A Walk through Rice Research’s
“Field of Dreams”
Ronald P. Cantrell
Director General
Gene P. Hettel
Head, Communication & Publications Services
International Rice Research Institute
Introduction
In collaboration with its partners, IRRI has been conducting rice research for more than 4
decades. Often this work has been gratifying, but frustrating as well at times. Certainly, we have
found that most efforts to realize our dreams of the last 20 years or so have been rather long-term
ventures. We would like to take you on a “walk” through rice research’s “field of dreams”—
some of which have come true; others whose realization is still on either near or distant horizons.
Dreams recently come true—or at least close enough to realization that we know we have been
successful—include
The development of the new plant type for rice—or NPT;
Hybrid rice in farmers’ fields;
Nutritious rice in human feeding trials, if not yet in the stomachs of the poor;
Less use of pesticides thanks to IPM techniques adopted by farmers;
Efficient use of nutrients thanks to new and improved management techniques; and
Deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to train a new
generation of rice researchers.
Dreams that may be realized within the next five years or sooner include
Aerobic rice—or rice that grows on dry but irrigated land instead of in flooded paddies;
Finding new useful traits through allele “mining” in the International Rice Genebank;
Broad-spectrum resistance to a host of diseases; and
The development of resilient rice varieties for drought-prone areas.
Dreams that may be realized 5, 10, or 15 years from now include
Results of molecular breeding that deals with complex traits, such as yield;
“Designer” rice varieties for niche environments;
_____________
Presented during Indonesian Rice Week, 4-7 March 2002, Research Institute for Rice, Sukamandi, West Java.
Apomictic rice to bring hybrids to poor farmers;
Perennial rice for upland farmers.
Dreams Recently Come True
New plant type
As the 20th century was coming to a close, there was essentially no more land in Asia to open up
for rice cultivation. In meetings with our NARES partners—including you here in Indonesia—
during the late 1980s, we came to the unsettling conclusion that the existing modern rice
varieties had reached their probable yield limit. One of the few means of surpassing their
performance was to break through the yield barrier with a radically new plant. We threw out the
old blueprint and began conceptualizing a new one 13 years ago in 1989.
Since increasing both the total biomass and the harvest index of the plant was the key, our new
plant type design called for the following specifications:
Low tillering capacity (initially 4 or 5, but later 9-10),
No unproductive tillers,
200-250 grains per panicle (versus 100-120 for modern var.)
Very sturdy stems,
Dark green thick and erect leaves,
100-130 days’ growth duration,
Multiple disease and insect resistance,
Acceptable grain quality.
Incorporating all these design elements and attributes into a new plant was indeed a tall order,
but, if we did, we believed we could increase yield potential by about 20 percent over the current
modern varieties.
In consultation with our NARES partners, we chose the raw materials with which to make
crosses from the japonica gene pool that we had not tapped too much before. Many of the
germplasm entries (popularly called bulus), which came from right here in Indonesia, have low
tillering, large panicles, and sturdy stems. Indonesian researchers assisted us in identifying the
key traits of these javanica varieties—a subrace of the japonicas—that were already housed in
the International Rice Genebank at IRRI. We crossed many of these bulus with a Chinese
semidwarf japonica variety provided by Shenyang University in China.
In the fine-tuning process, modern high-yielding varieties—from IR8 to IR72—were introduced
to the breeding program as parents to provide improved NPTs with essential grain quality and
resistance to pests and diseases.
The latest data from our experimental plots at IRRI continue to show that yield potential is
promising for these improved elite NPT lines. The best performing NPT line showed a yield
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advantage of 1.7 tons/hectare. Another five lines showed a yield advantage of more than 1
ton/hectare.
Right now, NPT lines being multiplied at IRRI headquarters are being distributed via nurseries
of the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice, or INGER, to more than 90
countries around the world. So, very soon, NARES researchers will be evaluating—under their
local conditions—these very best lines that have come out of our 13-year effort—perhaps the
most important and significant payload ever delivered to NARES via INGER nurseries in the
network’s outstanding 27-year history.
