www.irri.org

Special supplement for Devex Partnerships and Career Forum in Manila, 10-11 June 2014Special supplement for Devex Partnerships and Career Forum in Manila, 10-11 June 2014

For the love of rice Selected features on people at IRRI

hat matters most

What’s important—our reputation and our people. These are the two most important basics of any organization such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Our reputation integrates our mission, our science, and our impact. Our people make it all happen.

Reputation-wise, IRRI’s position as the flagship center of the global agricultural research system is well established. The developed and developing worlds recognize us as a leader in scientific innovation that results directly in measurable impact. Recent impact studies demonstrate to donors and philanthropists who are investing in rice research that their contributions are making a really big difference where it counts. Hopefully, this will inspire others to also support rice research if they want to improve the lives of people. We always need ongoing investment for ongoing impact. Our key asset is our staff of more than 1,300 worldwide. Our science leaders are recruited internationally and they are considered among the best in the world in their fields. With the support from more than 1,200 nationally recruited staff in 16 different locations in Asia and Africa, their expertise, local knowledge, and skills are brought to IRRI and help us connect with the local communities where we work. In this special issue of Rice Today, you’ll learn about IRRI staff members who embody and uphold our values, which include cultural diversity and gender consciousness. And on the lighter side, I hope that you’ll try out two rice recipes in What’s cooking featuring Sam Mohanty, head of Social Sciences Division and Leigh Vial, head of Experiment Station. Every year, in recent times, as part of our holiday celebration in December, we assemble the staff at the headquarters for a family portrait. And, I can’t resist sharing this with you. When we put the photo (below) on IRRI’s Facebook page, Hubert Zandra, IRRI agronomist (1975-80) and deputy director general for research (1989-91), posted from afar: “What a wonderful scope of dedicated persons!” I couldn’t have said it better!

Robert S. ZeiglerIRRI director generalRobert S. Zeigler

17Rice Today O ct o b e r-D e ce m b e r 2013

At first glance, ndang eptiningsih and ichael homson are worlds apart. r. eptiningsih was born

and raised in Indonesia. r. homson hails from the southwestern nited

tates. espite the distance of some 1 thousand ilometers between them, fate, science, and a common passion to improve rice and farmers lives found a way to bring them together.

When Michael met Septiepti, as she is called by her

colleagues at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), had a

een interest in plant breeding as an undergraduate student in ad ah

ada niversity, ogya arta, Indonesia. he then became a researcher at the Indonesian Center for gricultural iotechnology and

enetic Resources Research and

by Alaric Francis Santiaguel

evelopment (IC I R ) in ogor.

Rice is a part of my life and rice cultivation in Indonesia is usually done by smallholder farmers, she said. y dream is to help them.

ichael s love a air with rice was less direct. e became interested in plant science when he oined a high school summer program on plant biotechnology at the niversity of

ri ona. ven as an undergrad, I didn t have an agriculture bac ground so I was more interested in pure science and genetics, he said.

In 1 , ichael attended Cornell niversity to pursue his interest

in molecular genetics, where epti happened to be wor ing toward her h in plant breeding with

usan cCouch as her adviser. r. cCouch, a renowned rice scientist,

spent years at IRRI before oining the Cornell faculty. ( ee A j uggling act:

G ender barriers and molecular map s on pages in Rice T oday ol. , o. 2)

hen I moved to Cornell, I spent some time wor ing in two labs on wheat and tomatoes, ichael said. inally, I wor ed with r.

cCouch. Rice was the one that got me most e cited.

i e the protagonists in the film W hen Harry M et Sally, they started o as colleagues and friends. e were classmates and we were part of a study group with several other people from di erent countries,

epti recalled. hen we became close friends after we both studied under the same adviser. ichael and epti got married in 1 and they had their first two children, both boys, while at Cornell.

Following their heartsfter completing their postdoctorates

at Cornell, ichael started loo ing

For the love of riceT wo scientists, worlds ap art but with a common p assion,

end up being more than laboratory p artners

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for work, but Septi felt it was time to move back to Indonesia. She wanted to give back to the Institute that allowed her to study at Cornell for her PhD. It was a decision that Michael fully supported.

e were trying to find something that would advance both of our careers,” he said. “G oing back to her home institute was important to her. For me, I wanted to get that international experience.”

