Mr. M.K. Papademetriou, Senior Plant Production and Protection Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand, emphasized the importance of rice as a food crop in the region. He stated that in the majority of the Asian countries, food self-sufficiency and food security largely depend upon rice self-sufficiency and rice security. IRRI, FAO, other International Organizations, Agencies, Commissions, Institutions and Donor countries have been assisting the rice sector in the past, and all of them still continue to do so. Their active involvement and contribution to the development of this sector needs to be acknowledged and commended. There is no doubt that significant achievements have been made during the past few decades in increasing the rice crop yields. However, there are still serious gaps between potential and actual yields in most countries of the region and, therefore, much more remains to be done in this direction. There is a need and scope to further increase the yields and narrow the gap between potential and realized yields in all countries.
Dr. Prem Nath, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, welcomed the participants on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, the staff of the Regional Office and on his own behalf. He stated that he was happy to see the positive response received from scientists working on rice in the Asia-Pacific region. Considering the importance of the crop for the countries of the region and the need for closer inter-country cooperation, FAO decided to hold this Expert Consultation in order to elaborate on the issue of narrowing the yield gap.
Rice is not only a major cereal crop in Asia but is also a way of life. The region produces and consumes more than 90% of the world’s rice. The crop contributes around 40 percent of the total calorie intake in some countries of the region, and in a number of others the contribution goes up to 70 percent. Increased productivity and sustained production of rice is critical for food and nutritional security in Asia. However, during the 1990s global rice production has grown at a much slower rate than the growth in population, eroding the gains made earlier in expanding the per capita availability of this dominant staple food crop in the region. The annual growth rate of rice production was about 4.35 percent during the 1960s, 2.59 percent in the 1970s, 3.24 percent in the 1980s, and 1.25 percent in the first half of the 1990s.
The Asia-Pacific region, where more than 56% of the world’s population live, adds 51 million more rice consumers annually. As a result, the thin line of rice self-sufficiency experienced is disappearing fast, and more countries are importing rice. How the current annual production of 530 million tonnes of rice can be increased to over 700 million tonnes by the year 2025, using less land, labour, water and pesticides is a serious question. The task of increasing the current production faces various difficulties as the avenues of putting more land area under modern varieties, using more fertilizers for closing the yield gap, and bringing in additional area under rice or under irrigation are fast diminishing. Irrigated rice occupies about 56% of the area and contributes 76% to the total rice production. It would be difficult to increase the production due to water scarcity, alternative and competing uses of water, problems of soil salinity, and the high cost of development.
Estimates of the Inter Center Review instituted by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) indicate that about 70% of additional production will have to come from the irrigated rice ecosystem and almost 21% from rainfed lowland. To achieve this, it was estimated that the yield ceiling of irrigated rice in Asia, for example, would need to be increased from 10 t/ha to 13 t/ha by 2030. Simultaneously, the yield gap would have to be reduced from 48% to 35% to produce average yields of about 8.5 t/ha. But now with increasing population and consumption, and decreasing land, labour, water and other components of the resource base is predicted that the equation will change completely. It is estimated that by the year 2010, Asia may no longer have a net rice export situation. Rather, it is forecasted that by the year 2020, Asia may become a rice importing continent.
Superior conventionally bred varieties, super rice, hybrid rice, super hybrid rice and biotechnologically engineered rice, all point to increased yield potentials. Exploited appropriately, these can increase the biological potential to stabilize yield. However, the countries of the region are at various levels of development, especially with respect to transfer and use of technology and policy support, and no single formula can be applied across the board. But the yield ceiling must be raised and stabilized, and the yield gap narrowed, while still remaining sustainable and environmentally friendly. Problems in bridging the yield gap under the limitations of social, biological, cultural, environmental and abiotic constraints need close scrutiny. Breaking yield barriers and development of new kind of rice varieties with superior nutritional attributes (higher protein, iron, zinc, vitamin A, etc.), will be the next critical agenda to address.
Policies supporting investments to help farmers to improve their crop management practices and post-harvest handling will be essential, as also those that will promote efficient transmission of prices from the international market to the domestic retail markets and, finally, to the farmers.
Groups of Asian farmers have been able to achieve yields close to the yield potential for their respective locations, reducing the existing yield gap of 30-70%. A clear understanding of factors contributing to this phenomenon could lead to the recovery of a significant part of the current yield potential and provide another avenue to increase production and farm incomes. FAO looks forward to the advice and guidance of the participants concerning appropriate strategies for narrowing the rice yield gaps in order to alleviate or even avoid shortages.
