Fascinating insight into rice breeding in the Philippines

The first visit of our Nuffield Global Focus Programme was to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banõs, Philippines. While my knowledge of rice is pretty limited (and not least my cooking abilities) it was really interesting to gain an insight into agriculture and research in developing countries, and also to see that there may be more similarities with "western world farming" than we might realise.

IRRI was established in 1960 by the Philippino government, with the support of the Ford and Rockerfeller foundations. Rice is the staple diet of 50% of the world's population, and of over 70% of the world's poor. In Asia, the average annual consumption of rice is 80kg per person! And in countries of poverty that figure can be as high as 160kg per person per annum as rice is often the only food source available. The mission of IRRI is to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers and ensure the environmental sustainability of rice production. However, with about 140 million farmers growing rice on about 140 million hectares globally, and with minimal consolidation of land, how do you modernise in this environment?

Plant breeding has been one of the most significant changes, starting a "Green Revolution". In the 60's average rice yields were 1.5 tonne/hectare. Through the breeding and introduction of dwarf varieties, yields increased to 4 tonne/hectare. However, the ongoing challenges to rice production and development are not too dissimilar to challenges in Ireland - labour, land and water. While you might think more water is better when it comes to growing rice, IRRI have in fact developed a strain of rice to try and withstand the destructive flood conditions that are becoming more common in many rice-growing regions. This "Scuba Rice" can survive complete submergence for two weeks without affecting yield, and is now being used by over 6 million farmers. Through plant breeding, strains of rice are being developed that contain both drought and flood resistance features.

For me, the most impressive part of the visit was the International Rice Genebank. When IRRI was established over 50 years ago, a gene bank was set up in order to gather, catalogue and protect the various lines of traditional, modern and wild rice varieties from around the world. This demonstrated the incredible foresight of the institution, and was a very progressive approach, particularly in an era when communications, technology and logistics were not what they are now. Currently there are over 121,000 different lines of rice seeds banked, from over 120 countries, with an extremely comprehensive database. The database catalogues the source, characteristics, and location of the seeds in the germbank. Seeds are stored in two collections - a 'base' collection at -20 degrees for long term storage. In these conditions seeds should remain viable for 100 years. The second, an 'active' collection, is kept at 2-4 degrees, will remain viable for 20-30 years and is used for distribution. Replicate seed stock is also stored in two other 'seedbanks' on two different continents for added security. If any country ever needs rice seed stock for research purposes, or in the event of a natural disaster the IRRI Genebank will supply the required seed free of charge. That's what I call planning for the future!