Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
October 17, 2007
Source:
International Rice Research
Institute
The world’s major rice-producing
nations – including China and India – are calling for closer
collaboration in efforts to feed Asia’s billions of rice
consumers in the face of unprecedented new challenges.
Rice production, which helps feed almost half the world, has
been under increasingly intense pressure lately, causing rising
consumer prices in many Asian nations. Climate change, biofuels,
water scarcity, and farmers diversifying into other crops are
just some of the factors affecting Asia’s ability to produce the
rice it needs.
The eleventh annual meeting of the
Council for
Partnerships on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA) last month in
Vietnam was warned that more must be done to accelerate the
development and dissemination of rice varieties to help farmers
keep up with production demands. CORRA brings together the
senior research representatives of 16 major rice-producing and
-consuming nations to highlight and discuss the main issues and
challenges facing the Asian rice industry.
“The rice-producing nations of Asia are facing many of the same
challenges in producing the rice they need, so it makes sense
for us to work together to overcome these problems,” Mangala
Rai, the CORRA chair, told the meeting. Dr. Rai is also the
chairman and secretary of India’s Department of Agricultural
Research and Education (DARE) and director general of the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
“Climate change, water scarcity, and the continuing poverty of
rice farmers are problems we all face,” Dr. Rai told his fellow
CORRA members.
Dr. Rai said it was also important for rice researchers in Asia
to have access to the most advanced scientific tools to help
them increase production, and this included biotechnology.
“We decided that we should actively support the policies of our
governments to promote the responsible use of biotechnology to
help achieve food security and reduce poverty,” he said. “We
also endorsed the risk assessment–based use of transgenic
technology in rice as per national priorities for agriculture
and for trade.”
The CORRA meeting was briefed as well on a proposed new system
to encourage greater private sector support in the development
of new hybrid rice varieties. Many of the hybrid rice varieties
being grown across Asia can be traced back to work done by
public research institutes such as IRRI. This earlier work has
allowed the private sector to benefit from this public research
almost free of charge.
Under the proposed new system – which was endorsed by CORRA –
seed companies involved in producing hybrid seed as well as
public sector organizations would be invited to join a
public–private sector consortium. The consortium would generate
funds through different levels of membership and fees, which
would be used to support hybrid rice research by the public
sector, but also capacity-building programs for young scientists
from Asia.
Rice farmers will benefit by gaining access to a wide range of
improved rice hybrids and associated crop management
technologies.
For more information on CORRA, please go to
www.irri.org/corra/default.asp |
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