ricetoday vol. 6, no. 2

8/9/2019 RiceToday Vol. 6, No. 2

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River of riceBuilding success around the Mekong

ISSN 1655-5422

www.irri.org

International Rice Research Institute April-June 2007, Vol. 6, No. 2

Rising to the water challenge

The beauty of blackened earth

Rice in volcanic strife

SpecialMekongis


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contents

International Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.orgWeb (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.orgWeb (Rice Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.org

Rice Todayeditorialtelephone (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: a.barclay@cgia

cover photo 2007 Ken Driese, www.flickr.com/photos/kdriese

publisher Duncan MacintosheditorAdam Barclayart director Juan Lazaro IV

designer and production supervisor George Reyescontributing editors Gene Hettel, Bill HardyAfrica editor Savitri Mohapatra (Africa Rice Center WARDA)environment editor Greg Fanslowphoto editorAriel Javellanaphoto researcher Jose Raymond Panaligancirculation Chrisanto Quintanaprinter Primex Printers, Inc.

Rice Todayis published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the worldsleading international rice research and training center. Based in the Phil ippines and withoffices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused onimproving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers,particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information, visitthe CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org).

Responsibility for this publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in this publication

should not be construed as expressing IRRI policy or opinion on the l egal stacountry, territory, city or area, or its authorities, or the delimitation of its fboundaries.

Rice Todaywelcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Potential coare encouraged to query first, rather than submit unsolicited materials. Rassumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited submissions, whbe accompanied by sufficient return postage.

Copyright International Rice Research Institute 2007

EDITORIAL ................................................................ 4

Rice and life along the Mekong River

NEWS ........................................................................ 5

Perpetual funding for IRRI genebank

Mekong bran ch offi ce opens

Stocks falling, prices rising

Increased yields with elevated CO 2?

More GM problems in U.S.

Human genes for pharmaceutical rice

PEOPLE ..................................................................... 8

Cambodia honors former IRRI leaders

Wolf Prize for Agriculture to IRRI Board member

Award winner to join IRRI

Lao Ministry recognized

Keeping up with IRRI staff

MORE CROP PER DROP .........................................10Rice cultivation in the 21st century will need to feedmore people while reducing poverty and protectingthe environment. Success depends on how the riceindustry uses one of its most precious resources:water.

RICE AND THE RIVER .............................................14

A new research and development initiative is set tobuild on past successes and lay new foundationsfor prosperity in the countries that depend on theMekong River for their rice

MAPS ......................................................................23

Poverty and elevation in the Greater MekongSubregion

LESS SALT, PLEASE ................................................24

Farmers hampered by salt-affected soils in Bangladeshare set for relief as researchers breed salinitytolerance into locally popular rice varieties

BLACK SOIL, GREEN RICE .....................................26An extraordinary type of soil from South Americahas implications for both rice production and theenvironment in Asia

THE RICE MAN OF AFRICA ....................................28

Growing up in Sierra Leone, rice researcher MontyJones was encouraged to become a priest. I ts luckyfor Africa he didnt.

ACID WATER, HOT MUD, .......................................30

AND DAMAGED RICE

Two volcanic disasters in I ndonesias East Java Provinceare destroying rice crops and making life tough, ifnot impossible, for thousands of people

NEW BOOKS ...........................................................35

RiceGenetic sCollection CD

Economic costsofdroughtandricefarmerscopingmechanisms

RiceinLaos

BOOK REVIEW .......................................Innovations in rural extension

RICE FACTS ............................................

A balancing act

How do we produce enough food to fepopulation in the face of de clining groyields?

GRAIN OF TRUTH ..................................

Rice revolutions in Latin America

On the cover:The Mekong River,the worlds

13th longest(4,200 km)and 10th

largestby volume,winds through

extreme northwestern Yunnan

Province,China,beginning its

3,400-km journey to the South

ChinaSea through the six countries

of the GreaterMekong Subregion.

Learn aboutIRRIswork here on

pages14-22.


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NEWS http://ricenews.irri.org

Rice TodayApril-June 2007

An unprecedented new agreementinvolving the annual dispersal,in perpetuity, of US$600,000 was

unveiled on 12 March 2007 to help fundthe protection and management of the

worlds thousands of rice varieties.IRRI and the Global Crop Diversity

Trust announced the historic agreementat a special dedication ceremony atIRRIs Genetic Resources Center (GRC),

which houses more than 100,000samples of rice, the biggest and most

important collection in the world.The agreement offers stable, long-

term support to a collection of geneticdiversity that is estimated to include

at least 80,000 distinct rice varieties.The collection is kept in a specialearthquake- and fireproof facility that

is maintained at temperatures as lowas 19 degrees Celsius.

On the same day, IRRI alsodedicated the GRC to Te-Tzu Chang,the founder of the InternationalRice Germplasm Centerone of thepredecessors of the GRC. Dr. Chang,

who passed away last year in Taiwan,China, was a world authority on rice

genetics and conservation. He spent 30years at IRRI collecting and storing ricevarieties from all over the world. From

now on, the GRC will be known as theT.T. Chang Genet ic Resources Center.

The agreement, the first majorconservation grant made by the Trust,

reflects the long-term vision of bothorganizations. Short-term thinkingabout funding has wreaked havoc

with effective conservation, said CaryFowler, the Trusts executive secretary.

This agreement is probably uniqueamong funding contracts in having noend date.

Under the agreement, IRRI has

pledged to generate $400,000 annuallyto be invested in the genebank, which

will unlock $200,000 from the Trust

each year. The agreement allows forinflationary increases and will remain

in force indefinitely. Uses for themoney will include acquiring any rice

varieties not currently in the repositoryand making sure the storage systemsfor long-term conservation are up to

international standards.The rice genebank is not just a

scientific exercise in seed genetics but a major hedge against disaster

that ensures that farmers throughoutthe world will always have the rice

varieties they need to maintain foodsecurity, said IRRIs Director GeneralRobert Zeigler. Rice diversity, like

all crop diversity, is at risk for the want of relatively small amounts ofmoney. Given that we are talkingabout the biological base upon whichthe global food supply is built, it is

extraordinary that the current situationis so precarious.

The Luang Prabang, Laos, the IRRI-Greater Mekong S(GMS) Office was officially opribbon-cutting ceremony on 7

2007. IRRI is expanding its acthe GMS, which comprises CLaos, Myanmar, Thailand,

and Chinas southern proYunnan and Guangxi (seeRic

river on pages 14-22).Bounthong Bouahom,

general of the National Agand Forestry Research InstGary Jahn, IRRI represent

coordinator for the GMSribbon in front of 40 guests, representatives of Lao orgathat work with IRRI. The ribbo

was followed by a traditionalceremony, in which the co

joins together to welcome good wishes to new ventures

The office is staffed by ag

Benjam i n Sam s on, accOunheuane Phouthachit, aSommay Yasongkua. Randyand Hidetoshi Asai, Ph.D. studthe University of California, D

Kyoto University, respectivelbased in the new office.

Perpetual funding for IRRI genebank Mekong branch office

The international rice market is on a bull run, with a continuous up-ward trend in prices since 2002. The price for medium-quality rice hasreached nearly US$300, the highest level since 1996, and 70% higherthan in 2001, when it reached record lows. The production of rice hasremained below its demand for most years since 1998. Supply has there-fore been matched with demand by depleting stocks, which have reachedalarmingly low levelsclose to those of the early-1970s oil crisis.

The tight supply situation compared with demand, and consequenthigh and rising prices, is causing serious concern for low-income rice-importing countries (such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh).

According to the December 2006 Food Outlookreport of the Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, cereal prices are attheir highest levels in a decade.

Production and supply constraints, including typhoons, flodrought, diseases, and insect attacks, resulted in stagnating production in Asia in 2006. As a result, little overall growth iexpected in the region. The production forecast for Asia has bdowngraded to 570 million tonsonly half a million tons lesseasons level, but well below earlier expectations.

The report warned that global stockpiles at the close of thecrop seasons are set to be cut to less than 105 million tons. Tslightly below their opening level, and counter to previous exof rebuilding. The change in outlook stems from deterioratinprospects in several major producing countries, many of whicforced to further use their reserves to meet domestic consumfor exporters, export demand (see Rice Facts on page 37).

Stocks falling, prices rising

DR. JAparticiLao Ba

DEAN CHANG, eldest son ofT.T. Chang, shows a genebankrice sample to his children,Nathan and Erica, as hismother, Nancy, looks on.

