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The Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), which is the CGIAR Research Program on Rice, represents or
the rst time ever a single strategic and work plan or global rice research. GRiSP brings together hundreds
o scientists to embark on the most comprehensive attempt ever to harness the power o science to solve
the pressing development challenges o the 21st century. Cutting-edge science is deployed to develop
new rice varieties with high yield potential and tolerance o a variety o stresses such as fooding, salinity,
drought, soil problems, pests, weeds, and diseases. Improved natural resource management practices will
allow armers to ully realize the benets o such new varieties on a sustainable basis while protecting the
environment. Future rice production systems are designed to adapt to climate change and to mitigate theimpacts o global warming. Policies conducive to the adoption o new varieties and cropping systems will
be designed to acilitate the realization o development outcomes. GRiSP will train uture rice scientists
and strengthen the capacity o advisory systems to reach millions o armers. For impact at scale, GRiSP
scientists collaborate with hundreds o development partners rom the public and private sector across the
globe.
GRiSP was launched in 2010 and is coordinated by three members o the CGIAR Consortiumthe In-
ternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI, the lead institute), Arica Rice Center (AricaRice), the International
Center or Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)and three other leading agricultural agencies with an international
mandate and with a large portolio on rice: Centre de Cooperation lnternationale en Recherche Agronom-
ique pour le Dveloppement (Cirad), Llnstitut de Recherche pour le Dveloppement (IRD), and the Japan
International Research Center or Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). Together, they align and bring to the table
consortia, networks, platorms, programs, and collaborative projects with over 900 partners rom the gov-
ernment, nongovernment, public, private, and civil society sectors.
The responsibility or this publication rests solely with the Global Rice Science Partnership.
cc Global Rice Science Partnership 2013
This publication is copyrighted by GRiSP and is licensed or use under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License (Unported). Unless otherwise noted, users are ree to copy,
duplicate, or reproduce and distribute, display, or transmit any o the articles and to make translations,
adaptation, or other derivative works under specic conditions spelled out at http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0.
Mailing address:
Dr. Bas Bouman, GRiSP director
c/o IRRI, DAPO Box 7777
Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63 (2) 580-5600
Fax: +63 (2) 580-5699
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.cgiar.org/rice-grisp.
Suggested citation:
GRiSP (Global Rice Science Partnership). 2013. GRiSP in motion, Annual Report 2012.
Los Baos (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 32 p.
Managing Editors: Gene Hettel and Sophie ClaytonEditors: Savitri Mohapatra and Alaric Francis Santiaguel
Copy Editor: Bill HardyDesign and layout: Emmanuel Panisales
Writers: Sophie Clayton, David Johnson, Gladys Ebron, Lizbeth Baroa-Edra, Paula Bianca Ferrer, Guy
Manners (Green Ink), Ruben Lampayan, Elenor de Leon, Matthias Lorieux, Digna Manzanilla, Andy Nelson,
Neil Palmer, Lanie Reyes, M. Srinivas Rao, Rona Nia Mae Rojas, Alaric Francis Santiaguel, and
Poornima Shankar
Production assistants: Antonette Abigail Caballero, Cynthia Quintos
Distribution: Lourdes Columbres
Cover photo: Chris Quintana, IRRI
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Contents
Transplanting Uruguaysrice experience intoAsias rice felds
4
6Stopping rice enemynumber one
8Modern arks or ancientrice
10The next big gene on thescene
12Banking on the rice othe uture
13Genetic bridges betweenArica and Asia
14Domesticating WestAricas rice market
16A rice by any other name
18Customizingcommunications or localaudiences
20Cambodias rice feld odreams
22 Beyond the good oldtimes
24Name that weed!
26A new breed o breeders
28Building the oundationo rice science
30Earth-cooling technology
31A new eye on Arica:putting rice on the map
1GRiSP in motion
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GRiSP in motion
The year 2012 was the second year o implementation
o the CGIAR Research Program or Rice, known
as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP).
Since its launch in December 2010, we have considerably
strengthened our partnership oundation or mobilizing
science to increase ood security, alleviate poverty, and
increase the sustainability o rice production. Both the
collaboration among GRiSPs six coordinating institutes and
that between those institutes and more than 900 other
partners rom the public and private sector worldwide have
intensied considerably.
GRiSP aims to develop science-based solutions to
todays and tomorrows agricultural development problems.
It mobilizes partners that operate on the cutting edge o
science at one end o the globe and connects them withgrass-roots partners at other ends. In this report, we present
a snapshot o such activities that illustrates the tremendous
gains that well-chosen partnerships can deliver. Youll read
about partnerships that discover new genes and deploy
those genes to produce new rice varieties that increase
tolerance o phosphorus deciency, coner resistance to
insect pests and virus diseases, or will lead to a completely
new type o rice, called C4
rice, which could potentially
increase yields by up to 50%. But, youll also read how GRiSP
partners team up with indigenous people and local armer
groups in remote areas to preserve and improve age-old ricevarieties and make sure they are retained or generations to
come.
GRiSP partners rom Latin America, Arica, and Asia
discuss the workings o each others rice sectors and policies
and cross-ertilize each other with new ideas. New concepts
or orging local partnerships are piloted in South Asia and
across Arica in an attempt to ast-track the development
and delivery o locally adapted technologies. And, nally,
GRiSP invests in capacity building o the next generation o
rice scientists and helps them prepare to become leaders in
their own right when its their turn to take over rom thecurrent generation.
I hope you enjoy reading these snapshots and can share
in the exhilaration we all eel in being part o GRiSP and
combining our knowledge to help make our world a more
ood-secure, richer, and environmentally riendly place to live
in.
Bas Bouman
Director, GRiSP
C.
Quintana,IRRI
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Uruguay has achieved a 25% increase in rice productivity in recent yearsmuch higher than many other nationswhich has set it on track to contribute to meeting the global demand or an estimated 116 million additional tons orice by 2035. Representatives rom around 20 countries brought together by GRiSP went to Uruguay to learn abouits success in rice production and study whether, and how, Uruguays model can be used in Asia.
Transplanting Uruguays rice experienceinto Asias rice felds
From relative obscurity 50
years ago, Uruguay, a small
South American country,
now has the third-highest rice
productivity in the worldanaverage o 8 tons per hectare
o dry paddy rice over the last 5
years. Although it has only 580
rice armers cultivating some
180,000 hectares o irrigated
rice, Uruguays unique system
has triggered 25% gains in
productivity in recent years.
The Uruguayan wayThe eatures o the rice sector
are vertical integration and
transparency among armers,
millers, researchers, and the
government. This structure
integrates complete and up-to-date inormation on rice
exports, well-dened rules on rice quality standards, active
participation o armers and millers in research goals, and
the armer-miller relationship duly signed in a production
contract every year, including agreement on the price
armers will receive or their rice.
Organized through the Rice Growers Association (ACA
in Spanish), armers sell their rice directly to local mills, which
process it or export. The mills work closely with international
traders and eed inormation to rice breeders at Uruguays
National Agricultural Research Institution (INIA by its Spanish
acronym) on the type o rice they need. This ensures that
INIAs breeding and research priorities are in line with market
demand.
An integrated rice chainUruguay has no publicly
unded extension system.
Instead, rice millers employ
their own agronomists,
who have close contact
with researchers at INIA, to
provide armers with crop
management advice. The mills
also supply armers with clean,
certied rice seed to help
guarantee the best possible
harvest, which assures millers
o a reliable source o high-
quality paddy.
As co-ounders o the
Latin American Fund or
Irrigated Rice (FLAR by its
Spanish acronym) in 1995,
INIA, ACA, and rice millers
helped ensure that rice producers are able to get the latest
technologies as soon as they are delivered by international
centers.
The integration o the rice chain has been the driving
orce or the impressive competitiveness achieved in the past
our decades in Uruguay, explained Gonzalo Zorrilla, FLAR
executive ocer and GRiSP theme leader.
The agronomy revolutionUruguays impressive yield gains were accomplished partly by
using improved varieties, but mainly through improved crop
management practices such as timely crop establishment,
water and nutrient management, and proper weed control.
The quick adoption o these simple but eective agronomic
in motion
N.
Palmer,CIAT
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improvements was achieved through close interaction
among scientists, agronomists, and armer groups who make
requent eld visits together and pragmatically discuss what
works and what doesnt.
