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Media hotlineAn information summary for supporters of international rice research In this issue:
New chair presented at IRRI Board of Trustees meeting in Bangladesh At the meeting of IRRI’s Board of Trustees on 11-12 September in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, the outgoing chair, Angeline Kamba of Zimbabwe, presented her successor, Keijiro Otsuka, who will officially take office on 1 January 2004. Dr. Otsuka, a respected agricultural economist who joined IRRI’s board in 2002, is currently a professor at Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and the director of the graduate program of the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development. The foundation conducts development research in Asia and Africa and offers educational and training programs for aspiring development professionals from Japan, other Asian countries and Africa. An expert in agricultural economics, Dr. Otsuka was a visiting scientist at IRRI in 1986-89 and a visiting research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in 1993-98. His past research subjects include the effect of the Green Revolution on income distribution in Asia; how land tenancy, land tenure and natural resource management affect farmer efficiency and equity in Asia and Africa; and gender issues in inheritance and schooling investment. He earned his bachelors degree in agricultural sciences from Hokkaido University in 1971, his masters degree in economics from Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1974, and his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in 1979. The meeting kicked off with the opening of the Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance Communications Fair and a field visit to the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. Highlights of the meeting included a courtesy call on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia by Mrs. Kamba and IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrell. Vietnam-IRRI meeting considers past achievements and future challenges Senior representatives of IRRI and its Vietnamese national partners met in Hanoi recently to revitalize collaboration in Vietnam. At a Vietnam-IRRI Work Plan Meeting on 18-19 September at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, participants agreed on three common research goals: establishing and maintaining food security both nationally and at the household level, reducing poverty, and protecting the environment. The work plan, which went into effect immediately and will remain in force until 2006, identifies three broad areas of collaboration: germplasm development through varietal improvement and germplasm exchange, integrated pest and nutrient management, and capacity building through training and information exchange. In recent years, Vietnam has been IRRI’s third most active collaborative relationship, after those with India and the Philippines. Enough rice for all — A success story from Bangladesh One of the great success stories in the continuing worldwide fight against famine was highlighted in Bangladesh during a recent meeting of the IRRI Board of Trustees. Millions of small Bangladeshi farmers used to depend exclusively on rainfed rice in this land of annual monsoon rains and frequently disastrous flooding. Yields were low at about 2 tons per hectare, and in the 1970s as many as 70 percent of Bangladeshis lived below the poverty line. In 1974, monsoon flooding destroyed about 2.5 million hectares of deepwater rice, and the land remained inundated for too long to replant and try again. Soon after this disaster, armed with new technology and tapping abundant supplies of groundwater, farmers began switching from deepwater and rainfed winter rice to irrigated, dry-season rice. They also began growing modern high-yielding varieties developed by IRRI, or rice bred locally by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), often from IRRI parents. Yields rose to as high as 5 tons per hectare. “Without doubt, Bangladesh has been one of great success stories in using science and technology to fight famine,” said IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell. “Clearly, enormous challenges continue to confront Bangladesh, especially regarding poverty. But Bangladeshis now have the expertise, technologies and strategies needed to ensure the nation can produce enough rice to feed its citizens without having to rely on the generosity of other countries.” Dr. Cantrell said that IRRI is fully committed to working with its partners in Bangladesh in the fight against poverty, particularly through the 5-year, £9.5 million project Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA) program, funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. PETRRA is managed by IRRI in a close partnership with BRRI and the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture. Its main goal is to achieve further substantial increases in domestic rice production and incomes by 2008, and so make a major contribution toward a 50 percent reduction in rural and urban poverty by 2015 — the millennium development goal to which the government of Bangladesh has committed itself. New plan to benefit Philippine rice farmers and consumers A new 3-year national work plan for rice research and extension in the Philippines aims to help rice farmers improve their productivity and profitability while making rice more affordable to poor