Two NPT varieties have been released in China’s Yunnan Province—the first anywhere now in
farmers’ fields. Dianchio—or “DS”—1 and 3 are growing on some 5,000 hectares there. A third
variety, DS2—scheduled for release soon—is being eagerly awaited by Yunnan farmers because
of its earlier maturity, blast resistance, and excellent eating quality.
Hybrid rice
Another dream come true—after more than 20 years of research—is the dawn of tropical hybrid
rice. Parallel to development of the NPT, IRRI and some NARES—such as in India and right
here in Indonesia—have been working to increase the yield potential of rice by exploiting the
phenomenon of hybrid vigor. Hybrid rice yields about 15 to 20 percent more than the best semi-
dwarf inbred varieties.
There appears to be a great potential for this technology. In China—where the concept
originated—farmers now grow about 15 million hectares of hybrid rice. Outside of China, about
400,000 hectares are planted to hybrids with predictions that the area could grow to 2 million
within the next 5 to 8 years.
Facilities for hybrid rice research and seed production have improved immensely in Indonesia.
Prior to 1998, most hybrid rice research was done only at RIR Sukamandi and confined only to
the testing of materials introduced from IRRI, China, and other countries. However, hybrid work
is now going on at other locations. For example, the RIR Muara station now devotes a substantial
portion of its 27-hectare experimental field to hybrid R&D. Researchers at Muara have also
established a new isolation facility for nucleus and breeder seed production and for producing
pure seed of parental lines.
Recent work is bearing fruit. For example, of the 10 varieties being released by RIR during the
2002 Rice Week activities, two are hybrid rice: IR58025A/BR827 and IR58025A/IR53747. And
finally, the private sector sees an opportunity with the soon-to-be-released Intani 1 and Intani 2,
both derived from IRRI-developed CMS lines, IR58025A and IR68897A, respectively. With
these four hybrid releases in 2002—two each from the public and private sectors, we would
expect to see seed production activities rapidly take off in both sectors—certainly a dream come
true for the farmers of Indonesia!
Eight private companies now have an interest in rice seeds in Indonesia, where there were none
in 1990. These companies hope that, with 15-20% more yield, Indonesian farmers will earn 1.5
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million rupiahs (or US$150) more per hectare using hybrid rice and would invest in seeds at
250,000 to 400,000 rupiahs (or US$25-40) per hectare.
One last exciting point ties our NPT and hybrid research together beautifully. Yield potentials of
the japonica NPT and current hybrid rice are identical at around 10.5 t/ha—or about an increase
in yield potential of from 15 to 20 percent. What is exciting is the extra boost we will get when
we are ready to make NPT hybrids in the very near future—to as much as 11.5 t/ha! Herein lies
the significance of the NPT varieties being of the japonica eco-geographical race. Because we
are dealing with two different gene pools—the indica and japonica races—we should have even
better heterosis than with the current indica-indica tropical hybrids, on the order of a 25 percent
increase in yield potential! Dr. Long Ping Yuan, considered to be the father of hybrid rice in
China, calls the future indica-japonica NPT hybrid a “tiger with wings.”
Nutritious rice
Another dream come true—for researchers up to this point—has come out of work related to
what we call nutritional genomics. Although rice supplies adequate energy in the form of
calories, it is unfortunate that it is terribly lacking as a source of vitamin A and other critical
vitamins, iron, zinc, and other micronutrients, and amino acids that are essential to human health,
especially the health of children.
We now have an experimental rice variety—IR68144—that contains double the amount of two
critical micronutrients—iron (21 parts per million) and zinc 34 parts per million). And, of course,
we also have vitamin A incorporated into experimental seeds that the media have dubbed as
“golden” rice—an appropriate name derived from the grains’ golden hue. These advances have
been made thanks to traditional breeding efforts for iron and zinc and efforts involving
genetically modified organisms—or GMOs—for vitamin A-fortified rice. We are moving rapidly
to make these nutritional dreams come true for poor rice consumers.
Iron-fortified rice. For iron-fortified rice, IR68144 has already been tested by 27 young nuns—
whom we have affectionately dubbed the “Sisters of Nutrition”—from a Manila convent, who
ate it exclusively over six months. Serum ferritin levels in their blood leaped, sometimes two or
three times higher than normal. This trial was just a preliminary exercise for the main event to
begin in June this year, which will involve some 300 religious sisters from various convents in
Manila. To be supervised by nutritionists from Cornell University and Pennsylvania State
University, the results of this large trial—to be released in 2003—will, we hope show—once and
for all—that the iron in IR68144 can be absorbed by the human body.