Vietnams visionCan Uruguays success be duplicated in Asia, where 120
million rice armers have an average area o 0.52 hectares
and very limited access to inputs?
I think elements o the Uruguayan system really could
work well in parts o the Mekong Delta, said Bas Bouman,
director o GRiSP. In Vietnams An Giang Province, or
example, the government has a vision to develop a high-
quality rice sector to supply international markets. Here, I
could see one or more large mills joining together with large
groups o armers to produce high-value rice in a system
based on trust and transparency.
Pham Van Du, deputy director general o the
Department o Crop Production o the Vietnamese Ministry
o Agriculture and Rural Development, who joined the
GRiSP meeting in Uruguay, saw valuable lessons or a new
Vietnamese program called Small Farmers, Large Rice
Field. Under the program, millers, armers, and the public
and private sector work together to produce high-quality
rice.
Later in 2012, Dr. Du continued the discussion with Ra
Uraga Berrutti, agronomist and technical advisor at one o
Uruguays large rice mills, during GRiSPs Global Forum in the
Philippines.
A lesson or AsiaWhile most o the rice in Asia is consumed by the very
poor, there is a rapidly growing middle class buying high-
quality branded rice rom supermarkets, Dr. Bouman said.
Introducing something like the Uruguayan system at a
smaller level could help armers and local rice sectors take
advantage o this.
This is relevant not only or Vietnam but also or other
rice-producing countries in Asia that are undergoing rapid
structural transormation, he concluded.
in motion
A model country. Researchers are looking at Uruguays highlysuccessul rice production model in building high-value rice sectors inAsia to supply global markets.
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Brown planthoppers (BPH) are ecient rice killers when
they occur in large numbers. They pierce the stem and
suck out the sap, causing rice plants to dry out and die.
They can also transmit viruses that cause severe rice diseases.
BPH are regarded as the number-one insect pest o rice
in Asia because o the severe damage they cause, estimated
at 2 to 3 million tons annually, across regions where
outbreaks occur. In 2012, BPH outbreaks in Thailand aected
17 provinces in the Central Plains. In China, the worst
outbreak in 20 years aected more than 5 million hectares in
the southern provinces o Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan.
Multinational line o deenseThe war against BPH reached a watershed in 2012. Two
international events, organized under GRiSP, ocused on
building a stronger multinational network to ght this pest
that does not recognize international borders.
More than 160 participants rom Australia, Cambodia,
China, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, IRRI,
and FAO attended the International Conerence on Rice
Planthoppers in China, where new ndings rom sequencing
the planthopper genome were presented. This opens the
door to understanding the genetic diversity and adaptability
o BPH and leads to new ways to manage the pest.
Stopping rice enemy number one
With new planthopper outbreaks occurring at an unprecedented scale, researchers rom across dierent GRiSPorganizations came together as never beore to improve implementation o holistic strategies at ground zeroand to share the growing arsenal that is becoming available to better know and fght this enemy.
Second, partners o the Rice Planthopper Project rom
China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines came together
in China and reported that ecological engineering has been
adopted in seven provinces o the Mekong Delta in Vietnam,
three provinces in Thailand, and three counties in China.
Ecological engineering is a management strategy to build
ecological diversity to strengthen the rice elds natural
capacity to cope with pests. It is being promoted by the
project, which is supported by the Asian Development Bank
and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Friendly freThe link between how pesticides are supplied, marketed,
and sold and the worsening BPH problem was also presented
at the conerence. Weak marketing regulations, in which
pesticides are sold as ast-moving consumer goods, can
lead to excessive pesticide misuse that contributes to BPH
outbreaks. Thus, there is a need or rice-producing countries
to reorm pesticide marketing regulations.
When there is more ecological diversity in a rice eld,
the biological control o BPH provided by ecosystem service
providers, such as spiders, wasps, parasitoids, and other
predators, is enhanced, IRRI insect ecologist K.L. Heong
in motion
Tiny troublemaker. Despite its minute size, BPHinfict catastrophic losses in rice production acrossAsia by their sheer numbers.
6
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said. I this is combined with careul insecticide use, then
the occurrence o planthopper outbreaks can be markedly
reduced.
PhilippinesUnder GRiSP, the Bureau o Agricultural Research o the
Philippine Department o Agriculture started a project in
2012 with IRRI and Regional Agricultural Research Centers
to restore and conserve ecosystem service providers
that support eective pest management in rice through
ecological engineering. This will build on the work o the
Rice Planthopper Project to apply ecological engineering
concepts across selected sites in the Philippines.
A cavalry o genesAlongside more ecologically diverse and naturally pest-
resilient rice elds, rice varieties that can resist BPH can
reduce the pests damage. But, as BPH constantly and rapidly
evolve, they can overcome any resistance genes introduced
into rice varieties. Scientists continue to search or genes that
can withstand BPH.
Kshirod Jena, a rice breeder at IRRI, and his team
recently identied new BPH resistance genes (Bph18, Bph20,
and Bph21) that provide broad resistance to BPH populations
in Asia. Dr. Jena and his team have developed a BPH-resistanversion o rice variety IR24, making it easier to transer the
gene into other varieties.
Several GRiSP research partners in other countries are
also incorporating these BPH resistance genes into their elite
rice cultivars. Already, the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research
Institute in Vietnam has developed several BPH-resistant
breeding lines with the Bph18 gene, and nominated them
or varietal release in 2012.
IRRI is continuously developing new generations o
BPH-resistant rice varieties as well as eective deployment
strategies to delay hopper adaptation, and increase geneticresistance or stable rice production. GRiSP speeds up the
sharing o the latest weapons and tactics in the war against
BPH among researchers worldwide. Eventually, armers will
have all the tools and tactics they need to overtake the
enemy.
in motion
Battlefeld scars. The burned-looking rice plants in the oreground are a tell-tale sign o damagecaused by the pest. BPH outbreaks are linked to excessive and improper use o pesticides.
A breeding oensive. Using newly discovered genes, BPH-resistant rice varieties will soon be part o anoverall breeding strategy to counter Asias most devastating insect pest. At the Cuu Long Delta Rice ResearchInstitute in Vietnam, researchers have already developed resistant breeding lines with the Bph18 gene.
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GRiSP contributes to the long-term conservation o rice
biodiversity thanks to the support o donors to the
International Rice Genebank at IRRI. The genebank
holds more than 117,000 types o modern and traditional
rice varieties and wild relatives o rice rom all over the
world. However, armers can also take an active part in rice
conservation locally, particularly o heirloom varieties that
they have been growing or generations.
The Consortium or Unavorable Rice Environments(CURE), a partnership among research and extension
institutions rom South and Southeast Asia and coordinated
by IRRI, assists remote armers not only in saeguarding
ancient rice varieties but also in maintaining traditional
values and culture.
A bankable assetIn the Arakan Valley, in
Cotabato Province,
Philippines,
rice variety Dinorado is more than a crop that commands
a premium price. It is part o the pride and social identity
o the people. But, its quality and commercial value have
deteriorated as the genetic purity o its seed stocks has
declined over time because the armers did not have the
skills to maintain seed quality.
IRRI scientists joined orces with the University o
Southern Mindanao, the Philippine Rice Research Institute,
the Municipal Agricultural Oce o Arakan, and theDepartment o Agriculture to train selected armers in high-
quality seed production, and to introduce modern and other
traditional rice varieties. Ater the training, the armers set up
the Arakan Community Seed Bank Organization (ACSBO).
ACSBO members can borrow a sack o good seeds rom the
bank and pay the bank with two sacks ater their crop is
harvested.
We learned the importance o selecting and cleaning
seeds to ensure that we get quality seeds, said Nestor
Nombreda, president o ACSBO. Using quality seeds, the
Modern arks or ancient rice
In two remote areas in the Philippines, native rice varietiescultivated in traditional waysare sources o oodand income but also have strong cultural currency. GRiSP, through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),is helping armers manage these valuable assets by using modern agricultural practices. When armers continue to
grow heirloom rice, they are conserving irreplaceable genetic resources, too.
in motion
House o the past and the uture. Traditional storage houses in northern Luzon,where armers keep their heirloom rice, share something in common with the giantinternational rice genebank at IRRI. They preserve genetic materials that are potentialsources o new traits such as pest and disease resistance.
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plants have a good appearance, good tillers, and large round
grains while low-quality seeds acquire many diseases and
perorm poorly.