consumers. The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), IRRI and more than 20 other organizations agreed to the work plan, to begin next year. New partners at the work plan meeting, held at the PhilRice headquarters in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, included the Philippine Peasants Institute, Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, and Infanta Integrated Community Development Assistance, Inc. IRRI’s deputy director general for research, Ren Wang, pointed out that the work plan was good news for Philippine rice farmers. “Not only does this new work plan apply the very latest in science and technology to help local farmers improve their lives, it also places special emphasis on technology promotion and delivery from the laboratory to the rice field,” Dr. Wang said. The meeting identified four main goals: reviewing the progress of existing Philippine-IRRI collaboration, developing an approved work plan and detailed action plan for 2004-06, identifying new priority areas for collaboration for maximum impact, and identifying mechanisms and strategies for improving partnerships and awareness of Philippine-IRRI collaboration. Improved Lao rice variety conservation safeguards the country’s future harvest Laos may be one of the poorest countries in Asia in terms of national per capita income, but it is one of the richest in terms of diversity. Its 237,000 square kilometers encompass a wealth of different ethnic groups, a range of agro-ecological conditions and an astonishing diversity of traditional rice varieties. In a concerted effort to conserve this unique heritage in rice biodiversity, scientists from the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and IRRI, working with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), combed the entire country for rice varieties between 1995 and 2000. The researchers collected more than 13,000 samples of rice germplasm, or seeds, to which farmers apply 3,169 distinct variety names. All of the collected samples are now conserved in a cold-storage facility built for the purpose at the National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) near the Lao capital of Vientiane. With continued SDC funding, the Lao project recently advanced to its second phase, which aims to improve how effectively the collection is conserved and exploited in Laos. A key strategy is to distribute subsets of the collection to five regional centers of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), thereby maximizing the capacity of each region to build on its strengths and further develop local rice agriculture. Each center will receive, conserve and study a set of rice varieties of particularly high value to its region. First, however, the centers require the upgraded infrastructure and capacity necessary to conserve their subsets. To this end, 15 staff members of the five NAFRI regional centers attended a 5-day training course on genebank management jointly conducted at NARC in September by NAFRI and IRRI scientists based in Laos, as well as by two germplasm-conservation specialists flown in from the Philippines. Training included optimal procedures for cost-effective genebank management and demonstrations of equipment. Another strategy of the project’s second phase is to reduce the cost of conservation at NARC while improving its reliability. This entails introducing superior methods of preparing and packaging seed for storage in moisture-proof aluminum bags, as well as the installation of new freezers. Highland development strategies discussed in China IRRI deputy director general for research, Ren Wang, attended an international workshop on “Strategies for sustainable development of agricultural production systems in the highlands of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries” in Kunming, Yunnan, China, on 12-16 September. The Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments, the Bureau of Agriculture of Yunnan Province, the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and IRRI organized the workshop, with sponsorship from the Asian Development Bank and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. Irrigated Rice Research Consortium Steering Committee meets to initiate review The Steering Committee of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) — composed of senior leaders in the national agricultural research and extension systems of seven major Asian rice-growing countries — met in Singapore on 18-19 September to formally initiate the review of the IRRC Phase II. The review will assess the consortium’s progress and future direction. The four independent experts conducting the review are Ernst Mutert (Germany, chairman), Donald Plucknett (USA), Urs Scheidegger (Switzerland) and Vo Tong Xuan (Vietnam). Web presence of Rice Today is upgraded Rice Today, IRRI’s award-winning magazine, has just become easier for readers to sample on the World Wide Web. This and other developments in coming months promise to raise the profile of the only international magazine dedicated to the world’s most important food crop. Web surfers now have direct access through the IRRI Web site to archives of the magazine’s three regular columns: Grain of Truth, in which rice scientists’ guest contributions tell it like it is; Rice Facts, in which agricultural economist David Dawe takes a fresh look at the numbers; and Donors Corner, containing brief profiles of IRRI’s valued funding partners. The site also has a Feature Presentation link to a selected article, which