JOSERAYMONDPANALIGAN


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NEWS http://ricenews.irri.org

Rice TodayApril-June 2007 Rice TodayApril-June 2007

arly Chinese farmingnalysis of charred plant remainsllected from the Yiluo valley , northernhina, has revealed that modernce (Oryza sativa) was introducedound 3000 BC, but at the time

as not an important local crop. Theudy, reported in the 16 January

007 Proceedings of the Nationalcademy of Sciences of the USA,

ed radiocarbon dating to determinestorical agricultural trends. Typical

orthern China agriculture, whichmphasized dry crops (millets, wheat,gumes) with some rice, appears to

ve been established at the latest by thearly Shang period (16001300 BC).

ce bran cuts cancer in micehe British Journal of Cancer hasported preclinical evidence that ricean has a positive effect on intestinalncer. The study, conducted at the

niversity of Leicesters Department

Cancer Studies and Molecularedicine, demonstrated that, bynsuming a daily dose of rice bran, the

T wo recent studies on the effectsof elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) rice give some cause for optimismout the impact of climate change

n rice production. In issue 118 ofe journal Agriculture, Ecosystems

nd Environment, Shimono et al

port the results of a Free-Air CO2-nrichment (FACE) experiment that

amined the effect of atmosphericO2 enrichment on lodging (fallinger) in a Japanese variety grown in

wate, Japan. As expected, under agh-nitrogen fertilizer regimewhich

ay be necessary for the increased

The U.S. Department of Agriculturehas given preliminary approvalto the production of rice engineered

to contain human genes. California-based biotechnology company VentriaBioscience wants to grow the rice inKansas, where officials have welcomed

the project.The rice would contain genes

that produce human immune-systemproteinsincluding antibacterialcompounds found in breast milk and

salivain its leaves. These would be harvested and refined for usein medicines to fight diarrhea anddehydration, which kill more than a

million infants and toddlers each yearin developing countries.

Environmentalists and food and

consumer advocacy groups are worriedthat the genes could be transferred to

food crops and enter the food chain.Although not inherently dangerous,there is potential for the proteinsespecially if consumed in unregulateddosesto cause allergic reactions, say

critics.

As Bayer CropScience continuesto face lawsuits from disgruntledrice growers over contamination of

commercial stocks by the companysLLRICE601 genetically modified (GM)rice, another contamination event hasunsettled the U.S. rice industry.

Trace amounts of another BayerGM rice, LLRICE62, were found in

Arkansas stocks of German companyBASFs Clearfield CL131 rice, whichis not GM. The U.S. Department of

Agriculture consequently ordered noplanting or distribution of CL131 seed.

The LLRICE601 contamination hashit U.S. rice growers, who have since

faced export hurdles in GM-wary Japanand Europe. Now, with two of the mostpopular seed varieties banned (CL131

and Cheniere, the only variety so farsubject to LLRICE601 contamination), a

significant proportion of the seed supplyis off the market. Industry analystsare worried that, with spring U.S. riceplantings already down an estimated1020%, U.S. rice supplies could be very

tight in the coming crop year.

INTO AFRICA: With the imminent closinbook storage facility at the Institutes pine headquarters, more than 17,000 I(with a retail value of more than US$1were sent via sea freight in February 2IRRIs new East and Southern Africa Rein Mozambique. From there, Joe Rickmrepresentative for the region, is redistrbooksseen above being boxed at heain preparation for shippingto underslibraries of local agricultural organizatiGregorio, IRRI rice breeder based at thRice Centers office in Nigeria, is arrangsimilar shipment to West Africa. Theresmaller shipments to IRRIs 11 countryAsia. New IRRI policies on publicationand printing negate the future need fostorage warehouse.

growth rates anticipated in high-CO2 conditionsplants grown undercurrent CO2 conditions were more

likely to lodge. However, under highCO2, part of the rice stem becamesignificantly shorter and thicker,thereby protecting against lodging.

In issue 100 of Field CropsResearch, Yang et al performed aFACE experiment to examine theeffects of elevated CO2 on rice yieldsin Wuxi, China. The researchers found

that nitrogen uptake under high-CO2conditions was generally enhanced,leading to average yield increases of13%. The authors suggest that, under

conditions of higher atmospheric CO2,nitrogen fertilizer recommendations willneed to be altered to take into account

the plants increased growth rate. Althou gh thes e res u lts are

encouraging for rice production,several studies have reported thatpotential gains may be countered bydeclining yields caused by the warmertemperatures predicted under higher

CO2 conditions.

number of precancerous adenomas in

the stomach and large intestine of micewas cut by half, on average, comparedto mice on the control diet. The effect

was dependent on the fiber content ofthe bran, about 29% in this case. The

results were published in the journals9 January 2007 online edition. Moreresearch is planned.

GM rice for the Philippines?The Phi l i p p i ne Dep artm ent of

Agriculture is reviewing an applicationfor commercial production of thefirst genetically modified rice to be

grown in the country. The Bureauof Plant Industry is investigatingthe technology, developed by BayerCropScience, to check that it is safe for

humans and the environment.

Rice boost for BruneiA rice variety derived from a breedingline developed at IRRI is set to

contribute to Bruneis rice production.Brunei Darussalam Rice One achievedgood results in farm tests in four

districts. The high-yielding (46 tons

per hectare) variety is resistant to waterlogging, is fertilizer-responsive,and can be grown year-round. It alsohas a short field duration (around 90days) so it can be grown two to three

times a year under irrigated conditions.The grain size is similar to that of

basmati rice and preliminary taste,texture, and scent tests were positive.

Chinese GM rice on holdThe com m erci al p rod u cti on of genetically modified (GM) rice inChina has been put on hold again. A

report by the Xinhua News Agencyquoted Lu Baorong, a member ofthe State Committee for the Safetyof Agricultural Transgenic Living

Things, as saying that the applicationfor commercialization was rejected inNovember 2006 because some safety-related data were missing. However, a

variety of pest-resistant GM rice was

approved for experimental production,the last step before commercializationcan be granted.

DNA on the cheapTo aid marker-assisted breedingprograms in developing-countryresearch institutes, IRRI has identifieds i m p le and cheap m ethod s f orextracting DNA from rice seedlings.

Six methods were evaluated for yield,purity, time required, cost, and abilityof the extracted DNA to be amplifiedto diagnostically useful quantities. The

best results were achieved by the so-called NaOH-Tris method and an IR RI-developed method, but NaOH-Tris wasalmost one-third the IRRI methodsprice. The researchers, publishing the

results in the journal Plant Breeding,therefore recommended the NaOH-Trismethod for use in many applicationsof marker-assisted selection or high-

resolution mapping.

The future of Thai riceGovernment rice stocks were scheduledto be traded for the first time via the

Agricultural Futures Exchange ofThailand (AFET) in March 2007. Ricefutures contracts have been traded

since late 2004 on the AFET, which

would trade only 40,00060,000tons of the governments 3-million-ton stockpile. The move is designedto boost trading on the commodityfutures exchange, which has fallen

due to the declining prices of severalkey commodities, especially rubber.

No futures for Indian riceMeanwhile, India has banned futurestrading in rice and wheat in an attemptto curb the fastest inflation seen for 2

years. Trading was due to stop onceexisting contracts expired on the

nations three exchanges. Spiralingwheat, rice, sugar, and pulse prices,which put pressure on the government,prompted the move.

Australian rice doldrumsThe U.S. Department of AgricultureGrain Quarterly Update 2007 hasforecast Australias 2007-08 rice

production at 126 million tonsadramatic decline of around 90% fromthe 1,048 million tons estimated for the

previous year. The fall is larg

an extreme shortage of irrigatand severe drought conditiothe crop cycle.

Rice for East TimorThe Timorese governmeassistance from the Unitedreceived a 300-ton rice sin February 2007, followi

shortage and rising prices. by the World Food Programwas distributed and was set tat US$2 per 5-kilogram bcontrasts with recent price

as $1 per kilogram. The shothought to have been driven bthan-usual harvest in rice-e

Vietnam.

Africa Rice presentationPresentations from the first ACongress, held in Tanzania froto 4 August 2006, are now

online at www.warda.cgafrica-rice-congress/presehtml.

ncreased yields with elevated CO2? More GM problems in U.S.

When Ventria Bioscience tried togrow the crop in southeast Missouri,

Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser

beer and the largest domestic riceconsumer in the U.S., threatened to

boycott all rice from the state if theplan was allowed. However, because

no commercial rice is grown in Kansas,there is no threat of contaminatingother rice crops.

A Peruvian study, sponsored by Ventria Bioscience, concluded that

children with severe diarrhea recovered1.5 days earlier if the salty rehydrationfluids they were administered weresupplemented with the rice-grown

proteins.Ventria Bioscience claims that

plant-based production is far cheaper

than other methods, and would helpmake the medicine more affordable in

the developing world.The Department of Agriculture's

draft environmental assessment,published on 28 February 2007,concluded that the project posed no

undue risks.

Human genes for pharmaceutical rice


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PEOPLE


For their contributionsto the revival of riceresearch and developmenti n Cam bod i a, Pr i m eMinister Hun Sen (photo,right) recognized formerIRRI directors general

M . S . S w a m i n a t h a nand Ronald Cantrel l

by bestowing on themthe Royal Government

Cambodias Sahametrei Medalictured,left). The prime minister madee announcement during ceremoniesat inaugurated the new facilities ofe Cambodian Agricultural Research

d Development Institute (CARDI) inhnom Penh on 9 January 2007 (seeesearch: Cambodia ushers in new

a on page 16). Dr. Swaminathan wase of the driving forces in CARDIs

ception when, back in 1987, heoposed establishing the projectsign team to prepare a plan to set up

ARDI. Dr. Cantrell, who was IRRI

National Research and DevelopmentConference on 15 March 2007.