ACSBO member Russel Samillano said, Beore, we did
not have seeds to plant in our elds; we had nowhere to buy
seeds rom. Now, we use good seeds rom the seed bank.
Because o this, our amily will not go hungry.
ACSBO members also made extra money selling high-
quality seeds to other armers.
Teaming up the old with the newMeanwhile, at the opposite end o the Philippine
archipelago, armers in remote areas o the Cordillera region
o Luzon are acing similar problems: their age-old rice
terraces are eroding, and the yield o the traditional rice
varieties that their ancestors have cultivated or hundreds
o years is low and unstable. Farmers worry about a lack o
interest in rice arming among the younger generation and
that no one will preserve their ancient traditions.
CURE teamed up with the Second Cordillera Highland
Agricultural Resource Management Project, unded by the
International Fund or Agricultural Development, to train
armers in the region on rural community-improvement
opportunities. Specically, CURE introduced new rice
management technologies and varieties that could help
armers increase productivity and their livelihoods while
maintaining their traditional rice varieties. Technologies such
as community-based rodent control and modern varieties
have merged with traditional systems such as organic
agriculture and the use o heirloom rice.
The conservation o traditional varieties is important
to plant breeding, said Dr. Casiana Vera Cruz, a scientist
at IRRI. They are untapped genetic resources and potential
sources o new traits such as pest and disease resistances as
well as tolerance o the changing climatic conditions.
Global S.O.S.: save old seedsScientists are developing ways to work with armers
to saeguard rice biodiversity by blending modern
seed production technologies and crop management
with traditional practices and heirloom rice varieties.
Strengthening national partnerships under GRiSP allows
the work to thrive and be extended to other communities
worldwide.
Ultimately, this enriches the worlds rice gene pool thatprovides GRiSP organizations across the globe with genetic
knowledge and tools needed to produce varieties to solve
the increasing production and environmental challenges in
the uture.
in motion
Management course. Farmers in Arakan inspect traditional and hybrid rice varietiesgrowing in experimental plots. Management or crop diversity, in which traditional and hybridrice varieties are intercropped, has been proven to promote on-arm conservation o rice.
Their heritage rice. Women armers in Kalinga in the northern part o thePhilippines sort Unoy, an aromatic indigenous variety o rice that is cultivatedusing production practices o their oreathers.
E.DeLeon,IRRI
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Phosphorus is an important plant nutrient, but, when
phosphorus levels in the soil are low, rice plants can
suer rom lower yield. Because almost 60% o rice
is cultivated on fooded or irrigated land that is decient
in phosphorus, phosphorus ertilizer is needed to achieve
optimal yield. But, phosphorus ertilizer is oten too
expensive or poor armers. On problem soils, armers can
apply phosphorus ertilizer but the nutrient can rapidly
attach to soil minerals and no longer be available to plants.
Adding to the problem is that phosphorus is a
nonrenewable natural resource and rock phosphate
reservesthe source o most phosphorus ertilizerare
running out. But, with global demand or phosphate
ertilizer projected to increase rom 41.7 million tons in
2011 to 45 million tons in 2015, according to the Food
and Agriculture Organization, prices are also expected to
rise urther and thus put poor armers at an additional
disadvantage.
Genetic jackpotThe PSTOL1 (phosphorus starvation tolerance 1) gene could
help ease the pressure on phosphorus. It helps rice grow
larger, better root systems that can access more phosphorus.
PSTOL1 was discovered by scientists at IRRI and JIRCAS,
in collaboration with the University o Milano in Italy, the
University o the Philippines Los Baos, and the Institute or
The next big gene on the scene
Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research
and Development in Indonesia. The main nancial support
was provided by the CGIAR Generation Challenge Program,
with supplementary unding rom other donors. This
collaboration is an outstanding example o how GRiSP brings
together partners rom across the world to solve problems in
rice science.
For several years, we have known a major gene
enhancing root growth and phosphorus uptake existed,
said Matthias Wissuwa o JIRCAS. The superior perormance
under phosphorus deciency o rice variety Kasalath,
which was where the PSTOL1 gene was ound, was initially
discovered by Dr. Wissuwa, who then collaborated with IRRI
and shared the DNA inormation.
Sigrid Heuer, a scientist at IRRI and leader o the team
that published the discovery in Nature,1 added, We have
nally hit the jackpot and ound the major gene responsible
or improved phosphorus uptake and we understand how itworks.
A gene o promiseIn pot experiments on soils that are very low in phosphorus,
yield increases due to PSTOL1 can exceed 60%, suggesting
the gene would be very eective in upland rice elds that
1Gamuyao R et al. 2012. The protein kinase Pstol1 rom traditional rice conerstolerance o phosphorus deciency. Nature 488 (7412):535-539.
in motion
Sciensts at the Internaonal Rice Research Instute (IRRI) and Japan Internaonal Research Center for Agricultural
Sciences (JIRCAS)two strategic partners leading GRiSPhave pinpointed the PSTOL1 gene that enables rice plants togrow bigger and beer roots to absorb more phosphorus, an important but limited nutrient. This gene discovery unlocks
the potenal of rice to produce around 20% more grain while reducing the need for expensive phosphorus ferlizer.
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are not irrigated and where armers are oten too poor to
improve their poor soils by applying ertilizer. Field tests in
Indonesia and the Philippines showed that rice with the
PSTOL1 gene produced about 20% more grain than rice
without the gene.
The PSTOL1 gene is also being tested in rice varieties
or the more productive irrigated rice-growing areas and
initial results show that the plants grow a better root system
and have higher production, too. This means it could
help armers in these areas reduce their ertilizer use and
expenditure without compromising productivity, Dr. Heuer
stressed.
New tool or breedingThe discovery o PSTOL1 means that breeders will be able to
develop new rice varieties aster and more easily, and with
100% certainty their new rice will have the gene.
According to Dr. Wricha Tyagi o the School o Crop
Improvement at the Central Agricultural University in the
Indian state o Meghalaya, knowledge o the exact gene will
be critical or uture breeding programs suited to eastern and
northeastern parts o India, where rice productivity is less
than 40% o the national average due to acidic soil and poo
phosphorus availability.
New rice varieties with the enhanced capacity to take up
phosphorus may be available to armers within a ew years.
in motion
The team o scientists who discovered the PSTOL1 gene: (let toright) Rico Gamuyao, J.H. Chin, and Sigrid Heuer rom IRRI, and MatthiasWissuwa rom JIRCAS.
A milestone gene. Researchers will be able to make new ricevarieties that can produce high yields even in phosphorus-decientsoils rom the PSTOL1 breeding lines developed at IRRI.
C
Q i
I R R I
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With a signifcant boost in unding received in 2012, scientists rom various GRiSP partner institutions havemoved closer to developing a prototype o a new super rice, known as C
4rice. It has the potential to produce
50% more grainwith less water and nutrients. I successul, C4
rice could catapult eorts to meet theanticipated global demand or rice and signifcantly contribute to global ood security.
There are classes o plants known as C
3 and C
4
reerring to how they convert (photosynthesize) carbon
dioxide and water, in the presence o sunlight and
chlorophyll, into sugar. C3
photosynthesis is less ecient
at converting inputs to grain than C4
photosynthesis,
which processes resources more eectively or higher
grain production. Rice is a C3
plant, so re-engineering rice
photosynthesis into C4
could be the key to breaking through
that yield barrier.IRRI and its network o partners across GRiSP are
working to install the C4
photosynthetic pathway in rice.
Researchers have already successully introduced 10 out o
the 13 genes needed to develop C4
rice. In the second phase
o the project, the team aims to produce prototypes o C4
rice.
Dream teamModiying rice photosynthesis is a complex undertaking that
involves dierent experts, organizations, and skills. Were
thrilled to be working with the worlds elite in photosynthesisresearch to uncover genetic secrets and understand
biochemical processes to bring rice to a new yield rontier,
says IRRIs Dr. Paul Quick, coordinator o the C4
rice project
that brings together 17 research institutes worldwide.
Creating ways to design new genes, which is required
to make C4
rice, is what Dr. Julian Hibberd and his colleagues
at the University o Cambridge are doing. This work is
complemented by project partners in China led by Dr.
Xinguang Zhu o the Institute or Computational Biology.
