www.irri.org

International Rice Research Institute January-March 2007, Vol. 6, No. 1

The king of rice Political support for rice research Environment special The importance of biodiversity Environmental solutions in Java

Once were rice fields Typhoons devastate Asian rice-farming communities

ISSN 1655-5422

contents Vol. 6, No. 1

Editorial ...... 4 hosts world’s largest ...... 16 Is the rice ball rolling? rice gathering

News ...... 5 Agriculture ministers come ...... 18 IRRI changes copyright policy together over rice Three into four will go Once were rice fields...... 20 Iron-fortified rice The week after Typhoon Durian slammed into the Securing access to biodiversity ’ Bicol Region, Rice Today ventured into Boost for rice reserve the stricken area to find that the rice-farming communities had been hit hard. Africa Rice Center wins United Nations award

Strength in diversity...... 26 People ...... 8 Biodiversity is more than just a nice green concept— Nobel for former IRRI board member farmers rely on it Prosperity, pollution, and the ...... 34 Achievements Keeping up with IRRI staff In search of new seeds ...... 30 The Green Revolution in delivered more rice The improved New Rice for Africa varieties are helping but also brought social and ecological problems not only African grain farmers but seed producers that, almost 40 years later, still affect people’s Beating the weather ...... 9 lives—but solutions are emerging Every year, typhoons and other extreme weather as well events devastate rice fields—but new research is helping protect rice farmers Fighting Asia’s postharvest problems ...... 32 Obituary ...... 40 The fate of rice after harvest is a crucial but often- Rice pioneer passes away The rice king ...... 11 neglected part of the production chain. Now, a Thai rice farmers are fortunate to have a head of state major effort to overcome postharvest problems is books ...... 40 who does more than offer symbolic support—His gaining momentum. Majesty the King of is a monarch who Rice Facts ...... 41 genuinely makes a difference Considering gender As men’s and women’s roles change, how should we address gender issues in rice-based agriculture?

Grain of Truth ...... 42 Food or fuel?

On the cover: John Oliver Leron crouches in front of what were rice fields in Bicol, Philippines, before Typhoon Durian obliterated them in November 2006 (see pages 20-25).

cover photo Ariel Javellana International Rice Research Institute publisher Duncan Macintosh DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines editor Adam Barclay Web (IRRI): www.irri.org art director Juan Lazaro IV Web (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org designer and production supervisor George Reyes Web (Rice Knowledge Bank): www.knowledgebank.irri.org contributing editors Gene Hettel, Bill Hardy news editor Juanito Goloyugo Rice Today editorial Africa editor Savitri Mohapatra (Africa Rice Center) telephone (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2725; environment editor Greg Fanslow fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: [email protected] photo editor Ariel Javellana photo researcher Jose Raymond Panaligan circulation Chrisanto Quintana printer Primex Printers, Inc.

Rice Today is published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the world’s should not be construed as expressing IRRI policy or opinion on the legal status of any leading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with country, territory, city or area, or its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers or offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on boundaries. improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, Rice Today welcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Potential contributors particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of are encouraged to query first, rather than submit unsolicited materials. Rice Today 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited submissions, which should (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information, visit be accompanied by sufficient return postage. the CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org). Responsibility for this publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in this publication Copyright International Rice Research Institute 2007

NEWS IRRI changes copyright policy

fter being given an important Anew role by the rice-producing nations of Asia to support the free flow of rice research and knowledge, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is making an important change to its copyright policy from the original “all rights reserved.” The change effectively echoes the software industry’s open-source movement. Others will now be able to use IRRI’s intellectual property without R DA restriction provided they do not place The newly developed Bokto seeder—rapidly adopted by South Korean rice farmers over the past 2 restrictions on its use by anyone else. years—has been successfully tested on a North Korean farm. The seeder (pictured) allows farmers to The practical change will not plant rice with precise sowing depth and even seedling establishment. It also offers simultaneous silicate application and placement of basal fertilizer, resulting in high nitrogen-use efficiency. These features be great—IRRI previously offered help farmers improve seedling stand, avoid lodging, and improve yields and grain quality. The seeder relatively free use of its information was developed by Kwang-Ho Park from the Korea National Agricultural College of the Rural Development to other parties. The major difference Administration. Professor Park has also worked on transferring the technology to farms in and, now, North Korea. now is that users no longer need to ask permission. The change is also Three into four will go Iron-fortified rice symbolic, representing the Institute’s goal of promoting the free exchange of he December 9 issue of The he Swiss Federal Institute of ideas and information. TEconomist reported on IRRI leading TTechnology (ETH) in Zurich has, IRRI’s decision follows the release an effort to transfer the more efficient for the first time, been able to fortify of the Delhi Declaration on Rice by photosynthetic process of maize (called rice with iron. In clinical trials, the the Ministerial Round Table at the C4) to rice, which has a less efficient rice—which has had iron added, as

International Rice Congress in New C3 process. IRRI crop scientist John opposed to rice with endogenous high Delhi, India, on 9-13 October, wherein Sheehy plans to screen the Institute’s iron content—helped overcome iron the Institute was asked to “host a task collection of 6,000 wild rice varieties deficiency in Indian schoolchildren. force … to prepare a road map” that to see if any display a predisposition for A team led by scientist Michael would help achieve the main objectives C4 photosynthesis, which, if successfully Zimmermann conducted a study on of the declaration, which include a transferred to commercial rice varieties, 134 primary school children between plan “to establish a comprehensive would enable higher yields under the ages of five and nine in Bangalore, partnership among the participants tougher conditions. IRRI Director India. For 16 weeks, a proportion of the through strengthened dialogue on a General Robert Zeigler admits the task children—who all suffered from iron regular basis for strengthening rice is daunting and will take 10 years or deficiency, and some also from anemia research and development efforts.” more. But the potential is enormous. caused by the deficiency—were given the iron-enriched rice as part of their lunch. A control group received the Securing access to biodiversity that took place on World Food Day, 11 same meal with ordinary rice. centers of the Consultative Group on After the trial, the proportion of International Agricultural Research children in the fortified rice group (CGIAR), including IRRI, placed suffering from iron deficiency fell their genebank collections under the from 78% to 29%. Additionally, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic proportion of those with an excessively-

vell a n Resources for Food and Agriculture, high lead level dropped from 65% a now ratified by 105 countries. to 29%. The number of children in Ariel J CGIAR centers hold more than the control group similarly afflicted orld agricultural research leaders 600,000 samples of crop-plant decreased only slightly, due to the meal Whave signed agreements that diversity. This includes wild relatives that was offered daily. guarantee long-term access to the and more than half of the world total Dr. Zimmermann said, “This is world’s most important collections of of farmer-created varieties, which are a breakthrough because it is the first agricultural biodiversity while requiring a rich source of sought-after breeding time that rice has been successfully commercial users to share benefits with traits. IRRI itself holds more than fortified with iron. Since there is no the global community. 100,000 rice germplasm samples in its patent on the technique, it can be used In a 16 October 2006 ceremony T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Center. anywhere.”

Rice Today January-March 2007  NEWS

Boost for rice reserve by ASEAN countries that require food after natural or human-created apan, South Korea, and may disasters. Jjoin the emergency rice reserve ASEAN comprises Indonesia, program of the ten-nation Association , , Thailand, of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), , Lao PDR, , according to a 22 November Bloomberg Vietnam, Brunei, and the Philippines. report. The newcomers would boost by more than five times—from 87,000 tons in 2006 to as much as 500,000 tons in 2007—the stocks available to the group’s members should they be vente affected by calamities.

a l ben Although, according to the United Renowned Japanese sculptor Mitsuaki Ta- Nations, global rice production may nabe—creator and donor of the Momi wild rice have increased to 634 million tons seedling sculpture in IRRI’s Riceworld Museum and Learning Center—plans to hold an exhibition in 2006, the U.S. Department of entitled “MOMI- 2007: In Situ Conser- Agriculture has said that inventories vation of Wild Rice,” at the National Taiwan of the world’s most important crop Museum of Fine Arts in March and April 2007. Momi is the Japanese word for unhulled rice. are near a 26-year low and will drop The exhibition will promote the need to revive further. a n Taiwan’s traditional wild rice growing areas, which

The reserve, established in 1979, a n lig have been lost since the 1970s. Tanabe has long championed the conservation of wild rice, many is made up of rice stocks held in each species of which harbor traits that can be bred of the member countries that are ymon d P into cultivated varieties. earmarked for emergency distribution Jose Ra

Flood-tolerant rice for Indonesia Science. In their article, Comparing for some areas, as many countries lack IRRI has provided Indonesia with the whole-genome-shotgun and map- the technical capabilities and infra- seeds of a recently developed submer- based sequences of the rice genome, structure to carry out such programs. gence-tolerant version of the popular they argue that the most serious dif- IR64 variety. The Indonesian Agency ferences between the sequences are Vietnam trade restricted for Agricultural Research and Devel- mostly found in highly variable areas of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen opment plans to test the performance DNA that are not part of the rice genes Tan Dung last November instructed of the submergence-tolerant lines in themselves. Once this is factored in, traders to stop exporting rice without flood-prone areas of the country. For say the authors, there is “remarkable government approval, according to more on submergence-tolerant rice, see agreement in the sequences produced a November 2006 Associated Press From genes to farmers’ fieldson pages by these two methods.” report. In a statement, the prime min- 28-31 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4. ister said that natural disasters such Record rice yields as typhoons and pest infestations had Genome discrepancies Egypt recorded the world’s highest reduced food production, increased Discrepancies between the draft rice national average yield—9.5 tons per prices, and threatened food security. genome sequence released in 2002 hectare—in 2005, thanks in part to a According to the report, traders would (by the Genomics Institute United Nations Food and Agriculture be able to export rice as part of gov- and the Syngenta Corporation) and Organization (FAO)-led project to ernment-sponsored export contracts the sequence released in 2005 (by the develop and use varieties. with Cuba and Indonesia. Any other International Rice Genome Sequenc- Some of the locally developed hybrid contracts would need government ing Project) prompted some scientists varieties outperformed the best Egyp- approval. to question the validity of the results. tian varieties by 20–30%, according The two groups used different tech- to the FAO. The project, aimed at Rice fashion niques to obtain the sequence, with growing more rice with less water and Scientists at the University of Nebras- the former employing a “whole-genome less land, also involved training seed ka–Lincoln plan to turn rice straw into shotgun method” and the latter a breeders, production personnel, ex- conventional-looking fabric as a way map-based approach. Jun Yu and col- tension workers, and farmers. Despite to reduce the use of petroleum-based leagues investigated this problem in the the success, the FAO notes that hybrid synthetic fabrics. The researchers are August 2006 issue of Trends in Plant rice seed production is not appropriate developing cotton-like fabric from the

 Rice Today January-March 2007 Africa Rice Center wins United Nations award

he Africa Rice Center has been Nations General Assembly. Tnamed as winner of the 2006 The groundbreaking NERICA United Nations Award for South-South work earned research leader Monty Triangular Partnership in recognition Jones—then an Africa Rice Center of its New Rice for Africa (NERICA) scientist—the 2004 , initiative. the first-ever won by an African. This award is presented Dr. Jones is currently the executive to individuals or institutions secretary of the Forum for Agricultural for “spearheading, transforming, Research in Africa. empowering, mobilizing, and/or The formal award ceremony expanding the South-South agenda was scheduled to take place on 19 by increasing human and financial December 2006 at United Nations

resources of the South through headquarters in New York City, USA, S hirley G eer partnership for development.” to mark the third United Nations Day IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler (right) “WARDA is receiving this award for South-South Cooperation. His briefs World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz on IRRI’s new Strategic Plan Bringing Hope, Improv- because of its pioneering efforts in Excellency Kenzo Oshima, permanent ing Lives at the annual general meeting of the brokering North-South partnerships representative of to the United Consultative Group on International Agricultural in order to create hybridized varieties Nations, has been invited to present Research (CGIAR) in Washington, D.C., on 5 December 2006. At the same meeting, Dr. Zeigler of rice applicable to conditions in the the award and invited speakers include gave a presentation that outlined the plans of South,” said His Excellency Eladio United Nations Secretary-General Kofi CGIAR-supported centers, including IRRI, to Loizaga, permanent representative of Annan and former U.S. President Bill engage the climate-change research community in an increasingly urgent effort to develop cli- Paraguay to the United Nations and Clinton. mate-adapted agricultural technologies—such as president, High-level Committee of For more on NERICA, see In search drought-tolerant crops—and help mitigate global South-South Cooperation of the United of new seeds on pages 30-31. environmental change.

