Super rice will feed a half-billion more people

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 28, 1994 | by Kirimi Kaberia

Wheat that can take the heat has allayed fears of world food shortages, but a new `super rice' will feed more people and grow in harsher conditions.

Confronting the predictions of some scientists that global warming could spell disaster for world agriculture, the International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat has bred a strain of wheat that can withstand the heat of tropical and arid climates. Simultaneously, the International Rice Research Institute, or IRRI, has developed a new type of rice that produces a 25 percent higher yield than any existing variety Both crops should prove environmentally friendly, according to researchers.

Agronomists estimate that the new rice one day could produce 100 million tons more food per year than the current varieties, feeding about 450 million more people. "This rice will go a long way toward feeding the world's people in the next century, especially in Asia, where rice is a staple," says Ismail Serageldin, chairman of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research. The CGIAR is an informal association of 43 governments, international organizations and private foundations supporting research on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and natural resources; it is jointly sponsored by the World Bank, the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Rice is the most important food crop in developing countries and is eaten by half the world's population. Present production barely keeps up with demand. "We don't know many people will live on Earth in the middle of the next century, but we know that we have to produce at least more than twice the food we harvest today," says IRRI Director-General Klaus Lampe.

The super rice will not be produced in quantity for at least five more years because further research is needed to adapt it to local conditions and requirements before it can be distributed to farmers. Researchers also are trying to cut the amount of water needed for growing the super rice. Rice needs more water than any other crop in the world - a staggering 500 gallons to produce 2.2 pounds. "This is the reason CGIAR has concentrated on developing varieties that have few requirements [for large quantities of] fertilizer, water and pesticides," says Heinrich Von Loesch, spokesman for CGIAR.

Scientists stress that the new rice must be matched with agronomic practices such as planting, weed control and proper levels of fertilizer application if it is to achieve full potential. Super rice requires fewer farmers per pound of rice produced, due to its dramatically higher yield. "Therefore," says Loesch, "it requires less land, enabling the crop to cope with land shortages."

Older varieties of rice include IR36, which resists many insects, diseases and environmental stresses and is grown under a dozen names on 27 million acres worldwide. It is the most widely grown crop variety on earth.

The CGIAR had experienced a financial crisis but stabilized this year due to action by the World Bank, says Loesch. The total pledge for the organization's 17 centers for 1995 is $272 million, compared with $266 million in 1990. "In this effort we can say that stabilization for 1995 is in place."