Dr. Zhu is developing mathematical models o the lea
anatomy o C4 rice. Finding novel genes by siting throughgenetic codes at dierent stages o lea development is also
an essential part o this ambitious project. Dr. Tom Brutnell
and Dr. Jane Langdale o the Donald Danorth Plant Science
Center and Oxord University, respectively, are on top o this
task.
Once all the necessary elements are in place, Dr. Bob
Furbank at the Commonwealth Scientic and Industrial
Research Organisation will test the C4
prototypes at the
High-Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre in Australia and
select those that show promise.
The making o a super riceThe C
4project was initially unded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation (BMGF) and IRRI in 2009. For the second
phase o the project that commenced in 2012, BMGF, the
UK government, and IRRI have put $14 million behind it.
This is exactly the sort o innovative scientic research
that the Prime Minister was calling or at the Hunger
Summit at Downing Street earlier this year, said the UK
Parliamentary Under-Secretary o State or International
Development Lynne Featherstone. Rice is the staple ood
or millions across the developing world, so nding a way to
double the amount each plant produces would help to eed
many more o the very poorest. This could prove a critical
breakthrough in eeding an ever-growing number o hungry
mouths.
Other donors are the European Unions 3to4
project and the CGIAR Canada Linkage Fund through a
collaboration between IRRI and the University o Toronto.
Other members o the C4
Rice Consortium are Heinrich
Heine University o Dsseldor, Washington State University,
University o Sheeld, Academia Sinica Taiwan, University o
Minnesota-Minneapolis Campus, University o Nottingham,
Cornell University, Kyung Hee University, James Cook
University, and Australian National University.
Banking on the rice o the uture
in motion
E.Panisales,IRRI
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Cross-breeding between dierent species o rice
can produce new plants that stand up better
to drought, salty soil, diseases, and insect
pests. Since the 1990s, AricaRice has been
crossing Arican rice (Oryza glaberrima), which is
particularly resistant to drought and diseases, with
O. sativa, the high-yielding Asian rice species most
widely grown in the world, to create the New Rice
or Arica (NERICA) varieties.
NERICA rice has been hailed as a majoradvancement or Arica and could help Arica achieve
much higher rice productivity. Currently, 78 NERICA
varieties are available to rice armers in sub-
Saharan Arica, and, by 2011, adoption had
reached more than 700,000 hectares.
The right gene mixThe initial problem in developing NERICA was
that the two dierent rice species produced
sterile ospring that could not be used to grow crops.
Scientists at AricaRice overcame this by repeatedlybackcrossing into Asian rice to restore ertility.
Although the early NERICA crosses exhibited
low susceptibility to disease and insect attacks,
the backcrossing process reduced the proportion
o the Arican rice genome in the nal NERICA
varieties, consequently reducing the desired tolerance
o pests.
I we were to increase the proportion o O. glaberrima
genes, would we get better varieties? Dr. Mand Semon,
an upland rice breeder at AricaRice, wondered. He proposed
reversing the gene route and bringing the desirable genesrom Asian rice into Arican rice instead. However, sterility
was still going to be a problem.
The bridge rom sterility to ertilityTo solve this problem, the iBridges (interspecic Bridges)
project was launched in 2005 as a close cooperation among
IRD, CIAT, AricaRice, the Philippine Rice Research Institute,
and Arican national agronomic research bodies such as
the Institute o Rural Economy in Mali and the Institute
o Environment and Agricultural Research in Burkina
Faso. Originally supported by the CGIAR Generation
Challenge Program, the second phase o iBridges is now
being advanced under GRiSP.
Cutting-edge research under Mathias Lorieux, IRD
director o research and plant geneticist at CIAT, led to
the ne mapping o the S1 gene, previously identied
as a key actor in interspecic sterility. Using the rice
genome maps developed by the Oryza Map Alignment
Project, the researchers identied the portion o the
chromosome responsible or sterility.
This resulted in the design o a genetic model that
explains the sterility o interbred descendants, and opens
the way to urther research into the genetic control o
sterility, said Dr. Lorieux, who is also the iBridges co-project
leader along with Dr. Alain Ghesquiere o IRD.
Being able to identiy the ew and rare ertile
individuals rom interspecic crosses early in the breeding
process eliminates many stages previously required or
interspecic breeding and accelerates the development
o new and improved Arican-Asian varieties that ully
embrace the rich diversity o Arican rice alongside that o
Asian rice.
Open poolThanks to the partnerships that are being ostered by GRiSP,
plant breeders now have access to the complete genetic
diversity available in Arican rice. Under GRiSP, the iBridges
project aims to develop new and ertile rice varieties derived
rom crosses between elite O. sativa and O. glaberrima rice
varieties.
We hope that the iBridges will make a signicant
breakthrough in improving Arican rice varieties, said Dr.
Lorieux. It is the Arican rice armers who will directly
benet rom this technology, and this will certainly
contribute to Aricas ood security.
Achieving ood security in Arica largely depends on growing high-yielding crops, such as rice, that are also welladapted to the continents harsh environment. GRiSP, through the Institut de Recherche pour le Dveloppement(IRD), International Center or Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and Arica Rice Center (AricaRice), is building geneticbridges between Arican and Asian rice to accelerate the development o new robust and high-yielding rice
varieties suitable or Arica.
Genetic bridges between Arica and Asia
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Rice consumption in West Arica has been growing at
6% annually since 1973 as the staple diet in the region
continues to shit rom traditional coarse grains, roots,
and tubers. More than a third o cereal calorie intake in West
Arica is provided by rice and consumption is expected to
continue to rise. Rice has become a strategic commodity inthe region, according to the Economic Community o West
Arican States (ECOWAS), a consortium o West Arican
countries, which has allocated resources or the development
o rice arms and to double total production by 2017.
Outside pressureBut, in addition to its own production limitations, West
Aricas rice industry conronts the availability o imported
rice.
A major challenge or the development o the ricesector in sub-Saharan Arica is the volume o rice imports,
explains AricaRice policy economist Jeanne Coulibaly. One
contributory actor to the continuing increase in imports is
the low tari on imported rice.
Compared to other major grains, rice trading is widely
subject to protectionist policies enorced by dierent
countries based on national policies on ood security, support
or domestic producers, and price stability. But it is least
protected in Arica, particularly West Arica. Although East
Arican taris are about 75%, ECOWAS has recommended
a Common External Tari (CET) o only 10% or rice since2006. Some countries and stakeholders in West Arica
consider this protection too liberal to contribute to achieving
the regional objective o sel-suciency in rice. In act, rom
2010 to 2012, rice imports into the region increased by
21%, despite domestic production increases since 2008.
Along with other players in the rice sector, we believe
that an increase in import tari would provide an incentive
Domesticating West Aricas rice marketAlthough a substantial increase in rice production hasbeen observed since the 2008 ood price spike, thelocal rice sector in sub-Saharan Arica continues to
struggle against cheap imports. GRiSP partner AricaRice Center (AricaRice) is working with regionalpartners to promote economic policies that willprotect and ensure a sustainable increase in local riceproduction.
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or local armers to increase rice production, says Dr.
Coulibaly.
In September, the Network o Farmers and Agricultural
Producers Organizations o West Arica (ROPPA) andAricaRice organized a refection and consultation workshop
on the reclassication o the rice CET in ECOWAS countries.
Participants agreed that an increase in the CET o rice to
35% was appropriate to control imports and support the
development o the rice sector.
However, ECOWAS has so ar ailed to raise the rice
CET. ROPPA is lobbying national governments and ECOWAS
on the agreements reached at the workshop. Meanwhile,
AricaRice has begun a study on the likely impacts o the
proposed change in tari on local rice production and
households welare.
Regional rice oensiveMany organizations are working toward the goal o rice
sel-suciency, says Dr. Coulibaly. But, these initiatives are
not well coordinated and harmonized. Since the 2008 ood
crisis, many Arican countries have prepared national rice
development strategies with support rom AricaRice as part
o the Coalition or Arican Rice Development, but these say
very little about regionality.
AricaRice thereore supports the idea o a regional
oensive, led by ECOWAS, to support all rice-sector
initiatives in the region, with a ocus on what can most
eectively be achieved regionally, such as regional storage,
bulk purchase, and tari policies.
The goal o the new oensive is to reach regional rice
sel-suciency by 2018. The objectives are to improve rice
production sustainably, to promote the regional rice value
chain, and to create a suitable institutional environment to
support the oensives goal.