straw, as well as wool-like fabric from klinik (techno clinic), a consultation National Academy of Sciences suggests chicken feathers. Rice-straw fibers activity whereby some 100 farmers per that the combination of global warming have already been developed using a municipality will be given a chance to caused by greenhouse gas emissions and chemical process that is now under consult with rice experts on varieties the smog seen over much of Asia—known patent review. The researchers antici- and seeds, crop protection, and nutrient as the “atmospheric brown cloud”—has pate that rice fibers will be able to be management. negatively affected rice harvests in India spun into fabrics using common textile over the past two decades. According to machinery. Rice News 1,000th story the researchers, India’s rice production would have been more than 14% better Espresso pesticide from 1985 to 1998 without the negative Researchers at the U.S. Department of combined effects of greenhouse gas Agriculture’s National Wildlife Research emissions and the brown cloud. Further, Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, think there has been no sign of improvement they’ve discovered a simple way to in more recent years. keep blackbirds away from rice fields: In December 2006, a feature quoting coffee. It seems that, unlike humans, IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler Rice commerce birds don’t like caffeine. Working with on climate change in the UK newspa- The World Rice Commerce Conference, chemists, the team was able to make a per The Guardian became the 1,000th held 18-19 October in Ho Chi Minh caffeine solution that could be sprayed story placed on IRRI’s Rice News City, Vietnam, attracted more than on fields. When applied to rice crops Worldwide since it began on 22 June 200 delegates, representing most of in trials, the caffeine spray reduced 2005. See for yourself stories from the world’s major rice buyers and the number of seeds lost to pecking by other major outlets such as the BBC, the sellers. Melissa Fitzgerald, head of up to 76%. International Herald Tribune, India’s IRRI’s Grain Quality, Nutrition, and Financial Express, , and many Postharvest Center, gave a presentation Mobile rice clinic others at http://ricenews.irri.org. on Certification and the international A team of PhilRice rice production rice trade: developing a way forward, experts will tour towns in Pangasinan, Pollution stunts rice harvest which focused on new technologies that Nueva Ecija, and Pampanga provinces A paper published in the 26 December allow rice traders to better certify the as part of the mobile rice tekno 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the rice they buy and sell.

Rice Today January-March 2007  people

Nobel for former IRRI board member Keeping up with IRRI staff ormer IRRI Board of Trustees Grameen Bank itself shares the prize einer Wassmann joins the Fmember (1989-94) and economist with Dr. Yunus. RCrop and Environmental Sciences has won the Another key Grameen Bank Division (CESD) as coordinator of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006. principle is that loans should be made Rice and Climate Change Consortium. Dr. Yunus developed microcredit predominantly to women, who are often Dr. Wassmann previously worked under the belief that credit is a right, best placed to serve the needs of their at IRRI on secondment from the not a privilege, and that those who entire family. As of May 2006, the bank Fraunhofer Institute for Atmospheric possess the least should be the first, had 6.61 million borrowers—97% of Environmental Research in 1993- not the last, to receive a loan. This whom are women—and more than 200 9 9. Elizabeth Humphreys , philosophy led him to set up the branches providing services in more than former principal research scientist Grameen Bank in in 1976. 70,000 villages across Bangladesh. at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Achievements Land and Water Division in Australia, also joins CESD as an international olin McClung, former associate research fellow and Challenge Program Cdirector at IRRI (1964-71), shared for Water and Food team leader. the 2006 World Food Prize with former Zainul Abedin has rejoined IRRI as Brazilian Agriculture Minister Alysson FoSHol project team leader and IRRI Paolinelli and former technical director ROLAND BURESH representative in Bangladesh. receives his medal of the Brazilian Agricultural Research from IRRI senior Marco van den Berg began in Corporation's Cerrado Research Center scientist T.P. Tuong. November 2006 as head of Information Edson Lobato. The recipients played a M A R D Technology Services. He replaces vital role in transforming the Cerrado— and Rural Development presented a Paul O’Nolan, who, during 7 years a formerly infertile region of tropical medal of merit to IRRI soil scientist at IRRI, oversaw a period of immense high plains stretching across Brazil— Roland Buresh in August 2006. change during which the Institute made into highly productive cropland. IRRI anthropologist Florencia Palis important gains in its information The House of received a best paper award for The social technology capabilities. Representatives voted on 6 December and cultural dimensions of rodent pest IRRI also welcomes Zhao Ming, to honor World Food Prize Founder management during the International IRRI liaison scientist for China; Hao and 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Conference on Rodent Biology and Chen, postdoctoral fellow, Plant Norman Borlaug w i t h t h e Management in Hanoi, Vietnam, 28 Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, August-1 September 2006. (PBGB); Daisuke Fujita, project the nation’s highest civilian honor. Vito Butardo, Jr., of IRRI’s Grain scientist, PBGB; Zahirul Islam, Dr. Borlaug led the development of Quality, Nutrition, and Postharvest international research fellow, Social modern, high-yielding wheat varieties Center, received a Ph.D. scholarship Sciences Division; Minu Joseph, through his work with the Rockefeller under the Australian Leadership postdoctoral fellow, PBGB; Susanna Foundation and the International Awards program. Polleti, postdoctoral fellow, PBGB; Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Rice breeder B.D. Pathinayaka Edilberto Redoña, senior scientist, His approach was subsequently adopted of the Sri Lankan Department of PBGB, and International Network for the with similar results in rice. Dr. Borlaug Agriculture received the IRRI award Genetic Evaluation of Rice coordinator; is widely credited with ushering in the for outstanding rice scientist during the and Dule Zhao, postdoctoral fellow, Green Revolution of the 1960s, thus -IRRI Work Plan Meeting at PBGB. IRRI bids farewell to Jingsheng averting widespread . the Plant Genetic Resources Center in Zheng, postdoctoral fellow in PBGB The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture Gannoruwa on 30 September 2006. (2004–06). IRRI also says farewell to Board of IRRI geographic information Trustees member systems (GIS) researcher (2001-06) and welcomes three new board Aileen Maunahan performs ground truthing—collecting members: plant pathologist Jillian GIS data on location—with Lenne (U.K.), financial management a global positioning system specialist M. Syeduzzaman device in an IRRI experimental field. The photo won social (Bangladesh), and plant biotechnologist scientist Aileen Lapitan third Usha Barwale Zehr (India). Dr. prize in the 2006 IRRI Filipino Zehr, as part of the IRRI-International

a n Scientists Association photo competition in November. Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Alliance, will act as the institutes’ first

Aileen Lap it shared board member.

 Rice Today January-March 2007 Typhoon Xangsane flattened rice fields around IRRI's hometown of Los Baños and (below) flung debris across the research campus. a nslow

Beating the G reg F

wby Duncan Macintosheather

Every year, typhoons and other extreme weather events yphoons are one of the oldest and most destructive devastate rice fields—but new research is helping challenges facing rice production in tropical TAsia. These vicious storms protect rice farmers flatten crops, shatter grain, and make harvests impossible. And it’s not only the areas hit with the violent winds of a typhoon that suffer. Every year, crops in some of Asia’s most important rice regions are flooded by rains that emanate from typhoon weather systems. Seasonal flooding causes an estimated US$1 billion in losses each year. As Rice Today went to press, 22 tropical storm systems had swept across rice-growing Asia in 2006, causing widespread destruction. In September and October, Typhoon, a n Xangsane (see Packing a nasty punch on page 10), destroyed more than 800,000 hectares of rice and n a lig ymon d pa caused over half a billion dollars

Jose Ra in damage in rural areas alone.

Rice Today January-March 2007  a n a n lig ymon d P a nslow irri G reg F Jose Ra

On 30 November, Typhoon Durian Claire Arboleda, seen here holding her one- Packing a nasty punch month-old son Angelito, lives with her husband slammed into the Bicol region of the in the town of Bay, close to IRRI headquarters. n late September and early October Philippines, causing landslides that On 28 September, in the same place she stands killed hundreds of people (see Once here, floods from Typhoon Xangsane rose to the I2006, Typhoon Xangsane or its remnants level of her shoulders when the raised roadbed swept across five nations—the Philippines, were rice fields on pages 20-25). of the national highway effectively formed a Vietnam, Cambodia, , and Thailand. A Many scientists now expect that long dam that flooded upslope areas.L ess than category 4-equivalent storm (wind speeds climate change may increase the 200 meters away, a man drowned in his house. of 210–249 km per hour and storm surges frequency and severity of extreme of 4.0–5.5 meters), Xangsane was the 16th weather events such as typhoons, tropical storm and ninth typhoon of the and—perhaps just as damaging— genes to farmers’ fields on pages 2006 season. alter their timing and location. 28-31 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4). Xangsane made landfall in the In 2004, the final sequencing The development of a flood- Philippines on 27 September, battering the archipelago’s northern islands with of the rice genome by a Japan-led tolerant rice variety for India shows torrential rains and strong winds, and international consortium signaled that modern science can help protect causing widespread flooding and landslides. a knowledge revolution in our rice farmers from the flooding caused On 28 September, the typhoon passed understanding of the rice plant. by typhoons. Every year, extreme directly over the International Rice Research This new knowledge accelerated the weather events such as typhoons Institute (IRRI) just south of Manila and, development of flood-tolerant rice, a affect rice production. As the climate after emerging over the South China Sea, technology that could save hundreds continues to change, this is only made a second landfall in central Vietnam, of millions of dollars in losses across expected to get worse. Already, before moving on to cause major flooding Asia every year. Although rice thrives IRRI has had urgent requests from and landslides in Thailand. It also caused in standing water, like all crops it will Bangladesh, the Philippines, and heavy rains in northern Cambodia and die if completely submerged for more India for the new flood-tolerant rice. southern Laos. Xangsane was responsible for around 300 deaths, with two-thirds of than a few days. The development But there is good news. As these in the Philippines. and cultivation of the new flood- our knowledge of the rice plant IRRI itself sustained extensive damage tolerant rice varieties are expected to grows rapidly, rice researchers but escaped lightly compared with many increase food security for 70 million can help protect rice farmers—and residential areas and other organizations. of the world’s poorest people and therefore rice consumers—from The Philippine National Plant Genetic provide protection for millions of rice the disastrous effects of extreme Resources Laboratory in the Institute of farmers in Asia and Africa (see From weather such as typhoons. Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los Baños, for example, suffered damage to or loss of 70% of its accessions. As well as rudely damaging The overall regional damage estimates IRRI’s welcome sign, Xang- sane destroyed research trials for the storm are (top left) and caused flooding • Rice area damaged or destroyed: 869,000 throughout the campus (top hectares—Philippines: 125,000 hectares; middle and right). Thailand: 444,000 hectares; Vietnam: 300,000 hectares. • Rice price increases recorded across the affected region. • Damage estimated at more than US$700

million—Vietnam: more than $600 million; a n Philippines: more than $100 million. • People affected (mainly rural): 6.8

million—Philippines: 2 million; Thailand: n a lig ymon d pa 3.5 million; Vietnam: 1.3 million. Jose Ra

10 Rice Today January-March 2007 His majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej harvests rice at Prachin Buri in 1998. Royal Household Bureau The by Bob Hill Rice King Thai rice farmers are fortunate to have a head of state who does more than offer symbolic support—His Majesty the King of Thailand is a monarch who genuinely makes a difference

patron is defined as a distinguished it warrants not only a public declaration of person who gives support to support, but also that such support is of a long- an organization or cause by standing nature. Moreover, royal patronage is accepting an honorary position. rarely granted outside a monarch’s kingdom. ASince there is no more distinguished The International Rice Research Institute person than a king, it follows that royal (IRRI) is both privileged and honored to patronage is something special. It is have as its Royal Patron “the Development recognition from a royal figure that the work King,” King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. of an organization is so deeply favored that For while mental visions of spectacle and