Vitamin A. An important step toward realizing the dream of delivering rice fortified with vitamin
A to the millions in Asia who have diets deficient in vitamin A was, of course, the arrival early
last year—at our headquarters in the Philippines—of the first seed samples of the genetically
modified golden rice. These seeds were delivered by none other than Professor Ingo Potrykus,
the German co-inventor of this rice that could save half a million children each year from
irreversible blindness—many of them right here in Indonesia.
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And as soon as the seeds were delivered, IRRI’s golden rice team began work immediately in
this pioneering project that involves state-of-the-art genetic engineering. IRRI plant
biotechnologist and team leader Swapan Datta tells us that the team now has on hand about 800
transgenic indica golden rice plants with genes for beta-carotene! These represent such cultivars
as IR64, NHCD, Mot Bui, and BR29. When further improvement and analysis are completed in
2003, we will be transferring some of these materials to NARES partners for further field
evaluation, testing, and breeding purposes. The eyes of the world are watching us in this exciting
work!
Reduced pesticide use
Another dream come true is the reduction in pesticide use in farmers’ fields. We’re all familiar
with the environmental damage caused by farmers overusing insecticides. While some people
shrug their shoulders and say this is a necessary trade-off for protecting crops, others advocate
banning insecticides altogether—or at least the ones they don’t like. At IRRI, we’ve looked into
patterns of insecticide use and found that spraying early in the crop cycle is unnecessary.
Farmers often spray to eliminate visible leaf-feeding worms that don’t cause yield loss. Worse—
spraying disrupts the diverse ecology of the field, paving the way for pest infestations. So, we
have come up with a way to convince farmers to change their spraying practices.
A study we ran in Vietnam a few years ago offered some valuable lessons. The findings were
converted into the simple rule-of-thumb: “Don’t spray for the first 40 days.” A media campaign
was launched to deliver the message to farmers, stressing the cost savings and health benefits of
reduced spraying. The result is shown in Figure 1. In the test area of 21,000 households, after an
Figure 1. Insecticide use and yields
Long An Province, Vietnam
Av. insecticide sprays/season Av. yields (t/ha)
5 5
Stable yields
4 4
3 3
2 2
Less insecticide spraying
1 1
0 0
1994 1996 1997
Year
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18-month interval, we recorded a 53% reduction in the number of insecticide applications—
without affecting yields! In 2001, we repeated this result in Sing Buri Province of Central
Thailand as well.
IRRI researchers recently achieved another notable success in China’s southwestern province of
Yunnan. There—in what the influential New York Times called “one of the largest agricultural
experiments ever,” we found that intercropping rows of different varieties of rice can almost
completely control the devastating disease rice blast. In fact, some farmers in the area were
already using this technique, albeit in a haphazard way. We scientifically tested several
variations of the concept and improved it.
Now we can disseminate our findings with confidence that the practice not only reduces farmers’
reliance on chemical pesticides, and thereby protects the environment, but also improves yields
and incomes. In fact, word of mouth is already leading to the technique’s wide adoption in
China. And Indonesia will not be far behind as CRIFC and IRRI are collaborating in applying
biodiversity to manage rice diseases in the Indonesian uplands using elite lines derived from
marker-assisted selection—or MAS—and traditional cultivars.
Nutrient use efficiency
Another dream come true is our new insight into nutrient use efficiency as it relates to the nature
of intensive rice-farming systems. We have gained new insights into the efficient use of nutrients
through collaborative research in the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium and the Integrated
Crop Management Project here in Indonesia. We have found that inefficient and unbalanced
fertilizer use is widespread among Asia’s rice farmers, and millions of farmers across Asia may
need to change their management practices and adopt new technologies to increase productivity
and sustain the soil and water resource base. These changes promise substantial increases in their
yields and their incomes.