Once a easibility study has been conducted, a business
meeting will be arranged to source unding or the oensiveDialogue at the regional level is very important or
the sustainable development o the rice sector, to achieve
regional sel-suciency in line with ECOWAS policy
objectives, concludes Dr. Coulibaly. The CET must not be
the only ocuswe need policy advocacy and investment in
all segments o the rice value chain, especially or processing
and marketing.
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R.Raman,AfricaRice
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Brandingwhich includes advertising, packaging, logos,
taglines, and other marketing activitiescreates an
emotional response rom consumers when thinking
about a product. The right branding can give a product an
edge in the marketplace by giving it a premium actor that
customers are willing to pay or even i cheaper alternatives
are available.
Having been rocked by the rice price crisis o 2007-
08, Senegals government began a large-scale agricultural
oensive or ood and abundance to increase domesticrice production. Then, in 2011, Senegalese rice importers
(who are keen to diversiy their business to include the
domestic rice value chain), producers, and processors created
a commercial venture to buy, mill, and market local rice
to Senegalese consumers. In the process o progressively
upgrading the value chain or local rice (to enable it to
compete with imported brands), the next big question is
how to market local rice to Arican consumers.
The brandname gameAricaRice value-chain economist Matty Demont, Fulbright
research ellow Caitlin Costello, and sociologist Mamouna
Ndour examined the role o labeling in raising demand
or local rice varieties in Dakar and Saint-Louis. The rice
markets in these cities use two types o branding to sell
imported rice. Some brands are labeled in French or Wolo
(the national and local languages, respectively) with images
indicative o Senegal or Arica (or example, a baobab tree,
a drum, or a lion) to portray a local image. Others arelabeled in French or English with images unrelated to Arica
(or example, a rose, a U.S. fag, or a star) to portray an
international image.
According to the research team, a key question in the
marketing o local rice is, Should local rice brands mimic
imported brands or should they create a distinctive identity?
Eight prototype brands were designed. Four o them
two local and two internationalwere selected through
A rice by any other name
Boosting production and improving quality have not been enough to help locally produced rice in Senegal in thefght against imported brands, which still dominate in many urban markets. GRiSP partner Arica Rice Center(AricaRice) has thereore been looking at the role o branding and labeling in consumers perceptions.
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M.Dermont,AfricaRice
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preerred, regardless o whether it was local or international.
Since the rice used in the two bags was identical, the label
added 17% to the value o the rice to the consumers.
Although 70% o the consumers in Saint-Louis (close to the
production zone) preerred the local brands, this dropped to
55% in the capital Dakar, showing that more women in the
metropolis were brand-sensitive to an international image.
The implication is that local rice will best be sold under
a local brand in Saint-Louis, whereas local and international
brands are likely to be equally popular in Dakar.
In January 2013, the womens association Khar Yalla
Gueye at Pont Gendarme in the Senegal River valley started
selling local rice under the new local brand Ndanane,
meaning nobleman in Wolo.
a participatory choice experiment conducted with local
womens associations and then tested through experimental
auctions with consumers in the two cities. The sample
consumers were women shopping in the markets, as earlier
research had indicated that women are the dominant
decision-makers and buyers o rice in Senegal.
The same rice, dierent perceptionsThe women were asked to express a preerence between
one local and one international brand. They were then
permitted to sample the rice in the sacks and vote again.
What the women didnt know was that the same high-
quality local rice variety was in both sacks.
An experimental auction showed that consumers
typically placed 17% greater value on the brand they
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Whats in a brandname? A research team romAricaRice is studying how marketing infuencesconsumer behavior and purchasing decisionsandcould this connection create a substantial shit tohigher sales o locally produced rice?
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CSISAs wheel o inormationNamed ater a bicycle wheel, which has a central hub with
a series o connecting spokes, the hub and spoke model
greatly simplies a network o routes, making overall
operations more ecient. This model was adopted by CSISA
and is proving to be eective when it comes to relaying
agricultural technology and inormation rom centers o
research and knowledge out to those who need them themostarmers.
Customizing communications or localaudiencesUsing rice hubs, GRiSP partners the Cereal Systems Initiative or South Asia (CSISA) and Arica Rice Center
(AricaRice) are able to deliver inormation and technology tailored to the needs and situations o local armingcommunities.
Shortcut to South Asias armersCSISA implemented this model to encourage aster
dissemination o inormation to improve arm productivity
and armer income. It set up a network o 13 hubs (6 in
Bangladesh, 5 in India, 1 each in Pakistan and Nepal) to serve
armers in the region. Each hub has a manager, an extension
worker, and several eld sta.
Led by Technical Working Groups, the hubs have adecentralized and localized decision-making process and
they conduct workshops to identiy, set, and implement
technology targets and work plans tailor-made or their
respective localities.
A hubs output reaches armers through the spokes
partners with complementary stakes in the growth o the
arming industry in their area. They include government
research and extension agencies, nongovernment
organizations (NGOs), private seed companies,
manuacturers o arm equipment and supplies, armers
organizations, banks, and local media. CSISA now has morethan 350 partners.
The ecient and quick transer o knowledge has
created an engine or growth o the agricultural sector.
CSISA has reached more than 150,000 armers in South
Asia, resulting in the transormation o rural households.
Sowing rice centers across AricaAs part o its 2011-20 Strategic Plan, AricaRice is working
with its partners across the continent to set up Rice Sector
Development Hubs to concentrate research and development
eorts, establish a critical mass, connect partners along therice value chain, and acilitate the spread o innovations.
The hubs are testing grounds or new rice technologies and
ollow a reverse-research approach, that is, starting rom
the market.
The hubs bring together large groups o armers
(1,0005,000) and partners rom the whole rice value
chaininput suppliers, seed producers, processors, millers,
wholesalers, retailers, and consumersto acilitate change.
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CSISA
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These represent key rice-
growing environments and
dierent market opportunities
across Arican countries, and
will be linked to major national
or regional rice development
eorts to speed up wider
adoption o rice knowledge and
technologies.
The geographic positioning
o each hub is determined in
national workshops convened
by the national agricultural
research and extension systems.
By the end o 2012, national
partners had identied 54 hubs
in 19 West, Central, and East
Arican countries.
Setting Aricas prioritiesIn 2012, as a rst step, national
scientists, extension workers,
and NGOs identied the actors
that limit rice productivity
and quality through surveys
conducted in the 19 countries
with value-chain partners.
They then tested and adapted
innovations developed through
GRiSP, Arica Rice Task Forces,
and local innovations through
participatory learning and action
research with rst-generation
value-chain stakeholders.
The second generation
gains access to the validated
technologies, knowledge, and
institutional arrangements via
training o trainers (or capacity
building), exchange visits, and
video materials.
Once these mechanisms
have validated the technologies,
development partners will take
the lessons and principles and
make them available to the
wider community served by the
hubs and beyond to achieve
development impact.
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Custom-made or armers. Rice hubs are a knowledge-sharing and communication platorm or linking armers,agri-service businesses, the public and private sector, the scientic community, and other stakeholders in SouthAsia. Through rice hubs, such as those in Bangladesh (see map on opposite page), CSISA can deliver location-based inormation that accelerates the impact o agricultural investments across South Asia.
S.Clayton,IRRI
R.Rama
nAfricaRice
Targeting an audience. Glazou, an important rice zone in Benin, has been chosen as one o the countrysrice hubs where research and development activities are conducted in collaboration with NARES, academicinstitutions, advanced research institutes, armers organizations, nongovernment organizations, and donorsor the benet o Arican armers, mostly small-scale producers, as well as the millions o Arican amilies whodepend on rice or ood.
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Cambodia has achieved a remarkable eat with its
rice production. Just over a decade ago, its state o
agriculture was nothing more than rubble rom its
civil war. Today, agriculture ocials project that Cambodia
could export 1 million tons o milled rice by 2015. But, this
loty target depends on the nations ability to raise its rice
productivity and maintain the fexibility o its rice production
systems.
CAVAC, an initiative o the Australian Centre orInternational Agricultural Research, is a program in which
Australian partners, including the Australian Government
Overseas Aid Program, New South Wales Department o
Primary Industries, and the University o South Australia, are
working with IRRI and Cambodian institutes to help armers
maximize their cropping opportunities and help the country
meet its production target. The program zeroes in on Takeo,
Kampong Thom, and Kampot provinces, where rice is the
main source o subsistence, although armers also trade rice
locally.