Rice Today January-March 2007 11 formality inevitably tumble into successfully eliminated opium procedure to make artificial rain, any consideration of royalty, it is growing in the country’s two floating aerators for improving astonishing, with a perception thus mountainous north, directly the quality of polluted water, and blurred, to discover that there is affected the lives of at least 50,000 a process for making bio-diesel. another, largely unpublished, side people, and won the 1988 Ramon On the occasion of the 50th to the remarkable reign of King Magsaysay Award. Early last year, anniversary of his accession to Bhumibol: a selfless dedication the United Nations recognized King the throne, in June 1996, King to the welfare of his subjects that Bhumibol as “the Development Bhumibol accepted the first and vastly outweighs the notional King,” and, in October, His Majesty only International Rice Gold Medal bounds of noblesse oblige. received the first Dr. Norman E. awarded by IRRI in recognition of his For much of his 60 years on Borlaug Medallion, awarded by the passionate personal interest in, and the Thai throne, King Bhumibol World Food Prize Foundation for devotion to, improving the well-being has ventured restlessly throughout individuals at the highest levels of of rice farmers and consumers. Just every corner of his kingdom, often international society who have given over a year later, in September 1997, spending more than half of any year exceptional humanitarian service King Bhumibol recognized IRRI’s away from Bangkok, studying the in reducing hunger and poverty. work and became the Institute’s countryside, listening to the problems His efforts to improve the Royal Patron. The Royal Plaque, “the of his people, proposing, suggesting, livelihood of his people are never Great Crown of Victory,” together innovating, and inventing. remote or detached. His is a with His Majesty’s portrait, have His ideas and suggestions, after hands-on, sweat, and rolled-up since taken pride of place in IRRI’s considering the people’s needs, shirtsleeves commitment. He main administration building. the physical environment, and holds patents for a cloud-seeding Looking back, it was on 9 agricultural practices, have been put to the test in more than 4,300 royal projects. They cover almost every conceivable aspect of what is generally labeled “development,” but they concentrate heavily on water resources, agriculture, and conservation. The King’s projects have long supported the livelihood of small-scale farmers and particularly the rice farmers that constitute the heart of rural Thailand. His innovations have benefited millions of people, and have given the little people of Thailand the kind of strength that saw them twice deliver record rice harvests, enhancing the country’s capacity to export, in the bleak years following Thailand’s financial collapse in 1997. During the massive gatherings in Bangkok to mark the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne, in June last year, it was a common sight to see mature Thai people weeping unashamedly, overcome with the emotion of sharing the moment with their King. For if there is one characteristic that marks King Bhumibol, and has nurtured the success of his many projects, it is his almost uncanny connection with the common folk, the poor, and the dispossessed. His landmark Royal Crop Replacement Project, which

12 Rice Today January-March 2007 June 1946, when his country was launched for public still emerging from the Japanese donations, so he occupation of World War II and could do more. was finding peace after having Soon, the declared war against England, projects assumed France, and the United States, that the distinctive Bhumibol became Thailand’s King nature of Rama IX. Much of the country physical, social, was undeveloped; sickness and and economic malnutrition were commonplace. development, Despite his tender age of 19, it was driven by His only a few brief years before his first Majesty’s often- royal projects began to emerge. expressed The first involved public health, conviction that including a laboratory to produce to be strong and BCG vaccine to combat tuberculosis, a independent, Thai King Bhumibol greets former IRRI Director plant to refine intravenous saline, and people should first General Ronald Cantrell during an August 2004 a Red Cross river barge dispensing be self-sufficient. visit to update His Majesty on IRRI’s work. Off ici a l p hoto mobile medical help from the banks First, His Majesty of the country’s rivers. At first, was given a gift they were funded from the King’s of Tilapia fingerlings by the emperor experimentation, and are funded own pocket, but a campaign was of Japan. He raised them in a pond, from his private resources. In then had them distributed to village other cases, the King gives advice and district leaders so they could be and guidelines to private-sector farmed as an alternative source of projects, while in many other cases The King said: “If there is any land where rice can grow, protein. Then he donated bulldozers His Majesty plans and advises then it must be grown.” Her for a road development project, government agencies in the study and Royal Highness Princess Maha and later proposed construction implementation of development work. Chakri heeds her father’s words by transplant- of a dam to supply irrigation water His Majesty championed vetiver ing rice on a vacant plot of to a district in Prachuap Khiri grass as a means of stabilizing land at Chulachomklao Royal Khan Province. And so the projects erosion-prone land, and his Military Academy in Nakhon Nayok Province in 2001. grew. However, individually, they advances in the difficult field of never assumed a grand, sweeping artificial rain-making have led scale. King Bhumibol insists that to the formation of a year-round such work should never “attempt cloud-seeding force with 45 aircraft to overhaul the whole system,” flying from 12 bases around the but rather, development should be country, bent on avoiding drought. taken one small step at a time. It may be easy to assume that, Now, after more than half a since he is the King, what he says will century, there are so many royal happen. It is not that simple. He is a projects, and their scope is so broad, constitutional monarch and, as such, that to refer to them individually can only give advice. Nevertheless, is virtually impossible. They are his moral authority is monumental. grouped under headings: agriculture, Still, his initiatives must be feasible animal husbandry, crop substitution, and complement government education, fisheries, irrigation, policy, and each is judged on these land development, medical, bases before adoption. Directing, personal, rain-making, river basin coordinating, and monitoring the development, road development, vast development network is the and watershed development. Royal Development Projects Board, Some of them involve only study, whose office is a department within and are intended to fully inform the Office of the Prime Minister. His Majesty of social and physical The nature and purpose of parameters, so that development the projects are guided by the guidelines can be written. Others King’s pronouncements, many of relate directly to solving problems which established clear principles faced by the people. Some are that, some years later, were to

rch I nstitute T h a il n d R ice ese rch based on His Majesty’s own become accepted practices for the

Rice Today January-March 2007 13 prevent farmers and environmental conditions of Palace worker from being the country’s different regions. Akkhradat Kuamklang shows charcoal tubes affected by price The centers set out to be “living made from compressed fluctuations.” natural museums,” bringing together rice husks in an ex- “Development and integrating the innovations, perimental plant on the grounds of Bangkok’s must take techniques, and systems developed Chitralada Palace. account of the over decades of experimentation, topographical research, and trial. The doors of and sociological the centers are open to anyone environments wishing to learn. People in each of involved. The the regions can observe models of sociological modern knowledge and technology, environment which they can then apply on their means the habits own farms. Likewise, students and attitudes and researchers use the centers, of the people. which have become popular We cannot force meeting-grounds for scientists, others to think bureaucrats, nongovernmental in the same way organization workers, and B ob H ill as we do. We can ordinary people, from district only approach, and village officials to farmers, wider international development and suggest. We cannot offer housewives, and school children. community. Some examples are assistance by expecting them to think Of particular emphasis in the “Understanding the situation the same as us. When we approach study centers is the King’s concept facing those we want to help is them we must learn what their real of sufficiency economy. Originally most important. Helping them to needs are, and explain to them how called “The New Theory,” it aims acquire the basic needs of life is the they can best achieve their aims and to promote sustainable self- most effective means of assistance. how the principles of the development sufficiency on small farm holdings Therefore, in each case, before plan can be successfully applied.” by combining organic rice, vegetable, giving assistance, we must take Explaining those principles and fruit growing with fish and account of their wants and needs. became the driving force behind livestock production. It preaches We must understand the situation a unique “show window” on the full integration of farming systems they are encountering and decide royal projects launched in the early and careful resource management. the means and extent to which 1980s. His Majesty established six His Majesty urged farmers to adopt they can be helped. We should also Royal Development Study Centers, the system following the Asian adhere to the important principle scattered throughout the country financial disaster in 1997, and many that we help them in order to and catering to the different climatic have successfully taken it on. enable them to help themselves.” Although many of the royal “Providing occupational projects have been aimed at assistance to farmers to enable agriculture in general, some have them to be self-supporting is involved rice growing in particular. crucial because once they become His Majesty established a rice self-supporting, they will certainly bank, from which farmers can be able to build up a higher level borrow, either for seed or for family of development. In undertaking consumption. In a drive to provide the step-by-step approach to a greater range of rice varieties for development, it is significant to farmers in the country’s diverse promote caution and economy, environmental zones, different to protect against failure, and varieties were evaluated under to ensure full success.” different growing conditions. “It is not necessary to promote Soil fertility studies have agricultural production only in also been aimed at rice farming terms of quantity because this may problems, particularly declines in d Prize orl d Foo

be a waste of production costs and W irrigated rice yields and the effects destructive to the quality of the soil. The Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Medallion, awarded of acidity and salinity, but also at In fact, we should examine the state by the World Food Prize Foundation for individuals developing composting techniques who have given exceptional humanitarian service in of the agricultural market, including reducing hunger and poverty. King Bhumibol was the to support organic rice farming, some form of price regulation, to first-ever recipient inO ctober 2006. with an emphasis once more on

14 Rice Today January-March 2007 self-sufficiency. One royal study In recent even discovered that a rat infestation years, King problem afflicting one group of rice Bhumibol’s growers was a direct result of a local health, as he habit of killing and either eating or approaches his selling snakes, thereby disrupting the 80th birthday natural biological balance in the area. this year, has His Majesty maintains a restricted his close interest in the work of constant roaming both Thailand’s rice science of the Thai community and international rice countryside research, and regularly speaks and his direct out against farmer pessimism intervention to for the future of rice growing. improve the lives “If someone says it is nonsense of his subjects. to grow rice—that it brings poor But Her Majesty returns—then just think: if we the Queen Sirikit, do not grow rice, we will end up the Crown Her Majesty Queen Sirikit harvests rice from an experimental plot.

having to buy it from Vietnam or Prince, His I nstitute T h a il n d R ice ese rch Burma (Myanmar),” the King said. Royal Highness “If we buy from Vietnam, we will Prince Maha have to pay for transportation and Vajiralongkorn, and Her Royal ponds and fountains, polo fields, give profits to someone else. Highness Princess Maha Chakri and stables—perhaps resembling the “Thailand must grow more Sirindhorn are ensuring that the European style of regal grandeur. rice because in another 20 years King’s work continues. All have The Chitralada compound, in the we may have 80 million people their own development projects jam-packed mayhem of downtown and, without enough rice, there modeled after those of the King. Bangkok, is a complex of agricultural may be disagreements among the If there is one example that stations, model industrial Thai people. Even if the quality of epitomizes the King’s extraordinary plants, laboratories, and farming Thai rice is not as high as that in development work, it is the Chitralada experiments. Crowded with workers, other countries, we must still grow Palace in Bangkok. Hidden from the palace has a full-scale dairy it. And who cares if people say I’m public view behind a moat, tall farm, a milk-processing and cheese- foolish for saying this. If there is fences, spreading trees, and armed making factory, a fruit-processing any land where rice can grow, then sentries, it is easy to imagine that plant, factories producing bio-gas and it must be grown. Thais must eat within the one-square-kilometer bio-diesel, a tissue culture laboratory, rice, three times a day. Thais don’t compound are manicured lawns experimental rice fields, a factory eat bread—that is just a snack.” and tropical gardens, ornate statues, producing charcoal from rice husks, and a germplasm bank. It also has a school for more than 1,000 children of the people who work on the King’s projects. And, at its heart is the Chitralada Villa, with King Bhumibol King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit in residence. and Queen Sirikit inspect the IRRI Rather than isolating himself agricultural within the pomp and ceremony engineering unit that are the common view of his during a July 1963 visit. extraordinary reign, Thailand’s Development King—IRRI’s Royal Patron—prefers to live at the active heart of a development engine that promises a better future for his 64 million subjects.

We are grateful for the assistance of the National Rice Research Institute of Thailand in preparing this story. Bob Hill is a Thailand-based writer

IRRI specializing in science and technology.