In 2003, Septi returned to ICABIOG RAD, where she worked on varietal identification and diversity analysis of the germplasm of maj or Indonesian crops such as rice, soybean, and sweet potato. Michael, on the other hand, received a grant from the N ational Science F oundation International Research F ellowship P rogram to study the genetic diversity of traditional and improved Indonesian rice varieties, also at ICABIOG RAD, for 2 years.

After completing his fellowship, Michael then found an opportunity at IRRI, where he was accepted as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Abdelbagi Ismail, plant physiologist and coordinator of the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) proj ect, in mapping quantitative trait loci ( Q T L ) — stretches of DNA containing or linked to genes responsible for important traits—and marker-assisted breeding of salt-tolerant rice. Septi was also accepted as a postdoctoral fellow to focus on the development of ood tolerant rice with Dr. David Mackill, former head of IRRI’s Plant Breeding, G enetics, and Biotechnology Division. They moved to the Philippines in 2005, with their two boys and 2-month-old daughter.

“For a professional couple in the same field of research, it s uite di cult to find a place where we can both work and do our research on rice,” Michael said. “In that aspect, IRRI is the perfect place for us.”

Careers in full bloomToday, Septi leads IRRI’s work to identify traits to help develop new

ood tolerant rice that can survive di erent types of ooding at di erent

stages of the rice plant’s development. This includes looking for genes and Q TL s that help direct-seeded rice to germinate even when ooded (anaerobic germination), and protect rice plants when submergence is complete or when oods of 20 0 cm remain in the field (stagnant

ooding).“We search for new Q TL s and

genes,” she said. “Every time we have something good on the genetic side, we incorporate it in our breeding to develop new rice varieties that are particularly suited for changing climatic conditions.

“Flood-tolerant rice varieties are particularly important because more than 1 20 million hectares of land, mostly in Asia and some parts of

frica, are prone to ooding.

Michael now runs IRRI’s G enotyping Services L aboratory and o ers mar er services for research and breeding groups. G enotyping determines the genetic nature of individual rice varieties (genotype) by using DNA markers to detect di erences between rice plants based on their underlying

se uence. mar ers ag the location of genes of interest associated with useful traits, thus making it easier to breed the traits into new varieties. “Plant breeders are increasingly using specific markers to track genes,” he said. “We li e to ma e it more e cient by using new technology.”

His role includes validating new DNA markers and looking for new technologies to further improve

the e ciency of the lab. I en oy exploring new technology that in the end can really help the breeders,” he said. “Connecting the diversity and breeding applications is really exciting. The main impact I hope to o er is to ma e breeding faster. It can take 9 or 10 years to develop a new rice variety. If there’s a way we can help breeders do that in, say, 6 years instead of 10, we can release new and improved varieties faster.”

Chemistry, in and out of the labcience is a competitive field. Its

history is fraught with intellectual feuds and rousing debates between disagreeing scientists. Does science, which brought Septi and Michael together, also work against their careers and marriage?

“Our interest is genetics but we are not competitive,” said Septi. “We are complementary because our work is di erent. y first research area at IRRI was submergence while he worked with salinity. We support each other.”

In fact, Michael said being mar-ried to a colleague has its advantages.

e get to bounce ideas o each other,” he said. “If we have problems at work, sometimes we can help each other solve them after o ce hours.

Septi agrees. “At home, we can have work-related discussions. If I need to use his laboratory facilities and get help from his sta , we can talk about it while in the car or when we are shopping.”

With both being scientists, they also understand the needs and pressures of each other’s j ob and give each other advice.

“She reminds me to focus and not neglect the things that are important for my own career,” Michael said. “I can get distracted by many activities at work. People often ask me for help about software and di erent things. I fall behind in writing publications of my own.”

Michael also has advice for Septi. “Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed because a lot of stu is going on at the same time since I have more responsibilities now,” Septi said. “Michael tells me not to worry too much. Just take it easy.

“It can be a struggle at times,” she added. “Sometimes, we have a lot of work even during the weekends. But, we make sure we spend quality time with our kids since it is also our responsibility to raise them to be successful.”

