The International Rice Commission (IRC) Steering Committee met at FAO, Rome, on 25 February 2000. Its agenda was as follows:
Dr Duwayri opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. He recalled the importance that FAO attaches to the contribution made by members of the Steering Committee with regard to the promotion of sustainable rice production. He expressed his appreciation of members' active participation and emphasized IRC's contribution to the implementation of FAO's goals. The agenda of the meeting was unanimously adopted.
During 1999, the Secretariat of the IRC continued its regular activities, including: the preparation and publication of the IRC Newsletter, Volume 48; the publication of Proceedings of the 19th Session of the Commission; the provision of support to the workshop on Research Strategy for Rice Sector Development in the Economies in Transition (organized by the Interregional Cooperative Research Network on Rice in the Mediterranean Climate Area and held in Bucharest from 1 to 4 September 1999) and the organization of the 3rd Meeting of the Working Group on Hybrid Rice in Latin America and the Caribbean (GRUTHA) from 20 to 24 September 1999 in Goiania, Brazil; and preparation for the organization of the Expert Consultation on Yield Gap and Productivity Decline in Rice Production, which will be held from 5 to 7 September 2000 in Rome.
The major achievements of the IRC Secretariat during 1999 were:
The preparation and organization of the Expert Consultation on Yield Gap and Productivity Decline in Rice Production will be one of the main activities of the IRC Secretariat in 2000. Other major activities planned for 2000-01 include the publication of Volumes 49 and 50 of the IRC Newsletter and Volume 2 of FAO Rice Information, and the provision of technical support to the four interregional/regional networks on rice and related issues in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Mediterranean climate area.
The major activities of the Rice Development Programme (RDP) during 1999 included support of the development and use of hybrid rice outside China, development and testing of integrated crop management packages for irrigated rice production in selected member countries, studies on yield evolution in Africa and yield gap in Latin America, and pilot demonstration of interspecific varieties Oryza sativa x O. glaberrima in West Africa. These activities will be continued during 2000-01, with the exception of the study on yield evolution in Africa. Training on high-yielding rice technology for the staff of national rice programmes in selected countries in the Sahel zone of West Africa is a new activity planned for 2000-01. At present, RDP provides technical support to three technical cooperation programme (TCP) projects, two projects funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the rice intensification component of several countries' SPFS. It also provides technical support to an IRRI project on hybrid rice development in Asia, which is funded by the Asian Development Bank within the framework of INTAFOHR.
The Intergovernmental Group (IGG) of ESCB is responsible for supervising a project on inland valley swamp development (Sustainable Productivity Improvement in Rice in Inland Valleys in West Africa) in three West African countries, in collaboration with WARDA, the project executing agency. This project is funded by the Common Fund for Commodities. Project implementation started formally in January 2000. ESCB also collects and analyses information on rice markets, which it disseminates on a monthly basis, through either Food Outlook or the Rice Market Monitor. ESCB estimated that world rice production (paddy basis) during 1999/2000 would be about 593 million tonnes, and global rice trade during the 1999 calendar year was about 25 million tonnes (milled basis). Thailand and Viet Nam increased their market shares in 1999 at the expense of the other exporting countries. On the import side, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Brazil and the Philippines all purchased less rice than in the previous year, a result of recovery in domestic production. China is currently processing its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and its accession to WTO may have substantial implications for world trade of rice.
The Water Management and Irrigation Systems Group (WMISG) of AGLW will give greater priority to the development of water management and irrigation for rice production during 2000-01. This is in response to the impending global water crisis. Rice production occupies 30 percent of the total irrigated land area worldwide and, on a per hectare basis, rice production requires far more water than does the production of wheat and maize. At present, the efficiency of water use in rice production is about 30 percent. During 2000-01, WMISG will undertake action to define criteria and strategies for improving water use in rice pro-
duction. Activities will include defining rice ecosystems; refining the Computer Program for Irrigation Planning and Management (CROPWAT), a database on crop water requirements for irrigation agronomists and technicians; and cooperation with institutions in research on water use efficiency in lowland rice production.