Former IRRI Principal PlantBreeder and World Food Prize LaureateGurdev Khush has been appointedsenior adviser at the biotechnology

company Devgen. Announcing theappointment, Devgen Head of Researchand Development Robert Ackersonsaid, We are honored to be able to

benefit from Dr. Khushs guidance and

commitment. Devgen is currentlyin the process of expanding its rice-

breeding activities. Arvind Kumar joins the Plant

Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology

Division (PBGB), where he will developimproved germplasm for drought-prone rainfed lowland environmentsand efficient screening systems

for drought tolerance and weed

At the opening of IRRIs new Greater Mekong Subregion(GMS) Office on 12 January 2007, IRRI DirectorGeneral Robert Zeigler presented the current Lao Minister

of Agriculture and Forestry SitahengRasphone (pictured, left) with a plaquerecognizing Laos for its conservation of15,000 unique indigenous rice varieties

that will benefit future generations offarmers from Laos and beyond (SeeRiceand the river on pages 14-22).

Gary Jahn, IRRI representative andcoordinator for the GMS, said that the

collection is testament to a remarkableconservation effort that will serve as a valuable source of

breeding materials and insurance against future disaster.The seed samples are maintained by the Lao Agricultural

Research Center, with a duplicate collection stored at IRRI'sInternational Rice Genebank.

The important role, and impact, of women in rice research has beenhighlighted with the awarding of theLOral-UNESCO Women in Scienceawards for 2007 (UNESCO is theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific,and Cultural Organization). One of

the women recognizedGisella CruzGarca, 29 (pictured), a Peruvianscientist studying at WageningenUniversity in the Netherlandswill

carry out herPh.D. fieldworkin cooperation

with IRRI. She will join the

I n s t i t u t e a tits Philippineheadquarters

in late 2007.The award

will enable Ms.Cru z Garc ato further herstudies on how rice production in

the paddy fields of Kalasin Province,northeastern Thailand, could beimproved, while protecting the valueof other associated plants used for foodand medicine by local residents.

IRRI Director General RobertZeigler said there were two veryi m p ortant as p ects to Ms . Cru zGarcas research. She is one of thefirst researchers to try to quantify and

model the plantsranging from thetruly wild to the intensively managedin any agroecosystem. This is despitethe fact that many of these resources

are common to agroecosystems notonly in Asia, but around the world.Second, her work will radically expandthe modeling of agroecosystems and soenhance what we can achieve with crop

modeling for rice as well.Little research has been done on

the characterization of biodiversityin paddy rice agroecosystems, Ms.

Cruz Garca explained at the awardceremony. Because of this, one ofthe main benefits of the research

will be more realistic modeling ofsuch agroecosystems, with particular

emphasis on aspects critical to humanwelfare such as associated species usedas foods and medicine s.

IRRI Board of Trustees memberRonald Phillips (pictured) hasen awarded the 2006-07 Wolf Prizer Agriculture. Dr. Phillips, of theniversity of Minnesota, has servedn the IRRI Board since 2004 and

currently chair of the Programommittee and vice-chair of thexecutive Committee. He won the

Wolf Prize for Agriculture to IRRI Board member

prize jointly with Michel Georgesof the University of Lige, Belgium.

Both winners, who will share anhonorarium of US$100,000, were citedfor their groundbreaking discoveriesin genetics and genomics, laying thefoundations for improvements in crop

and livestock breeding, and sparkingimportant advances in plant andanimal sciences.

Dr. Phillips was the first person

to generate whole maize plants fromcells grown in culture, which sparkedthe use of cell-culture methods togenetically modify maize plants andother cereals. Fundamental studies in

Dr. Phillipss laboratory have identifiedcells and plants with increased levelsof essential amino acids and led tothe development of an efficient DNA

sequence mapping system used byplant scientists in genomics research.Dr. Phillips is also world-renowned forhis leadership and service in the fieldof plant science w ithin international

agricultural research communities andfor his teaching and student training inplant genetics.

ambodia honors former IRRI leaders

competitiveness. He is also of collaborating with scient

NARES and from developed on drought-related researchHernandezhas joined IRRI aof human resources. Bh

Singh Chauhan, who wilimproved weed managemenfor rice in rainfed and wateenvironments, joined the CEnvironmental Sciences Div

is also responsible for invethe seed biology of importa

weeds. Joong-Hyuon Chwill work on developing bregenotyping systems as we

tolerant of phosphorus-defichas joined PBGB. Ramil M

bioinformatics specialist, Crop Research Informatics L

as a postdoctoral fellow.

Award winner to join IRRI Lao Ministry honored

Did you know

ARIE

LJ

AVELLA

NA

Jerry Pat Crill, former IRRI plantpathologist, passed away on 17January 2007 at his home on his belovedLittle Manatee River, in Florida, USA.

Dr. Crill headed IRRIs plant pathologyprogram for 4 years starting in 1978.

Mahabub Hossain, head ofIRRIs Social Sciences Division, has

been recognized for his contribution to

capacity enhancement in social scienceresearch at the Philippine Rice ResearchInstitute (PhilRice). Dr. Hossainreceived a plaque of recognition from

Arthur Yap, secretary of the Philippine

Department of Agriculture, at PhilRices

Keeping up with IRRI staff

director general in 2000 when CARDIofficially opened, was instrumental in

strengthening IRRIs partnership withthe fledgling institution.

THE FLOWERofOryzabarthiialsowild rice,but the samegenus as cul-tivated rice,O. sativa.

GENE

HETTEL(2)

LORAL-UNESCO

Siene Saphanthong (left in photo), former IRRI Board of Trustees m(1996-2001), was honored by IRRI in Vientiane, Laos, on 11 JanuaIRRI Director General Robert Zeigler cited the retired Lao minister ture and forestry for his vision, dedication, and commitment, whicthe foundation for establishing Lao rice research capacity and ultimcountrys rice self-sufficiency.

That the product commonlymarketed as wild riceis not the same as the wild

r i ce that IRRI s ci enti s tsconserve and study? Its anaquatic cereal grain of thegenus Zizania , which has

been harvested and eaten by

indigenous North Americansfor centuries. Cultivated rice,

along with several wild spossessing traits thatresearchers have bred

popular varieties, is ogenus Oryza. Although

belong to the same pthe grass family, ZizaniOryza are not related c

enough to be what we conrelated genera.


6/21


The challenge for ricecultivation in the next 50

years is to feed more peoplewhile keeping prices low

benefit poor rice consumersd reducing production costs tonefit poor growers. At the same

me, water scarcity, drought,oding, and salinity increasinglyreaten the productivity of rice-sed systems (see map, right).

How can we meet this challenge?me solutions exist; others requireore investment in research. Nongle solution will fit all situations.lutions need to be evaluated

sed on impacts on the poor, one environment, and on the often

nrecognized ecosystem servicesat rice landscapes provide (see

your service, opposite).Rice systems are also social

stems. In many cases, they aresed on hundreds, even thousands,years of tradition. Unless solutions

e designed and implemented withe active participation and supportthe rice-growing communities,

they will not be successful.Rice is currently the staple

food of around 3 billion people, anddemand is expected to continue togrow as population increasesby1% annually until 2025 in Asia and

by 0.60.9% worldwide until 2050.While the bulk of the worlds rice

is grown and consumed in Asia,changing dietary preferences are alsoaffecting rice consumption in otherparts of the world. Rice demand is

increasing the most rapidly in Westand Central Africaby 6% each year.

So, where will the rice comefrom to feed these additional rice

consumers? To avoid destruction ofnatural ecosystems, increasing yieldson existing crop lands are the bestoption. This includes both irrigatedand rainfed land, although most

of the additional production willcome from irrigated lowlands, whichalready supply 75% of the worlds rice.

In some major rice-producing

countries, such as Bangladesh, thePhilippines, and Thailand, there isstill a large gap between actual andpotential yield. In these countries,

water and crop management

technologies hold the most immediatepromise. In other countriesnamely,China, Japan, and Koreathe yield

gap is already closing, and furtheryield increases are likely to come

from genetic improvement. Thismeans more research and investmentin breeding programs. In irrigatedlowlands with ample water supply, the

development of hybrid rice has thepotential to increase yield by 515%.

Many poor people spend 2040%of their income on rice alone. Thereduction in the price of ricefrom

US$1,000 per metric ton in 1960to an average of around $250 overthe past 5 yearsmay have donemore to benefit Asias poor thanany other single factor. Keeping

rice prices low remains in the bestinterests of poverty reduction inareas where rice is the staple food.

On the other hand, low prices

can hurt poor rice growers. Most ofthe worlds rice farming takes placeon small family-owned farms, with

average sizes varying by countryfrom 0.5 to 4 hectares. And, in many

areas, rice farming is the main sourceof employment. Increasing yieldsand reducing production costs arethe first steps for many families to

escape poverty. Rice-related policies,breeding programs, and water andland management technologies andpractices need to take into accountpossible impactspositive and

negativeon the poor who depend onrice as a source of food and income.

Interventions affect men andwomen differently because thedivision of labor in rice cultivation

is, in most countries, along genderlines. This means, for example, thatin areas where women do most of

the transplanting, changing

seeding can mean either an aburden or a source of employfor women, depending on wh

or not they are paid for their Purely technical approac

will not work. Any solutions to take into account that, in m

MAJOR RICE-GROWING areas and somethreats to productivity.

