60 Years of Impact

CGIAR highlights IR64 as one of top innovations that changed the world

What difference can a “mega variety” make? When it comes to rice, the mega variety IR64 – developed by CGIAR researchers at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) – was widely cultivated in over 10 million hectares within two decades of its release, making a difference in millions of lives worldwide.

Rice and climate change research

IRRI’s Climate Change Research assesses the interactive nature of rice production and climate change since the early 1990s. Research conducted by IRRI's Climate Change group covers various aspects of adaptation and mitigation in rice production systems. Moreover, our work on Climate Change largely capitalizes on research findings stemming from IRRI projects conceived in another thematic context—for instance plant breeding—to improve resilience in unfavorable environments or decision making for higher resource use efficiency.

Women farmers’ empowerment is a key ingredient for social sustainability

The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) adopted a triple bottom line (TBL) approach to assess the sustainability of rice agrifood systems. The TBL approach emphasizes the need not only to maximize profits (economic sustainability) through enterprises but also to better people’s lives (social sustainability) and help the planet (environmental sustainability).

The social bottom line measures the long-term sustainability of human capital and, hence, the ability of enterprises to thrive. The license to operate enterprises depends greatly on their social sustainability efforts and impacts. A lack of social development, including poverty and inequality, can hamper business operations and growth. At the same time, actions to achieve social sustainability may unlock new markets, help retain and attract business partners, or inspire innovation for new product or service lines.

Low glycemic index rice—a desired trait in starchy staples

The rapid shift from healthy choices to unhealthy food choices due to the lure of lower prices, ease of preparation, and more palate appeal has driven the upsurge of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Sustainable food-centric interventions should be developed and strengthened to mitigate the growing health concerns with huge socio-economic implications.

Combating floods and droughts in Lao PDR with climate-smart rice

In Lao PDR, more than 860,000 hectares of land are devoted to rice production, of which 760,951 hectares (88%) are composed of rainfed lowland rice. However, the rice industry experiences losses because of frequent floods that damage rice fields in the central region (10–29%) and across the country (8–21%). Floods usually occur from late August to late September.

The country is prone to drought, which damages and reduces yield from 10% to 50% in the central parts of the country. Drought occurs at any time during the growing season, with early drought in June to July, intermittent drought happening from August to September, and late drought in October.

Reducing environmental footprint highlighted on World Environment Day and Philippine Environment Month

Los Baños, Laguna. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) highlights the importance of safe, sustainable, and environment-friendly rice production as it joins the celebration of the World Environment Day (5 June) and Philippine Environment Month (June).

The SRP in Thailand: Better grain quality, higher incomes, lower production costs, and increased productivity

Thailand’s Rice Department, Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) Thailand, OLAM International, and Bayer Thai Co. Ltd. initiated pilot testing for the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) standard with farmer groups in Ubon Ratchathani Province in the northeast of the country. During pilot testing, farmers received benefits, including free training from experts, helping them to produce more sustainable rice, which will create a massive impact within the region. Moreover, the paddies have better grain quality since the farmers received close advisory support from the experts, including facilitating the organization of a harvesting plan with certain service providers for harvesting.

Low-cost hermetic storage containers are an effective green alternative for storing rice paddy

The right storage container can bring multiple advantages for smallholder farmers and rice milling companies. The use of hermetic storage containers is a green alternative for the safe storage of paddy rice without the need for the application of pesticides.

Capturing diversity and cultural drivers of food choice in eastern India

Planetary health diets are seen as the core vehicle for attaining the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement by 2050. These diets, low in animal-sourced food and composed mainly of plant-based food sources, require radically transforming global food systems through major paradigm shifts in dietary habits and diets. The success of adopting such planetary health diets, however, crucially hinges on people, and more specifically on their culture, context, socioeconomic status, food environment, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and behavior towards food choice.

From invisible farm women to agri-preneurs

Women provide half of the labor in rice cultivation in India, according to the International Rice Research Institute ( IRRI) Farm Household Survey (2008-10). They do most of the tedious and backbreaking work in rice cultivation such as nursery raising, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and threshing. In spite of their significant contributions, the women are only recognized as wives of farmers—not as farmers.

