Bestsellers

Experience in China, IRRI, and other countries have clearly demonstrated that hybrid rice can significantly contribute to the increase in rice production. This book reviews and discusses opportunities for enhancement and sustenance of hybrid vigor in rice. Papers presented at the Third International Symposium on Hybrid Rice and compiled in this book provide valuable information on the new technology.

This book is an outcome of the symposium Role of Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Sustainable Agriculture. Some of the topics included are: biological nitrogen fixation for sustainable agriculture: a perspective, investments, expectations, and actual contributions to agriculture; biological N2 fixation in wetland rice fields: estimation and contribution to nitrogen balance; and improving nitrogen-fixing systems and integrating them to sustainable rice farming.

This manual, prepared in collaboration with the University of Queensland, aims to help plant breeders develop rice varieties for drought-prone environments. Many of the world’s poorest farmers work in rainfed areas where water supplies are unpredictable and droughts are common. Drought tolerance must be integrated with mainstream breeding programs addressing agronomic adaptation, grain quality, and pest and disease resistance.

Interest in the key function of flooded soils in carbon and nitrogen cycling and the supply of mineral nitrogen to the rice crop has been stimulated by trends of declining productivity in intensive rice systems. This book features the papers presented at an international workshop organized by IRRI to jumpstart a program of strategic research, in collaboration with centers of excellence worldwide.

Characterizing and understanding rainfed environments is the proceedings of a workshop held in Bali, Indonesia, and attended by 70 scientists from 15 countries, to review progress on research related to characterizing and understanding rainfed lowland rice environments and considering future research issues and opportunities for collaboration.

This book includes papers tied to a collaborative project to undertake policy analysis and projection studies on supply, demand, and trade of rice in some of the major rice-producing countries. IRRI and IFPRI embarked on the collaborative research project to make an in-depth analysis of the changing structure and dynamics of rice supply and demand and to institutionalize the research and policy analysis capacity and projection work as a core research activity in selected national agricultural research and extension systems.

Asian rice systems are undergoing various types of change in response to economic factors and technological opportunities in farming. One such change has been a shift from transplanting to direct-seeding methods for rice establishment. In the future, in addition to the rising cost of labor, rice farmers of Asia will have to deal with an anticipated increasing scarcity of irrigation water as the demand for water from the urban and industrial sectors expands. Direct-seeding methods, especially dry seeding, may help in achieving higher water-use efficiency.

Scientists build on the advances made by others. But scientific knowledge from the national agricultural research systems of developing countries often fails to reach the people who can turn knowledge into increased productivity and better lives. This manual was designed to develop writing, editing, and publication skills among science communicators in developing countries. These will help not only professional editors, but any specialist who wants to improve his or her communication skills. Trainers will also find the title, Editing & publication: a training manual, a useful reference material.

Scientists build on the advances made by others. But scientific knowledge from the national agricultural research systems of developing countries often fails to reach the people who can turn knowledge into increased productivity and better lives. This manual was designed to develop writing, editing, and publication skills among science communicators in developing countries. These will help not only professional editors, but any specialist who wants to improve his or her communication skills. Trainers will also find the title, Editing & publication: a handbook for trainers, a useful reference material.

The outputs reported in this proceeding vary in stages of development. Microbial diversity illustrates the complexity of how biodiversity operates in pest management; habitat diversity section describes how certain mixes of a rice and non-rice habitat favor the proliferation of beneficial insects that can control the population of insect pests; and technology diffusion, complete the from-concept-to-practice story of applying biodiversity in pest management. The most advanced, which can be considered a mature technology, is genetic diversification by inter-planting susceptible glutinous varieties with resistant hybrid indica rice to control rice blast. This has passed the transition from experimental plots to widespread farmers’ practice.

A must for field extension workers! Contains 153 colored plates to help rice workers identify common production problems such as insects, diseases, weeds, and problem soils.

Women farmers and labor play a pivotal role in improving the productivity, profitability, stability, and sustainability of rice farming systems. But inadequate attention is paid to the active involvement of women in technology development and transfer, or to designing improved technologies for women-specific occupations. Papers presented at a workshop that organized a collaborative research and training network oriented to the needs of women in rice farming systems are included in this publication.

Participants in the 1995 International Rice Research Conference assessed progress in rice research and identified new research approaches to reducing constraints and improving productivity and sustainability of less favored and fragile rice-producing areas-these are the upland, rainfed lowland, and flood-prone ecosystems. Scientific papers presented and contained in these proceedings address distinct concerns, including: emerging socioeconomic issues in rice production; risk, risk management, and technology adoption; system sustainability; and specific management techniques and research tools.

Easy to read and handy, this booklet features some of the more common species of predators, parasites, and diseases of insect pests of rice. It can be used with the IRRI booklet Field Problems of Tropical Rice, which provides information only on pest species.