More crop per drop

ice cultivation in the 21st century

will need to feed more people while

educing poverty and protecting the

nvironment. Success depends on

ow the rice industry uses one of its

most precious resources: water.

y Sarah Carriger and Domitille Valle

FOR AN ESTIMATED 2,000 years, the rice the Philippine Cordilleras have provided with food and cultural and ecosystem sernow they are under threat. In 2001, theyto the UNESCOs list of World Heritage SiBasedonFAOSTATdata; preparedby CharlottedeFraiture, October2006.

What to do about water and rice?

Key findings for rice production from the comprehensive assessment of water main agriculture include the following: Keeping rice prices low, while reducing production costs, is crucial for poverty

in rice-growing and -consuming areas. Rice systems provide both food and ecosystem servicessuch as flood m

groundwater recharge, erosion control, and habitats for birds, fish, and other which need to be recognized and protected.

To keep up with the food needs of the worlds increasing population, rice cultivhave to adapt to water scarcity, drought, flooding, salinity, and climate changinvestment in research and extension is needed to meet these challenges.

Solutions need to be tailored to the specific physical and socioeconomic coevaluated in terms of impacts on the environment and on the health, income,security of poor rice growersboth men and women.

Because of the hydrological connectedness of rice fields and because of the uniqucultivation plays in many cultures, solutions need to be developed with comm

At your service

Depending on the method of cultivation and the physical characteristics of the landscape,ecosystem services provided by rice fields can include providing a habitat for birds, fish, and other animals, thus conserving biodiversity and

supplying additional food sources recharging groundwater mitigating floods controlling erosion flushing salts from the soil providing water filtration sequestering carbon regulating temperature and climateBut rice cultivation can also have negative impacts on the environmentpollutinggroundwater and surface water with agro-chemicals, raising water tables in areas with saline-or arsenic-contaminated groundwater, and releasing greenhouse gases (such as methane andnitrous oxide) into the atmosphere.Decisions increasing production and/or decreasing water requirements need to weigh bothecosystem services and negative environmental impacts.

ARIELJAVELLANA(2)


7/21


mmunities, rice cultivation is ate heart of social and religious life.

Over the coming decades,rmers, policymakers, and

searchers alike will need to adapt toveral threats to rice productivity.

In the next 25 years, 1520

illion hectares of irrigated ricee projected to suffer from some

gree of water scarcityparticularlyet-season irrigated rice in partsChina, India, and Pakistan. Evenareas where water is abundant,

tspots of water scarcity exist.onomic water scarcity, where lackfinancing prevents harnessing

ater resources for productive use,mits cultivation of the 22 million

ctares of dry-season irrigatedce in South and Southeast Asia.

Between a quarter and a thirdthe worlds tapped freshwater

Perhaps not as thirsty as you might think.At the field level, rice recei ves up to 23mes more water per hectare than any otherrop, but not all of this water is consumedevaporated from the field or taken up by thelants and transpired as water vapor).Under flooded condit ions, water

roductivity for rice is almost the sames that of wheat, when measured by themount of water actually consumed throughvapotranspiration per unit of grain.Nonproductive outflows of water by

unoff, seepage, and percolation are about550% of all water applied in heavy soilsith shallow water tables, and 5080%

n coarse soils with deep water tables.hough runoff, seepage, and percolationre losses at the field level, they are oftenaptured and reused downstream and do notecessarily lead to true water depletion athe irrigated area or basin scale.

Rice production

(5-year moving average)

Source: Paddy and Water Environment 2004.

Water for irrigation

(millions of cubic meters)

Rice production (thousands

of metric tons)

1 96 5 1 96 9 1 97 3 1 97 7 1 98 1

Year

1 98 5 1 98 9 1 99 3 1 997 2 0010

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700Water supplied for irrigation(5-year moving average)

DECREASING IRRIGATION water supplied while increasing production in ZangheIrrigation System, China.

Water, food, and lifeWater for food,water for life: acomprehensiveassessment of watermanagement inagriculture (editedby David Molden;published in 2007by Earthscan withthe InternationalWater ManagementInstitute; 688 pages).

How do we manage finite waterto feed two billion extra people,poverty, and reverse ecosystem deThis book brings together the wo700 researchers in the most compand authoritative assessmentresources ever written. Critically ecurrent thinking on water and itswith agriculture, the book cway forward with concrete actmanagement to policy across all

and territories. After framing issues and providing a compexamination of trends and sin world water management, critically examines the issues opoverty reduction, reforming infor sustainable water managemenor mitigating ecosystem impimproving water productivity. chapters follow, covering such kewater management as irrigation, gruse, inland fisheries, rice cultivaconservation, and river basin maand development.

The Comprehensive assessmenmanagement in agriculture isinitiative to analyze the benefiand impacts of the past 50 yeardevelopment and management in ato identify present and future cand to evaluate possible solution

For purchasing informatihttp://tinyurl.com/2qk2hl.

resources arealready usedto irrigate rice.Pressure to

reallocate waterfrom irrigatedagricultureto cities andindustries is

already affectingrice cultivation inmany parts of the

world. This type

of transfer can beaccomplished without a drop in riceproductivity (see figure, below), but itrequires a combination of supportivepolicies and the introduction of

improved practices and technologies.Increasing water scarcity may

also force a shift in rice production

to more water-abundant delta areas.And, in water-short areas, aerobic

rice productiongrowing ricewithout a standing water layerandirrigation regimes of alternate

wetting and drying may come to

predominate alongside a shift tononrice dryland crops such as maize.

Droughts, flooding, andsalinity are all current threats toproductivity, particularly in rainfed

areas, and they may increase inseverity under climate change.

Frequent droughts afflictapproximately 25 million hectaresof rainfed rice, primarily in eastern

India, northeastern Thailand, Lao

PDR, and Central and West Africa.Salinity affects another 912

million hectaresmostly in India,but also in Bangladesh, Thailand,

Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar.Salinity is a threat in deltas where sea

water intrudes inland and in someaerobic rice production systems.

Some 11 million hectares of

both irrigated and rainfed rice areprone to flooding. Even though riceis adapted to waterlogging, most

varieties can survive complete

submergence for only 3 to 4 days. Therecent development by researchersat the International Rice ResearchInstitute of submergence-tolerantrice, which can withstand 1014

days of submergence with up tothree times the yield of nontolerant

varieties, offers hope to farmers

in flood-prone areas (seeFromgenes to farmers fields on pages

28-31 ofRice Today Vol. 5, No. 4).In areas prone to drought,

salinity, and floods, the combinationof improved varieties and specific

management packages has thepotential to increase on-farm yields

by 50100% in the coming 10 years,provided that investment in researchand extension is intensified.

Groundwater developmentmost of it private and largelyunregulatedhas enabled smallrice growers in many areas toprosper, but unsustainable pumping

threatens the viability of these

production systems. For example,in the North China Plain, water

tables are dropping by 13 metersper year and in the northwest Indo-Gangetic Plain they are dropping

by 0.50.7 meter per year.Declining water tables due to

overpumping threaten not onlyagricultural productivity butalso human health, since many

communities are dependent ongroundwater for their drinking

water. In Bangladesh and partsof India, falling water tables have

been linked to contaminationof groundwater with naturally

occurring arsenic and fluoride.Climate change may affect rice

productivity in several ways. It isexpected to increase the frequencyof droughts and flooding, and to

increase temperatures, which willhave a negative impact on yields.Simulations find that for every 1C rise in mean temperature, thereis a corresponding 7% decline in

rice yield. Developing rice varietiesthat are less sensitive to highertemperatures is the only way tocope with rising temperatures.

Of the potential threats, waterscarcity and increasing competitionfor water in irrigated rice systemsare perhaps the most pressing

in terms of potential impact onoverall production levels.

There are various strategies forreducing the amount of water neededto grow rice, but all of these options

have different impacts in terms ofenvironmental sustainability andecosystem services. Take alternate

wetting and drying, for example.

Moderate regimes can reduce fieldwater application by 1520% withoutaffecting yield, can reduce disease-causing vectors, and produce lessammonia volatilization and fewer

methane emissions. But drawbacksinclude fewer options for informalreuse downstream; more weed

growth and pests and a consequentneed for more chemical applications

and/or labor; reduction in soil fertilityover time and, eventually, greaterneed for fertilizer; higher nitrousoxide emissions and nitrate leaching;

and habitat loss for some species.There is good scope to increase

water productivity by lesseningnecessary total water inputs per unitof productionespecially by reducing

seepage and percolation losses.Currently, most breeding programsfocus on rice breeding under ponded

water conditions, but to address waterscarcity and increasing competition

for water, breeders need to startlooking at high-yielding varietiesunder aerobic growing conditions andalternate wetting and drying regimes.