However, this image of rural women has begun to change in Munger in the eastern state of Bihar through the ITC Limited Social Investment Programme-Mission Sunehra Kal (Golden Future).

Sustainable rice production project wraps up nearly a decade of high-impact research-for-development activities

Rice production currently faces many serious challenges such as climate change, reducing the environmental footprint of water use and pesticide use, labor shortages, and loss of highly productive agricultural land to increased urbanization and industrialization. These challenges come at a time when there is pressure to increase the intensity of rice production in lowland irrigated systems to meet the need to increase production by at least 50% to provide food security for the estimated 9 billion global population by 2050.

USD 10-million facility for studying climate change effects on plant growth opens at IRRI

On a hot, breezy afternoon on 21 January 2016, an international gathering of agricultural scientists and development officials dedicated the Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth Facility (PGF) on the campus of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The opening of the USD 10 million state-of-the-art facility manifests IRRI’s commitment to better understand the effects of climate change on plant growth in the ongoing effort to achieve food and nutrition security for future generations across the globe.

More than a woman

Rural women in Bangladesh are responsible for most of the hard work in and around the homestead, yet their work is seldom recognized as part of agriculture. But a woman from a small village in Bangladesh is proving that she is capable of contributing to household food security through improved farming practices.

Two new cold-tolerant rice varieties expand options for Madagascar farmers

Two new cold-tolerant varieties, FOFIFA 183 and FOFIFA 184, were released for the high-altitude rainfed lowland rice ecosystem through activities of the Africa Rice Center component of the Stress-tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, coordinated through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and implemented by the Africa-wide Rice Breeding Task Force.

Senegal’s quiet rice revolution

Unknown to many, rice seed growers are quietly turning Anambé, Kolda region in southern Senegal into a valley of prosperity.

Thanks to an amazing synergy among all the stakeholders, subsistence farmers in Kolda have become prosperous in less than two years doing a booming business in quality seed. Also, Kolda has become for the first time a major hub for upland rice seed production in Senegal. This transformation is helping the country move faster towards the goal set by the government to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2017.

Making dreams come true

Dr. Peng joined the Agronomy, Plant Physiology, and Agroecology Division headed by Dr. Cassman. He worked closely with plant breeders such as World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Gurdev Khush (watch IRRI Pioneer Interviews–Challenges for IRRI: Gurdev Khush) on some projects that included improving the yield potential of rice. One of the most memorable projects he came across was a field trial of a new plant type material—an improved tropical japonica variety—in the dry season of 1994. He said the crop looked beautiful in the field and his whole team visited the field almost every day.

Benefits drive the adoption of rice straw management practices in the Mekong Delta

Vietnam is one of the main rice-producing and exporting countries in Southeast Asia. Rice production in the country is continuously increasing due to the expansion of cropping areas and improved farming methods. Consequently, producing more rice means producing more rice straw as a byproduct.

In many rice-producing countries, burning is an easy and often practiced solution to clear the land of rice straw for the next crop. It is estimated that over 24 million tons of harvested rice straw are produced annually in the Mekong Delta.

Experts discuss strategy for adopting a climate prediction web-based app for Indonesia’s rainfed rice areas

BOGOR, Indonesia, 15 August —A focus group discussion with key stakeholders was recently held to introduce the prototype of a seasonal climate prediction-based decision support system. The app, called WeRise-RR, is designed to improve rice-based cropping systems in Indonesia’s rainfed areas. The focus was on how to effectively disseminate the new technology by considering the viewpoint of farmers.

WeRise-RR is a new version of the web-based app originally developed in 2014. It provides rainfed rice farmers with crucial weather information such as the start and end of the rainy season and rainfall distribution. The app also gives farmers options on optimum sowing times, the variety to plant, and the timing of fertilizer application.

Breeding a grain of life in LAC

Several factors influenced César Martínez’s lifelong devotion to rice. One was an early mentor’s enthusiasm for the staple grain. Another was the importance of rice in the diet of hundreds of millions of people. From these early impressions, Dr. Martínez formed a vision of what he could accomplish for poor households by becoming a rice breeder.