For those who love to cook! This book contains rice-based recipes for main dishes, snacks, and desserts from all over the world, includes vegetarian recipes.

This publication offers papers covering progress made since 1996 in hybrid rice breeding methodologies, biotechnological applications, seed production, agronomic management, and technology dissemination. This technology enables farmers to produce more rice per hectare and hour of labor, and so contributes to improved grain yields and farmers’ income, while creating rural employment in hybrid seed production.

Complete information for IPM workers in Asia. Includes sections on insect pests and their cultural control, natural enemies of insects, biology and management of weeds and riceland rats, disease management, and pesticide safety.

This volume covers various aspects of pesticide use, farmer behavior, and environmental degradation as they relate to wetland rice production. The collaborative project looked at the effects of pesticides on the environment and farmers' health and related economic perspectives. It also includes selected experimental results of a research project on pesticide impacts in wetland rice fields.

Estimates of food demand and supply for different regions of the world often differ depending upon the objectives of those doing the estimating. Researchers' ability to correctly estimate such balances and imbalances at different scales has been limited by the tools available and a largely disciplinary-based mode of research. This publication reports on various tools developed in these projects to help stakeholders explore options and opportunities for food production to meet the increasing demand, labor, capital, and other resources required for such production levels and their environmental impact.

This book documents some of the experiences during the 20-year history of the Asian Rice Farming Systems Network, highlighting the achievements and describing the problems. Readers should find it a useful contribution to the global debate about networking, as this becomes the modus operandi for increasing the amount of agricultural research worldwide.

ORYZA2000: modeling lowland rice is the successor to a series of (lowland) rice growth simulation models developed by IRRI and Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) in the early to mid-1990s in the project “Simulation and Systems Analysis for Rice Production (SARP).” Besides the scientific and programming updates, ORYZA2000 contains new features that allow a more explicit simulation of crop management options, such as irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer management. It can also be used in application-oriented research such as the design of crop ideotypes, the analysis of yield gaps, the optimization of crop management, the ex ante analysis of the effects of climate change on crop growth, and agroecological zonation.

In its continuing effort to reduce pesticide misuse, IRRI embarked on a series of studies to understand farmers’ pest management knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Asia. This research was designed and conducted through partnerships with scientists from national agricultural research systems. The primary objective was to listen to farmers and understand the various factors that constrain pest management decisions and practices on-farm. Through a better understanding of how pest management decisions are made and how new research information and practices can be communicated, scientists can focus on developing more appropriate tools, methods, and systems that are ecologically and economically sound for farmers to manage diverse pest species.

Fertilizer is a major input in rice production. As the use of chemical fertilizers has grown, traditionally used organic materials such as farmyard manure and green manure crops have been increasingly neglected. The harmful environmental effects of heavy and improper chemical use are becoming more evident. Furthermore, the fossil fuels used to produce nitrogen fertilizers are becoming scarcer. In this book, Dr. R.K. Pandey explains the bases and offers guides to integrating the use of organic and chemical fertilizers, emphasizing the growing of green manure crops.

The Rice Almanac has become a standard source book for the most important economic activity on earth. It brings together general information about rice and data about rice production worldwide. The third edition has been fully updated and expanded to now include 64 countries--from Afghanistan to Venezuela. There are also discussions on international issues important to the crop such as the looming water crisis, global climate change, and biotechnology.

One of the most significant changes in rice production in recent years is the acceptance of farmers of the integrated pest management (IPM) concept. IPM has become important because of insect pest outbreaks that resulted from misuse of broad-spectrum insecticides in situations where they were not needed. This publication highlights many new avenues of research in rice pest management.

Rice research and development policy presents the results of the research-policy dialog during the 1995 International Rice Research Conference (IRRC), when prominent policymakers at the national and international levels presented their views on the significance of agricultural research and its linkages to policy. Issues discussed include: vulnerability of a staple food supply for Asia, meeting the needs of the rural poor, and GATT and food security self-sufficiency.

Rice Research and Development in the Flood-Prone Ecosystem presents papers and major recommendations from a recent international workshop on Rice Research and Development in the Flood-Prone Rice Lands of South and Southeast Asia. Participants discussed the hydrological, biological, agronomic, and socioeconomic perspectives of flood-prone rice environments; the challenges, possibilities and strategies for improving the productivity of rice lands in flood-prone environments; and issues and strategies for action. This book will serve as a valuable reference material for scientists in South and Southeast Asia, where more than 11 million ha are prone to uncontrolled flooding.

Many of the tributes that can be made to the life and accomplishments of Bob Chandler, the first director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), can be found in these proceedings. His dedication to the gigantic effort for keeping hunger and poverty in Asia at bay is reflected in his work in founding IRRI and the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC). His special genius for organizing and leading goal-oriented research was instrumental in bringing about not only the Green Revolution but also a revolution in how international agricultural research is organized and supported.