will be replaced every week. The IRRI Web site continues to provide links, as in the past, to a pdf of each issue in its entirety, with direct links to individual stories from the table of contents. In 2004, IRRI will produce four special International Year of Rice issues of the magazine, which will appear in mid-January and the beginning of April, July and October. With more frequent publication, IRRI will actively seek advertisers and other partners to help defray production costs and broaden the publication’s market and impact. To this end, the institute is surveying the magazine’s existing readership to find out who they are and what they want. Readers are urged to participate by completing and returning survey postcards inserted into the current October 2003 issue (Vol. 2, No. 2) or by logging on to http://www.irri.org/ricetoday/readerssurvey.asp. IRRI deputy director general lectures at workshop on rice research collaboration IRRI deputy director general for partnerships, William Padolina, recently presented an invited lecture during a workshop on Strengthening International Collaboration in Rice Research in Indonesia at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia. A discussion by about 25 participants on collaboration between IRRI, the university and the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development concluded that integrated crop management, biotechnology and training would be given top priority for implementation. After his visit to the university, Dr. Padolina traveled to Jakarta where he met with officials from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the ASEAN Secretariat. This meeting focused on a proposal for IRRI to establish formal links with ASEAN, the world’s biggest and most important association of rice-growing nations. Changing of the guard at IRRI-China office On 30 September, IRRI said goodbye to Tang Sheng-Xiang, IRRI liaison scientist to China, and thanked him for his 6 years of service to the institute. Dr. Tang will return to the China National Rice Research Institute (CNRRI) in Hangzhou as a consultant and will also serve as adviser to graduate students. He will continue to be the International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice national coordinator at CNRRI and serve as regional secretary of the Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researches in Asia and Oceania until 2005 when his term ends. Zhao Kai-Jun replaced Dr. Tang. Dr. Zhao obtained his MS in plant genetics and breeding in 1986 from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and completed his PhD at the same institution in 1990. He brings more than 10 years’ research experience in plant genetics and the breeding of rice and other crops. IRRI molecular geneticist posted at Chinese academy IRRI has posted Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biochemistry scientist Zhikang Li at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) where he will work as a molecular geneticist and coordinator of the International Network for Molecular Breeding. The appointment will be effective for 3 years starting 1 December. Dr. Li will continue to contribute to the research projects of IRRI’s Medium Term Plan in the areas of gene discovery, allele mining and germplasm improvement, and to collaborate with other IRRI scientists in screening for target traits. CAAS will appoint Dr. Li as chief scientist of the National Key Project on Crop Genetic Resources and Genetic Improvement. Briton to chair of 6th External Evaluation of IRRI The Interim Science Council (iSC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, IRRI’s parent organization, named Richard Flavell the chair of IRRI’s upcoming external evaluation. Prof. Flavell, from the U.K., holds a PhD in fungal genetics from the University of East Anglia (1967). Prof. Flavell’s past activities have included serving as associate editor of Molecular Biology and Evolution and editor of Plant Molecular Biology, Genes and Development, Environmental and Experimental Botany, BioEssays and The Plant Journal. The iSC is now aiming to put together a small review panel, which will include expertise in germplasm improvement, modern biotechnology, natural resource management, social sciences and management. Book on scented rice launched in India The new book entitled A Treatise on the Scented Rices of India, was launched on 18 September at the National Agricultural Science Center Complex, Pusa Campus, New Delhi. Edited by R.K. Singh, rice geneticist and IRRI liaison scientist for India, and U.S. Singh of the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, the book is a gold mine of information on the aromatic rice varieties of India. Kalyani, an Indian agricultural publisher, produced the book, which has more than 500 pages and 29 photographs. “India is home not only to the famous basmati rice, but to many other scented rice varieties, which are found in different parts of the country,” said IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrell, who was guest of honor at the launch ceremony. “It is unfortunate that a number of them are facing the danger of extinction.” R.K. Singh is currently coordinating the collaborative research activities of IRRI in India and runs a campaign to conserve the aromatic rice varieties of the world. McNamara Seminar in Tokyo features incoming IRRI board chair The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Tokyo office of the World Bank held the second annual Robert S. McNamara Seminar