This vision has guided his productive career for 45 years. During most of this time, Dr. Martínez has worked as a rice breeder with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in Cali, Colombia, where he has served as Rice Program leader over the last four years.

Training of women farmers enhances the adoption of new agricultural technologies

Women serve as a cornerstone of food security. It is not only because of the strength of their numbers—about 43% of the global agricultural labor force, particularly in developing countries. Women contribute significantly to agriculture and rural enterprises that help reduce poverty in developing countries. If women in rural areas were given the same access to productive activities as men, agricultural and farming production would increase and feed approximately 150 million more people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

A balancing act in Africa’s inland valleys

Under normal circumstances, balancing and walking on rice bunds are not too difficult even for city dwellers. But, during the rainy season, this requires some acrobatic skills. This was the experience of a project team that recently toured selected inland valleys (a type of seasonally flooded wetland) in Gagnoa, Côte d’Ivoire, to interact with farmers and understand their concerns. The visit underlined the value of maintaining balance in the inland valleys in more ways than one. Inland valleys provide many crucial services to rural communities.

Can less favorable areas obtain food security?

Rice is life. So, when the global rice crisis hit in 2008, it threatened many lives. The year became well remembered for the soaring prices, the long lines in the market, the panic, the blame game, and the social unrest in different countries. A sense of alarm grew when rice, known to be the most “affordable” food for the poor, suddenly became “unaffordable.” It reminded the world of rice’s crucial role in human existence. It also revived interest in agriculture.

Targeting women and the youth in disseminating climate-smart agriculture in Vietnam

Women play a more important role in rice production in North and Central than in South Vietnam while young people find agriculture as an unattractive opportunity. These are among the findings in the study, A comparative analysis of gender and youth issues in rice production in North, Central, and South Vietnam, that have implications for formulating policies in disseminating CSA technologies.

Harnessing big data for climate change

Climate action is what Colombian rice farmers desperately need, as seemingly crazy weather—subtle shifts in rainfall plus more extreme climate events—forces them to toss aside familiar assumptions on when and what to plant. In the last 5 years, emerging climate change impacts have already driven down yields of irrigated rice from an average of 6 tons per hectare to 5 tons, according to FEDEARROZ, the national rice growers association.

Golden grains for better nutrition

Emma is a 38-year-old mother of eight from the Philippines. She earns a living as a cleaning lady, and putting food on the table is a challenge that she and her husband face each day.

For Emma and many other families in Asia, rice is the staple food, which eats up the family’s meager budget. “We depend on rice every day, because it is filling,” she said. “Most of the time, however, we cannot afford fish, meat, or vegetables. We only sprinkle salt or soy sauce to add some flavor or sometimes prepare rice as porridge.

Strategic alliance with BRAC

The late Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, a man from a wealthy family, had a vision of reaching out to his countrymen. He sold his house in London and he and his like-minded friends raised funds to buy building materials for their homeless countrymen. His work, which he started with his colleagues in a remote region of northeastern Bangladesh, led to the nongovernment organization known today as BRAC.

Lessons learned in the long term

The most intensively cropped experimental site in Asia began four decades ago largely as a demonstration plot conveniently close to IRRI’s administrative buildings. Researchers recognized its potential as an outdoor laboratory, and today the Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE) is a treasure for researching the sustainable management of intensive irrigated rice ecosystems.

Smallholder rice farmers in Guangdong Province reap more benefits with less fertilizer

Inorganic fertilizer, particularly nitrogen, is one of the pillars of intensive rice agriculture. In fact, the increased use of fertilizer (along with modern rice varieties, irrigation, and mechanization) has resulted in a higher rate of productivity. However, over the years, it also created a belief that soils are unproductive without fertilizers and many farmers tend to overuse it. The excessive use of fertilizers has led to environmental pollution and contamination of water resources.

The strength of women

Nobody pushed me toward science.

From my childhood years, I had a willingness to complete the commitments for any opportunities given to me by my parents, teachers, relatives, or others. After my primary education and based on my performance in the entrance examination to a secondary school, I had an opportunity to enter the science stream of Thelijjawila Central College. Thelijjawila Central College is a leading school in the Matara District in Sri Lanka and I had a lot of fun and enthusiasm while learning about science.