Rice Today January-March 2007 15 India hosts world’s largest rice gathering

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presents the M.S. Swaminathan Award for Leadership in Agriculture to former IRRI principal plant breeder , with Dr. Swaminathan and IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler (second from right) looking on. D.K. SETH

ach day of the 2nd and every major religion on Earth ministers—traveled from other International Rice Congress were represented here. And all were countries to make up the largest- (IRC) 2006, delegates from drawn together by one simple—but ever gathering of rice workers. 47 countries crisscrossed also not so simple—thing: rice. Participants deliberated on various through the office block In total, 1,383 delegates from 46 aspects of rice production, commerce, Elobby at the impressive New Delhi nations, including host-country India, and international cooperation, headquarters of the Indian Council attended the IRC, which aimed for with a special focus on the latest of Agricultural Research’s National greater application of rice science and research, science, and technology. Agricultural Science Complex technology, and cooperation among The event was inaugurated by the (NASC). Here, the global nature of countries to address the problems Honorable Prime Minister of India rice was thrown into sharp relief. of poverty and hunger. Almost Manmohan Singh at Vigyan Bhawan, People from every corner of the globe one-third of the attendees—who New Delhi. During his speech, the crossed paths and, more often than included rice researchers, traders, prime minister noted that “Despite not, stopped to chat. Every continent rice millers, farmers, and agriculture remarkable achievements, hunger

Left to right: at an 11 October dinner, retiring IRRI Board of Trustees member Fazle Hasan Abed (at right)—founder and executive director of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee—accepts a toast from IRRI Spokesperson Duncan Macintosh and Michiko Otsuka, wife of IRRI Board Chair Kei Otsuka; M.A. Salam, chief scien- tific officer and head of the Plant Breeding Division at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute in Gazipur, accepts the 2006 Senadhira Rice Research Award, with Dr. Zei- gler looking on; the main building of the National Agricultural Science Complex; a Greenpeace activist—one of several who interrupted a press conference to voice fears about genetically engineered rice—sits beside a bowl of rice containing a symbolic question mark; traditional Indian dancers at the IRC cultural night on 10 October. IRRI - IN D I A O FF ICE

16 Rice Today January-March 2007 IRC conclusions

he IRC would be meaningless if it did not Tpromote action. Key recommendations and conclusions included the following: India hosts world’s largest rice gathering Hybrid rice breeding and modification of plant • architecture were discussed as strategies to increase yield potential and help meet rice the IRC incorporated the 26th production demand. International Rice Research • Site-specific nutrient management should be Conference (at which 900 research used to minimize nutrient deficiencies and papers were presented), the 2nd improve rice production with optimum use of International Rice Commerce the most appropriate fertilizer. Conference, the 2nd International • Climate change is a real threat and adaptation Rice Technology and Cultural strategies need to be developed. Earlier Exhibition (which featured displays observed benefits of increased carbon dioxide from 49 companies, institutes, are smaller than first predicted and could International Rice Research be overridden by the negative effects of Consortium Coordinator Grant and organizations from countries increasing temperatures. Singleton chats with Haryana including India, the United States, rice farmer Bhavneet Singh at • Quality seed is the single most crucial input the IRRI exhibition. Japan, China, and the Philippines), for securing rice productivity and production. and the 2nd International Farmers need access to affordable quality seed Ministerial Round Table Meeting of the right variety and at the right time. To (see Agricultural ministers come ensure this, strong linkage is needed between and malnutrition continue to afflict together over rice on pages 18-19). the private and public sectors. millions and millions of people across The event was sponsored by the • There is a need for harmonized international the world. About 815 million people Ministry of Agriculture, Government treaties and intellectual property rights that in developing countries are reported of India; the International Rice support resource-poor farming communities and by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Research Institute (IRRI); and the nations. Organization) to be undernourished. Agricultural and Processed Food • There is a worldwide need to minimize the average 20% losses caused by diseases and Hunger and malnutrition are the Export Development Authority, and pests. Both biotechnology and effective underlying cause of more than half was organized by the Indian Council germplasm exchange have significant roles to of all child deaths, killing nearly for Agricultural Research and the play. 6 million children each year.” Dr. National Academy of Agricultural • Information and communication technologies Singh said he was confident that Sciences. Special recognition are readily adaptable tools that can help the IRC 2006 would help pave was also given to the organizing increase profitability by offering access to the way for a better tomorrow for team led by Indian Agricultural market information and linking smallholders. the rice farmers of the world. Research Institute Head Pramod • A consistent scientific basis for defining rice Held on 9-13 October 2006, Aggarwal and IRRI’s J.K. Ladha. quality for export is needed. y (6) a m Ba rcl A da

Representatives from IRRI and the national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) of 15 countries attended the 10th meeting of the Council for Part- nership on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA) on 14 October 2006 at the National Agricultural Science Complex in New Delhi. One of the meeting’s key outcomes was CORRA’s approval of Vietnam as host of the next CORRA meeting, and a resolution to support efforts for Vietnam to host an international rice research conference in 2007. The annual meeting is the major get-together of NARES heads in their efforts to guide, facilitate, support, and thereby strengthen partnership among NARES, IRRI, and other relevant institutions.

Rice Today January-March 2007 17 Agriculture ministers come together over rice

uring the International Rice the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, which they stressed the fostering of DCongress 2006, nine ministers and India made a historic Delhi cooperation among Asian countries of agriculture representing China, Declaration at the 2nd International to safeguard the environment and Indonesia, Laos, , , Ministerial Round Table Meeting, in food and nutritional security. The Delhi Declaration Adopted at the 2nd International Ministers’ Round Table Meeting held on 10 October 2006 during the 2nd International Rice Congress in New Delhi, India. Zhang Baowen Honorable Vice Minister of The undersigned ministers and representatives of agriculture: Agriculture, Government of the People’s Republic of China • Confirming the spirit of the Beijing Declaration following the First Round Table Meeting held on 15 September 2002; Sutarto Alimoeso Director General of Food Crops, Ministry • Confirming our commitment to intellectual property rights of Agriculture, Government of Indonesia as per World Trade Organization stipulations and provisions including indigenously developed improved varieties of rice; Ty Phommasack • Stressing the strategic importance of the Asian nations in Honorable Vice Minister of the production of rice and moved by the will to give their Agriculture, Government of Laos future thrusts a new dimension, based on comprehensive cooperation, in keeping with the privileged nature of Mahanth Thakur the links forged by neighborhood and history; Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Government of Nepal • Aware that the farmers are facing the challenge of producing more rice at less cost in a deteriorating environment and rice research and development needs to address the Millennium Fazal Abbas Maken Development Goals on poverty alleviation, food and nutritional Minister (Trade), High Commission security, and environmental conservation in a partnership mode; for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Resolve to establish to that end a multilateral • Domingo F. Panganiban framework based on a spirit of partnership; Secretary (Minister) of Agriculture, Government of the Philippines • Regarding this multilateral framework as the counterpart to a strengthening of bilateral relations which it is important to safeguard, while laying stress on their specific nature; Maithripala Sirisena Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Stressing that this initiative is not intended to replace the Irrigation, and Mahaweli Development, • Government of Sri Lanka other activities and initiatives undertaken in the interests of the peace, prosperity, stability, and development of the region, but that it will contribute to their success; Bui Ba Bong Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Hereby agree to establish a comprehensive partnership among Government of Vietnam the participants through strengthened dialogue on a regular basis for strengthening rice research and development efforts laying greater emphasis on the social, cultural, and human dimensions and IRRI Shri Sharad Pawar Honorable Union Minister of Agriculture, would host a task force comprising experts from all the countries and Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public centers of excellence in the area to prepare a road map for the purpose. Distribution, Government of India

18 Rice Today January-March 2007 Agriculture ministers come together over rice

Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food, Minister Pawar outside the National Agricultural Science and Public Distribution, Government of India (left), talks with Indian Complex with Mangala Rai, director general of the Indian Council Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the IRC inauguration at Vigyan of Agricultural Research and chair of the organizing and advisory Bhawan, New Delhi. committees of the IRC. D.K. S eth IRRI - IN D I A O FF ICE (2)

Led by Minister Pawar, the ministers of agriculture of China, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, together signed the Delhi Declaration on 10 October 2006.

Southeast Asia endorses major initiatives to boost regional rice production

ice production in Southeast Asia— Specifically, ASEAN has endorsed the ASEAN includes Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Rarguably the region’s most important development of a series of environmental Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, industry—has received a major boost with indicators for rice production focused on the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and the endorsement of three new strategies by production, biodiversity, pollution, land Vietnam. the Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry of degradation, and water; the further “To have ASEAN member countries the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian development of the Rice Knowledge Bank endorse these very important activities at the Nations (ASEAN). for rice farmers (www.knowledgebank.irri. ministerial level is obviously a crucial step The International Rice Research Institute org), Asia’s first digital extension service forward, and we are very grateful for such (IRRI) implemented and coordinated the new in agriculture; and the development of rice high-level political support,” IRRI Director measures, which are aimed at three major camps for young Asians to encourage them to General Robert Zeigler said. “With major Asian challenges facing rice production in ASEAN: consider a career in rice. rice producers such as Thailand, Vietnam, protecting the environment, ensuring that The decision to endorse the three new Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar now rice farmers receive the latest knowledge activities was made at the 28th meeting officially part of these activities, we hope to and information, and developing the next of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and reach out to other countries in Asia—especially generation of rice farmers and scientists. Forestry in Singapore on 16 November 2006. China and India—for their support also.”

Rice Today January-March 2007 19 Rice fields in Albay Province, Bicol, stretch out to the foothills of Mayon Volcano when it was threat- ening to erupt in July 2006. Six days after Typhoon Durian struck, the scene (right) is very different. The huge mudflow at the right of the photo claimed many lives and obliterated rice fields and homes.

story by Meg Mondoñedo, photography by Ariel Javellana Once were rice fields

The week after Typhoon Durian slammed he road to Albay from the Los Baños headquarters into the Philippines’ Bicol Region, Rice Today of the International Rice Research Institute ventured into the stricken area to find that the (IRRI) is long but not Ttedious. After 12 hours of driving through town after town of busy rice-farming communities had been hit hard. markets lined with parol (Christmas lantern) vendors, deep green coconut plantations, quiet rice fields, and shimmering blue coast, the landscape gave way to a city of darkness and desolation—Legaspi in Albay Province, Bicol, Philippines. Five days earlier, Typhoon Durian (locally known as Reming) had struck the region, bringing winds upward of 220 km per hour and leaving hundreds dead, missing, and homeless. Children are in the streets, barefoot and begging, the houses The remains of a house in San behind them destroyed. Everywhere, Isidro, Albay, perch precariously over a ditch fashioned by the river people are digging, either to rebuild of mud, rocks, and volcanic ash homes or find missing relatives. that carved through the region. With no power, no water, and roads that have collapsed into

20 Rice Today January-March 2007 A group of children pose in front of rice fields in Santo Domingo, Albay Province, in happier times in 2001. John Oliver Leron (below) sits in the

vente same area after Typhoon Durian triggered the

Al B en a devastating mudslides.

Once were rice fields

rivers, Rice Today set out to find the rice farmers who live at the Children in Daraga, Albay, sit atop foot of Mayon Volcano in Albay. a mammoth boulder—evidence of the deadly forces unleashed by the typhoon— It has been a difficult year for swept into town by the mudslide. Albay, to say the least. Only a few months previously, Mayon was threatening to erupt (see Rice in harm’s way on pages 24-27 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4). The volcanic activity died down, and but then Durian did what the volcano, this time, couldn’t. The intense typhoon rains dislodged the tons and tons of volcanic ash, creating massive landslides that obliterated houses and rice fields and, asRice Today went to press, killed more than 400 people, with at least that many still missing. Here, Rice Today brings you images and stories that offer a glimpse of the terror that Durian blasted into the lives of some of the Albay rice-farming families, as well as the despair and hope that the typhoon left behind.

Rice Today January-March 2007 21 Ariel Javellana, 6 December 2006

Rice Today January-March 2007, Vol. 6, No. 1 30 November 2006: Typhoon Durian triggers deadly mudslides that swallow entire rice farms in Albay Province, Bicol, Philippines. 30 November 2006: Typhoon Durian triggers deadly mudslides that swallow entire rice farms in Albay Province, Bicol, Philippines. Rice farmer Gloria Miranda’s house at the foot of Mayon Volcano was threatened by lava flows in July 2006 and (right) half-destroyed by Typhoon Durian in November 2006.

Gloria Miranda, 51 destroyed. The flood was caused its spectacular silhouette rising Gloria lives with her partner and their by the mud flow from Mayon. above the lahar. But, right now, it’s teenage daughter, Fanela. Durian This is the strongest typhoon I have hard not to think it’s just another destroyed most of her crops and more seen. Good thing my house did not fall disaster waiting to happen. than half of her house (see photos apart, but all of my seedlings are dead. above), and killed her farm animals. Thank God no one died in my family. Because of the damage, I will We just stayed inside the house A satellite photo of Typhoon lose my income of 5,000 Philippine Durian over the Philippines on from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. We couldn’t pesos [US$100] a month unless I 30 November 2006, the day go out because the rain was so it hit the Bicol region, several can get new seedlings soon. We will hard. All our things got wet. hundred kilometers southeast have to start over again. Our only of Manila. We will plant again, start over, source of income is now gone. and raise animals again. We’re I’m thinking of moving my house to not leaving. It’s hard to evacuate a higher place so my family can be safe. because this is our home. We were safer during As long as we have rice, fish sauce, Mayon’s lava flow. With this dried fish, and water, we’ll be ok. typhoon, we lost everything. Albay Province, Sofroneo “Fron” Rodriguez, 59 Two farmers. Two stories. Bicol Region In July, Fron and his family were Although they lost so much, Gloria taking refuge from Mayon volcano in and Fron can count themselves an evacuation center. This time, he lucky. They and their families are was taking stock of what used to be alive and well. As well as losing their his farm and is now a swath of lahar, fields to mud, rocks, and ash, many the black, tar-like mix of ash and mud others lost loved ones. Thousands characteristic of volcanic eruptions. are living in evacuation centers and will be there for who knows Many cows, carabaos, how long. Hundreds of bodies were and pigs died. I don’t know the buried in mass graves, unidentified. number, but even the piggery was As Rice Today leaves Albay, the smell of rotting garbage and dead Rice farmer Sofroneo animals is at times overwhelming. “Fron” Rodriguez. People’s bodies are still trapped beneath the earth. The air is cool, with the tropical “winter” bringing relief from the usual humid heat.

