NEW RICE VARITIES RESISTANT TO CLIMATE CHANGE RELEASED

By The Philippine New Agency

MANILA — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has its headquarters in Los Banos, Laguna, has released 44 new and improved rice varieties that are resilient to climate change.

Around half of the current global population — or about 3.5 billion people — rely on rice as their staple food and livelihood.

IRRI said the 44 new types of rice released include nine salt-tolerant varieties in the Philippines, three flood-tolerant varieties in South Asia, and six in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Overall, IRRI has released around a thousand improved rice varieties across 78 countries since its establishment in 1960,” said Eero Nissila, head of IRRI’s breeding division in a statement.

“These are considered global public goods. Hence, our partners are free to release these for farmers’ use or for more breeding work to suit local needs in their countries,” he said.

Of the 44 new and improved rice varieties released, 21 were in the Philippines, six in Bangladesh, five in Myanmar, three in Nigeria, two in Tanzania, two in India, and one each in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mozambique, and Rwanda.

“We are excited over these varieties, especially those released in Nigeria. These are the fruits of many years of collaboration that I have personally been a part of during my posting at the Africa Rice Center station in Nigeria,” said Glenn Gregorio, senior rice breeder at IRRI.

“IRRI worked hard and closely with national breeding programs, and we know that this will lead to more collaboration as demand for rice increases in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

Aside from tolerance of stresses, IRRI said quality of rice is always a pressing requirement in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA).

“Releasing these rice varieties in ESA, including the aromatic ones, is a step toward meeting the demand of the region,” said IRRI scientist RK Singh, who coordinated IRRI’s regional plant breeding activities in ESA.

In an earlier InterAksyon.com article, IRRI officials revealed that development of the crown jewel of climate-resilient varieties, the so-called “3-in-1” that can survive drought, saltiness and floods, was already in advanced stage of research. Climate change had spurred scientists to fast-track work on a climate-resilient variety that can tolerate flooding while surviving in a prolonged dry season, and saltiness which is a common problem in farms near coastal areas in the Philippines.

Windfall from research

An independent assessment by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) found that Southeast Asian rice farmers in three countries are harvesting an extra US$ 1.46 billion worth of rice a year as a result of the research work done by IRRI and its partners.

A 13 percent boost in yield gave returns of US$ 127 per hectare in southern Vietnam, US$ 76 per hectare in Indonesia, and US$ 52 per hectare in the Philippines.

Similarly, a study commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) on the impact of investments in rice research suggested that a US$ 12 million investment in rice research has returned more than US$ 70 million in benefits to rice farmers and national economies in four Asian countries — Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

More than 50 years ago, IRRI has developed the IR8 rice variety which was later dubbed as the “miracle rice.” This held back the tide of impending starvation and protected the world’s massive rice-eating populations in Asia from the clutches of famine.

With the ill effects of climate change to agriculture and with the growing population, IRRI said its main focus is to develop rice varieties that are resilient to this weather disturbance to help farmers produce more rice with the same, or declining, amount of resources.

(Photo credit: Photo downloaded from www.redbubble.com)