You will be hearing more about this work, especially an approach called site-specific nutrient
management—or SSNM. This tactic has been successfully tested over the last 4 years in more
than 200 on-farm experiments across Asia. On average, farmers’ yields and profits increased by
10 to 15 percent with improved nutrient management. We are simplifying and refining the
concept together with researchers, extension personnel, and farmers in pilot villages in six Asian
countries—including three sites in Indonesia—with supplemental support from the Potash and
Phosphate Institute in Singapore.
Figure 2 shows the proven practices in SSNM:
Adjusting application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer to the location-
and season-specific needs of the crop.
Using the leaf color chart to ensure that nitrogen is applied at the right time and in the
amount needed by the rice crop.
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Using the yield in nutrient omission plots to determine the P and K fertilizer required by
the crop. The omission plots also visually demonstrate to farmers the deficit of nutrients
in their fields. “Seeing is believing.”
Following local recommendations for application of zinc, sulfur, and micronutrients.
Using high-quality seeds, optimum plant density, integrated pest management, and good
water management.
We are actively involved with you here in Indonesia in the wider scale dissemination and
delivery of SSNM to farmers. Truly, SSNM has become a component of integrated crop
management in Indonesia. This exciting work is rolling on under a new name—“Reaching
Toward Optimum Productivity”—in one of the projects of IRRI’s new medium-term plan for
2002-2004.
We are disseminating information on SSNM through a newly developed Pocket Guide soon to be
available in Bahasa Indonesia. Also scheduled for release later this year are training materials—
and software for a nutrient decision support system—one of our powerful new tools in
information and communication technology—or ICT, which is in the realm of our next dream
come true!
The ICT revolution
The revolution that is taking place in ICT presents a tremendous new opportunity for research
institutions such as IRRI to bring scientific knowledge and indigenous and local knowledge
together to bear on global challenges and to make this knowledge available to our constituents
such as right here in Indonesia.
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To back up just a bit, IRRI’s Training Center has developed an extraordinary instructional and
learning program that has involved the training of thousands of young NARES scientists over the
years. Since 1964, more than 13,000 scholars have been trained in various rice science
disciplines and technologies. Some NARES scholars have since become ministers, directors,
secretaries, and leaders who know and understand the importance of agriculture. Course delivery
techniques have come a long way since the early days of the training effort. What follows is a
brief summary of some of our recent training advances using ICT—for sure, some dreams come
true!
As trainers, we must understand that the ICT capacity of the NARES is changing tremendously
fast, such as right here in Indonesia. Given the explosive growth of accessibility to the Internet
and its decreasing cost, it is anticipated that most NARES and their clients will have some degree
of Internet connectivity within the next 2 to 3 years. This will result in an increasing demand for
Internet-based training as more of the NARES and their clients go online. The IRRI Training
Center is exploiting the capacity of new and relevant ICTs to ensure that it will have products to
offer in response to this inevitable demand.
Soon to be online—in conjunction with our first-ever e-Learning course later in May in
cooperation with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University—is the IRRI Knowledge Bank. This
incredible online tool has an array of training programs available at the click of a hyperlink and
two decision support tools, TropRice and RiceDoctor.
The Knowledge Bank is a repository of learning “objects” that describe rice production through
current best practices proven by years of research at IRRI and in the NARES. Menus lead users
to training of trainers for NARES partners as well as a host of proven training programs that
have been digitized and cover topics from integrated nutrient management to water management
for rice and from rice biotechnology and bioinformatics to the decision support systems or
DSSs—like the one for nutrients mentioned earlier.
Another DSS is TropRice, which is designed to help intermediary technology transfer agents or
extensionists assist farmers in making more informed practical decisions related to tropical rice
production. As much of the information as possible has been hyperlinked such that, if a user
clicks on an underlined word, the page will change and information about that subject can be
viewed—truly user-friendly!
Still another DSS is RiceDoctor, a field diagnostic for identifying the factors that limit rice crop
growth in the tropics. Its ease of use is truly astonishing and within seconds an extension agent
can look at “plant factor,” such as a leaf, identify a symptom associated with, consider any other
conditions, and then merge with other plant characteristics to come up with a preliminary
diagnosis. Simply amazing!
The current issue of the International Rice Research Notes has a special mini review that
provides more in-depth information on these DSSs, which may be of interest. The IRRN is
available online at www.irri.org/irrn.