It’s almost Christmas but not a ce Flight C enter, N A S single parol can be seen. Mayon Volcano remains a beautiful sight, r d Spa G o dda

24 Rice Today January-March 2007 Rice farmer Oscar Ballaran, whose photo appeared in Rice in harm’s way (pages 24-27 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4), lost his house in San Isidro, Albay. Thankfully, his family was unharmed.

This rice mill in San Isidro, Albay, is owned by Luis Balilo, 22 (in white t-shirt), who is now unsure Correction about when he can resume his milling operations after his one and only mill was buried deep in mud. In Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4, we “I don’t know what my plans are,“ he said. ”I’ll just open it again when I have the budget.” More incorrectly named Oscar Bal- important to him in the immediate aftermath was the loss of his three German shepherds, who used to laran as Sofroneo Rodriguez. guard the mill. We would like to apologize to both men for the mix-up.

The landslide consisting of mud, rocks, and volcanic ash inundated towns throughout Albay Province.

Rice Today January-March 2007 25 Strength in by Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton diversity

Biodiversity is more than just a nice green concept— farmers rely on it

he loss of biological to 60,000 plant species could be of terrestrial and aquatic habitats. diversity is one of lost by 2025 if the present rate of The rice field itself can be rich in the most serious extinction is maintained. The Food biodiversity, with more than 100 environmental problems and Agriculture Organization of useful species associated with it. Rice in the world today. The the United Nations has estimated fields provide habitats for wildlife Tmaintenance of biodiversity in that, since 1900, about three- species, including fish, amphibians, healthy balanced ecosystems is quarters of the genetic diversity reptiles, crustaceans, mollusks, and crucial to the survival of life on of domestic agricultural crops insects, besides various aquatic and Earth. Yet, the loss of biodiversity has already been lost. free-standing plants. Domesticated is alarmingly high worldwide. Up Rice includes more than 20 wild species, such as ducks and cattle, also species and two cultivated species make use of the vegetation for their of the genus Oryza, with probably food. A balanced farm also contains a well over 100,000 varieties of the range of other crops, trees, and wild cultivated forms. The worldwide habitats. The rice-field ecosystem loss of biodiversity is also affecting has developed over thousands of rice biodiversity in all rice-growing years: it is dynamic, stable, and countries, especially after the sustainable, and has adapted to introduction of modern high- different environmental conditions yielding varieties of rice from the in different countries and regions. 1960s onward. In the Philippines The overall impact of traditional alone, where several thousand agriculture on biodiversity is positive. varieties of rice were grown in the Traditional farmers have, over 10,000 1950s, only a few varieties now years or more, created huge amounts cover the majority of the rice area. of novel and valuable biodiversity. The rice-farmed landscape is Starting with the unproductive wild more than just rice. It is a patchwork ancestors of our crop plants, they

26 Rice Today January-March 2007 Strength in diversity

and therefore at risk of erosion. In contrast to traditional agriculture, intensive agriculture, which requires the use of chemical inputs and uniformity of seed material, threatens this rich biodiversity. Pesticides also kill off the natural enemies of rice pests and remove forms of biological control that occur naturally in a more balanced ecosystem. Runoff of fertilizer and pesticides pollutes groundwater and surface waters, and can cause epidemic outbreaks of algae vell a n (4) a and the few other wild plant species

Ariel J that thrive on nitrate-polluted water. Rice breeding by large multinational corporations is economically more profitable if based on a small number created new species and new forms Traditional farmers know of mega-varieties that dominate the far more dramatically novel than well the value of diversity on their marketplace and achieve widespread anything being produced by modern- farms. Many of them grow mixtures adoption. Legal restrictions day genetic technologies. Imagine of crops or mixtures of strains of protecting plant breeders’ rights in hundreds of thousands of farmers, one crop, knowing that a mixture many countries dictate that modern each farmer working to breed suffers less damage from pests and varieties must be genetically uniform, better crops, and all with their own diseases and can produce a more unlike the older, genetically diverse, perceptions of the quality of product reliable yield from year to year and adaptable farmer-bred varieties they want, their own distinctive set of despite the vagaries of weather and that they replace. In some countries constraints (pests, diseases, weeds, rainfall. In some places, farmers (but, as of now, few rice-growing soil types, climate) to overcome, deliberately re-constitute mixtures countries), those restrictions also and their own parental materials to each year. In some places, they prohibit farmers from saving their start breeding with. The result was use mixtures with overlapping own seed for sowing the next year’s millions of different varieties of crops, cropping seasons to reduce the commercial crop, thus forcing them and a huge diversity of crop plants. length of time that soil remains bare to choose from the comparatively small number of modern varieties and destroying the traditional farmer-breeding system on which the whole of agriculture is based. At the landscape level and above (regional, national, global), the need to devote an increasing percentage of the landscape to agriculture in order to feed an increasing world population per se reduces biodiversity. There is

Rice Today January-March 2007 27 just less and less land available or less diverse than other cereal and unmanaged parcels, and a for nonfarmed ecosystems. The crops. It is believed that rice was different balance between farmed conversion of rare and threatened domesticated at least twice in Asia, parcels and parcels managed for habitats to farmland is causing a independently by farmers in China nonagricultural use such as orchards, major continuing loss of biodiversity. and the southern Himalayan belt, timber, tourism, and aquaculture. Thus, modern intensive from different ecotypes of Oryza As long as diverse choices are made, agriculture has reversed the trend rufipogon. The mixing of the two the landscape will be diverse. of increasing biodiversity under primitive types has generated loads of Centralized control and large traditional agriculture. This is diversity. Recent estimates of the date businesses tend to result in similar often cited as one of the key factors of domestication make it older than decisions being made over large driving the loss of biodiversity. other crops too, so there has been tracts of land. Even if the business In many places, rice farmers more time for diversity to evolve. is for ecotourism, sustainable grow a range of crops for special On the other hand, rice is quite forestry, or other environmentally purposes—one rice variety that possibly no more diverse than other friendly purposes, the impact on is ideal for rice wine, another for crops. Compared with wheat and biodiversity can be negative at the a dish used in religious rituals, potatoes, for example, cultivated level of the whole landscape. another that grows particularly well rice is relatively close to its ancestral Increasing population density in that shaded field at the bottom wild form and so hybridizes quite also amplifies the degradation of of the valley, a set of varieties with readily with its wild relatives. biodiversity, as more and more land differing maturity dates to spread the One can therefore find almost a must be taken under cultivation or labor of harvesting, a small plot of a continuum of variation along the used for houses, factories, shops, particularly early-maturing variety to wild-weedy-cultivated forms. In and roads. Wealth helps mitigate avert a period of hunger, and so on. contrast, cultivated maize and wheat the loss of biodiversity. People stuck Although rice is impressively have become so distinct that it’s very in the poverty trap may regard diverse, it is a complex issue to difficult to hybridize them with their loss of biodiversity as the least of speculate whether rice is more wild relatives. In fact, maize is so their troubles. Poor governments distinct that it took a lot of effort just likewise may place biodiversity low Improving productivity to identify its closest wild relative. in their development priorities. through biodiversity In theory, the same principle Generally, the more complex the applies to all crops—their forms interactions between organisms and n farms, biodiversity of the farming and traits are shaped by a balance their environment, the more varied Osystem itself can be diversified in among natural selection for fitness, the surrounding environment and, many ways to improve productivity: farmers’ selection for productivity, in turn, the greater the biodiversity. • Mixtures of crops or mixtures of and distinctive selection pressures To an extent, one can say varieties of one crop can dramatically by different farmers with that almost every natural process reduce the instance of diseases, in different preferences. All these promotes biodiversity in some way some cases even from near total selective pressures contribute provided it involves events or states failure of unmixed crops to almost no to a rich crop biodiversity. that persist for long enough to affect detectable disease in mixtures. • Mixtures of crops, or different varieties Landscape management of one crop, with different adaptation is another key factor to temperature and rainfall can affecting biodiversity, either increase the reliability of yield in the positively or negatively. face of climatic uncertainties from As a broad generalization, year to year. one can state that individual • Planting different fields to different choice and small enterprises crops or different varieties that differ in landscape management in their harvest date can spread the tend to be more beneficial to harvesting period over a longer period biodiversity than centralized of time, giving farmers time to obtain control and large businesses. a bigger total harvest. • Sequentially planting different crops Individual choice and small in the same field can reduce soil enterprises result in different erosion by reducing the duration of management decisions being bare, unprotected soil. made on different parcels of land. • Mixing products with complementary This in turn leads to a diverse resource requirements—such as rice patchwork landscape in which no and fish—can dramatically increase one ecosystem dominates. The vell a n (5) productivity compared with keeping choices can be different drainage, a a them separate. different balance between managed Ariel J

28 Rice Today January-March 2007 the life around them. Every stream, of a biodiverse system, we can biodiversity conservation can coexist every death of an insect, every strike promote productivity sustainably. (see Balanced on a wing on pages of lightning, and every rice plant Biodiversity of both the farmed 34-36 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 3). create around them a distinctive and unfarmed areas of the landscape The necessary basic research centers set of environmental conditions can positively affect agricultural on two key underlying issues. that are favorable to the survival of productivity in many ways. Certain The first issue is the relationship some organisms and unfavorable forms of animal life can benefit a crop between diversity and productivity. to others. Even a sulfur-laden hot because they act as natural enemies This encompasses a whole set of water spring by a volcano, while of the pests and diseases of the crop. related issues concerned with the killing most forms of life, provides These natural enemies may have different elements of diversity the conditions for a particularly their primary habitat outside the crop and the different components of distinctive ecosystem of sulfur- itself, and so rely on the presence productivity—particularly the loving and heat-loving organisms. of other forms of biodiversity, stability, resilience, sustainability, Even large-scale events such as El which can be in various places and reliability of production Niño or the North Atlantic Current such as the ecosystem of a healthy in diverse systems. There is no create distinctive niches favoring the soil under the crop, nonfarmed generalized relationship between survival of a distinctive set of species. ecosystems adjacent to the crop, the diversity and productivity, but, Although a catastrophic event weed flora growing with the crop, by choosing the appropriate like a volcanic eruption may destroy adjacent fields of other crops, and components, we can build diverse all biodiversity under the eruption, adjacent plots of other managed systems that are stable, resilient, in the longer term, this results in systems such as aquaculture, sustainable, and reliable. the creation of new types of habitat orchards, or timber trees. The second issue covers the with distinctively fertile soils in The mechanisms by which social aspects of biodiversity in which new forms of life appear. biodiversity can promote productivity agriculture—how communities Agricultural intensification (see Improving productivity through can base productive agriculture during the 20th century was based biodiversity, opposite) depend on diversity, and how extension on reducing biodiversity, but it on environmental heterogeneity. officers, agricultural scientists, is not clear whether or to what Yet, intensive agriculture usually and policymakers can refocus their extent increasing biodiversity reduces environmental heterogeneity outlook to help base sustainable per se might reduce productivity. to produce a uniformly optimal development on diversity. In theory, by judicious selection environment for high productivity— Applied agricultural research is of the appropriate components we plough the field to get a uniform playing an increasing role by taking seedbed, we level it for efficient ecological and evolutionary expertise irrigation, we fertilize the field to and applying it to understanding make it uniformly fertile throughout, the dynamics of the farmed and we weed the field to keep it uniformly interacting nonfarmed components of free of weeds, and we spray for a farmed landscape. The “nonfarmed” a field that is uniformly free of components have to include not pathogens and pests. Moreover, with only the organisms that reduce mechanized harvesting, we need productivity—pests, diseases, and the mature seed to be presented to weeds—but also those that are the harvester on the same day at beneficial to the farm economy— the same height with the same ease natural enemies of harmful organ- of threshing. To the extent that we isms and their primary habitats. are successful in maintaining the uniformity of these components of the environment, a system that is diverse Dr. Sackville Hamilton is head of the for response to those components International Rice Research Institute’s is likely to be less productive than T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Center. one that is a uniform optimal fit for This feature story is adapted from those conditions. Despite appearing an article originally published on to be at odds, rice production and GreenRice.net (www.greenrice.net).