The biggest water savings atthe field level come from reducingseepage, percolation, and surfacedrainage flows, but these may notresult in savings at the irrigation

system or basin scales. Water-saving measures at the fieldlevel include land leveling, farmchannels, and good puddling and

bund maintenance. Minimizingturnaround time between wet landpreparation and transplantingcan also save water by reducingthe time when no crop is present,

therefore minimizing water loss.In irrigated systems, integrated

approaches that take into account

the options for reuse of waterfor conjunctive use of surfacand groundwater offer the beforward to improve total watefficiency at the system scale

Sarah Carriger is a science writer a

communications consultant. Domi

Valle is an assessment facilitator aInternational Water Management I

This article is based onRice: Feedin

the Billions (authors BAM BoumanBarker, E Humphreys, and T P Tuon

which is Chapter 14 of the bookWa

for food, water for life: a comprehe

assessment of water management

agriculture. For more information,

www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment.

a na ging a te rre s ourc e s i s one of the mos tre s s i ngc hal l e nge s ofourtimesfundamentaltoho efeed2 illionmore eolein comingdecades,eliminateoverty, andreverseecosystemdegradation.This Comrehensive

ssessmentofater anagementingriculture,involvingmorethan700 lead-ingsecialists,evaluatescurrentthinkingon ateranditsinter layith agricul-tu re tohe l c ha rtthe a y fora rd. I tof fers a c ti ons fora te rma na geme nta nd

ater olicytoensuremoreequitaleand effectiveuse.

Thisassessmentdescrieskey ater-food-environmenttrendsthatinuenceourlivestodayandusesscenariosto e loretheconsequencesofarange ofotentialinvestments.Itaimstoinforminvestorsand olicymakersaout ater

andfoodchoicesin lightofsuch crucialinuencesas overty,ecosystems,governance,and roductivity.Itcoversrainfedagriculture,irrigation, ground-

ater,marginal-qualityater, sheries,livestock,rice,land,andriver asins.mleta les,grahs,andreferencesmakethisan invaluale orkfor ractitio-

ners,academics,researchers,andolicymakersin atermanagement,agricul-ture,conservation,anddeveloment.

Theorld atercrisis has caughtus unaares, ith aseries of local hydrological inch-oints raidly escalatingintoagloal andemicof emty rivers,dry oreholes,and reckedetlands as rofound as,and often linked to,climatechange.The atercrisis has adly

needed its equivalentof thereorts of theIntergovernmental anel on ClimateChange. ndfortheto-thirds of theorlds aterthatis used foragriculture,theComrehensivessess-mentrovides justthat.Timely,forensic,and uninchingin its analysis,forard thinkingandstrategicin its search forractical solutions,this is alandmark.

Fredearceu t h r f henhe ier s unr andf requent cntr iut r t ewcientist

This assessmentis critical.otonly ecauseitconcerns acritical liferesourcelike ater.utecauseitinvolves an assessmentthatis comrehensive,analytical,and timely.Theissue

mustecome theorlds osession:groingand eatingfood thatis ater-rudent.I ouldencourage,indeed urge,you tousethis rich and rigorous assessmenttomakechanges in

olicy and ractice.

uni t aara in, t ckhlm a t er r iz e inner 5irectr, entre frcience andEnvirnment

ake-u ca ll toolicymakers, ringingattention,understanding,and ultimately hoetothecrucial need foretteragricultural atermanagementin all its forms tofeed futuregenerationsand sustain thrivingrural communities and ecosystems.

eterLeeresident, Internatinal mmissin nIrrigatinand rainage AComprehensiveAssessmento

.earthscan.co.uk

Geography/ griculture

I 978-1-84407-396-2

FLOODED RICE FIELDS serve as a habitat formany species. The Ramsar Convention on Wet-lands recognizes flooded rice fields as human-made wetlands. If such fields are convertedto dryland crops or aerobic rice cultivationdue to water scarcity, the impact on wetlandbiodiversity needs to be considered.

WOMAN in Pothala, Nepal, enjoysview of terraced rice fields,

ose potential ecosystem serviceslude groundwater recharge andod and erosion mitigationandhaps scenic beauty, too.

BASBOUMAN

IN WATER-SHORT AREAS, aerobicrice productiongrowing ricewithout a standing water layermay come to predominate.

ARIELJAVELLANA(2)

How thirsty is rice, really?


8/21

Wars ripped apart thesocial fabric of theMekong basin in the

1960s and 1970s,bringing suffering anduncertainty to millions

Southeast Asians. However, several

tions of the Greater Mekongubregion (GMS), one of A sias most

mportant rice bowls, have madecredible steps toward recoveringom those terrible timesthanks in

small part to rice research. Theternational Rice Research InstituteRRI), with the enduring supportconcerned donors such as the

ustralian Agency for Internationalevelopment, the Swiss Agencyr Development and CooperationDC), and the Asian Development

ank, has helped the people of the

MS regain their food security in thetermath of the conflicts (see Rice

nd life along the Mekong River on

page 4 andResearch: Cambodiaushers in new era on page 16).

The GMS includes Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam,and Chinas southern provinces

of Yunnan and Guangxi (see map,above right). IRRIs success here,

while impressive, is incomplete andsome dreams are yet to be fulfilled,

according to Gary Jahn, IRRIsrepresentative and coordinatorfor the Institutes new office in theGMS. With 25% of the Subregionsinhabitants (some 75 million poor

rice growers and consumers) stillbelow the poverty line, muchwork remains to be done.

Poor rural families growingrainfed rice in unfavorableenvironments have not yet reapedthe benefits of rice research, saysDr. Jahn. These include farmers

growing rice in drought- or flood-prone areas, in saline or other poor-quality soils, or in unsustainableslash-and-burn systems.

In 2006, some of these age-old problems of Asian rice farmers

were accentuated with floods,drought, and pests that hit the GMSparticularly hard. In Thailand,

thousands of farmers saw their cropsinundated by record flooding thatalso affected Cambodia and Laos,

while in Vietnam, farmers watched

helplessly as insects destroyed riceworth millions of dollars in one ofthe worst pest outbreaks in recenthistory. Because these climate-related

events are predicted to continue wellinto the future, IRRI researchers areaccelerating their efforts to overcomethese problems by tailoring therice plant, or the way it is grown,

for these harsh environments.For example, IRRI and the GMSs

six national agricultural research

A new research and development initiative is set to build on

past successes and lay new foundations for prosperity in the

countries that depend on the Mekong River for their rice

Rice and the river

and extension systems (NARES;

the institutions and organizationsresponsible for developing anddisseminating rice technologiesin IRRIs partner countries) have

initiated many activities to improverice production, especially inunfavorable areas, aimed at producingeconomic and environmental benefits(see table on page 17 andPeople:

providing help on pages 18-19).The main challenge, in the

immediate future, says Dr. Jahn,

is coordinating between and

among various rice research development initiatives in thSubregion. Since IRRI, donoand the national government

have invested considerable cand resources in conductingstudies and designing projecit is crucial that these efforts

be complementary, rather th

contradictory or competitiveThe mechanism to meet

challenge became a reality on

by Gene Hettel and Meg Mondoedo


A BOAT LADEN sacks destined market makes ithe Mekong RivProvince, Vietna

MEKONG SPECIAL


9/21


Research: Cambodia ushers in new era

The second week of January 2007 was truly a busy one in the GreaterMekong Subregion with not only the opening of the IRRI-GMS Officen Vientiane on Friday but also the official inauguration of the newacilities at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Developmentnstitute (CARDI)in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. The CARDI festivitiesnly served to reinforce the view that significant progress is beingade in the GMS.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen presided over the early-orning event, which was attended by a large crowd of more than,000 diplomats and ambassadors; international visitors; teachersnd students; Buddhist monks; farmers; officials of the Ministry ofgriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries; and CARDI staff members.The prime minister acknowledged IRRIs overall help in establishing

ARDI through the very successful Cambodia-IRRI-Australia ProjectCIAP). He also mentioned IRRIs reintroduction of more than 750ambodian rice varieties to the countryvarieties that were losturing the years of war and hunger when people resorted to eatingheir seeds.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister Chan Sarun reportedn CARDIs achievements, which include doubling Cambodian riceroduction from 1.2 tons to 2.4 tons per hectare and more thanoubling its scientific staff from 50 in 2000 to the current 121.

Your presence today is testimony of great attention to agriculturalresearch, which is a vital foundation for contributing to povertyreduction and national development, Dr. Sarun said.

Dr. Sarun also thanked CARDIs donors and development partnerssuch as the Asian Development Bank (which provided the loan tobuild the new infrastructure), the Australian Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the Australian Center for International AgriculturalResearch, the Rockefeller Foundation, the McKnight Foundation,the Korea International Cooperation Agency, and the CanadianInternational Development Agency.

CARDI now has new research, training, administration, anddormitory buildings, plus the recently completed Plant BreedingCenter (below left). Contrast this with the research facilities destroyedduring the chaos of the 1970s such as the Toul Koktrap Station inSuay Rieng (below right). New main roads, fences, and irrigation andcanal systems complete CARDIs improvement agenda.

In addition to new infrastructure, CARDI is also entering intoexciting new collaborative projects, such as the PROVIDE (PovertyReduction Options Validated In Drought Environments) project, inconjunction with IRRI and the nongovernmental organization PlanInternational (see People: providing help on pages 18-19).

12 January 2007 in Vientiane,Laos, when a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU), whichestablished a new IRRI office

for the GMS, was signed and aribbon-cutting ceremony markedthe official opening. In signing thehistoric document, IRRI DirectorGeneral Robert Zeigler and Lao

Minister for Agriculture and ForestrySitaheng Rasphone (left and right,respectively, in photo) confirmedthat IRRIs framework for regional

cooperation logically complementsthe Institutes continued strongrelationship with Laos.