They also have to coordinate their schedules, including attending scientific conferences. t the start of the year, we discuss who goes to what conference because we try not to leave our children alone,” Septi said. “Although on some occasions we do, but j ust for a couple of days.”

Were there moments when they considered shifting j obs and having only one scientist in the family? “If she’s more successful, then I can retire early,” Michael j oked. “But we

are both committed to our careers. We can’t really imagine if either one of us stops being a scientist.”

Facing the futureAmerican millionaire Dennis Tito recently announced his plans to fund the first manned mission to ars in 2018. The voyage would take 501 days, round trip, and could include an adventurous married crew. Could Septi and Michael’s professional and personal relationship survive such an ordeal?

“We could probably handle the j ourney but we might drive each other crazy,” Michael said in j est. They would rather stay right here on Earth and hopefully see their dreams, as scientists, come true.

For Michael, that would be having all the rice genomes in IRRI’s International Rice G enebank—which has more than 117,000 types of rice—sequenced and characterized to the point where scientists can j ust pick the desired version of the gene they need in their breeding programs.

“Having an integrated database that contains all the genetic information about all the rice in the International Rice G enebank is something I’d really like to see as a resource for breeding programs,” Michael said. “There’s so much potential, but, so far, we don’t have the sequence and trait data to do it e ciently.

Septi shares this vision with Michael. “I want to use certain genes in my trait development program to speed up the development of new varieties.”

Behind the high-end technology and the intricate science of molecular genetics and breeding, the two scientists have a singular pragmatic target. They want to help farmers all over the world by developing better rice.

“My ultimate goal as a scientist is to make rice farmers happy by helping them harvest more rice and have better incomes, epti said. ichael, her fellow scientist and husband, couldn t have said it any better.

M r. Santiaguel is a writer at IRRI.

couldn t have said it any better.

A FAMILY portrait of scientists Michael and Septi, taking time off from their rice laboratories with their children Ilham, Irfan, and Atiya.

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13Rice Today O ct o b e r-D e ce m b e r 2013

At IRRI, more than 80% of the elite lines have the X a4 gene and, since 2000, released cultivars such as PSB Rc82 carry combinations of genes with resistance to the predominant population of the pathogen. Other elite lines have also been developed with di erent combinations of X a5 , X a7 , X a1 3 , and X a2 1 , among other genes. Some elite lines and released cultivars show broad spectrum resistance, indicating that unknown or novel genes may be present in these lines and cultivars.

Nevertheless, bacterial blight continues to be an important concern due to the capacity of the pathogen to change and overcome the deployed resistance genes. G overnment agencies know well that the stakes are high. Whenever susceptible rice varieties are grown in environments that favor bacterial blight, the disease can turn green rice fields into wastelands of dry and wilting leaves, and empty grains—wiping out investments and potential profits.

Balancing genetic protectionRecently, Dr. V era Cruz’s team made a discovery that will further

improve the resistance of rice to the disease. They learned that it is not j ust the presence of resistance genes X a4 and X a7 that is important, but that environmental factors such as temperature also play an important role in how the genes protect the plant. They found that X a4 is more e ective as temperatures drop, while X a7 does its ob better at higher temperatures.

“Since the two genes compensate for each other‘s weaknesses, this will also help farmers withstand changes in weather patterns, she said. “Climate change could radically alter temperatures during the dry and wet seasons.”

ince pathogens co evolve with the plant, growing a single resistant variety over large areas will “push” the virulent form of the pathogen to become dominant. Therefore, one key questions for breeders and plant pathologists is how to deploy the resistance genes to prevent pathogen epidemics while maintaining yield.

Diverse genetic resourcesThis is where the importance of genetic diversity comes into play. The

good news is that IRRI has a genetic gold mine of di erent types of rice including wild rice accessions that is stored in its International Rice G enebank. The genebank continues to provide rare versions of genes to enrich and diversify the sources of resistance to manage bacterial blight.

side from finding a critical mi of genes, IRRI scientists are aiming to map the genome of the blight pathogen and understand what role genes play in the plant. With this information, they can precisely target certain genes of the pathogen that cause virulence in the plant host. According to Dr. V era Cruz, this will radically shorten the breeding process for designing blightresistant rice varieties.