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Dreams to be Realized on the Near Horizon (within 5 years)
Continuing this walk in our “field of dreams,” let’s switch to some dreams whose realizations are
on the near horizon!
Aerobic rice
In preparation for the inevitable water crisis, one dream to be realized with an IRRI-imposed
timeframe of within the next 5 years is the creation of an “aerobic” rice plant that grows on dry
but irrigated land instead of flooded paddies. Producing one kilogram of rice by traditional
methods requires 5,000 liters of fresh water. As competition intensifies for this limited resource,
valuable gains can be achieved by growing rice with less water.
Although rice varieties that grow in dry upland fields already exist, they cannot match the yield
potential of conventional commercial varieties, nor do they respond to irrigation or fertilizer.
IRRI has formed an Aerobic Rice Working Group, involving breeders, physiologists, and water
and soil scientists, to meet the many difficulties of taking rice out of its natural environment and
developing a complete management system for dryland crops using perhaps only half the water.
If we are successful and there is no longer a need to flood fields, the benefits will not end with a
savings in water—there will be fewer soil salinity problems as well!
Sequencing the rice genome
Before moving on to discuss some more dreams that we hope to realize in the near and longer
terms, the exciting work involving the draft decoding of the rice genome should be mentioned.
The combined efforts of the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), the Beijing
Genomics Institute, Syngenta, and Monsanto will change forever the way we do rice research
and will accelerate the realization of many of our rice research dreams. The development of
physical maps of rice, extensive sequence databases, and comparative mapping tools holds
promise for assigning gene functions related to such complex traits as broad-spectrum disease
resistance, drought tolerance, and grain yield.
Allele mining
At IRRI, we are already taking advantage of the availability of this new information by setting
up an allele “mining” operation in the International Rice Genebank. It is, of course, the world’s
largest collection of rice germplasm and an invaluable source of diverse, largely underused
alleles. We estimate that the bank contains more than 91,000 distinct accessions that carry a wide
range of untapped traits for variety improvement.
To identify novel alleles for variety improvement over the next 4 years, we have adopted a
knowledge-based approach that is using
Gene/trait locations from molecular and physical maps;
Genomic sequence information from the IRGSP and the Beijing Genomics Institute;
Candidate genes identified by functional genomics or through pathway analysis; and
Comparative genomics across the grasses.
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This “mining” operation will certainly help us “strike gold” in some of the following work to be
discussed.
Broad-spectrum resistance
In the area of disease control, our future challenge is to find genes and mechanisms to provide
broad-spectrum resistance to rice pathogens. We believe this will benefit farmers by avoiding the
boom and bust cycle caused by disease epidemics. IRRI scientists are thinking of broad-spectrum
resistance from two angles:
Resistance that gives broad resistance to all races of a pathogen, for example, the
notoriously variable blast pathogen, and
Resistance against multiple pathogens, to give broad insurance against epidemics.
We are using genomics tools to find genes to achieve these goals, and some promising results are
coming along in our near-term time frame. For example, in the fight against blast, we have put
together five known defense genes in a rice cultivar from China, and we are getting good
resistance across locations, presumably because of resistance to multiple races of the pathogen.
And in our hunt for rice mutants to achieve broad-spectrum resistance, we have found some
mutations that give enhanced resistance to both blast and bacterial blight. We are also using gene
chip technology to find out what genes are responsible for such resistance.
Drought tolerance
Turning to drought tolerance, molecular geneticists and physiologists are generating an
enormous amount of information—with the aim to develop resilient rice varieties for drought-
prone environments. Over the next few years, we expect significant progress in our
understanding of the genetic basis of variation in drought tolerance among rice varieties. We
have developed novel introgression lines between drought-susceptible lowland cultivars and low-
yielding but drought-tolerant upland varieties. With the ongoing releases of the various draft
sequences of the rice genome, we will be using bioinformatics tools to identify the exact genes
that confer this tolerance.
Breeders will then use markers to locate these genes to improve drought tolerance in
agronomically adapted varieties. We expect multiple genes and alleles to be important in
different stress scenarios. And so, IRRI has developed a broad range of introgression stocks to be
used for this gene discovery. Within the next few years, these products—combined with
genomics and bioinformatics tools—are expected to reveal key genes and superior alleles for
breeders to use in improving drought tolerance.