IRRI's proposal for the announcement of an International Year of Rice was discussed. The participants supported the proposal in general but felt that there is not sufficient information, especially in terms of the implications of such an announcement and the associated activities, on which to base a decision. At Mr Edeson's suggestion, the Meeting recommended that the UN offices be contacted for clarification and information on the UN Assembly General's procedures for the Declaration of an International Year and the activities associated with such a Declaration.
Participants were informed that preparations for the consultation had been going smoothly. Invitations had been sent out to potential participating experts and the IRC Secretariat had received responses from experts in the United States, Australia, Italy, the Republic of Korea, IRRI and WARDA indicating that they will participate in the consultation. Modified guidelines for the presentation of case studies on yield gaps and productivity declines had been sent to experts in Brazil, India, Egypt, Nigeria and the Philippines, and positive responses had also been received about the progress of the studies.
The participants approved the contents of Volume 49 of the Newsletter, proposed by the IRC Secretariat. They also recommended the inclusion of the record of this meeting in Volume 49
The IRC Secretariat briefed the participants on the following advances in rice technologies and innovations.
Genomics is the integrated knowledge of large numbers of genes. It is a historic landmark for crop breeding as scientists interpret the gene structures and patterns of expression in each organism. For rice, Japanese scientists started to sequence the Nipponbare genome in 1998 and this will greatly accelerate the isolation of useful alleles from other cultivars. Genes conferring a key trait in a cultivar A will be mapped to specific regions of the rice genome and the Nipponbare databases will be consulted to identify candidate genes that
might contribute to the trait. Transformation with the allele of candidate genes will indicate the responsible gene.
Beta carotene is an excellent source of vitamin A. Like any other plant, rice is capable of synthesizing beta carotene in its green parts. However, rice grains are carotenoid-free. Beta carotene is a naturally occurring carotenoid that is converted into vitamin A in animals and plants. This makes beta carotene an excellent source of vitamin A for human beings. "Yellow rice" was developed by a European Union (EU)-funded project on carotene. The project modified rice plants by genetic engineering to make their grains capable of producing beta carotene. The work consisted of isolating and transferring the bacterial phytolene desaturate gene of phytolene synthase and lycopene cyclase from Narcissus pseudonarcissus (daffodil) to rice plants. The grains of the resultant transgenic rice plants have a yellow colour owing to the presence of beta carotene in their endosperm, thus the name yellow or golden rice. Yellow rice is ready for testing, but scientists do not know whether the yellow colour of rice will be widely accepted by consumers.
In the light of current research, the potential benefits from modifying rice by incorporating traits currently found in plants such as maize, sorghum and sugar cane are enormous. Rice is a C3 plant, while maize, sorghum and sugar cane are C4 plants. However, the rice plant already contains all of the genes responsible for C4 photosynthesis. The problem is that they are not switched on and regulated as they are in maize. By transferring, from maize to rice, genes with an improved mechanism for the process of photosynthesis, researchers in the United States (Washington State University) and Japan (Tsukuba) have produced initial results that suggest that rice yields could be increased by up to 20 percent.
Work on Super Rice started in 1988 with studies on the improvement of physiological aspects of modern rice for increasing yield potential. The potential yield of this rice would reach 15 tonnes/ha under tropical conditions, compared with the present potential yield of 10 tonnes/ha. The seeds of Super Rice have been available for testing in several countries. The main constraints to Super Rice include low quality, high pest susceptibility and high numbers of empty grains. This last problem is the most difficult to solve.
Super Rice is the next step in the generation of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) (or modern varieties), which was widely adopted by farmers during the green revolution. To achieve the goal of 15 tonnes/ha, IRRI has exploited two breeding strategies: crossing tropical japonica x indica; and deploying heterosis of hybrid rice technology. The first strategy would increase the present yield potential by 25 percent, from 10 to 12.5 tonnes/ha, and the second would increase it by a further 25 percent, from 12.5 to 15 tonnes/ha.
As well as IRRI, Chinese and Japanese scientists have also been working on super rice under temperate and subtropical regions over recent years. Chinese scientists have developed New HYVs or super HYVs, such as Teqing, Shanshua and Shen Nong 265, with yields of 11 to 15 tonnes/ha. The super two-line hybrid rice variety yielded 17.1 tonnes/ha when planted at Yongsheng, Yunan, in 1992. Japan started a 15-year project (1981 to 1995) to increase HYVs' yields by 50 percent. The yield of the large-grained variety, Oochikara, which has recently been developed, is 15 percent more than present potential yields of 15 tonnes/ha. Worldwide, the highest recorded average rice yield is in California (9.4 tonnes/ha).