Rice Today January-March 2007 29 In search of new seeds The improved New Rice for Africa varieties are helping not only African grain farmers but seed producers as well by Savitri Mohapatra

t is said that if you want to be a Seybou doesn’t want to be just a good gardener you should always good farmer; he wants to be efficient sow three seeds: one for the bugs, as well because the happiness of one for the weather, and one for his entire family depends on the Iyourself. But if you tell this to Seybou quantity and quality of the NERICA Lema, who produces and sells seeds seeds he produces. The NERICA of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) varieties, which are bringing hope in the West African country of Togo, to millions of poor people in Africa, for their own use, and to exchange he wouldn’t agree to waste even were developed by the Africa Rice or sell excess seed to other farmers. a single seed. Center (WARDA) and its partners. A major advantage of CBSS is that it “With the money I got from shortens the time required for seed of selling NERICA seeds, I bought food, improved varieties to reach farmers. paid school fees for my children, and CBSS-trained farmers, such as bought clothes for them,” Seybou Seybou, are now quietly changing said. “I have also used the cash the rice scenario in sub-Saharan to extend our house,” he added, Africa, where farmers traditionally proudly showing the new extension save, exchange, and use rice seeds made of concrete, next to his hut. from one harvest to the next or, in Seybou belongs to a new breed times of shortage, buy rice paddy of African rice farmers trained in from the market to use as seed. seed production techniques as part Even for Seybou, it was difficult of a program on a community-based to accept at first that one could sell seed production system (CBSS) that seeds. But, when he found out to his was introduced by WARDA and its great amazement how much money he partners as an integral part of the could make by selling NERICA seeds, NERICA dissemination program. he abandoned cotton farming and In sub-Saharan Africa, seed began to devote all his time, effort, production and distribution are major and land to NERICA seed production. bottlenecks to the dissemination of Seybou started NERICA seed new crop varieties. A study conducted production on half a hectare in 2004 Togo farmer Seybou Lema inspects his by WARDA economists in 2005 and gradually increased the area to NERICA seed crop found that only about 30% of rice 6 hectares in 2006. “But I am still farmers interviewed were growing unable to cope with the demand for improved high-yielding rice varieties seed from farmers of neighboring because of a severe shortage of seed. villages,” he told a delegation from The main reason for the seed the African Rice Initiative. shortage is that national seed systems The African Rice Initiative lack the staff, equipment, and funding is particularly interested in to assure farmers an adequate supply NERICA seed production because of quality seeds on a regular basis. To it was established to scale up the overcome this problem, CBSS trains dissemination of NERICA and farmers on how to produce good seed complementary technologies across

30 Rice Today January-March 2007 “The African Rice Initiative International Development Agency, and WARDA are exploring with International Fund for Agricultural relevant partners, particularly Development, World Bank, Food the national systems, to put in and Agriculture Organization of place sustainable NERICA seed the United Nations, Sasakawa- production and delivery strategies,” Global 2000, Centre Songhai, and says Inoussa Akintayo, ARI regional World Vision International. coordinator, who is based at WARDA. To overcome problems of poor The demand for NERICA rice seed quality and health, an seed is not restricted to West and initiative to scale up technology Central Africa. In fact, the biggest transfer of good seed production surprises are emerging from techniques using video has been Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in launched by an International Fund East Africa, where NERICA was for Agricultural Development- introduced just 4 years ago. funded WARDA project in Mali, NERICA’s potential as a cash Guinea, The Gambia, and Ghana. crop has captured the attention of Rice seed health videos produced Uganda’s seed companies. This is by the International Rice Research partly explained by the fact that rice Institute, CABI, Countrywise is considered more of a cash crop Communication, and the Rural Seybou Lema with his family. than a food crop in East Africa in Development Academy Bogra in DA (3) R DA R . Ra m a n, WA contrast to West and Central Africa. association with rural women in Subsistence farmers are Bangladesh are being shown to sub-Saharan Africa through a also seeing the positive impact African rice farmers to enable them coordinated effort. The Initiative of commercial NERICA seed to learn from their Asian colleagues. has been actively involved in the production in Uganda. “The new “We are getting these videos production of NERICA foundation rice has changed our living,” says translated into French and local (basic) seed as well as in the training one Ugandan farmer. “Our incomes languages in close association of extension staff and farmers in have increased. We have bought with our national and local seed production, with the support clothes, a house, and a bicycle.” nongovernmental organization of many partners and donors, At present, targeted NERICA partners,” says WARDA Technology including the African Development seed production and distribution Transfer Specialist Paul Van Mele. Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, projects across sub-Saharan Africa “In Guinea, where NERICA has Japan International Cooperation are supported by many donors and been widely adopted, these videos Agency, and the United Nations international nongovernmental have reached thousands of farmers Development Programme (UNDP). organizations, including Japan, in less than 6 months, contributing In 2005, a US$35 million 5- UNDP, Rockefeller Foundation, the to better seed quality of local year project was launched by the African Development Bank, Canadian and improved rice varieties.” African Development Bank to support NERICA dissemination in seven West African countries—Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. About 80% of the targeted beneficiaries of this project, which is coordinated by the African Rice Initiative, are the rural poor, mostly women. The project estimates that by the 5th year, about 33,000 farm families will be involved in participatory varietal selection, a process in which farmers and breeders work together to choose new varieties best suited to the farmers’ needs Mother-and-daughter (see Taking part on pages 22-26 of rice farmers Affiwa (right) and Conforte Rice Today Vol. 3, No. 2). Many of Kagnivi with their seed them will also be involved in CBSS to crop in Deve, Benin. accelerate NERICA dissemination.

Rice Today January-March 2007 31 Fighting Asia’s postharvest problems by Trina Leah Mendoza and Martin Gummert The fate of rice after harvest is a crucial f you’re a rice farmer anywhere in or outdated rice trained postharvest Asia, you are likely to experience mills, and losses to but often-neglected researchers and high postharvest grain losses. pests throughout extension workers Total losses from harvest to the postharvest part of the production in both the public Imarket can reach 30–50%, which chain. These and private sectors. means that, conservatively, farmers losses result in chain. Now, a major A plastic storage are losing around US$30 per ton lower quality rice bag developed at of rice harvested. For an average for consumption effort to overcome IRRI is one example four-member farming family, an or sale, smaller of postharvest additional $30 can go a long way. returns to farmers, postharvest problems technology that is Studies by the International higher prices for is gaining momentum. already making a Rice Research Institute (IRRI) consumers, and difference. Farmers in Cambodia, Indonesia, and greater pressure in Battambang the Philippines have found that on the environment as farmers try to Province in Cambodia consider postharvest losses occur mainly compensate by growing more rice. this hermetic “super bag” an because of spoilage and wastage With the urgent need to solve inanimate superhero in its own at the farm level, delay in drying, postharvest problems in developing right. Typically, farmers store three poor storage, poorly maintained countries, the Postproduction Work bags of seeds with 70 kg each for Group (PPWG) was formed their own fields. The hot, humid in 2003 by the Irrigated conditions cause the germination Rice Research Consortium ability of the seeds to drop quickly. (IRRC). By the end of its When farmers finally use the seeds first year, the PPWG had after 5–6 months of storage, often established partnerships less than 50% germinate in the in Cambodia, Indonesia, fields. By comparison, farmers Lao PDR, Myanmar, and who used the super bag to store Commercial furnaces, Vietnam. The PPWG’s key seeds maintained germination like this one in Long An objectives are to increase rates above 90% and thus reduced Province, Vietnam, with farmers’ incomes through the amount of seed required. a 4-ton reversible airflow paddy dryer, ensure high- improved postharvest The super bag allows cereal quality produce. management and technology, grains and other crops such as coffee

rtin Gummert Ma rtin and build a network of to be stored safely for periods of 6–12

32 Rice Today January-March 2007 months. One Another training participant, farmer reported from the Myanmar Rice and Paddy that he sold Traders Association, produced an additional various dryer prototypes, includ- 70 kg of seeds ing a low-cost dryer with a 1-ton in the market, batch capacity for the farm level earning him and flat-bed dryers with up to 4-ton an additional batch capacity for the commercial income of $9. A sector. The Association—which has super bag costs installed eight flat-bed dryers at

only $1 and, rice mills and five others for farmer Gummert Ma rtin Farmers and extension officials test the low-cost as long as it is groups—now visits different prov- moisture meter on rice stored in a super bag in not punctured, inces in Myanmar to demonstrate Hau Thanh Village, Vietnam. can be reused, the dryers to farmers and millers. cutting back on Although they offer major moisture meters are priced steeply at cost per harvest. advantages, mechanical dryers more than $200. IRRI has developed The PPWG add cost to the drying process. To a low-cost moisture meter that costs Fighting Asia’s now focuses minimize drying cost, the PPWG only $30–50 (depending on where on evaluating helped develop a new rice hull it is purchased). These moisture Trainees in Lao hermetic furnace in Vietnam as an alternative meters have been distributed PDR manually storage systems to the kerosene burners used in most by the PPWG to pilot villages in postharvest problems harvest paddy. with farmers rice dryers. The PPWG also assists Cambodia and Vietnam, and to Geert Cl a essens Geert (Indonesia, national partners in continuous partners in the national agricultural Vietnam, adaptation of drying systems research and extension systems, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar) to local conditions and farming where farmer groups can easily and rice millers and traders systems to provide appropriate share them for their postharvest (Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia). drying technology options for management decision making. Samples from farmers’ trials taken farmers, traders, and rice millers, In addition to its achievements for milling and trials with rice and to help manufacturers produce to date, the PPWG has developed millers have proven that hermetic commercially viable machines. country-specific training programs in storage also increases head rice As the old saying goes, knowledge 2006 and will continue in 2007 in an (grain fraction that has at least 75% is power. For farmers, knowledge effort to further promote information of the whole undamaged kernel on up-to-date market information exchange among countries. Training length) recovery significantly. enables informed decisions on what materials and postproduction e- One of the main culprits to produce, where to sell, and the learning courses (conducted online for deterioration in seed quality best quality grade for maximizing or via CD) are being translated into is delayed or improper drying, returns from rice harvests. Farmers’ different languages, beginning with especially when rice is spread in knowledge on markets and paddy Vietnam and Cambodia. National the open to dry under the sun. quality also puts them in a better outreach programs such as the Prima Mechanical dryers— another PPWG negotiating position when they Tani program in Indonesia will be focus—are the best way to ensure deal with local middlemen. bolstered to include postproduction high-quality products, especially In a project funded by the Asian technologies and management in the wet season, with its frequent Development Bank and the IRRC, options. Dissemination of market rains and high relative humidity. extension workers in Vietnam and information through modern At Nong Lam University in Ho Cambodia collect market information information communication Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the PPWG in different villages and provincial technologies will be pilot-tested trained dryer manufacturers from and national capitals. In four pilot in some Cambodian villages. Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia villages in Vietnam and eight in in manufacturing and performance Cambodia, village market boards testing of dryer components. A manu- have been displayed to keep farmers This story is adapted from an article of the same name on pages 1-2 of Ripple (Vol. 2, facturer in Lao PDR who attended the informed about market information. No. 1)—the newsletter of the International Rice training subsequently built low-cost, The PPWG also collects baseline and Research Consortium (www.irri.org/irrc). farm-level dryers that he plans to annual data on rice markets in Lao demonstrate and promote in key PDR, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Trina Mendoza is a communication specialist provinces throughout the country. Determining moisture content with the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium. Martin Gummert, a postharvest specialist In Cambodia and Vietnam, farmers’ is the most critical aspect in in IRRI’s Grain Quality, Nutrition, and groups and cooperatives are now maintaining rice grain quality. Postharvest Center, is facilitating the installing their own flat-bed dryers. Unfortunately, most commercial Postproduction Work Group of the IRRC.