In May 2002, IRRI will be hosting an important drought workshop during which specialists in
this field will be developing collaborative research agendas that will, we hope, keep the
realization of our dreams in this area on the near horizon. Much of the new information on
drought tolerance has been captured in an upcoming publication on Breeding for drought
tolerance, which will be released jointly by IRRI and the Rockefeller Foundation during the
workshop.
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Dreams to be Realized on the Far Horizon (5, 10, and 15 years)
Now, let’s touch briefly on some rice research dreams mentioned earlier whose realizations are
still on the far horizon.
Molecular breeding program
The availability of the information coming out of the decoding of the rice genome will certainly
boost the efforts of the IRRI-coordinated International Molecular Breeding Program, but results
are still long-term. This project, devised by IRRI molecular geneticist Zhikang Li is designed to
solve real problems in dealing with complex traits, including yield and disease and pest
resistance.
For example, we know that some major genes affecting these quantitative traits have been
detected as main-effect QTLs in rice. Application of the recent advances in plant genome
research and DNA marker technology is helping us to eliminate the guesswork. By broadening
individual breeding activities within various NARES, the international effort will reduce
considerably the time usually taken with traditional plant breeding methods. The international
effort is assembling a massive database by identifying hundreds of genes that control important
traits and tracking these genes’ movement from one generation to the next.
Designer rice
Within the coming decades, the information flowing from such international efforts as the rice
genome sequencing projects and the Molecular Breeding Program just mentioned will aid
researchers in “tailoring” rice varieties for specific niches—“designer” rice, so to speak!
Figure 3. “Shopping basket”
of traits for designer rice.
• High yield
• Resistance to major pests
and diseases
• Nutrient-dense: vitamins
A and E, iron, zinc, lysine,
and iodine
• Good flavor, texture, and
cooking quality
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Picking from a “shopping basket” of traits as shown in Figure 3, we’ll be able to “juggle” genes
to develop focused products for farmers and consumers in specific locations. For example, a
variety targeted for a certain area would have, not only the requisite high yield and grain quality
but also—perhaps—blast resistance (for local farmers’ management needs) and vitamin A and
iron fortification for local consumers’ nutritional needs. The combinations could be endless!
Apomictic and perennial rice
And finally, it should be mentioned that we haven’t given up on two high-risk projects that will
be difficult to bring to fruition, but if we do, the rewards will be well worth the effort!
Apomictic rice. The increased yield potential of hybrid rice that discussed earlier is not available
to most poor farmers such as these in West Java because of the high price of hybrid seed. Adding
to farmers' costs is the need to buy fresh hybrid seed each season. IRRI is trying to overcome this
problem by fixing the genetic composition of the hybrid through asexual reproduction—or
apomixis. Unfortunately, there are no known apomictic relatives of rice, so apomictic rice will
have to be produced by some form of genetic engineering.
As shown in Figure 4, IRRI is working with CSIRO’s Division of Plant Industry in Australia to
produce without fertilization the three components of a seed: the embryo, endosperm, and seed
coat. CSIRO has made a major step forward in Arabidopsis thaliana by the generating
endosperm without the need for fertilization and is now trying to achieve the same result in rice
using similar rice genes. IRRI has achieved full enlargement of the seed coat of rice without
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fertilization. The key task that remains is to obtain embryo formation without fertilization. We
are now 5 years into this project that we estimate will take another 10 years to complete.
Perennial rice. Prospects are looking good for developing—within the next decade—a perennial
rice plant for cultivation in the upland regions of Indonesia and other Asian countries. As shown
here, some of the most recent progeny have displayed clear signs of perenniality by forming
short underground stems that develop both roots and new aboveground shoots. A perennial
variety would allow upland farmers to harvest rice year after year from semi-permanent
hedgerows—food production and soil stabilization would go hand-in-hand.
Conclusion
And there you have it—a brief “walk” through rice research’s “Field of Dreams”—dreams come
true and dreams yet to be realized in our mission to improve the well-being of present and future
generations of Asian rice farmers and consumers. It is truly a journey of discovery.
Welcome to the IRRI Knowledge Bank; a repository of learning objects that
describe rice production through current best practices as defined by the
International Rice Research Institute
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