This MOU gives full cognizanceto the existing commitment of IRRI

to rice research in the GMS, saidDr. Zeigler during the c eremony.To this end, IRRI and the NARES

of the six nations will formulate anagreed strategy for rice research

collaboration and technology transferto improve food security, reducepoverty, improve livelihoods, andprotect the environment of the

Subregion. Coordinating our researchefforts here will increase the paceand quality of development.

Minister Sitaheng added: ThisMOU is an important indication

of the way both IRRI and Laos arepositioning themselves to respond toregional challenges in rice research.The heart of that response is aresearch partnership for the benefit

of Laos and its neighbors. Laos isproud to be selected as the hub forrice research in the GMS. It is asymbol of our progress in science and

our reputation as a good neighbor.The Agriculture Minister

pointed out that the 16-year Lao-IRRI collaboration has resulted inthe conservation of 15,000 samples

of traditional rice varieties, theestablishment of a National RiceResearch Program, the release of 18modern varieties, and a 70% increase

in rice production since 1990.Why locate the IRRI-GMS Office

in Laos? There are several goodreasons. All rice ecosystems of theGMS are represented in Laos, which

has the greatest diversity of rice andthe largest collection of indigenousrice accessions in the region. Laos is

geographically thecentral GMS nation,sharing a common

border with all of the

other five countries.As such, Laos isclose to the MekongRiver Commissionand other bodies

dealing with theGMS. Further, thereis high potentialfor the country to

contribute to and gain from havinga pivotal role in the GMS riceresearch networks, and capacity

building in Laos needs to continue.The Lao-IRRI Rice Research

and Training Project (known simplyas the Lao-IRRI Project), which

concluded in December 2006the longest running bilateralin IRRIs history (see Genuin

Lao on pages 22-27 ofRice TVol. 5, No. 2). Through the IR

GMS Office, technical suppocontinue for the research pro

Activity Laos Thailand Cambodia Vietnam China

Aerobic ricedevelopment

Salt-tolerant ricedevelopment Drought- and flood-resistant rice Making upland ricesustainable Intensifying favorablerainfed rice Site-specific nutrientmanagement Hybrid ricedevelopment

Preserve nationalgenetic resources andrice biodiversity

Interplanting ricevarieties for diseasecontrol

Insecticide reduction Stem borer resistance Weed management indirect-seeded rice Postharvest handlingand storage

Improving researchand extensionlinkages through ICT

Characterizing andimproving grainquality

Blast resistance

IRRI activities in the GMSGENEHETT

EL(3)

GLENNDENNING

A CROWD of more than 4,000attended the dedicationceremonies at the Cambodian

Agricultural Research andDevelopment Institute inPhnom Penh.

MEKONG SPECIAL


10/21

Theres not enough rice to feed my family,says Pong Leut, 45, a poor villager inmbodias Siem Reap Province as she andr neighbor, Khloem Neut, 41, make basketsng the roadside. Both women bemoan the

ious rice shortage in Tatrav village.Our harvest lasts for only 6 months; then,the rest of the year, we have to buy rice forr children, says Ms. Leut. We make basketsearn some of the money to buy our rice.will be very happy if rice production here

n be increased.A collaborative project of the nongovernmentalganization Plan International (Plan),e Cambodian Agricultural Research andvelopment Institute (CARDI), and IRRI isming to do just thatincrease local riceoduction. The project is a shining example

of new development initiatives being made inthe GMS. During the second week of January2007, Rice Todayvisited Siem Reap Province,about 50 minutes by plane northwest of thecapital, Phnom Penh, to see firsthand how

the new effortcalled PROVIDE (PovertyReduction Options Validated In DroughtEnvironments)is set to help this regionspoor rice farmers.

PROVIDE is fully funded by Plan. Theidea for this project began when Plan staffmembers Sandy Fortua, Eleanor So, and JohnMcDonough saw the need to address riceproblems in the villages where they were tryingto boost childrens education. It was clear thathelping poor villagers to educate their childrenwould depend on being able to produceenough rice without their children having to

work on the farm atthe expense of theirschooling. To makematters worse, thetarget villages were

often hit by drought,so failed crops andf o o d s h o r t a g e swere common. So,Plan asked IRRI ifanything could bedone to improve therice situation. CARDIwas brought in as apartner with local rice knowledge andPROVIDE was born.

Along with CARDIentomologist PreapVisarto, we caught upwith Plan communityd e v e l o p m e n tfacil itator MoeunThearith and Ek An,leader of Tatrav, oneo f PROV IDE s s ixtarget villages. Hometo around 220 very poor families, Tatrav is atypical village and, as such, provides a sharpcontrast to nearby Siem Reapgateway toCambodias number-one tourist attraction, theruins of Angkor Wat and surrounding templeswhere economic activity is booming.

Plan works world-wide to achieve lastingimprovements for poor children in developingcountries. According to Mr. Thearith, teaming

up with CARDI and IRRI is a natural step giventhe influence of rice on families economicfortunes.

Earlier in 2006, Gary Jahn, IRRIs GMScoordinator based in the Lao capital ofVientiane, visited the region with IRRI andCARDI scientists to identify PROVIDEs sixtarget villages in Siem Reap and Kong Champrovinces and to assess their constraints torice production.

It became very clear that there are stronglinks among education, labor, water, and foodsecurity, says Dr. Jahn. With an average farmsize of only 0.5 hectare, most farmers dont

have enough land to grow enough rice for theirfamilys needs.

In some villages, the farmers are sendingtheir children to schools built by Plan, but thisis creating labor shortages back on the farm.As a case in point, Ms. Leut has asked one ofher daughters to leave school and stay hometo help on the farm.

Dr. Jahn explains that the lack of water forces

farmers in this drought-prone region to usesome highly labor-intensive crop managementstrategies, such as late transplanting with oldplants, 100% hand weeding, and plantingandtherefore harvestingat the same time. Thisleads to a shortage of labor, since the villagersmust each harvest their own fields insteadof following the more traditional patternof everyone helping harvest each field as itmatures (something that is possible whendiverse varieties are grown, and which areplanted and harvested at different times). IRRIand CARDI researchers think that they can helpby introducing faster maturing rice varietiesin

some cases enabling two crops a year.Wed like to get some drought- and

submergence-tolerant varieties into Siem Reapwhere water shortages and floods are bothperennial problems, says Dr. Jahn. Directseeding in rows might be an option for somefarmers.

After explaining the objectives of PROVIDEto Tatrav village leader Ek An and a group of

interested farmers, Dr. Visarto believes thevillagers are keen to be part of the project.They are interested in learning how to increaserice production by using new technologies, hesays, and they are willing to participate if thiswill help solve their rice shortage.

Local involvement will be crucial, and not just in terms of farmers receiving training.Hong Hom, a 56-year-old father of five, hasbeen recruited to play a key role in PROVIDEsTatrav activities. As a school teacher who alsogrows rice, he is an ideal candidate. Mr. Hom isset to help with technology transfer, which willinvolve teaching and training farmers.

eople: providing help

In March 2007, staff from IRRI, Plan met with extension workers ain Tatrav and other project sitesthe findings of earlier surveys. were grim: only a quarter of thad enough rice for the whole ycoped by selling assets, seekingthe forest, or simply tolerating thTwo activities were proposed: de

local version of Rice Check (a shelps farmers carry out key managethroughout the season, increasinhelping farmers to improve their mpractices), and testing of newInitially, farmers will test CARDvarieties. Eventually, short-duratiohigh-yielding varieties from bothIRRI will be tested. Next, Plan andselect and brief farmer-participantCARDI will draw up detailed proCARDI will train Plan and extenwho will implement the project the coming season.


itiated in the Lao-IRRI Project.ith generous support from SDC,e Lao-IRRI Project has also beene of IRRIs most successful efforts

r building national researchpacity, improving rice production,d preserving the diversity of ricermplasm (rice seeds and tissues).

As the IRRI-GMS Office also

rves as the IRRI Country Office foraos, it provides technical advice andpport to the rice research program

of the Lao National Agricultural andForestry Research Institute (NAFRI).For example, IRRI is currently

working with the program to develop

landscape management systems forthe sustainable production of rice inthe uplands as part of a stable cropdiversification program to replaceslash-and-burn agriculture. It takes

years for vegetation to return hillsidesthat have been slashed and burned.

Airline passengers flying the 400-

km route north from Vientiane toLuang Prabang can immediately seethe consequences of the destructivepractice (see centerfold, pages 20-21).

With the closing of the Lao-IRRI Project, the consensus isthat establishing the GMS regionaloffice in Vientiane will enable IRRIand NAFRI to build on the close

working relationship developedover the past 16 years. The officein Vientiane is expected to attract

donor funding because of the ongoingneed for capacity building and moreinvestment in infrastructure in Laos.

A few hours after the MOU

signing, Drs. Zeigler and Jahn (rightand left, respectively, in photo)cut the ribbon to formally open theIRRI-GMS Office, witnessed byrepresentatives from the embassies

of the five surrounding countriesas well as Japan, the United States,the Philippines, and India. Also continued on page 22

present were representativesfrom SDC, the Lao Ministriesof Agriculture and Forestry andForeign Affairs, and numerous

nongovernmental organizations andinternational development agencies.

Were very grateful to theLao government for agreeing tohost the office and providing such

excellent cooperation and support,Dr. Zeigler told those assembled.