Rice Today January-March 2007 33 Prosperity, pollution, and the Green Revolution

story and photos by Greg Fanslow The Green Revolution in Indonesia delivered more rice but also brought social and ecological problems that, almost 40 years later, still affect people’s lives—but solutions are emerging

he logic of the Green radically as in other places. The rich on roughly half the nation’s rice fields. Revolution—spurred by volcanic soils and large floodplains However, the Green Revolution the introduction of modern of Java have lent themselves to would be something dramatically high-yielding crops in intensive agriculture since at least different, even in relatively bountiful the 1960s—was that food the 14th century, when the two- Java. In the 1960s, traditional Tsecurity was the most important century reign of the Hindu Majapahit practices yielded about 3 tons per factor in social development. That Empire began. At its peak, this hectare in irrigated lands and 1.25 logic paid off with food supplies empire controlled an area larger tons in nonirrigated areas. With that have outpaced the dramatic than present day Indonesia, with its the full-scale implementation of population growth and urbanization success largely attributed to irrigated the Green Revolution through the across Asia for the last 30 years. agriculture in East Java’s lowlands. BIMAS, or “mass guidance,” program, The fertile lowlands of Java are By the 1960s, with Indonesia the Suharto regime invested heavily hardly new to intensive agriculture now a republic, Java continued to be in every facet of rice production. and the Green Revolution in East the country’s rice basket, producing Ultimately, according to David Dawe, Java didn’t change the landscape as about two-thirds of the country’s rice an economist with the Food and

34 Rice Today January-March 2007 Agriculture be the major indicator of overall Prosperity, Organization prosperity, increasing population of the United and urbanization mean that the Nations environmental dimensions of pollution, (FAO), the prosperity are important too. new approach In addition to insufficient food roughly doubled availability, overexploitation of and the Green production in resources and environmental both irrigated damage are also becoming and nonirrigated important constraints to human Revolution systems. well-being. The unprecedented And, other intensification that came with improvements the Green Revolution brought Anwar Arif, pictured before the sacred Penanggungan volcano that looms over his in postharvest fertilizers and pesticides and, with native town of Trawas. storage and them, the potential to dramatically transportation reshape the environment. would have Anwar Arif, a civil servant viewed as a threat to economic meant an even and farmer in the town of development by the stridently greater increase Trawas—a small highland town anticommunist government. The in rice on the that was heavily marginalized regime aggressively replaced local market. by the Suharto regime—echoed leadership structures with centrally People sentiments commonly expressed by controlled decision making.” who had relied agriculturalists in Java. He explained As food security became a on traditional Javanese history in terms of three major concern during the Suharto belief systems dominant emotions: confidence years, the government’s BIMAS and local during the Sukarno regime (1945- program replaced traditional ways knowledge to 67), fear during the Suharto regime of passing knowledge between direct their crop (1967-98), and confusion under generations with networks of management the current young democracy. scientists and agricultural extension were thrust into “Under Sukarno,” explains (training, technology transfer, and the modern Anwar Arif, “the local governments communication) workers. This era world. Yields were strong and had relatively free was characterized by dramatically would more than reign to make policies and decisions higher yields, but with the high triple in just 25 that were rooted in local traditions. social costs of a poor human rights years, chemical Production wasn’t high, but people record and a sense of loss of cultural Retired farmer fertilizer and felt a sense of confidence that their identity among many farmers. Darmono surveys the concrete pipe factory pesticides local leaders were aware of their While the government may that replaced his rice appeared on needs and people tended to trust that have officially allowed farmers to paddies 2 years ago. the scene, recommendations were appropriate. choose which crops and varieties and society “Under Suharto, the power to grow, Anwar Arif and others joined the of local leadership structures was say that resistance to abandoning global cash economy. Along with the technical achievements that put more rice in the fields and food stores of farmers, the Green Revolution also brought a social and environmental revolution as higher yields sustained a rapidly increasing population. The more-is-better logic of the Green Revolution lent itself to correspondingly simplistic and heavy-handed implementation— especially in Indonesia under A farm worker gathers the Suharto regime. seedlings for transplanting into irrigated terraces just Almost 50 years later, things outside the town of Trawas have changed. Although food in the East Java highlands. security was and continues to

Rice Today January-March 2007 35 Solving a rural pollution puzzle

1 2 3

4 ollution in the rice-farming town of Kota per night (5). Several small factories process Batu, in the highland district of Trawas, several tons of food per day (6). Waste from Pepitomizes many of the pollution issues all of these operations flows untreated directly faced in the Javanese countryside. More than a into canals and streams. generation ago, this community was composed A project funded by the U.S. Agency for mainly of farmers, but things have changed International Development’s Environmental dramatically over the last 40 years. Services Program supported a community Development has brought agricultural forum known as Fokal Masra to evaluate surpluses and access to markets. Now, within environmental issues in Kota Batu. The forum a few hundred meters of the apparently classic identified polluted surface water as a major rural setting where farmers hoe a dry-season issue. The project called in the services of crop of cabbage (photo 1) and a man gathers Yayasan IDEP, a Bali-based nongovernmental aquatic invertebrates to feed his chickens (2), organization, to help residents design and there is a surprising degree of entrepreneurial build a “wastewater garden” (7) that uses a activity normally associated with an urban settling tank and a series of percolation beds area. Agricultural pollution from fertilizers and artificial wetlands to purify water from a and pesticides from farmers’ fields certainly small local stream, thus providing residents contributes to pollution in Kota Batu, but with a steady flow of clean water for washing there are other more important sources. and bathing. A large population without a proper sanitation system means most domestic waste goes directly into surface water (3). 6 5 Entrepreneurs have diversified their livelihoods and, in addition to countless small mechanics and blacksmiths (4), some 20 slaughterhouses are processing a combined 3–5 tons of poultry

7

36 Rice Today January-March 2007 Men in the Javanese highland town of Trawas bathe in a spring in the 500-year-old ruins of a Hindu shrine built on the site during the Hindu Majapahit Empire, during which Javanese intensive agriculture was born.

traditional varieties was considered government has realized that a one- became a threat to Indonesia’s tantamount to insurrection. size-fits-all approach won’t work, food security. In placing so Efforts to maintain traditional but it doesn’t have an alternative.” much faith in seeds developed practices were often smothered Distrust of the technological by scientists, and not enough in by excessive use of chemicals or approach itself adds further to the farmers’ knowledge, the Green fields of traditional varieties were confusion. The Green Revolution in Revolution alienated some farmers. sometimes burned if discovered. Java suffered from an excessive faith Getting around the one-size-fits- The outcome of the Suharto in technology to solve agricultural all Suharto approach and resolving era is, understandably, a lot challenges and an ignorance of more bad feeling toward the the complicated ecological and Green Revolution than yield social systems that stabilized figures alone might suggest. the local rice systems. Perhaps In the new Indonesian nowhere has this shortcoming democracy, people are left with been more clearly exposed than the complex and difficult task of with respect to pest control. recreating the democracy and local Under the belief that pesticides responsiveness of the Sukarno era could reduce yield losses to with the production potential of insect pests, the government Suharto’s technological approach. prescribed heavy pesticide use. “People have to come to grips This led to reduced populations with a system that is neither rooted of predators of rice pests and a in long-trusted tradition, nor consequent resurgence of some A field worker on a farm in prescribed by a central government, pests. Entomologists say the Purwodadi, East Java, pauses and they are like chicks without a brown planthopper, previously during the harvest of a dry- mother hen,” says Anwar Arif. “The unreported as a pest of rice, quickly season crop of onions.

Rice Today January-March 2007 37 the confusion of the new Indonesian Once a farmer democracy is not without precedent and ironically began with an initiative by Duncan Graham by President Suharto himself. In 1986, as a result of direct discussions ike many Indonesians, Darmono has with a wide range of Indonesian only one name. He was born about 64 and international experts, Suharto years ago (he’s unsure). He does know L recognized the role of pesticides he had three formal years in an elementary in disrupting natural pest control school and then he was on the land. and removed subsidies for, and But Darmono (pictured here and on then banned, most insecticides. page 34) is no longer a farmer. Two years To marry farmers’ traditional ago he reluctantly sold his land to a knowledge of pest control with the businessman and decided to quit farming. useful parts of Green Revolution On what was once irrigated paddy growing technology—such as disease-resistant three rice crops a year is a factory making high-yielding varieties, high-quality concrete pipes. seeds, and improved soil fertility—the The factory that now uses the land government implemented a large- Darmono sold employs more people and scale farmer extension program generates more income than his farm ever in the form of integrated pest did. So this story could be labeled Economic We should be able to make ends management (IPM) farmer field Success. meet if we had fertile land, but there are schools in 1989. This program was led Instead, Rural Failure may be a more political pressures to sell from within by Peter Kenmore, Kevin Gallagher, appropriate label—and it’s not an isolated the community. People see the factories and others from FAO. These “schools” event. Which is why Darmono’s experience providing jobs. involved regular meetings of a group is significant. His story shows what’s Two years ago, I sold the last of my of farmers and would follow a rice happening to Indonesian agriculture when land for the concrete pipe factory. Even crop through a growing season. planning isn’t implemented. Here, he tells my brother, the village head, pushed me The classic way to implement it himself: to sell. Now I tend a few goats for fun. an extension program had been I was one of eight children. We all Darmono and his wife, Tamini, 61, worked on the land, as did our parents. now live in a house built with the proceeds Sometimes we owned land and worked of their land sale. They rely on their five it ourselves. Or we worked for other children for food, for Indonesia has no social farmers. Although we bought and sold, welfare system. The house is just 250 meters we always lived in the same area. down a slope from the pipe factory, where We had a vanilla plantation, but rubble has replaced rice. thieves made that crop unprofitable. So Indonesia has regulations affecting we grew rice. In good seasons, we could the location of factories, but these are harvest plenty of rice. seldom followed. Even in suburban areas, When Suharto (Indonesia’s second noxious industries can be found alongside president) started the Green Revolution residential homes. (in the early 1970s), we had to use As with all social change, there’s no fertilizers and pesticides. We had no single cause for the decline in agriculture. choice. Higher wages elsewhere, small-town When people offered top money boredom, and lack of city facilities are for our land to build factories, we’d sell, factors. So is the belief that farming is a low and use the money to buy elsewhere. But status job unworthy of modern youth. they usually wanted the best level land The loss of productive land to roads, with good water. So we had to move to cities, and golf courses is well known. But poor-quality land. the uncontrolled spread of small factories There are now factories growing into rural areas, where land is cheap and mushrooms and intensive chicken farms labor plentiful, is a phenomenon only in our area—even one making industrial now being understood as it becomes more alcohol. Their waste goes into the water, common. An old farmer demonstrates an which is getting dirtier. The fertilizer ani ani, the small knife used in the past to harvest traditional rice from farms higher up the hill gets into Duncan Graham is an Indonesia-based writer varieties. The short, sturdy stalks of our water. specializing in multicultural issues in Indonesia. modern varieties require a sickle.

38 Rice Today January-March 2007 Shadow puppets reflect old ways

by Duncan Graham Soleh Adi Pramono knows much about the old ways. His father, uncle, and grandfather umpang is an ancient hillside farming were all performance artists. As a child, he village in the center of Indonesia’s East was taken by his grandmother to the ancient TJava Province. It squats on the flanks ceremonies, the nightlong dances, the of Mount Semeru, an active volcano puffing mysterious wayang shows recounting tales light gray ash across the countryside and so from long ago. fertilizing the land. Temple ruins date back to After training as a dancer and dalang in the 13th century Singosari kingdom. Yogyakarta, a major cultural base in Central According to connoisseurs, Tumpang Java, Soleh returned home to Tumpang Such performances have long been part was once home for some of the nation’s most determined to maintain the old culture. This of government social engineering. Under delectable rice. The locals go further. They he has done with his American wife Karen President Suharto’s administration, wayang say Tumpang is where rice culture began, Elizabeth Sekararum. was used to propagate messages about the and that anthropologists—who source Unexpectedly, at least one arm of need for family planning. the grain and irrigation techniques from authority has tentatively tried to turn farmers Soleh said that the wayang play he northern Vietnam during the Dongson Period back to remembering traditional ways. Soleh wrote—The descent of good fortune and more than 3,000 years ago—are wrong. was commissioned by the local agricultural material wealth—didn’t go into technical “People used to come to Tumpang just training center to write and stage a play details on how to grow rice or why some to buy the special varieties, even though praising the virtues of the old system. techniques failed. It was about caring the price was three times higher than that for the land through recognition of its of normal rice,” says Soleh Adi Pramono importance in the cycle of life. (pictured). He’s a local dalang (puppet “The play tells the legend of how the master) in the wayang kulit shadow puppet planting of rice has always been a spiritual theater. Using two-dimensional figures made activity,” he says. “Of course, it’s too late to from cow hide, one of his regular jobs was go back entirely to the old methods because to choreograph shows to mark planting and they can no longer support modern society. harvesting ceremonies. “But, I feel the ceremonies, offerings, “Then, in the early 1970s, the and wayang performances must be government ordered farmers to start using maintained. They provide information about modern varieties of rice as part of the Green uniting the basic issues of rice and farming Revolution,” recalls Soleh. “The taste wasn’t with the lofty intelligence of the gods, and so good, but yields were higher. Instead about keeping them happy. Even though of two harvests a year at specific periods, modern methods are used, they must be in growers could produce three crops, planting tandem with the ancient ceremonies and at any time. More money was available, but the wayang. the new system shattered the ways of doing “This is important so that no one things. It hurt the spiritual side of farming. forgets the traditional philosophies and Rice became a commodity—not a culture. the proper way to respect the gods and People stopped working together.” their ancestors.” a scientist in a classroom telling and farmers worked extremely points out that “the Green Revolution farmers what to do. Unfortunately, well,” he says. “These schools relied led to rapid and disorganized Dr. Kenmore points out, this on the rice field to define problems development of large areas of tended to fail because farmers and let farmers collaborate with countryside, so that now it’s not often mistrusted scientists and scientists and extension workers even practical to deal with urban disliked being told what to do. to solve their problems without and rural pollution separately, as According to Dr. Gallagher, risking their livelihoods.” happens in developed countries. structured learning exercises gave Jim Davie of Development However, this is also a really farmers the chance to field-test Alternatives Incorporated, exciting time because people are recommendations and gain in-depth which directs the U.S. Agency for enthusiastic about democracy and, understanding of the ecological International Development–funded with access to the right information, processes underlying IPM. Environmental Services Program they’re quite creative and ultimately “In the field school project, a in East Java (see Solving a rural successful at finding solutions to dialogue approach between scientists pollution puzzle on page 36), their environmental problems.”

