist at the Human Analysis/Informatics, Sanger Centre in Hinxton, United Kingdom. He obtained his Ph.D. in medical genetics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Bruskiewich brings to the Unit more than 20 years' experience in the fields of human genetics/genomics, computing science/engineering, and biochemistry. He has made significant contributions to the development of software needed to better understand the human genome. He was the principal developer of the original A C Elegans Database (ACEDB) software port from Unix to Microsoft Windows '95/NT 4.0 and has made several presentations on the subject in the United States, Canada, and various parts of Asia.

IRRI hosted an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Forum for Farmers on 19 July and an ICT for Agriculture exhibition from 17 to 21 July, highlighting the annual National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) celebrations in Los Baños, Philippines. The theme of the events was Science and Technology into the New Millennium. Organized by the Los Baños Science Community (LBSC), about 300 farmers learned about IRRI's latest rice varieties, integrated pest management, hybrid rice, new farm equipment, and biotechnology through field visits and briefings by scientists. TropRice, IRRI’s agricultural database, was featured during the exhibition. TropRice is an electronic training or information package and a non-interactive, grass-roots "how-to" information resource for farmers, researchers, and students that includes details on plant varieties, planting times, management practices, and even economic assessments. The LBSC serves as a forum for interagency cooperation and facilitates transfer and adoption of research results of its member agencies to clients and users. IRRI is among the 21 research organizations under the LBSC umbrella.

The IRRI Hour, the only one-hour radio program in the Philippines devoted to rice science, turned a year old last 2 August. The program highlights IRRI’s progress in rice research and features interviews with scientists and members of the Los Baños Science Community, as well as the Institute’s involvement in community development. The program is produced by the Public Awareness Unit in cooperation with the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños. It is broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday over DZLB-FM 97.4.

IRRI has adopted the Science and Technology School of Los Baños as well as the Makiling School, Inc., in Laguna, Philippines, under the Adopt-a-School Program initiated by the Los Baños Science Community (LBSC). Under this scheme, teachers in agriculture, technology, and home economics are encouraged to participate in rice production training courses at IRRI. The Institute's scientists and researchers also serve as resource persons in science classes on topics related to agriculture. Teachers and students also learn about various agricultural production technologies, conservation of rice biodiversity, and cultural practices in rice production during visits to the IRRI Riceworld Museum and Learning Center. Plans are also under way for a student-teacher orientation program on computerized library systems and training on the production and use of instructional support materials and other audiovisual materials at IRRI.

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