Rice growing conditions vary from field to field. This is the principal reason why a generally recommended package can fail to obtain a high yield. During 1986/87, the Australian rice programme developed and transferred an integrated crop management package called Ricecheck. Ricecheck provides criteria for eight key factors to help farmers to check the performance of their crop management practices from land preparation to harvest. Rice yield is expected to increase to 10 to 11 tonnes/ha when the criteria of all eight factors are satisfied. The wide adoption of Ricecheck by Australian farmers has increased the Australian national yield from about 7 tonnes/ha in 1985-1987 to 8.5 tonnes/ha during 1990-1997.
The efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer application in rice production is still low. More than 50 percent of applied nitrogen is lost. Leaf colour chart (LCC) is a low-cost simple device, similar in concept to Ricecheck. It was developed recently by IRRI to assist farmers in determining the amount of nitrogen for top-dressing, especially during panicle initiation stage, instead of following a general recommendation regardless of the soil fertility status of their field, as in the past. Farmers determine the nitrogen requirement of a rice crop at a given growth stage based on a reading of the colour of rice leaves using a LCC.
Reunión del Comité Directivo de la Comisión Internacional del Arroz
el 25 de febrero de 2000
En esta reunión se examinaron las actividades arroceras y otras conexas en 1999 y las previstas para el período 2000-2001 en las dependencias técnicas de la FAO. Los logros principales durante 1999 fueron la firma del memorando de entendimiento entre la FAO y el IRRI en apoyo del Grupo Internacional de Acción sobre el Arroz Híbrido y la aprobación por el Director General de la FAO de un memorando de entendimiento entre la FAO y la Asociación para el Desarrollo del Cultivo del Arroz en el África Occidental (ADRAO) para la «difusión rápida de la tecnología del arroz en el África occidental» dentro del Programa especial para la seguridad alimentaria. En 1999, la Secretaría de la Comisión publicó el volumen 48 del Noticiario de la Comisión Internacional del Arroz y las actas de la 19ª reunión de la Comisión, mientras que el Grupo Intergubernamental ha difundido mensualmente las perspectivas alimentarias o el Monitor del mercado del arroz. Entre otras actividades figuraron las de apoyo a las acciones de las redes regionales sobre el arroz, que sirvieron al desarrollo y a la utilización del arroz híbrido, especialmente en Asia, la demostración experimental de variedades interespecíficas de Oryza sativa x O. glaberrima en el África occidental, la elaboración de paquetes de manejo integrado de los cultivos para salvar las disparidades de rendimiento e invertir la baja de productividad en la producción de arroz, así como la transferencia de tecnologías adecuadas en apoyo de la intensificación del arroz en el Programa especial para la seguridad alimentaria en los Estados Miembros. En 1999 se llevaron a cabo estudios sobre la evolución del rendimiento del arroz en África y los déficit de dicho rendimiento en América Latina, mientras que del 5 al 7 de octubre de 1999 se organizó en Bangkok, Tailandia, una Consulta de Expertos sobre la forma de colmar el déficit de rendimiento del arroz en la región de Asia y el Pacífico.
La mayor parte de las actividades que se llevaron a cabo en 1999 proseguirán durante el período 2000-2001. Las principales labores del Servicio de Cultivos y Pastos de la FAO se dedicarán a la organización de la Consulta de Expertos sobre disparidades de rendimiento y baja de la productividad en la producción de arroz, que se celebrará del 5 al 7 de septiembre de 2000 en Roma. El Servicio de Recursos, Fomento y Aprovechamiento de Aguas de la FAO dará durante el período 2000-2001 mayor prioridad a la ordenación de aguas y al fomento del riego para la producción de arroz. La producción de arroz ocupó el 30 por ciento de las tierras de regadío totales del mundo y la actual eficiencia del uso del agua en la producción de arroz es sólo de un 30 por ciento. El Servicio de Productos Alimentarios Básicos de la FAO estimó que la producción mundial de arroz cáscara durante 1999-2000 fue de unos 593 millones de toneladas y que el comercio mundial de arroz durante el año civil de 1999 alcanzó unos 25 millones de toneladas de arroz elaborado. La Secretaría de la Comisión hizo una presentación de los adelantos en los sectores de las tecnologías del arroz, mejora varietal y tecnologías de manejo integrado de los cultivos con vistas a la producción. Por lo que respecta a la propuesta del IRRI para la proclamación del Año Internacional del Arroz, en la Reunión se recomendó que se estableciese contacto con las oficinas de las Naciones Unidas a fin de precisar los pasos a seguir para que la Asamblea General pueda proceder. El Comité aprobó el contenido del presente número del Noticiario.