No one can tell what challenges the future may bring. ith the everevolving diseases and changing climate patterns, IRRI scientists are not resting on their past successes. They are constantly searching for better ways of doing things to deliver what farmers need to win the battle against this insidious disease.

M s. Reyes is the managing editor of Rice Today.

(From left) IRRI’s associate scientist Rhulyx Mendoza, researcher Pauline Capistrano, plant breeder Bertrand Collard, and plant pathologist Casiana Vera Cruz are working together to develop bacterial blight-resistant rice.

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12 Rice Today O ct o b e r-D e ce m b e r 2013

Unmindful of the heat and the humid air circulating from an industrial fan in the glasshouse, Casiana

V era Cruz, plant pathologist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), met with her team to check the progress of the rice plants that exhibit resistance to bacterial blight. Several rows of plastic boxes with plants from di erent rice growing countries filled the facility.

“Some varieties are from South Asia while others are from Southeast Asia,” said Dr. V era Cruz. ”The plants look healthy for now but, in the next few weeks, we will see the plants that are more resistant to bacterial blight, as they have been inoculated.”

A deadly disease“Among rice diseases, bacterial blight is one of the most costly,” said Dr. V era Cruz. “It can damage as much as 6 0– 70% of the plant and can even result in crop failure, especially when disease strikes at the seedling stage.”

Once infected at the seedling stage, the leaves turn grayish green

With an ever-evolving pathogen and changing climate, scientists continue to improve defenses against bacterial blight

and roll up. And, as the disease spreads, the leaves turn yellow to straw colored and then wilt. he result can be a grim nightmare for farmers as they helplessly watch their seedlings dry up and die.

This is exactly what happened to farmers in Haryana and Punj ab states in India in 19 80 when for the first time, the rice they were growing succumbed to a bacterial blight outbreak. It is the same disease that has been associated with maj or epidemics that ruined the fortunes of farmers in China, K orea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri L anka, Myanmar, L aos, Taiwan, Thailand, and V ietnam. The disease also occurs in Australia and Africa.

It is no surprise that farmers are taking this disease seriously. Although there are chemicals developed to control this disease, none of them are completely e ective at eliminating outbreaks.

Breeders at workHowever, farmers no longer need to worry spend very much on chemicals

to combat bacterial blight thanks to the scientists at IRRI and other research organizations who have been scouring the world for rice plants that have natural resistance to bacterial blight.

“Many improved rice varieties now have maj or genes for resistance to the disease,” said Dr. Bertrand Collard, IRRI plant breeder. “Thus, the chances of farmers losing their crop to bacterial blight are lower.”

As early as the 19 70s and ‘80s, rice scientists found varieties TK M6 and DV 85 that had inherent resistance to bacterial blight. Recently, researchers have identified more than 30 genes (named X a1 to X a3 8 ) that impart blight resistance.

“Making rice resistant is not only most economical, but it is also a sustainable way of controlling bacterial blight,” said Dr. V era Cruz. “A good example is IR20, one of the elite varieties that has been promoted by IRRI since 19 75. Even after more than 35 years, IR20, which carries the X a4 gene, is still resistant to some strains of bacterial blight.”

Beating blight

by Lanie Reyes

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26 Rice Today July-September 2011 27Rice Today July-September 2011

1 S arwar G M , K han M H . 2 0 0 7 . S ea L ev el R ise: A T hreat to the C o ast o f B ang ladesh. I nternatio nales A sienf o rum. V o l. 3 3 (3 – 4 ): 3 7 5 -3 9 7 . 2 www. ipcc. ch/ ipccrepo rts/ sres/ reg io nal/ 3 0 0 . htm.

ach year, during the bo ro seaso n(N o v ember-M ay), salinity is so

high that a white film of salt envelops paddy fields in the co astal areas o f B ang ladesh. F o r B ang ladeshi f armers, this white co lo r o n to p o f their so il is a warning sig n that their land is “ sick . ” S alinity is ev en dubbed “ the white plag ue” in A ustralia’ s newspapers and mag az ines, which indicates the serio usness o f the pro blem when it strik es.