Agricultural mechanization shaping the future of Burundi’s rice sector

Agricultural mechanization is crucial in attaining food security in Africa.

The Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods states that suitable, reliable and affordable mechanization, among others, as intrinsic to doubling current agricultural productivity levels by the year 2025. It also has a prominent role in Agenda 2063 of the African Union. The Agenda cites agricultural modernization as a transformative tool for enabling the continent to feed itself and be a major player as a net food exporter.

A SMART choice for Africa’s inland-valley rice farmers

“The potential is there, but you can’t eat potential.” This is one of the most memorable statements of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug. His remark would perfectly fit the case of the inland-valley lowlands in Africa, which are known to have high agricultural production potential, but have remained largely untapped until now.

However, with rapid population growth and climate change, inland valleys are increasingly being considered as the continent’s future food basket since they are generally more fertile than uplands and have higher water availability. They are particularly important for realizing Africa’s rice promise.

Appeasing ‘nine dragons’ enraged by climate change

Vietnam’s mighty Mekong Delta comprises nine river mouths that give it its local name, “Cuu Long,” or “nine dragons.” Every year, it supplies Vietnam with around 20 million tons of rice, which is about 50% of the country’s total production. But, the significance of the rice supply from the Mekong Delta goes beyond Vietnam’s own 91 million rice consumers.

Women farmers in research and technology development

Rice is intertwined in the fabric of the lives of hundreds of millions of people living in rural areas in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Rice production provides staple food, livelihood, and income for poor rice-farming communities. Among poor rice-farming households, labor requirements are met by family members, male and female, and hired workers.

Gender relations and division of labor by gender vary by country, agroecosystem, socioeconomic status, cultural norms, degree of mechanization, market orientation (subsistence and commercialized), and availability of male labor. Women contribute at least half of total labor inputs in rice production in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Changing the world with seeds: The breeding history of IR8

In the 1950s, Asia is on the brink of famine. Food is scarce and millions of people are in danger of suffering from starvation. So, in 1960, IRRI was established with an urgent mission to develop a high-yielding rice variety. On 28 November 1966, IRRI released IR8, a rice variety dubbed by the media as the “miracle rice.” Ultimately, this first effective semidwarf variety would indeed change the food situation in Asia and beyond, kicking off what we now call the “first” Green Revolution.

The Learning Alliance: A coalition for change

Millions of Asian rice farmers struggle with low-quality grains, which are brought about by poor postharvest management, inappropriate technology, and a lack of understanding of the factors that affect rice quality. These problems result in a loss of potential income for farmers and lesser available rice in the market. The Learning Alliance (LA) is a way for actors in a rice value chain to work together and encourage cooperation to increase adoption of technologies, facilitate stronger partnerships, and use resources sustainably. Through LA, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) facilitates a network of stakeholders in the context of improving rice postharvest management. The alliance in Myanmar, composed of farmers and IRRI’s local partners from the rice value chain, aimed to produce better-quality rice and sell it to larger markets. Before Myanmar, the method was also used in various Southeast Asian countries where value chain actors similarly sought to improve their country’s postharvest systems.

IRRI Pioneer Interviews: Noel Magor and Casiana Vera Cruz

Noel Magor spent the first 14 of his 24 years associated with IRRI in various projects in Bangladesh to improve that country’s rice production and the livelihood of its farmers. He followed with 10 years at headquarters leading the Training Center and enhancing the Rice Knowledge Bank to help prepare the next generation of scientists to meet future challenges.

In search of new seeds

It is said that if you want to be a good gardener you should always sow three seeds: one for the bugs, one for the weather, and one for yourself. But if you tell this to Seybou Lema, who produces and sells seeds of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) in the West African country of Togo, he wouldn’t agree to waste even a single seed.

Seybou doesn’t want to be just a good farmer; he wants to be efficient as well because the happiness of his entire family depends on the quantity and quality of the NERICA seeds he produces. The NERICA varieties, which are bringing hope to millions of poor people in Africa, were developed by the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) and its partners.