Revising the rice calendarRice is mainly grown in Cambodia rom June to December
as the monsoon rains set in, according to David Johnson,
who leads IRRI activities on crop establishment. There are
opportunities, though, to establish the rice crop earlier with
direct seeding rather than transplanting, and as a dry-season
crop ater the rains, he said. Further productivity can be
realized by the use o short-duration varieties that mature
within 110120 days.
We established eld trials to test short-duration
varieties so that armers could grow rice at least twice ayear, explained Dr. Johnson. As part o the bigger initiative
that Australia is unding, theyre also supporting an IRRI
rice breeder at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and
Development Institute who is helping develop short-duration
rice varieties.
Other institutes are also taking active roles in
transorming Cambodias rice sector. The Royal University
o Agriculture will train the next generation o rice armers
Cambodias rice feld o dreams
Development can take time, but change is defnitely happening in Cambodia as it plans to produce 4 milliontons o paddy surplus and export 1 million tons o milled rice. With support rom the Australian government, theCambodian Agricultural Value Chain (CAVAC) program was established by Australian partners, and works with
the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in alignment with GRiSP and other institutes in Cambodia to helparmers maximize their productivity.
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Breaking new grounds. Cambodia is working through GRiSP in making
its rice sector more productive through better farming technologies such
as the useof laser leveling. Laser leveling reduces the cost of irrigation an
improves crop establishment of dry-seeded rice.
A sign o things to come. Cambodia's rice elds may produce 4 milltons o surplus grain and the country has plans to export 1 million tonsmilled rice by 2015.
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Laser leveling reduces the cost o irrigation because
less water is needed to food the eld or ecient
weed control, said Martin Gummert, IRRIs postharvest
and machinery expert. And, it results in better crop
establishment when using direct seeding, which also
translates to a better harvest.
Using one laser land leveler that IRRI provided to the
Department o Agricultural Machinery and another one rom
CAVAC, 30 hectares o arm elds in Kampot were leveled in
2012.
The technology that we introduced is also included in
a 5-hectare demonstration rice arm at Don Bosco School in
Battambang, and in other national programs with unding
rom the Cambodian government and oreign partners,
Engr. Gummert said.
Mr. Chan Saruth, director o the Department o
Agricultural Engineering, General Directorate o Agriculture,
Ministry o Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Cambodia,
reported the eect o laser leveling on rice productivity.
Ater armers harvested their rice, they had their rice elds
laser leveled as part o a demonstration we organized in
2012, he said. As a result, we noted rice yields increased
signicantly by 20% to 30%.
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while the Rice Department o the General Directorate o
Agriculture will be responsible or rice crop extension.
Another alternative is to use dierent methods
o establishing the rice crop. We have systems o
mechanization or wet and dry direct seeding that take place
at dierent times o the year, so we currently have three
dierent establishment options or armers, Dr. Johnson
continued.
Dry seeding as we come out o the dry season and
beore the main rains really start, and wet seeding ater the
rains have passed and as the foods start to recede. In the
middle o the rainy season, transplanting can be done.
As the windows o operation can be quite narrow,
were looking at how machines can help armers get their
rice crop planted on time so they can schedule three crops a
year to maximize productivity, Dr. Johnson concluded.
Laser beam armingLaser leveling is the process o leveling the land surace
using a laser transmitter and a drag bucket that armers
use to move soil rom one area to another. Compared with
traditional methods, laser leveling is a better way o making
the eld surace uniormly fat.
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In 1991, WARDA (now AricaRice) and its partners in
the national agricultural research and extension systems
(NARES) initiated Rice Task Forcesa research partnership
mechanism or collaboration, sharing o resources, capacity
building, and development o critical mass or research.
How it worksThe essential premise o the new Task Forces is that they
bring together AricaRice/GRiSP and NARES rom all over
Arica in a partnership based on principles o sustainability
and building critical mass.
There are our key elements to achieving impact rom
GRiSP research or development in Arica, says AricaRice
deputy director general Marco Wopereis. First, we need to
rebuild critical mass in rice research in Aricathis is what
we do through our Arica-wide Rice Task Forces. This is
crucial on a continent where specialist researchers are ew
and ar between. For example, there may be just one rice
agronomist in a particular country, with the risk that they
become isolated and out o touch with what is going onelsewhere on the continent and beyond.
Attaining critical mass is not only a matter o pooling
resources but also re-building human capacity through short
training courses on specic topics, degree training, and
training o trainers. In the Breeding Task Force, we ound
a disconnect between thesis research and the real problems
that breeders should be addressing in their home countries,
says Rice Breeding Task Force coordinator Moussa Si. I
believe that a solution to this would be to oer sandwich
courses in which the students spend as much time at their
home institution tackling real-lie concerns as they do at theuniversity learning the principles and methods.
This ties in with Dr. Wopereiss next point: We need
to ensure that these researchers are connected with the real
rice world (avoiding scientic islands). Consequently, Task
Force activities are, as much as possible, integrated into and
conducted in the Rice Sector Development Hubs in a value-
chain context.
Beyond the good old times
In 2010, the Second Arica Rice Congress supported the re-establishment o a research collaboration mechanismthat served West Arica well in the 1990s and early 2000s. GRiSP partner Arica Rice Center (AricaRice) has takenthe reins in re-animating the Rice Task Forces throughout the continent.
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Through our work in the hubs, we also concentrate
our eorts in certain geographic areas while covering the
whole rice value chain. And, last but not least, we need
to communicate what we
are doing to learn rom our
successes and ailures, Dr.
Wopereis says.
This requires working in
well-dened partnerships with
clear roles and responsibilities.
The Arica-wide Rice Task Forces
are aligned with the main
thematic areas o GRiSP, and can
thereore leverage knowledge
rom other continents and rom
within Arica. They also serve as
on-the-job training grounds or
young scientists.
Variations on a themeBy March 2013, there will
be a ull complement o
Arica-wide Rice Task Forces
covering breeding, agronomy,
processing and value addition,
mechanization, policy, and
gender. The six task orces are
all interconnected and share the
same basic modus operandi, but
each is a variation on the theme.
For example, the RiceAgronomy Task Force works
with armers to develop baskets
o good agricultural practices
and evaluates varieties rom the
Rice Breeding Task Force or a
piece o new equipment, such
as a rotary weeder developed
by the Rice Mechanization Task
Force.
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More than in the past, researchers in task orces
work on large overarching themes, using common
methodologies and approaches, instead o discrete projects,
says Dr. Wopereis. That will enable powerul cross-country
comparisons and enable much aster transer o ideas
and technologies rom one country or region to another.
The other dierence is that we are now concentrating
and integrating the work o Task Forces in well-dened
geographic areas, the hubs. This will allow us to work in
a much more systematic manner towards outcome and
impact.
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Women o orce. Women in Ndour Ndour, Senegal,discuss a resource map they generated as part o theGender Task Force climate change study,
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Ask Arican rice armers what problems they ace and
the chances are that weeds will be near the top o
the list. According to GRiSP surveys conducted across
20 Arican countries, armers see weeds as the most serious
problem in rice production on the continent. In sub-Saharan
Arica, annual rice production losses caused by weeds areestimated to reach at least 2.2 million tons. This is equal
to about 10 million hectares o rice annually, according to
AricaRice.
Identity crisisFarmers usually have local names or their most common
weeds, including names o well-known personalities rom
everyday lie. In some French-speaking countries, the worst
weeds are simply reerred to as Sida, which is French or
AIDS, the dreaded human disease.
Local names allow armers to communicate aboutweeds and weed management within a community, but a
more ormal identication is needed to mobilize knowledge
rom outside the community on a specic weed or group o
weeds.
The projectArican weeds o rice (AFROweeds)
implemented by CIRAD and AricaRice, and led by CIRAD
weed scientist Thomas Le Bourgeoisbrought together the
inormation available in West and East Arica and Europe to
To advise armerson how to deal
with weed problemsin their felds, extensionagents, lead armers, andother change agents operatingin sub-Saharan Arica frst needto be comortable with identiying
such weeds. GRiSP partners Centre decoopration internationale en rechercheagronomique pour le dveloppement (CIRAD)and Arica Rice Center (AricaRice) thereoredeveloped sotware to help identiy almost200 o the commonest weeds o rice in
Aricaonline, o-line, or via a smartphoneor tablet.
establish a comprehensive online tool (AFROweeds Identikit)
and knowledge base or identiying and managing weeds in
rice in Arica.