(I R R I ) plant breeder who is no w based in A f rica, there are two ways to co mbat the pro blem o f salinity— either chang e the plant’ s g ro wing env iro nment (mak e it no rmal) o r chang e its g enetic architecture so that it can g ro w in such areas.

The first approach re uires major eng ineering pro cesses to impro v e so il

uality, which are often expensive for small and marg inal f armers,” D r. S ing h said. “ T he seco nd appro ach, which is breeding cro p v arieties with b u ilt- in salinity to lerance, is the mo st pro mising . I t needs f ewer reso urces, is eco no mical, and is so cially acceptable. ”

F o r I R R I , mak ing plants to lerate salt stress, up to an extent, is the way to go. T he I nstitute has inv ested its reso urces f o r many years to dev elo p v arieties that can so lv e f armers’ pro blems in saline-pro ne areas.

Farmers’ defenseI t has been mo re than a decade no w since the disco v ery o f Saltol — a g ene that co nf ers salinity to lerance (see L ess salt, please in R ice Tod ay , V o l. 6 , N o . 2 ). G lenn G reg o rio , an I R R I plant breeder, credited mo st o f salinity to lerance to the dev elo pment o f I R 6 6 9 4 6 -3 R -1 7 8 -1 -1 , po pularly k no wn as F L 4 7 8 . T he Saltol g ene had been inco rpo rated into this variety, and had shown significant to lerance o f salinity.

S ince then, thro ug h mo lecular-assisted breeding , the I R R I multidisciplinary team o n salinity to lerance co mpo sed o f physio lo g ist

Bangladesh combats the WHITE PLAGUE

Story by Lanie C. ReyesPhotos by Isagani Serrano

Salt may be a blessing to good cooking, but, in rice cultivation, it is a deadly sin

I n B ang ladesh, salinity af f ects aro und 1 millio n hectares. F urthermo re, some climate experts say that sea-level rise will cause the co untry’ s landscape to beco me “ sick er. ”

N o o ther co untry in S o uth A sia is mo re v ulnerable to sea-lev el rise than densely po pulated B ang ladesh. 1 W ith hig her sea lev el, mo re areas wo uld be af f ected by cyclo nic surg es; inland freshwater lakes, ponds, and a uifers co uld also be af f ected by saline-water

and brack ish-water intrusio n acco rding to the I nterg o v ernmental P anel o n C limate C hang e. 2

M d. L utf o r R ahman, a 6 2 -year-o ld f armer in S atk hira, is no t an alien to salinity. “ E v erything is lo st to salinity,” M r. R ahman said with a sig h. H e was ref erring to the 1 0 ,0 0 0 tak a (U S $ 1 3 5 ) and the labo r he had inv ested in his 0 . 2 hectare o f land. N o w, his f amily is lef t with no thing but a co w. “ T hese rice stalk s will be used as her f eed,” said M r. R ahman.

is next step is to find a job as a labo rer and earn a daily wag e o f 1 5 0 to 2 0 0 tak a ($ 2 – 3 ). “ B ut, o nly G o d k no ws ho w so o n that will be,” he added.

The salty challengeS alt as a seaso ning g o es well with rice—especially in dev elo ping co untries, where the po o r use salt as a dish to acco mpany their bo iled rice. B ut, in rice cultiv atio n, salt has a neg ativ e ef f ect. O nce salt g ets to the ro o ts, it beco mes detrimental to the who le plant.

A cco rding to D r. R . K . S ing h, I nternatio nal R ice R esearch I nstitute

A bdelbag i I smail, mo lecular bio lo g ist M ik e T ho mso n, D r. R . K . S ing h, and D r. G reg o rio as well as co untry partners in A sia and A f rica were able to intro g ress Saltol into po pular rice v arieties.

O ne o f these v arieties is B R R I dhan4 7 , which was released in B ang ladesh in 2 0 0 7 . I t is an I R R I -bred v ariety, labeled as I R 6 3 3 0 7 - 4 B - 4 -3 , which was ev aluated and released by the B ang ladesh R ice R esearch I nstitute (B R R I ) in co llabo ratio n with the I R R I team f o r salinity to lerance no w headed by D r. G reg o rio .