NG LEUT and Khloem Neut (left and right, respectively, in the foreground), along with other Tatrav villagersd their children, welcome efforts to increase local rice production.

WITH TATRAV VILLAGERS looking on,CARDI entomologist Preap Visarto (right)discusses the logistics of establishing thePROVIDE project with Moeun Thearith,Plan International community develop-ment facilitator (left), and Ek An, villageleader.

PAO LY, protector of some of theprevious seasons rice crop, pre-pares to distribute some of theprecious grain to her neighborsin Tatrav village.

MEKONG SPECIAL


11/21

TodayApril-June 2007, Vol. 6, No. 2 Flying over northern Laos, airline passengers see smoldering, patchy hillsidesthe result of slash-and-burn


12/21


To develop effective poverty

reduction strategies, weneed to understand what thegeographic patterns of poverty

are, and what causes these patterns.

A first step is poverty mapping.Here, we show a detailed map of thepoverty ratio in four countries inthe Greater Mekong Subregion. Thepoverty ratio is the percentage of

the population that has an income(or level of consumption) belowthe national poverty line. Thailand

Welcome to the first of what will be a regular RiceToday Maps page. Each issue, the magazine willfeature a map generated by IRRIs geographers,

who use geographic information systems (GIS) and

other computer tools to analyze spatial variationin rice production and the factors that influence

it. While technologies developed at IRRI helpfarmers on the ground, the information gainedthrough satellite images and geographic modelingcan help us see the big picture and ensure that

research, funding, and policies focus on appropritechnologies and strategies in the right places.

is least poor, but its mountai

areas are poorer than its lowjust like in Laos and Vietnamremarkable how similar the sis on each side of the Vietnam

border. In Cambodia, the situis less clear, with poor areas some highlands but also in thfloodplain of the Tonl Sap L

Text and map: Robert Hijmans,

IRRI Social Sciences Division.

Poverty and elevation in the Greater Mekong Subreg

Data sources: Minot N, Baulch B. 2005. Spatial patterns of poverty in Vietnam and their implications for policy. Food Policy 30:461-475; Fujii T. 2004. Comestimation of poverty measures and its application in Cambodia. WIDER Research Paper 2004/48; van der Weide R. 2004. How poverty came on the map in World Bank; Healy AJ, Jitsuchon S, Vajaragupta Y. 2003. Spatially disaggregated estimates of poverty and inequality in Thailand. World Bank.

Observers at a recent training and field demonstration on using a new small-scale combineharvester (pictured) were excited about what they saw. The demo, which took place infront of farmers, machine operators, extension workers, manufacturers, machine serviceproviders, local consultants, and government officials in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia, on31 January4 February 2007, is another indication of advances being made in the GreaterMekong Subregion (GMS).

The Postproduction Work Group of IRRIs Irrigated Rice R esearch Consortium, through anAsian Development Bank-funded project, has teamed up with Nong Lam University in HoChi Minh City, Vietnam, and the Provincial Department of Agriculture in Prey Veng. They areworking to transfer the technology to farmers in Cambodia and neighboring Laos to helpthem minimize their rice harvest losses and costs.

According to Martin Gummert, IRRI postharvest development specialist, harvesting costshave increased recently in many provinces of Cambodia and Laos.

Urbanization and attractive labor markets in neighboring Thailand are causing increasinglabor shortages during the peak harvest season, he says. Farmers are competing with eachother for the same few available laborers from cutting and threshing to cleani ng and haulingto their homes. The total cost for these activities is US$6570 per hectare. The estimatedlocal operating cost for the mini combine is around $35 per hectare, leaving a good marginto provide profit to the operator and reduce the current high harvesting cost for farmers.

The demonstrations, conducted in three areas in Prey Veng, were met with positiveresponses from Prey Veng Governor Ung Samy and officials from the Departments of AgriculturalEngineering and Agricultural Extension, as well as potential operators and more than 150villagers. Combine specialists from the Vietnamese manufacturer and Nong Lam Universityprovided training on maintenance and machine use, and helped the local Provincial Departmentof Agriculture team demonstrate the combine.

In Vietnam and the Philippinescountries facing similar problemsmini combineharvesters are gaining popularity among farmers.

The combine has a capacity of 11.5 hectares per day and costs less than $5,000,says Mr. Gummert. It consists of a cutter-bar, a small axial-flow thresher, and a built-incleaner that delivers threshed, pure grains straight into a sack. The machine, which needsonly three operators, is highly mobile, can be used in flooded fields, and can be servicedby local machine shops.

Farmers can benefit in two ways from the mini combine, says Meas Pyseth, an IRRIconsultant based in Cambodia. First, they can get their crop harvested cheaper; second, theycan sell more and better quality grain because they can reduce the shattering of overmaturegrain and maintain good quality through timely harvesting.

According to Mr. Gummert, this activity is an example of the integrated approach of IRRIspostharvest group to provide rice farmers with options to maximize their profits.

We work with the relevant international and national stakeholders from the privateand public sectors to introduce appropriate technologies, he explains. We then arrangetechnology options and capacity building for farmer intermediaries. We also encourage supportfor local small and medium enterprises that will ensure after-sales service to farmers. Theresult is a sustainable improvement in farmers income.

o meet the needs of the growingMS population, 20 years fromw, average irrigated rice yieldsust increase by 60% and rainfed

elds by 100%. Although this willa major challenge, it is possible,d IRRI has done it beforeine 1970s, the Green Revolutionised rice yields in India by 30%

d bought India the vital time torb its population growth withoutffering a recurrence of thevastating famines of the 1940s.

Working with the nationalsearch programs of the GMS, IRRIs developed a research strategyreduce crop losses from floods,ought, and pests, while improving

e yield potential and managementficiency of the most popular ricerieties. According to Dr. Zeigler,

RRIs most recent success in thisea is the discovery of a gene that

ables rice to survive completebmergence for 2 weeks (seeFromnes to farmers fields on pages

8-31 ofRice Today Vol. 5, No. 4).

he gene is being incorporatedto several popular rice varieties,cluding a variety of Lao sticky rice.

Its estimated that suchnovations could save 20,000 to

,000 hectares of rice annuallyLaos alone, Dr. Zeigler added.rojects of this nature are ine common interest of all GMStions, and by working together

ell achieve better results faster.After the ribbon-cutting, the

ests joined a traditional Laoremony calledBasi, during

hich white cotton strings are tiedpeoples wrists to symbolizeppiness and prosperity.

To further showcase thew IRRI-GMS Office in

entiane, the Consortium fornfavorable Rice Environmentsld its sixth annual meeting inentiane on 21-22 February and

e IRRI Board of Trustees isanning to hold its September

007 meeting there as well.A healthy rice industry is crucial

a prosperous GMS. Building on

e achievements that came beforethe IRRI-GMS Office is set tolp this vision become a reality.

Technology: small machine solves big problem

MAPS


MARTINGUMMERT

MEKONG SPECIAL


13/21


Salt makes its way into therice paddies of coastalBangladesh every which

way. During the dry season,when the flow of fresh water

t to the mouth of the Ganges iseakest, saltwater rides inland one tide and saline groundwater

ses and spreads laterally acrosse delta. Salinity is less prevalent

uring the monsoon but can stillison rice crops as it lingers in the

soil, percolates into paddies fromthe brackish ponds of neighboringshrimp farmers, and, during

drought, rises as in the dry season.Nearly 1 million hectares along

the Bangladesh coast are affected byvarying degrees of salinity, reportsZeba Islam Seraj, a professor of

biochemistry and molecular biologyat the University of Dhaka. Salinitygradually declines as you go from

west to east, from Satkhira, whichis highly saline, through Khulna,

Barisal, and Noakhali, wheresalinity is moderate but widespread.Continuing further to the southeastalong the Chittagong coast, there are

some pockets that are highly saline.Dr. Seraj is a co-principal

investigator of a project in theGeneration Challenge Program(GCP)an initiative to use molecular

biology to help boost agriculturalproduction and, consequently,the quality of life in developingcountriesthat aims to revitalize

marginal rice lands by discoveringand breeding into popular rice

varieties genes for tolerating soils thatare saline or deficient in phosphorus(see Opposites attract attention

on pages 34-36 ofRice Today Vol. 5,No. 2). As the focal collaborator inBangladesh, she is responsible for the

molecular evaluation and selection ofrice lines bred by the Bangladesh RiceResearch Institute (BRRI) to insert

into popular farmers cultivars thegeneSaltol, short for salt tolerance.

Using marker-assisted selection,which allows rapid screening of largenumbers of plants, the International

Rice Research Institute (IRRI)and its collaborators in the GCPproject have mappedSaltolwhichaccounts for 4065% of the salttolerance observedto a small

segment of rice chromosome 1.Importantly,Saltoland the otheridentified loci confer salinitytolerance at the seedling stage.