Réunion du Comité directeur de la Commission internationale du riz
du 25 février 2000
La réunion a fait le point sur les activités concernant le riz et les questions connexes pour 1999 et sur celles prévues pour 2000-2001 au sein des unités techniques de la FAO, membres du Comité directeur. Les principaux résultats obtenus en 1999 ont été la signature d'un protocole d'accord entre la FAO et l'Institut international de recherche sur le riz (IRRI) pour le soutien de l'Équipe internationale spéciale du riz hybride et l'approbation par le Directeur général de la FAO de la création d'un protocole d'accord entre la FAO et l'Association pour le développement de la riziculture en Afrique de l'Ouest (ADRAO) aux fins de l'instauration de «la diffusion rapide des technologies du riz en Afrique occidentale» dans le cadre du Programme spécial pour la sécurité alimentaire (PSSA). Le Bulletin de la Commission internationale du riz, vol. 48 et les actes de la 19e session de la Commission ont été publiés en 1999 par le secrétariat de la Commission, alors que les Perspectives alimentaires et le Suivi du marché du riz ont été diffusés tous les mois par le Groupe intergouvernemental. La réunion a également examiné d'autres activités comme le soutien à l'action des réseaux régionaux sur le riz en faveur du développement et de l'utilisation de riz hybride, notamment en Asie; l'expérimentation pilote de variétés interspécifiques Oryza sativa x O. glaberrima en Afrique orientale, l'élaboration de programmes de gestion intégrée des cultures afin de réduire les écarts de rendements et enrayer la chute de la productivité dans la production rizicole, ainsi que le transfert de technologies appropriées en faveur de l'intensification de la culture du riz dans le PSSA dans les États Membres. Diverses études sur l'évolution des rendements en Afrique et sur les écarts de rendements en Amérique latine ont été menées en 1999, et la Consultation d'experts sur la réduction des écarts de rendements du riz dans la région Asie et Pacifique s'est réunie du 5 au 7 octobre 1999 à Bangkok (Thaïlande).
La plupart des activités, entreprises en 1999, seront poursuivies au cours de la période 2000-2001. Le Service des cultures et des herbages (AGPC) contribuera activement à l'organisation de la Consultation d'experts sur les écarts entre les rendements et la baisse de la productivité du riz, qui se tiendra du 5 au 7 septembre 2000 à Rome. De même, le Service des eaux - ressources, mise en valeur et aménagement (AGLW) accordera la plus haute priorité à la gestion des eaux et au développement de l'irrigation destinée à la culture du riz en 2000-2001. La production de riz occupe 30 pour cent des terres irriguées du globe et le rendement actuel de l'utilisation de l'eau dans ce secteur est seulement de 30 pour cent environ. Selon le Service des denrées alimentaires de base de la FAO, la production mondiale de riz (paddy) s'est élevée à 593 millions de tonnes environ en 1999-2000, et les échanges mondiaux de riz au cours de l'année civile ont atteint environ 25 millions de tonnes (riz usiné). Le secrétariat de la Commission a présenté les progrès réalisés dans le domaine des technologies du riz, de l'amélioration variétale et des technologies de gestion intégrée des cultures concernant la production du riz. Pour ce qui est de la proposition de l'IRRI de proclamer une Année internationale du riz, il a été conseillé de consulter les bureaux des Nations Unies pour obtenir des précisions sur la procédure à suivre afin que l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies y procède. Le Comité a approuvé le texte du volume 49 du Bulletin de la Commission internationale du riz.