“ T he dev elo pment o f B R R I dhan4 7 is o ne o f the best results o f a stro ng co llabo ratio n between I R R I and B R R I ,” said D r. M d. A bdul M annan, B R R I directo r g eneral. “ T he transf er o f materials f ro m I R R I that can perf o rm in stress co nditio ns and the I nstitute’ s assistance in o ur manpo wer dev elo pment thro ug h bo th sho rt- and lo ng -term training have played a key role in this project.

“ N o w, B R R I dhan4 7 is creating enthusiasm amo ng B ang ladeshi f armers in co astal areas because it is helping them allev iate their po v erty and secure their f o o d f o r the who le year,” said D r. M d. Rafi ul Islam, principal plant breeder on salinity to lerance at B R R I .

J ust a bund away f ro m M r. R ahman’ s farm, a 0.4-hectare rice field is teeming with ripening rice g rains. I t is o wned by Sirajul Islam, 50. ust like Mr. Rahman, he experimented by planting different k inds o f v arieties each seaso n, ho ping that o ne co uld surv iv e the land’ s salinity.

high envelopsE

BRRI dhan47 helps farmers like Md. Lutfor Rahman to overcome salinity in Bangladesh.

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28 Rice Today July-September 2011 29Rice Today July-September 2011

T he o nly dif f erence between them is that M r. I slam tried B R R I dhan4 7 .

“ W ith the way my rice is g ro wing now, I am expecting a good harvest, Mr. I slam said.

“ B R R I dhan4 7 is better,” M r. R ahman readily ag reed.

A no ther f armer in S atk hira, A bu A bdullah, 3 5 , was also enthusiastic. H e had g o o d reaso ns. T hree years ag o , he co uld no t harv est anything because his fields had become too salty for his reg ular v ariety. D uring tho se lean years, he bo rro wed mo ney ev en at a v ery hig h interest rate o f 2 % per week .

H e said that he was mo re than happy to see that rice co uld o nce ag ain g ro w o n his salty land. And, he is expecting to harv est 4 to 5 to ns at the end o f the bo ro seaso n.

N o w, M r. A bdullah ho pes to start repaying his lo ans. “ I may no t be able to write o f f all my debts immediately, but, at least, I can pro g ram my payments in 2 years,” he said.

J ust lik e mo st f armers in the wo rld, B ang ladeshi f armers are mo stly subsistence f armers. T hey cultiv ate rice o n a piece o f land f o r their f o o d.

“ W hen salinity strik es, they can no lo ng er g ro w f o o d and they can’ t af f o rd to buy food, explained Dr. Islam. For these peo ple, there is no o ptio n. F o r them, the dif f erence o f hav ing salinity-to lerant v arieties is between no thing and so mething . ”

A nd, this “ dif f erence” co uld ev entually hav e an impact natio nwide.

“ O ur f o o d security depends entirely o n rice pro ductio n,” said D r. M d. K hairul B ashar, B R R I directo r f o r research. “ E v en if salinity-to lerant v arieties co v er o nly half a millio n hectares that are af f ected by salinity, the ef f ect will be tremendo us,” he added.

D r. G reg o rio is also happy to see this po sitiv e result because to mak e rice withstand salinity is the heart o f his team s job at IRRI. Seeing our work in the field gives us this great feeling of fulfillment, he shared.

“Humble” riceA side f ro m its yield, f armers pref er B R R I dhan4 because of its erect ag leaves. D r. G reg o rio described it as a “ humble” v ariety. A t a distance, the g rains are no t no ticeable at o nce because o f the cro p’ s green, erect ag leaves on top of the rice

fields. But, hidden just below the green ag leaves are stooping panicles heavy

with round fat grains making the grains less co nspicuo us to birds.

“ B R R I dhan4 7 is no t a lo dg ing type,” said D r. I slam. “ I t remains erect when so me v arieties bend o v er f ro m the f o rce o f a stro ng wind.

“ T he f armers also lik e its lo ng stalk s o f 1 0 0 – 1 1 0 centimeters, which stay g reen ev en at maturity, because they use them as f eed f o r their cattle and ro o f thatches f o r their ho mes,” he added.