Weeding out guesswork
The identication tool works very dierently rom a classicabotanical key; it is much more user-riendly, as it does
not require the user to be an expert in botany, explains
AricaRice weed scientist Jonne Rodenburg. The user selects
the most eye-catching characteristics o the plant to be
identied and indicates in pictorial multiple-choice menus
what the character looks like.
The Identikit progressively narrows down the number o
possible species with each choice. The user can review the
results at any moment. Clicking on the species names in the
list o likely ts accesses species pages rom the database
with inormation on ecology, biology, and distribution. Userscan also compare the plant being examined with eld and
herbarium photos.
Weed identication can be helpul in choosing the
best management strategy, explains Dr. Rodenburg. The
database linked to the tool also provides inormation on
eective management. Sometimes this is species specic,
but oten the advice is meant or a group o species such as
grasses, sedges, or annual species.
Name that weed!
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D.Makokha,AfricaRice
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The weed identication tool is available or ree online
(at www.aroweeds.org/idao/) and has been adapted
or smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile
devices. Tablets preloaded with the app were distributed to
participants o the AFROweeds project closing workshop.
We expect to receive eedback rom users on the tools
unctionalities and useulness, in order to urther improve it,
explains Dr. Pierre Grard, CIRAD botanist/computer scientist,
who was in charge o the development o the Identikit.
Facebook or weedsApart rom the tool, the AricaRiceCIRAD team established
an open-access online Arican weed science network called
Weedsbook(at www.aroweeds.org/network). This online
network enables students, lecturers, extension workers,
and researchers to exchange inormation on all aspects o
weed science, rom identication to management, explains
Dr. Rodenburg. It is comparable to social networks like
Facebook, but with a proessional objective dedicated to
weeds.
Farmers will eventually benet rom these
investments through interaction with better-inormed
change agents. Use o the Identikit will allow them
to discover the real identity o particularly obnoxious
weeds on Aricas rice arms, known without doubt by
many armers under a wide range o local names.
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Rice is the rst ood crop or which
the complete genome sequence
is available to researchers all over
the globe. The completed genetic map
o rice is a key tool or plant breeders,
but it requires highly specialized
skills in biotechnology to convert the
knowledge into a new rice variety.
Although biotechnology breedingapproaches have the potential to
be used to develop unique rice with
benecial traits, the technology has not
been widely deployed or the benet o
developing countries. The lack o skilled
researchers in these countries has
prevented biotechnology rom being
ully integrated into their breeding
programs.
Breaking the biotech barrierIt was a proud moment or three students rom West Aricaparticipating in their PhD graduation ceremony at the
University o KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Arica.
Mounirou El-Hassimi Sow o Niger, Honor Kam o
Burkina Faso, and Kouadio Nasser Yao o Cte dIvoire
all had worked in the biotechnology laboratory o Arica
Rice Center (AricaRice) in Benin, under the supervision o
Marie-Noelle Ndjiondjop. Their sense o pride was shared by
Gustave Djedatin rom Benin, who successully deended his
PhD thesis in ront o an international panel o scientists at
the University o Abomey-Calavi in Benin.These students have each made major contributions
to global knowledge o rice in Arica, declared Pro. Mark
Laing, director, Arican Centre or Crop Improvement at the
University o KwaZulu-Natal. They are also keen to apply
their newly acquired skills in their respective countries.
Their doctoral research was supported through a
USAID-unded AricaRice project on the application o
marker-assisted selection (MAS)a method to help breeders
incorporate useul genes and their associated traits into new
rice varieties.
Their aim was to nd solutions to rice yellow mottle
virus (RYMV) inection and two other devastating rice pests
and diseases. Arican rice gall midge and bacterial lea blight
As part o their studies, the students traveled thousands o
kilometers by motorcycle and boat to interview rice armers
and collect their local varieties. Mounirou, or instance,
collected about 270 local rice varieties, many o which ace
extinction. These varieties were then characterized through
eld trials and DNA proles or use as parental material inbreeding or RYMV resistance.
The making o a work orceIn rice breeding, the eciency o MAS to transer major rice
genes is now widely recognized as it oers rice breeders a
better opportunity to develop varieties that are resistant to
diseases and pests and tolerant o abiotic stresses such as
drought and salinity.
A new breed o breedersIn 2012, GRiSP partners across both the public and private sector provided advanced biotechnology training in aconcerted international eort to improve the skills o rice breeders in developing countries with the most modernbreeding methods. The result? New breeders rom across the rice-growing world now have the expertise todevelop new rice varieties, with traits o use and value to their local rice sector, which was not possible throughconventional breeding methods.
Improving the breeder. Dr. Mounirou Sow rom Niger, a breeder trained in biotechnology, is helpingnational researchers in other Arican countries to apply molecular biology techniques.
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However, many developing countries lack adequate
local research capacity in this area. In response to a
strong demand rom its member countries, AricaRice is
progressively helping develop a work orce o national
researchers trained to apply molecular biology techniques
critical to solving agricultural problems.
For Dr. Ndjiondjop, the overall strategy is to advance
Arica toward the concept o modern breeders to
eciently exploit this potential or ood security in Arica.
AricaRice has also trained more than 60 NARES
researchers, including PhD and MSc students rom Arica, in
molecular breeding.
This training o rice breeders in MAS and other modern
biotechnology techniques to improve breeding is part
o a bigger global eort by GRiSP partners to improve
biotechnology skills o rice researchers within developing
countries.
Transorming rice scientistsIn 2012, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
in the Philippines conducted the Advanced Indica Rice
Transormation Coursethe rst time the Institute provided
training on the genetic modication o rice. Indica, the rice
most produced in South and Southeast Asia, is a broad
group o many dierent types o rice that are usually grown
in hot climates.
Nine public- and private-sector participants rom across
a mix o dierent GRiSP partners rom China, Colombia,
India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, and the U.S.
attended the training. They had hands-on experience and
learned about biosaety issues and international guidelines
or biosaety management in research.
Ater this training, Im hoping that I will be able to put
some genes into rice plants and especially in indica varieties,
which are more susceptible to drought and nematodes, said
Ms. Ritushree Jain, an Indian national who is doing her PhD
at the University o Leeds in the UK. A lot o rice cultivation
is aected by drought, and nematode inestation, and this is
a big problem.
My hope is that I will be able to nd some genes to
integrate into Indian rice varieties and develop something
new that will help armers, she added.
Mastering a new skill. Participants in the Advanced Indica Rice Transormation Course learn rice improvement techniques not possible throughconventional breeding in IRRIs Genetic Transormation Laboratory.
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The increasing cost o a college education and the
dramatic decline in the number o students enrolling in
agriculture programs will aect how the world meets
the challenges to ood security brought about by continuous
population growth, the degradation and growing scarcity o
natural resources, and climate change. Empowering young
people to become catalysts o change can help solve many
o these problems.
The Global Rice Science Scholarship initiated by GRiSP
aims to increase technical and research capacity globally in
tackling the major and current problems in rice production.
These scholarships oer young agricultural scientists a
tremendous opportunity to develop and lead in their eld o
expertise related to agronomy, crop physiology, entomology,
plant pathology, soil and water science, plant breeding, and
social sciences.
GRiSP partners provide young scientists with scholarships in the various felds o rice science. But, more than highereducation, the ultimate goal is to develop the next generation o leaders, movers, and shakers who will ace thetough challenge o fghting poverty, combating hunger, and ueling rice productivity growth in the uture.
Under GRiSP, the hosting institutions o IRRI, Arica Rice,
CIAT, CIRAD, and IRD have been provided with unding to
support 31 scholars rom Asia (17), Arica (9), South America
(4), and Europe (1).
Return on investmentInvesting in brilliant young students can return great
benets, not only to the students but also to the entire rice
sector.
IRD-CIRAD PhD scholar Phung Thi Phuong Nhung
started her project in 2011 on identiying new genes and
alleles associated with root developmental traits in a core
collection o Vietnamese rice varieties. She has recently
identied 214 varieties collected and grouped them based
on their root system.
Building the oundation o rice science
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I eel very lucky to have been chosen as a scholar, she
says. This allowed me to nish my data collection.
Ms. Nhungs work is important because water scarcity
or rice production is an imminent threat due to climate
change. By 2025, it is estimated that 1520 million hectares
o irrigated rice will suer some degree o water scarcity and
her ndings could very well be part o the solution.