Rice research for food security and poverty alleviation is the proceedings of 23rd International Rice Research Conference (IRRC). More than 250 participants from 33 countries attended. Presentations covered the following topics: 1) increasing yield potential in irrigated rice: breaking the barrier, 2) exploiting and using heterosis in rice, 3) breeding for abiotic stress tolerance, 4) durable hop-plant resistance, 5) integrated nutrient and pest management, 6) water and weed management in direct-seeded rice, and 7) impact of technologies on food security and poverty alleviation.

This is the proceedings of the 24th International Rice Research Conference, held as part of the 1st International Rice Congress in Beijing, 16–20 September 2002. Dedicated to Gurdev Khush, whose work with many collaborators has provided more rice for millions, the volume contains selected papers presented at the conference, along with Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s opening address and some keynote speeches. The papers report on the latest in cutting-edge rice research conducted by some of the world’s most distinguished agricultural scientists.

Your ultimate guide for detecting nutrient deficiency and toxicity symptoms and managing nutrients in rice grown in tropical and subtropical regions. 5. Rice IPM – CD ROM

The most comprehensive electronic resource on rice IPM.

Virtually every region of the world faces problems of depletion and loss of arable land: soil erosion in North America, soil acidification in Europe, and deforestation and desertification in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Bringing together world leaders in food and agriculture, the Smithsonian Institution sponsored the international colloquium on Sharing Innovation: Global Perspectives on Food, Agriculture, and Rural Development in conjunction with the awarding of the 1989 World Food Prize. Participants examined agricultural strategies and food policies; the central role of knowledge and technology transfer within and among nations; and successful innovations and national solutions that hold the promise of advancing food development throughout the world.

Rice is the primary food grain consumed by almost half of the world’s population. During the past half century, the staple has become available to consumers on increasingly favorable terms. This book represents the best single source of knowledge available on the state of efforts to develop the scientific and technical basis for a second Green Revolution, for the advances necessary to sustain the increases in yield that have been achieved in the past and that will be needed to meet the demand of consumers in the 21st century.

The Systems Research Network for Ecoregional Land Use Planning in the Support of Natural Resource Management in Tropical Asia (SysNet) was the first project to be financed (in 1996) under the ISNAR-administered Eco-regional Fund. In late 1999, when financial support for the Fund formally ended, IRRI organized an international symposium during which the project's achievements were presented. In this proceedings, the land use planning and analysis system (LUPAS) and its component models, developed in the framework of SysNet, are extensively described, as well as various studies for the four case study regions (Haryana State, India; Kedah-Perlis Region, Malaysia; Can Tho Province, Vietnam; and Ilocos Norte Province, Philippines).

During the coming decades, agriculture will have to cope with an ever-increasing demand for food and do so without further degrading or exhausting the environment. Intensification, sustainability, optimizing scarce resources, and climate change are among the key issues. Organized thinking about future farming requires forecasting of consequences of alternative ways to farm and to develop agriculture. Systems thinking and systems simulation are therefore indispensable tools for such endeavors. This book reports the proceedings of the symposium Systems Approaches for Agricultural Development.

This manual is primarily intended for field researchers conducting experiments on rice. It defines and provides tested solutions to major problems of experimentation technique. The first part of the manual covers field plot techniques, experimental design, and sources of experimental error. The second part deals with sampling and measurement techniques for determining plot yield and other characters.

Two-Line Hybrid Rice Breeding Manual describes concepts and procedures in a stepwise manner for easy learning of the technique. Breeding hybrid rice requires several concepts, skills, and procedures that are strikingly different from those used in breeding inbred rice. The availability of adequately trained technicians is an essential prerequisite for developing and using this technology.

This book contains 28 papers presented at the 2002 workshop on water-wise rice production, which aimed to present and discuss the state-of-art in the development, dissemination, and adoption of water-saving technologies at spatial scales ranging from the field to irrigation system. Participating scientists and irrigation system managers from several consortia and projects created the International Platform for Saving Water in Rice (IPSWAR). Topics discussed include: intermittent irrigation, System of Rice Intensification (SRI), aerobic rice, rice-wheat, physiology and breeding, and irrigation systems. As a special feature of this book, one additional chapter, Technology transfer for water savings in the Philippines, is included on a CD as a 22-minute movie in mpeg format.

Weed infestations are a never-ending concern for farmers. A Practical Field Guide to Weeds of Rice in Asia is a pocket-sized guide containing useful information about the botany, ecology, and cultural control of weeds in a short text that is easy to use in the field. It includes 95 color photographs to aid early and accurate species identification. This guide gives farmers, extension agents, and researchers a practical in-field means of assessing weed-control problems and, where possible, provides strategies for improving integrated weed management in rice systems. It will help farmers better understand how land preparation, rice establishment methods, and early-season water-management practices influence which particular weed species infest their rice fields.