To the rescueB R R I dhan4 7 also made its mark in helping the liv es o f B ang ladeshi f armers when cyclo ne A ila decimated the rice fields in the southern part of the country in 2 0 0 9 . A ila bro ug ht with her sea water that encro ached o n po nds and riv ers. Some fields remained ooded by sea

water f o r so me time, thus increasing the salinity in the so il,” D r. I slam said.

T he v ariety was then co nsidered as a so lutio n by the U nited N atio ns F o o d and A g riculture O rg aniz atio n (F A O ) to help B ang ladeshi f armers reco v er f ro m the disaster. F A O , thro ug h the D epartment o f Agricultural xtension, distributed 2.5 to ns o f B R R I dhan4 7 seed to 1 5 ,0 0 0 f arm ho useho lds af f ected by the cyclo ne.

A f terward, an F A O -co mmissio ned study assessed the perf o rmance o f B R R I dhan4 7 in the A ila-af f ected so uthern reg io n. 3 T he results sho wed that B R R I dhan4 7 did perf o rm well. B eing able to to lerate salinity up to 1 2 deci-S iemens

per meter, the v ariety was able to g iv e f armers a g o o d harv est that rang ed f ro m 4 . 0 to 7 . 2 to ns per hectare, with an av erag e o f 5 . 5 to ns. I t is f o und to be profitable, with an average net return o f 3 5 ,6 9 3 tak a ($ 4 8 3 ) per hectare and a mean benefit-cost ratio of . .4

Version 2.0W itho ut a do ubt, B R R I dhan4 7 has made a po sitiv e impressio n o n f armers. B ut, “ B R R I dhan4 7 is no t a perf ect v ariety,” stated D r. G reg o rio . “ J ust lik e an electronic gadget, it is just the first model. The next variety will be even better. ”

A chiev ing a better model, however, re uires k no wledg e o f what f armers lik e o r ho w f armers define a better variety. T his is why I R R I plant breeders, alo ng with their natio nal partners, inv o lv e f armers in a pro cess called participato ry v arietal selectio n (P V S ).

T hro ug h P V S , plant breeders were able to learn that, aside f ro m salinity to lerance, f armers in S atk hira pref er the lo ng , slender type o f rice g rains, while f armers in S o nag az i lik e sho rt, bo ld o nes. F armers also f av o r the no nshattering type o f v ariety because they carry newly harv ested panicles f ro m their fields to be threshed at their homes.

Although farmers are satisfied with the amo unt o f rice that B R R I dhan4 7 yields, it g o es witho ut saying that f armers desire a better-yielding salinity-to lerant v ariety in the f uture.

Good seedSaltol co ntributes abo ut 4 5 % o f the salinity to lerance in rice. B ut, ev en with this uantifiable success, Dr. regorio and his team co ntinue to ro ll up their sleev es in o rder to pinpo int the lo catio n o f the g ene o n the chro mo so me. T heir aim is to impro v e the perf o rmance o f salinity-to lerant v arieties and to minimiz e trial and erro r in breeding . S o , they hav e embark ed on fine-mapping and marker-assisted back cro ssing f o r the Saltol g ene.

U sing new so urces o f g ermplasm in mapping more uantitative trait lo ci (Q T L s) f o r salinity to lerance, they discovered major T s on chromosomes 1 , 7 , 8 , and 1 0 . A nd, they were able to identif y three putativ e candidate g enes, SKC1, SalT, and pectinesterase.

“ W e are presently wo rk ing to ward identif ying and co mbining mo re g enes related to salinity f o r mo re stable to lerance,” D r. G reg o rio said.

F o r D r. G reg o rio , dev elo ping these v arieties f o r f armers is impo rtant. “ E v erything starts with a g o o d seed,” he said. “ O ne may hav e g o o d manag ement

practices, but, if the seed is no t to lerant o f a stress lik e salinity, it will f ail. A g o o d seed, ho wev er, ev en with f ewer g o o d manag ement practices, can yield so mething so meho w. ”

M o reo v er, g o o d seeds enable farmers to be more confident in investing in their cro ps— applying so me inputs such as f ertiliz ers.