Swarna-Sub1: Odisha’s food for a goddess

Swarna-Sub1 is the flood-tolerant version of the popular mega-variety Swarna (MTU 7029) in eastern India. It was developed by scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), evaluated and released in India by Central Rice research Institute (CRRI), and disseminated by IRRI in collaboration with the national agricultural research systems, government organizations, nongovernment organizations, and public and private seed companies in India. In the eastern state of Odisha, where Swarna occupies more than 30% of the total rice area, both the state and central government are distributing Swarna-Sub1 seeds through various schemes such as the National Food Security Mission and Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI).

IRRI Pioneer Interviews: Roland Buresh and J.K. Ladha

Roland Buresh, who spent 24 years at IRRI as a soil scientist, worked primarily on nutrient and crop management, first as a visiting scientist in a 7-year stint in 1984-91 and then again to stay as a senior scientist in 2000 and as a principal scientist from 2010. Add to this his stints as a soil scientist at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (now World Forestry Center) in Nairobi, Kenya, and the International Fertilizer Development Center in the U.S,, and this son of a Minnesota dairy farmer has, as he puts it, had a 40-year journey through the mud.

Rural women in Myanmar reap the benefits of sustainable rice farming practices

Sustainable farming practices are at the center of food security and improved livelihoods. They are also the basis for research and development interventions, especially in rice-based ecosystems, which provide the staple food of most of Asia.

As one of Asia’s rice granaries, Myanmar aims to regain its past position as a huge contributor to regional and global food security through rice-based adaptive research for improving the productivity of diversified cropping systems.

A new wave of rice farming

For plant geneticist Luke Young and biologist Rory Hornby, the solution to the world’s food security is an audacious concept: sea farming or ocean agriculture that utilizes the natural mechanism of plants such as mangroves and seagrasses to live in a saltwater environment.

Uganda: blazing a trail to rice success

Uganda—widely known as “the pearl of Africa” for its exquisite natural beauty, diverse flora and fauna, and rich mosaic of cultures— is attracting attention today as a potential rice basket for eastern Africa.

Over the last few years, Uganda has been experiencing a remarkable rice boom supported by good farming practices, premium market prices, and favorable policies that have stimulated large private investment in the rice sector.

What Latin America’s rice sector offers the world

There is one occasion that Brazilian farmer Geovano Parcianello never misses. Every year, he travels 503 kilometers from his farm in the municipality of Alegrete to the city of Cachoeirinha, where the most important rice experiment station in the state of Rio Grande do Sul is located. Being there with a thousand other rice growers gives Mr. Parcianello an opportunity to find out about new varieties, disease control measures, and options for crop rotation—knowledge he can apply on his own 900 hectares of rice.

Secret unlocked to underwater rice seed survival

A team of scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the University of California Riverside recently published a study unlocking the secret to just how rice seeds might be able to survive when grown under water.

Unleashing the force

Rice breeders in sub- Saharan Africa are an endangered species, according to Dr. Moussa Sié, Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) senior scientist. “Since classical plant breeding is no longer fashionable, very few students are taking up this discipline,” he remarked. “Even the handful of rice breeders who are working in national programs today are generally above 45 years old.”

A juggling act: gender barriers and molecular maps

I ended up at IRRI in a quite roundabout way. I actually came into science late in my career. I had lived and traveled extensively in Latin America before coming back to the United States for graduate school. I had realized that my background in literature and history wasn’t going to give me the tools that I needed to find meaningful work in the developing world, which was one of the aspirations I had.

Developing the next breed of scientists

The future of agriculture lies in the next generation of leaders who will face the tough challenges of poverty and hunger, limited natural resources, and the impact of climate change. Empowering young people to be catalysts of change can help solve many challenges in the future. Young scientists must play a leading role in such efforts to help shape a new image for modern agriculture.

Women restore balance in rice fields with flowers

By planting flowers around their rice paddies, women farmers in Vietnam are saving 42% on insect control costs.

The women, from Tien Giang Province, participated in training to learn how to keep their rice fields ecologically sound and balanced – by planting flowers around them, a practice called “ecological engineering.” The “friendly” insects and other organisms that live in this diverse vegetation around the rice fields help control rice pests such as the brown planthopper.