This is essential in themonsoon season, when salinitytolerance is mainly needed duringseedling transplantation and fora few weeks thereafter, until the

monsoon rains have washed the saltfrom the soil, explains AbdelbagiIsmail, the IRRI senior plantphysiologist who is the principal

investigator of the GCP project.Rice is susceptible to salinity

during two periods of its growthcycle. The first is the seedling stageand the second begins a few days

before panicle initiation and endswith flowering and pollination. AsDr. Ismail explains, salt tolerance at

the seedling stage is sufficient for thecrop grown in the monsoon season,known as aman, from June or Julyto October, provided that there is no

drought. This is the traditional seasonfor rice cultivation in Bangladesh,

but the spread of tube wells inrecent years has allowed farmersto irrigate and grow a second crop

in many areas. For this expandedboro (dry) season, farmers seedrice in November and transplantseedlings in December and January.

The seedlings initially growslowly due to the cold of winter, andthe rice is finally harvested in Aprilor May, says Dr. Seraj. Boro riceneeds to be slightly cold tolerant

and photoperiod insensitivethatis, bred to ignore the lengthening orshortening of daylight hours, which

plants use to stay synchronized withtheir natural growing season. Short-

duration high-yielding varietiesare preferred because of the highcost of pumping irrigation water.

As the boro season coincides

with high river water salinity, whichbegins to rise in February and peaksin April and May, rice grown inthis season must tolerate not onlymoderate salinity during the seedling

stage but also much worse salinityduring the critical period frompanicle initiation to flowering. Asfood security and farmers well-beingin Bangladesh depend increasingly

on boro rice, rice varieties that yieldwell under high salinity stress areneeded more urgently than ever.

The GCP project aims to breed

Saltolinto at least one aman varietyand one boro variety already popular

with farmers. M. Abdus Salam, thechief scientific officer and head ofBRRIs Plant Breeding Division, has

crossed a derivative of the traditionalvariety Pokkali called FL378, whichhas theSaltolgene, with popularaman varieties, and these will be

grown out at BRRIs research campusat Gazipur in July 2007. Initialcrosses of FL378 and boro varietiesare under way, and seeds will beavailable in April 2007. As Dr. Salam

makes the crosses and backcrossesto advance the breeding material,Dr. Seraj will collect leaf samples

for testing with newly developedmolecular markers (easily detectablestretches of DNA) for bothSaltoland the popular variety background.Based on the results of this marker-

assisted selection, she will advise Dr.Salam and the BRRI team on whichplants to use in further crosses.

The aim is to develop improvedvarieties that are identical to popular

farmers varieties in every way exceptthat they have theSaltolgene andso are able to provide a reasonablygood yield under conditions of

moderate to high salinity in whichsalt accounts for 0.40.5% of the soil.

Dr. Seraj notes that the variouscoastal soils of Bangladesh displaya range of mineral deficiencies

and toxicities. Some are high incalcium and magnesium, or low inzinc, potassium, and phosphorus,or have toxically high levels of

boron and sulfur, she says. Well

need to develop many different ricevarieties that tolerate these specificlocal stresses if we are to coverthe coastal region as a whole.

Salinity and other soil problemsin coastal Bangladesh have severelylimited the introduction of modernhigh-yielding rice varieties, as feware adapted to the difficult growing

conditions there. Along the severelysalt-affected southwest coast, whererice cultivation is largely restrictedto the rainy season for lack of fresh

water in the dry season, 16 of the 20most popular varieties are landraces(traditional farmers varieties),despite offering very low yieldsof only 22.5 tons per hectare.

The popular landraces of thisregion are well adapted to theprevailing growing conditions,

including soil salinity, obserDr. Seraj.

Dr. Salam is the site coorfor a sister project led by Dr. under the Challenge Program

Water and Food (CPWF), whto harness the productivity pof salt-affected areas of three

basins, including the Gangesthat project, the partners use

newly developed lines that htheSaltollocus and also searadditional sources of saline t

Saltoland other genes

conferring tolerance at theseedling stage could be sufficfor the wet se ason, Dr. Ismaobserves. However, for the bseason, additional genes for

higher tolerance during flowand pollination are needed.

It is no coincidence that Salamwho was the 2006 reof IRRIs Senadhira Rice Res

Awardwill handle, throughfarmer participatory varietalselection, the final testing of GCPsSaltolvarieties in 200

The two projects actualwork closely together to maxthe benefits, explains Dr. IsmThe molecular markers forSdeveloped through the GCP

help speed the breeding progof the CPWF project, and thematerial will be further testeand scaled out through CPW

activities, as well as other neNeither of the two projects coachieve this without the othe

Adapted from GCP 2006 Partn

and Product Highlights, publish

the Generation Challenge Prog

(www.generationcp.org).

rmers hampered by salt-affected

ils in Bangladesh are set for relief as

searchers breed salinity tolerance

to locally popular rice varieties

Less salt,please

y Peter Fredenburg

DR. ISMAIL (right) shows formerBangladeshi Minister of AgricultureM.K. Anwar (center) and IRRI senioreconomist Mahabub Hossain howresearchers select for salt-tolerantrice plants in an IRRI greenhouse.

ZABAD (India) farmer Bismillah Khan showsrice he obtained from the salt-tolerant variety

grew in an on-farm trial. His regular, nontoler-crop is in the field in which he stands. The

mbination of salt stress and drought meant hed to harvest his crop early and feed it to histle. The good performance of the new varietiesouraged him to invest in supplementarygation, which allows a good crop even underprevailing harsh conditions.

A FIELD SITE in Uttar Pradesh, India, offers a glimpse of thehighly saline soils that confound farmers. Use of salt-tolerantvarieties together with proper managementwhich includes ap-plication of organic manureallowed rice to be grown in thesesoils for the first time ever (crop at back). A screening nurseryat the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute Regional Stationin Lucknow (inset) shows the stark difference in performancebetween salt-tolerant and regular varieties under salt stress.

IRRI

ABDELBAGIISMAIL(3)


14/21


In the 1870s, scientists exploring

Amazonia in South Americamade an unusual discovery.

Working independently, James

rton, Charles Hartt, and Herbertmith described patches of black

dark brown soils, varying in sizeom 5 to more than 300 hectares,thin a landscape otherwise

pified by highly weatheredddish or bleached soils.

A detailed report from Smith, a

ologist, characterized these darkrths in Amazonia as having a

p-layer of a fine, dark loam, up60 centimeters thick. He alsoscribed them as the best soilsthe Amazon, producing much

gher crop yields than surroundingils, and speculated that they

wed their fertility to the refusea thousand kitchens for maybehousand years. That they were

uman-made was indicated by theundance of fragments of Indianttery that cover the ground ...

ke shells on a surf-washed beach.Despite the unusual nature

these findings, they initiallyiled to excite many scientists.most a century later, however,

Wim Sombroek, a renownedDutch soil scientist, sparkedinternational interest by including

several pages on the terra preta(black soil) and terra mulata(brown soil) in his influential1966 book on Amazon soils.

Several studies have sinceconfirmed that the dark color of terrapreta and terra mulata is caused bythe incorporation, by humans, of

black carbon (also called biochar)

incompletely burned organic mattersuch as charcoal. The soils werecreated by Amerindian populations

5002,500 years ago and someof the carbon in terra preta soils

dates back to 450 B.C. Their highfertility compared to surroundingsoils is attributed to the highlevels of soil organic matter (which

includes biochar), higher nutrientconcentrations, high nutrient- andmoisture-holding capacity, and loweracidity. Amazingly, the soils havegenerally sustained this fertility

to the present despite the tropicalclimate (in which soil organicmatter tends to rapidly degrade) andfrequent or periodic cultivation.

But what has all this to do with

rice in Asia? Terra preta and terramulata are limited to Amazonia,they are not used to grow rice,

and they represent a

technology predatingmodern agriculture.The answer is thatpeople started to wonder

whether this ancient

indigenous technologycould offer solutions tosome of the problems ofmodern agriculture.

Poor soils comparablewith soils in Amazoniacan be found in tropicalregions around the globe,including Asia, where

they areunfortunatelyfor farmersdepressinglyabundant. Such soils

benefit greatlyfrom theincorporation of

organic matterbut its rapiddecomposition inthe humid tropics

makes this a verylabor-intensiveand short-livedsolution.

Addition

of biochar tosoils has similarpositive effectsit

increases nutrientavailability,

boosts nutrient-and moisture-holding capacity,and contributes

plant-availablenutrientsand isreported to lastfor centuries.If researchers

can confirm thismuch-delayeddecompositionin modernagricultural

systems, biocharcould contributeto sustainableproduction

increases insome of themost disadvantaged agriculturalenvironments, which are frequentlycharacterized by very low yields

and widespread extreme poverty.The delayed decomposition of

biochar could also help with another,more recent problem. It is widely

agreed that global climate change isrelated to an increase in atmosphericcarbon dioxide (CO2) concentration.If some of the atmospheric carbonfixed by plants could be locked

up in soils (a process known ascarbon sequestration) instead of

being returned to the atmosphere

through decomposition, the buildupof carbon in the atmosphere could

be slowed. And, in flooded rice

soils, where the decompositionof organic matter producesmethane30 times more potent asa greenhouse gas than CO2thiseffect would be even greater.

This sounds very excitingbutcan it be done? To start with, theamounts of biochar needed areenormous. Agronomic trials haveachieved good results with biochar

applications equivalent to 8 tons ofcarbon per hectare. The top 30 cm

of terra preta contains more thanthree times as much carbon from

biocharan average 25 tons perhectare. Assuming a biomass carbon

concentration of 36% (typical

ricetoday vol. 6, no. 2

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