in Tokyo on 2 July. This year’s seminar, which attracted more than 300 people, addressed the theme “The role of agriculture and agricultural research in generating growth and post disaster reconstruction.” Mr. McNamara argued forcefully for Japan to increase its funding to the CGIAR. Former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutoro Hashimoto gave the keynote address on Agriculture and Human Security. The directors general of three CGIAR centers spoke, as did Keijiro Otsuka, who will become chair of IRRI’s Board of Trustees in January. The seminars acknowledge the contribution of Mr. McNamara, a founding father of the CGIAR, whose distinguished record of public service includes service as the U.S. secretary of defense (1961-68) and president of the World Bank (1968-81). Graindell, IRRI’s first book published for children, is now an animated movie. The book, which was launched at Museo Pambata in Manila during the recent National Children’s Book Day, was written by the award-winning children’s book author Rene Villanueva and illustrated by Redge Abos. It follows the adventures of two friends, Abu and Thor, who want to make their home the greatest place to live in the galaxy. The simple yet moving story informs children about the importance of nutrition, friendship and care for the environment. With the release of Graindell, IRRI launched the Graindell Community, which calls for a dynamic, well-developed countryside through multisectoral participation. Graindell is the first of a series of children’s storybooks published by IRRI in celebration of the United Nations’ International Year of Rice in 2004. For more information, visit the Graindell site at www.graindell.com. Australian youth ambassador joins IRRI Visitors and Information Services IRRI has welcomed Adam Barclay, the institute’s first Australian youth ambassador, who will spend the next 12 months working in Visitors and Information Services as a communications officer and trainer. The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program, launched in 1998, aims to strengthen mutual understanding between Australia and its neighbors by placing skilled young Australian volunteers, aged 18-30, on short-term assignments in the developing countries of the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Barclay’s placement at IRRI was facilitated by the Crawford Fund, the leading Australian organization in support of international agricultural research. While at IRRI, Mr. Barclay, who has worked in science communication for the past 5 years, will contribute rice research stories to the Asian and Australian media and Rice Today magazine, and help organize International Year of Rice 2004 media events. IRRI incoming board chair elected to economist office IRRI Board of Trustees member and incoming chair Keijiro Otsuka was recently elected vice president for programs of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). Former IRRI economist Prabhu Pingali was elected IAAE president. The elections took place at the IAAE’s 25th international conference in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Otsuka has served on the IRRI Board of Trustees since 2002 and assumes the chair in 2004. Dr Pingali is a former IRRI economist (1987-96) and currently economist and director of the Division of Agricultural and Development Economics at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Malaysian Plant Protection Society Award of Excellence for IRRI entomologist K.L. Heong, entomologist and deputy head of IRRI’s Entomology and Plant Pathology Division, recently received the inaugural Award of Excellence in plant protection from the Malaysian Plant Protection Society (MAPPS). Dr. Heong accepted the award from the Malaysian deputy minister of science, technology and the environment during the 6th International Conference on Plant Protection in the Tropics in Kuala Lumpur. MAPPS, founded in 1976, is a professional society of plant protection specialists in Malaysia for promoting excellence in plant protection sciences. Dr. Heong, a life member of the society, was awarded the Outstanding Contributions Award in 1986 for his work in helping to create MAPPS and in 1987 was elected its president. The Award of Excellence is the society’s highest, given every 4 years to a person who has made significant contributions to the plant protection sciences. IRRI plant breeding head named Crop Science Society of America fellow David J. Mackill, head of IRRI Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biochemistry Division, was selected a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) for 2003. Before rejoining IRRI in April 2001, Dr. Mackill was a research geneticist and adjunct professor at the University of the California, Davis, and worked for the Agriculture Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. He had an earlier stint at IRRI as a plant breeder from 1982 to 1991, and he was as a postdoctoral fellow at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. He will receive his award in early November in Denver, Colorado, during the CSSA annual meeting. IRRI scientists share M.S. Swaminathan Outstanding Research Award A paper co-authored by IRRI scientists has won the M.S. Swaminathan Outstanding Research Award. Marker-aided pyramiding of bacterial blight resistance to genes in maintainer lines of hybrid rice was written by Hei Leung and Casiana Vera Cruz from IRRI, Lucia Briones from Leyte State University, Edilberto Redoña from the Philippine Rice