Rice Today January-March 2007 39 Obituary

farm in western Nebraska, Dr. Rice pioneer passes away Beachell originally planned to work on wheat. Following univer- enry “Hank” Beachell, one of the Dr. sity, though, the only position he Hplant breeding pioneers behind Beachell could find, at the U.S. Department “miracle rice” IR8, which launched played a lead- of Agriculture (USDA), dealt with the Asian Green Revolution 40 years ing role in rice. It was a twist of fate that would ago, passed away at his home in the develop- prove fortunate for rice farmers Alvin, Texas, on 13 December 2006. ment of IR8 and consumers across the world. Less than 3 months previ- at IRRI in the After 32 years at the USDA, ously, Dr. Beachell had celebrated 1960s. The Dr. Beachell came to IRRI, where his 100th birthday on 21 Septem- short, sturdy he started work on IR8. In 1996, ber. Friends and family gathered cultivar was he and former IRRI principal in Alvin to celebrate the event. the first plant breeder Gurdev Khush re- Tom Reid, the mayor of Dr. high-yielding ceived the World Food Prize, Beachell’s hometown of Pearland, modern rice known informally as the “Nobel Texas, led off the celebrations variety. At a Prize for Food and Agriculture.” with a proclamation honoring the time of rap- Like the rice varieties he bred, centenarian’s achievements. Other idly increasing populations in Asia, Dr. Beachell led a strong and produc- notable attendees and well-wish- IR8—which resisted lodging (falling tive life. He will be missed by all. ers included Nobel Laureate and over) and allowed farmers to har- For an account of the story fellow plant breeder Norman Bor- vest more than one crop per year— behind the breeding of IR8, see laug. U.S. President George W. helped avert widespread famine. Breeding history on pages 34- Bush sent official greetings. Born and raised on a wheat 38 of Rice Today Vol. 5, No. 4. Books

Global advances with golden apple snail invasions. This determining a product’s potential success. in the ecology publication will serve as a manual for For purchasing information, go to and management field researchers and extension workers, www.lulu.com/content/448040. of golden apple and as a reference textbook for biological snails (edited by science students, industry workers, IR varieties and their impact (by G.S. R.C. Joshi and L.S. museums, and libraries. Khush and P.S. Virk; published by IRRI; Sebastian; published To purchase, visit www.philrice.gov.ph US$5). by the Philippine or contact Chona Suner-Narvadez at he CD of this popular publication Rice Research [email protected] or PhilRice, Tis now available. In addition to pdf Institute; 600 pages; developed countries Maligaya, Muñoz Science City, 3119 Nueva files of the book, the CD includes related US$102, developing countries $52). Ecija, Philippines. historic publications olden apple snails are one of and other Gagriculture's worst invasive alien The little book on hybrid rice materials species. This new publication compiles all economics (by Robin Andrews; 124 such as available information on this devastating pages; US$16.95). Genealogy pest and the rice systems and countries obin Andrews, former president Management it has afflicted. The book fills a vacuum Rof RiceTec in the U.S., presents a System on the ecology and management of comprehensive guide to the economic Search golden apple snails at a time when their evaluation of hybrid rice varieties. The Software. World distribution continues to expand. book presents the economic criteria that Food Prize Laureate Topics covered include snail determine product viability and insights Gurdev Khush and senior IRRI plant taxonomy, impacts on aquatic ecosystems into why some hybrids fail and others breeder Parminder Virk summarize the and farmers’ health, and pesticide misuse. succeed. available information on 34 IR varieties Countries suffering golden apple snail With a foreword by Longping— and list 328 IR breeding lines released as invasions have submitted individual the “father of hybrid rice”—Andrews’s 643 varieties in 75 countries. The CD also reports. There are also chapters dedicated book offers something for plant breeders, contains a listing of 82,354 IRRI crosses to the use of golden apple snails as a agronomists, farmers, seed producers, made from the early 1960s through 2004. food and as a natural paddy weeder. and administrators involved in hybrid For purchasing information on the Practical in its scope, the book offers rice development and production. The book and CD, go to www.irri.org/ ecological and sustainable ways to deal publication also offers a model for publications/catalog.

40 Rice Today January-March 2007 Female • Threshing • Seed selection RICE FACTS • Manual dehulling of paddy • Parboiling Male • Food preparation Land preparation • Other farm activities Female • Pulling of seedlings (in Considering gender Mungeshpur only; in Basalatpur, it is equally by Thelma Paris shared with men) • Transplanting

Gender division of labor in two villages—Mungeshpur and Basalatpur—in Uttar Female Pradesh, India. • Weeding As men’s and women’s roles change, how should we • Application of farmyard manure address gender issues in rice-based agriculture?

Female Male Harvesting (in Mungeshpur only; Application of chemicals in Basalatpur, it is equally shared with men)

n many developing countries, higher than among those house- sure that women are consulted on va- women are the primary man- holds without such out-migrants. riety selection and that women’s crite- agers and users of natural Women’s roles are beginning to ria—particularly for postharvest and resources. Poor rural women shift from unpaid family workers cooking and eating quality—are con- Iplay important roles in rice-based to de facto farm managers as they sidered in plant breeding objectives. farming systems as unpaid fam- take on farm-related decisions and The issues are not limited to ily workers, hired laborers, income managerial roles. Thus, women who gender alone. Labor-saving technolo- earners, and major caretakers of are actively engaged in rice farm- gies, for example, can have differ- family health and nutrition. ing should be trained in all aspects ent employment consequences for In Asia, although farm size, of rice production so they can make women from farm versus landless social and economic class, production informed decisions. Key knowledge households. In Vietnam, the plastic systems, and cultural norms vary, includes what rice varieties to use drum seeder reduced the drudgery, women’s contributions range from on specific land types and associ- work burden, and time requirement 25–80% of the total labor use in rice ated crop management methods. of women from farming households, production. Except for land prepara- Generally, the poorer the house- but poor and landless women’s wage- tion and spraying chemicals, rice hold and the more fragile the envi- labor income declined. Thus, policies operations are dominated by women. ronment, the greater the participation and technologies that create alterna- Women’s participation in rice of female family members in rice tive income opportunities for poor production is highest among lower production and processing. However, rural landless women are needed to socioeconomic status farming compared with men, women have less mitigate the negative consequences households in rainfed rice environ- access to labor-saving technologies, of labor-saving technologies. ments (see figure,above , for an formal credit, alternative sources of Despite the crucial roles that example). They are also responsible income, and information on improved women play in sustaining household for natural resource management rice production. International Rice food security and coping with through their day-to-day tasks of Research Institute (IRRI) projects poverty, gender inequities exist in providing fuel, water, and food for in collaboration with agricultural access to resources, technologies, and household consumption and for sale. research and extension systems and opportunities in many agricultural Traditionally, the male farmer nongovernmental organizations in projects and programs. Thus, has been culturally perceived as rice-growing countries are now train- social analysis—including gender the head, sole decision maker, and ing women in seed health and crop analysis—is important to increase user of technologies. However, this establishment methods as well as understanding of the gender- perception no longer holds as males enhancing their income-generating based division of labor and gender increasingly become part-time farm- opportunities through, for example, differences in access to and control ers. Studies on labor out-migration growing nonrice cash crops, mush- of resources and benefits. Reducing from major rainfed and irrigated rooms, and multipurpose trees. gender inequities and tapping farm households in India, Indone- IRRI studies have shown that women’s potential as agents of sia, Thailand, and Vietnam revealed both men and women agree that change are key strategies for reducing that males mostly move away for land type is a major determinant of poverty, sustaining household nonfarm jobs. Consequently, women choice of rice variety. However, there food security and nutrition, and are taking over responsibilities that are gender differences in rice variety protecting the environment. were traditionally men’s. Women’s preferences based on differences in authority on farm-related decisions gender roles in rice production and Dr. Paris is a senior scientist (socio- among households where men move the use of rice as food and by-prod- economist and gender specialist) in away for other jobs is found to be ucts. Thus, there is now a move to en- IRRI’s Social Sciences Division.

Rice Today January-March 2007 41 grain of truth Food or Fuel?

Achim Dobermann

he International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that and it remains a key development target. World rice prices renewable energy sources account for about 13% have already doubled in the past 5 years (48% in the past Tof the world’s total primary energy supply. Nearly year alone) and are projected to rise further. Although most 80% of these renewables are in the form of combustible rice consumers in Asia, where most rice is locally consumed, biomass—mostly wood, charcoal, crop residues, or other are shielded from the world market price, the emerging wastes burned for cooking, heating, and other activities in biofuels industry will probably add to price pressure on the developing world. cereals, including rice. Rice grain is not likely to be diverted Now, high oil prices and the need to reduce dependency into ethanol production in significant amounts but some on fossil fuels (and thus also offset greenhouse gas emissions) rice may be diverted to produce starch (for industrial use) are driving rapid commercialization of solid, liquid, and to make up for deficits arising from the conversion of other gaseous biofuels. For example, within the next 5 years, most crops to ethanol. of the maize produced in the U.S. states of Iowa and Nebraska Another potential threat is that rice farmers may opt is likely to be used in ethanol production. The overall share of out of rice and diversify toward more profitable cropping maize used in the U.S. for ethanol systems, including potential biofuel is projected to increase from the crops such as maize, sugarcane, current 10% to 25% by 2010. or cassava. So, maintaining low China, the world’s third-largest Is biofuel production just a rice prices and lifting the income ethanol producer, also emerged potential of rice farmers seem as an ethanol exporter in 2006. short-lived gold rush or is this contradictory goals in a world of Pioneer Hi-Bred is investing in rising input costs in agriculture. developing “ethanol” corn hybrids an industry here to stay? Renewable energy options for the Philippines. Indonesia must satisfy three conditions: hopes to see biofuel account for resource availability, technical 10% of its fuel consumption by maturity, and a policy and economic 2010 and has earmarked US$1.4 billion for 2007 to develop environment that supports commercialization. The nearly 500,000 hectares of land for biofuel production. 600 million tons of rice straw produced each year worldwide Is this just a short-lived gold rush driven by high oil represent such an exploitable biofuel resource. However, prices and large profit margins, or is this an industry here many of the technologies that allow rice straw to be converted to stay? What implications will this have for world cereal to ethanol are still at an early stage of development. It remains production and how does rice fit into this picture? to be seen whether they can be scaled down to village-level, A crude calculation illustrates some of the issues we face. on-site bioenergy production and how much straw can be At present, average world cereal yield is about 3.1 tons per removed from rice land without threatening soil fertility and hectare. If the world cereal harvest area remains unchanged, the overall productivity of the system. There is also much this average yield needs to increase to 4.3 tons per hectare potential for developing technologies for producing a variety by 2025 to meet the expected cereal demand of the growing of rice-based products, including ethanol, fibers, and biochar world population. Factor in an extra 5% grain converted into (used for soil improvement). ethanol, and the figure rises to 4.5 tons per hectare. This Growing food crops to also provide fuel for our cars or represents a 45% increase over current yields and, unless homes is something many agricultural researchers will need nitrogen fertilizer use becomes more efficient, it would come to get used to. Now is the time to address this and develop at the cost of a 65% increase in nitrogen consumption on suitable technologies for integrated food and bioenergy cereal land. If the decline in world cereal area observed in production systems in Asia that are energy-efficient and the past 20 years (a reduction of 0.3% per year) continues, sustainable, provide new employment opportunities for the the situation becomes much worse, requiring an average rural population, and also offer new sources of income for cereal yield of nearly 4.9 tons per hectare by 2025. rice farmers. Keeping the rice price low for the urban and rural landless poor in Asia has been a primary achievement of the Dr. Dobermann is a professor of soil science and nutrient management higher yields that came out of the Asian Green Revolution, at the University of Nebraska, USA.

42 Rice Today January-March 2007 Rice Today January-March 2007 43 44 Rice Today January-March 2007