Strong leadership at every level is critical to rice science
i it wants to continue making a valuable contribution to
global ood security. In partnership with the University o
Leuven in Belgium, IRRI launched a pilot program designed
to create uture leaders and innovators in 2012. A total o
23 participants were selected rom Asia (17), Arica (4), and
South America (2).
The course on Enhancing Global Rice Science Leadership
was directed toward improving the impact o knowledge
rom research organizations, particularly targeting the
poorest areas o Asia and Arica, by ensuring improved
skills and competencies in research leadership. It included
personality development and enhancement o technical skills
or project management and leadership, an Action Learning
Project in the participants own environment, and a period o
refection and urther learning.
As a PhD scholar o CIAT and the University o
Melbourne, Laura Moreno o Colombia says that the course
gave her the incredible opportunity to get in touch with
many uture leaders rom dierent cultures and visit rice
armers and understand the problems that aect their lives.
She adds that the course taught her sel-organization and
time management that she has put into practice during her
studies.
IRRI Training Center Head Noel Magor shares that the
course helped equip young scientists with knowledge, skills,
competencies, and condence to better dene, manage, and
communicate research and perorm their leadership roles.
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Open classrooms. GRiSP scholars embark on a learning journey to interview armers in Rizal, a province in the Philippines, as part o their training todevelop their technical skills or project management and leadership.
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The act that rice usually grows in a eld fooded
with water makes rice arming a source o the
potent greenhouse gas (GHG) methane. When
rice elds are fooded, the layer o water prevents
oxygen rom the atmosphere rom penetrating
the soil. In the absence o oxygen, organisms
known as methanogenic bacteria thrive and
decompose organic matter in the soil. This
biological process produces methane
gas, which escapes to the atmosphere
through dierent ways, one o whichis through the rice plant.
Globally, this type o rice
production accounts or 10%
to 14% o the total methane
emissions through human
activity. The key to reducing
methane generation by rice
cultivation is better water
management practices.
Farmer-riendly technologyThis is where water-saving
technologies, such as AWD
technology, come in. AWD was developed
and validated by IRRI and its national agricultural
research and extension system partners in Asia in response to
increasing water scarcity.
Simple and inexpensive, AWD technology allows rice
armers to dry their elds or a certain number o days ater
ponded water has disappeared. It is also highly suited or
irrigated rice-based systems, which account or 75% o
global rice production.
AWD could reduce water use by as much as 30%,
while maintaining yield at the level o that o fooded
rice, says Dr. Ruben Lampayan, IRRI water scientist. This
technology has been adopted and widely promoted in
Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Cleaner armingAWD technology also has the potential to reduce methane
emissions rom rice elds by more than 50%, depending
on soil type and weather. In 2012, the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
included the AWD technology as part o a certied
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology.
This methodology can now be used in CDM projects
under which carbon credits can be claimed
or applying water-saving techniques in rice
production. Carbon credits were introduced inthe Kyoto Protocol as a means or climate-
riendly development.
According to the CDM methodology
a rice armer practicing AWD could get
carbon credits or approximately 4 tons
o carbon dioxide equivalents per hectare
per season rom a certied CDM project,
and these credits could then be sold on
international carbon markets, explains
Bjoern Ole Sander, a climate change
scientist at IRRI.
Green incentiveFarmers can take advantage o the carbon credits
earned rom adopting AWD technology. An agriculture-
related organization can help local armers draw up working
plans or a CDM project or oer the additional input
required to make a project nancially viable or local armers
For example, an agency that manages the irrigation
system where armers pay a service ee can be the project
developer, adds Dr. Sander. The money rom the carbon
credits they sell could be used to subsidize the cost o
pumping irrigation water or improve irrigation acilities.
GRiSP provided additional unds to support the
dissemination o AWD technology throughout the
Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.
Through GRiSP, Drs. Lampayan and Sander were able to
work with other research and extension institutions or
cleaner, more ecient rice production while improving
armers livelihood and ood security.
The alternate-wetting-and-drying (AWD) technology developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),a GRiSP partner, not only saves water in rice felds but also helps reduce agricultures methane emissions. Now,armers applying this simple and inexpensive technology could potentially earn extra income rom the carbon creditmarket.
Earth-cooling technology
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Extra credit or being clean. Flux chambersare used to measure GHG emissions on anexperimental station in Vietnam. ThroughAWD technology, armers can reduce thecarbon ootprint o rice arming and earn
carbon credits.
Bjoern Ole Sander
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Rice is a staple in many Arican countries.
However, Aricas rice sector relies
heavily on imports to satisy the
increasing demand or rice because
the potential o local production
remains largely untapped.
Unlike Asia, Arica still has
a large reservoir o underused
agricultural land and
water resources, according
to AricaRice. Yet, Asia
continues to enjoy higher rice
productivity because most o
Aricas production increase has
come rom area expansion rather
than intensication. These increases
are not keeping pace with demand.
Reducing reliance on imports and increasing
production sustainably are thereore major goals o any ood
security strategy in Arica.
Knowledge gaps across AricaAricaRice and its partners have set up task orces across
the continent, which will operate under GRiSP, to accelerate
the delivery o new rice technologies. The task orces will
ocus their research and development eorts on breeding,
agronomy, postharvest, and value addition, as well as policy
and gender, in 59 rice-sector development hub locations in
20 countries. The hubs will require accurate and up-to-date
spatial inormation on where and how rice is currently being
cultivated, and the areas most suitable or uture production
expansion. The mapping o rice in Arica will contribute
to the successul dissemination o the technologies
demonstrated in the hubs to the armers.
There is a large body o work on mapping and
monitoring rice environments in Asia, said Dr. Andy
Nelson, head o the GIS group at IRRI that develops spatial
inormation on rice across Asia or mapping rice areas, their
cropping patterns, and their social and environmental
characteristics. But there has been little work to
assess how much o this can be translated
and applied to Arican conditions.
The rapid growth in rice production
and consumption and the lack o
inormation on where this is occurring
and the impact that this growth is
having both suggest that such an
assessment is overdue.
Re-mapping o AricaUsing partnership development unds
rom GRiSP, AricaRice and IRRI co-
organized an expert meeting on rice
mapping or Arica to review the applicability
o rice-mapping methods developed and validated
in Asia or Arican conditions.
One o the conclusions o the meeting was that
mapping methods used in Asia are not universally applicable
to Arica, which has more ragmented rice cultivation across
landscapes, smaller elds, heterogeneous growing seasons,
and rice environments not commonly ound in Asia. The
expert meeting proposed to test a number o promising
methods at selected sites in 2013 and 2014 and thus
combine the rice mapping knowledge accrued in Asia and
Europe with the knowledge o Arican conditions to develop
a methodology tailored to Arican rice environments.
The goal o the project is to develop and implement
a ramework to monitor rice production in the AricaRice
rice-sector development hubs using radar remote-sensing
methodology, said Dr. Sander Zwart, remote-sensing and
GIS specialist at AricaRice. Rice maps and statistics will
be essential to monitor and evaluate the impact o our
rice research and development activities with our national
partners.
Rice is the most rapidly growing ood source in Arica. But, although the continents rice production is expandingrapidly, not much inormation is available to boost Aricas rice productivity. To help fll this inormation gap, GRiSP
partners Arica Rice Center (AricaRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are taking to the sky tosee whats really happening on the ground.
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NASA
A new eye on Arica: putting rice onthe map
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Number and type o GRiSP partners as o September 2010; the inner circle provides a breakdown by partner roles (research vs.boundary partners). The outer circle provides a classifcation by organizational categories. About 48% o the GRiSP partnersmainly play a role as research partners, whereas 47% are mainly development partners and 5% are other boundary partners.
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GRiSPsMissionGRiSPs mission is to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutri-
tion, reduce the environmental ootprint, and enhance the ecosystem resilience o rice
production systems through high-quality international rice research, partnership, andleadership.
Objectives
1: To increase rice productivity and value or the poor in the context o a changing
climate through accelerated demand-driven development o improved varieties and
other technologies along the value chain.
2: To oster more sustainable rice-based production systems that use natural resources
more eciently, are adapted to climate change and are ecologically resilient, and
have reduced environmental externalities.
3: To improve the eciency and equity o the rice sector through better and more ac-
cessib