The Challenge
The national programs with which CIAT works have achieved remarkable progress toward
this goal through germplasm improvement. New varieties have increased the efficiency of
production, allowing a more competitive rice sector to provide consumers with cheaper rice
and producers with better returns.
A major challenge for the region's rice scientists now is to maintain the momentum of
crop improvement, while reducing the threat of excessive pesticide use to human health and
the environment. Toward this end researchers must further enhance rice yields and
resistance to major diseases and pests.
Objective
To lower the costs of rice production (making possible lower prices for rice consumers)
and to reduce environmental hazards from pesticide use by increasing the genetic diversity
of rice and by developing gene pools with higher, more stable yields
Outputs
- Improved rice gene pools
- Better understanding of the physiological basis of key traits of rice
- Characterization of interactions between rice and its major diseases and pests
- Training and other support aimed at strengthening national research capacities
Benefits
Improved rice varieties enable farmers to produce the crop more efficiently at lower
unit costs. In addition to raising producer's profits, these gains make a more abundant
rice supply available at lower costs. Cheaper rice primarily benefits the poorest 20
percent of consumers in tropical America, who spend about half their income on food,
including 15 percent for rice alone. New rice varieties offer environmental benefits as
well, tending to lower pesticide use and reduce the pressure to expand rice production
onto new land.
Strategy
The project's strategy consists of the following elements:
- Introduce germplasm from various sources, identify progenitors for crossing, and
evaluate segregating material.
- Evaluate and recombine gene pools and develop resistance to major diseases and insect
pests through recurrent selection.
- Identify useful traits in wild rice germplasm, make interspecific crosses, and select
for useful traits, with the aid of molecular markers.
- Characterize a new plant type under direct seeding, improve the supply and uptake of
nitrogen for full expression of yield potential, and screen for iron toxicity.
- Obtain new sources of tolerance to major biotic and abiotic stresses through
biotechnology and other tools.
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Rice is the most important food
grain in most of the tropical areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, where it supplies
more calories in people's diets than wheat, maize, cassava, or potatoes. More efficient
rice production is a central prerequisite for improving the welfare of the region's urban
and rural poor.