RiceAdvice: An app tailor-made for African farmers

A smart mobile crop management tool is helping farmers in Africa optimize their production and profits and reduce waste.

IRRI Pioneer Interviews: Tapping the treasure trove of traits in wild plant species

Darshan Singh Brar, a plant breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; 1987–2011), devoted nearly a quarter century of dedicated service to the institute, which encompassed not only cutting-edge rice research but also administration, education, and support of national programs in developing countries.

Opportunity from crisis

“Everyone to the farm,” is the new decree of President Wade of Senegal—a country that has seen massive riots in the last few months, when thousands of citizens carrying empty rice sacks on their heads marched in protest against soaring rice prices. The President has just unveiled an ambitious agricultural plan called the Great Agricultural Offensive for Food and Abundance (GOANA), which aims to Abundance make Senegal self-sufficient in food staples, especially rice. GOANA’s target is to produce in the next season 500,000 tons of rice—2.5 times more than the current production.

The “crown jewels” of Chile

Diamond, Amber, Quartz, and Sapphire: this collection of “jewels” is not kept in a bank vault, but sown in the cold soils of Chile, the country hugging the southwestern coast of South America. These are some of the rice varieties (named after precious stones) that are grown in the country.

Reflections on my time at the center of rice research

In my 47-year international career (27 years at IRRI and 20 years at Virginia Tech), I must say that my time at IRRI as an agronomist from January 1964 to June 1992 (becoming head of agronomy in 1970), represented the best years of my life and the most rewarding scientific and professional career.

Another World Food Prize winner has an IRRI connection

World Food Day is a day of action against hunger. Every year, on October 16, people around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. In the lead-up to this international event, the annual winner of the World Food Prize is feted in Des Moines, Iowa.

Spreading the word

India is a world away from Indiana, and none would mistake Sister Sajita Isaac for Johnny Appleseed. But the peripatetic Catholic nun calls to mind the fabled nurseryman of the American frontier. Like John Chapman — to use the real name of the evangelist who roamed Indiana and Ohio for half a century raising apple seedlings to sustain homesteaders during their first difficult years — Sister Sajita brings missionary zeal to the earthly task of helping farmers improve their diets and livelihoods. And, like Chapman, she covers a lot of ground, riding her motorbike five days a week to villages up to 50 km away, and shifting her agricultural ministrations from village to village as improved crop varieties and farming practices take root.

A schoolboy at heart: Celebrated Indian scientist speaks his mind

The legendary Ebrahimali Abubacker Siddiq, 78, began his long and enduring rice research career in 1968 as a cytogeneticist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi, including 7 years there as a senior scientist. In 1983-86, he spent 3 years as a breeder for IRRI in Egypt. Returning to IARI, he was appointed professor of genetics (1986-87).

The little machine that could

The excitement of rice farmers in Saint-Louis, Senegal, upon seeing an appropriate engine-driven small-scale thresher from Asia in the mid-1990s could not have been far different from that of the first American president, George Washington, in 1796, when he was expecting the first horse-powered threshing machine to arrive from London. He described the new machine as one of “the most valuable institutions in this country; for nothing is more wanting and to be wished for on our farms.”

Women of war turn to rice in Burundi

Burundi is a small landlocked country in Central Africa.Longstanding tribal conflicts in the country broke out into a civil war in 1993 that lasted 12 years and resulted in more than 200,000 deaths. In 2006, a year after the conflict ended, a horrendous 83% of Burundians were found living below the international poverty standard of less than US$1.25 a day.

A four-decade quest to improve rice in Latin America and the Caribbean

The past 40 years have seen major advances in rice improvement for the unique and diverse growing conditions of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Rice Program of CIAT has contributed greatly, working in collaboration with its many national partners.

IPM: Breakthrough in biological control

Rice farmers in China are at the forefront of a ten-year international scientific effort to reduce the amount of chemicals being dumped on the planet’s millions of hectares of rice paddies. As 13% of the world’s total harvested crop area is planted to rice, any success in helping rice farmers reduce the inappropriate use of pesticides promises to have a major impact on the environment, especially in Asia. The situation is of special concern in China, where the excessive use of farm chemicals has been a major problem for many years.