Research Institute, Marina Natural from University of the Philippines Los Baños, and Brad Porter and Frank White from Kansas State University, all of whom collaborate under the Asian Rice Biotechnology Network. The award was presented during the National Science and Technology Week Celebration at the Philippine Trade and Training Center in Manila. The winning team received a plaque of recognition and shared a P20,000 cash prize. IRRI researchers and collaborators co-author major feature in Plant Disease IRRI researchers and collaborators in Yunnan, China, co-authored the featured article in the October issue of Plant Disease, the journal of the American Phytopathological Society. The paper, Using genetic diversity to achieve sustainable rice disease management was co-authored by Hei Leung (IRRI), Youyong Zhu (Yunnan Agricultural University), Imelda Revilla-Molina (IRRI), Jin Xiang Fan (Agriculture Department of Yunnan), Hairu Chen (Yunnan Agricultural University), Ireneo Pangga, Casiana Vera Cruz, and Twng Wah Mew (all IRRI). IRRI conducts special integrated pest management course in Myanmar The IRRI Training Center recently conducted a special integrated pest management (IPM) course at the Myanma Agricultural Services’ (MAS) Central Agriculture Research and Training Center in Yangon. Jointly sponsored and organized by IRRI and MAS, the course trained 20 young professionals who are working on rice pest management research, education and extension. The course, conducted by Zahirul Islam, course coordinator, and K.L. Heong, IRRI IPM specialist, covered the sociology and communication aspects of IPM and included modules on ecology, pest management techniques, and sociological and communication aspects of IPM — all via CD technology. To make learning more effective, half of the topics were delivered face-to-face while the other half were delivered via the CD-based lessons. Genetic engineering workshop at IRRI Seventeen participants from six countries as well as others from IRRI attended a workshop on Genetic Engineering and Nutrition Improvement in Rice in September. The 5-day workshop focused on designing a collaborative strategic plan between IRRI and the National Agricultural Research Extension Services to produce, evaluate and field-test transgenic plants that have increased nutritional value for vitamin A and iron. Swapan Datta, plant biotechnologist, was workshop coordinator, and Henry Daniell, professor and trustee chair of the University of Central Florida, was the resource person. IRRI Training holds rice breeding course Twenty-six participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Philippines, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam recently attended the 3-week course Planning Rice Breeding Programs for Impact. Particularly relevant to breeders for rainfed environments, the course targeted breeders and agronomists who work in variety development or cultivar testing and research managers with responsibility for rice breeding programs. IRRI biotechnologist is rice crop leader for Biofortification Challenge Program Swapan Datta, IRRI plant biotechnologist, has been named the rice crop leader of Harvest Plus, previously known as the Biofortification Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Program Director Howarth Bouis of the International Food Policy Research Institute has endorsed the appointment. Dr. Datta was instrumental in organizing the program’s rice crop meeting at IRRI on 6-8 October, bringing together some 70 plant scientists and human nutritionists to formulate a work plan. As a crop leader, he serves on the general planning committee of Harvest Plus. Dr. Datta has extensive expertise and experience in the areas of crop breeding and biotechnology. He is active in research on enhancing micronutrient levels in rice through genetic engineering, leading the development at IRRI of tropical varieties of Golden Rice. Harvest Plus has six leaders for the first tier crops: rice, maize, beans, wheat, cassava and sweet potatoes. Rice, which will be coordinated by IRRI, will involve more scientists and research teams than any other crop. New phone numbers and contact details IRRI has new telephone and fax numbers for its headquarters in Los Baños, Philippines: Telephone +63 (2) 580-5600, Fax +63 (2) 580-5699. All formerly given telephone and fax numbers for the institute continue to operate and may be the better option for callers from countries with analog phone networks. However, most callers will receive the best access and service using the numbers above. Please also note that IRRI’s phone system now uses four-digit extension numbers, so all previous IRRI extensions have had a ‘2’ added as the first digit. For example, extension 275 has become 2275. Use irri@cgiar.org to contact IRRI by email. IRRI’s postal addresses remain the same: For normal mail and postal items: DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines. For courier items and shipments: IRRI, 6776 Ayala Avenue, Suite 1009 Makati City 1226, Philippines.
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• October-December 2007 • July-September 2007 • April-June 2007 • January-March 2007 • October-December 2006 • July-September 2006 • April-June 2006 • March 2006 • December 2005 • September 2005 • June 2005 • December 2004 • June 2004 • April 2004 • December 2003 • October 2003 • June 2003 • March 2003 • December 2000 • September 2000 • June 2000 • April 2000 • December 1999 |
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