A dynamic businessB R R I dhan4 7 has attracted mo re players in the business o f dev elo pment.

xtension workers from the Department of Agricultural xtension in Bangladesh played an impo rtant ro le in creating awareness abo ut B R R I dhan4 7 . N o ng o v ernment o rg aniz atio ns were also involved in extension work and helped in the distributio n o f seeds.

E v en the priv ate secto r has played a critical ro le in the wider and mo re sustainable ado ptio n o f this techno lo g y.

3 I slam S M F . 2 0 1 0 . I mpact A ssessment R epo rt o f T C P / B G D / 3 2 0 4 ( E ): A F o cus o n P erf o rmance A ssessment o f B R R I dhan4 7 in the S o uth. D hak a. F A O . 4 2 p.

H o w? W hen priv ate co mpanies pro duce and sell salinity-to lerant seeds, they help ensure that seeds that g et to the farmers are pure and certified and of high uality. therwise, if low- uality seeds reach f armers, the credibility o f the techno lo g y will naturally suf f er.

T o o much is at stak e when it co mes to the deliv ery o f a techno lo g y that co mbats climate-related pro blems such as salinity. O nce salinity reaches the so il and water in farmers rice fields, it can literally obliterate rice production in just a f ew days.

B ecause salinity is a real threat to f armers’ f o o d security, IRRI, through its projects, such as the C o nso rtium f o r U nf av o rable R ice E nv iro nments (C U R E ), no w f unded by the I nternatio nal F und f o r A g ricultural D ev elo pment, and S tress-T o lerant R ice f o r P o o r F armers in A f rica and S o uth A sia (S T R A S A ), which is f unded by the B ill & M elinda G ates F o undatio n, f acilitates and co o rdinates the ef f o rts o f these dif f erent stak eho lders in o rder to distribute seeds o f stress-to lerant rice

v arieties, including B R R I dhan4 7 , to mo re farmers the uickest way possible.

“ A s o f no w, mo re than 5 0 0 to ns o f B R R I dhan4 7 seeds hav e been pro duced and distributed thro ug h S T R A S A partners in so uth and so uthwest B ang ladesh o v er the last 2 years,” said D r. U mesh S ing h, senio r scientist and S T R A S A reg io nal co o rdinato r f o r S o uth Asia. Approximately 450 tons of seed hav e been pro duced during the 2 0 1 0 -1 1 bo ro seaso n, which will be av ailable to farmers in the next crop season.

T he o utlo o k f o r the f uture thro ug h the lens o f climate chang e seems bleak , and maybe ev en scary f o r rice pro ductio n in co astal areas. M o re areas may be af f ected by salinity. B ut, with climate-chang e-ready rice v arieties such as B R R I dhan4 7 , the future is brighter. As the first model that can co mbat salinity, B R R I dhan4 7 is a g o o d start in securing this staple f o o d in saline-pro ne areas o f B ang ladesh.

4 omparison of the present value of an investment decision or project with its initial cost. A ratio of greater than indicates that the project is a viable one.

a g o o d start in securing this staple f o o d in

A FARMER signs up for the participatory varietal selection activity in Pirojpur District, Bangladesh.

(Left to right) DR. MD. Rafiqul Islam, plant breeder; Dr. Md. Khairul Bashar, director for research; Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, director general of BRRI; and Dr. Glenn Gregorio, IRRI plant breeder, discuss the traits of BRRI dhan47 at BRRI research station in Gazipur District, Bangladesh.

SALINITY-TOLERANT BRRI dhan47 is not a lodging type, has erect flag leaves, which hide its grains from the birds, and long, green stalks that can be used as roof thatches and feed for the cattle. It can yield 4.0 to 7.2 tons per hectare.

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Rural women are the “seed custodians” in Bangladesh. They play the primary, but

typically unrecognized, role of preserving rice seed after harvest and storing it until it is used to plant the next season’s crop.

If the seed is in poor health, the crop su ers and less rice is harvested, which can leave families hungry. But, if the seed is in optimal condition, the crop can grow well and produce more rice—meaning more food and more money. Having healthy rice seeds could take families and communities a step away from poverty.

However, reaching Bangladeshi rural women, who may be socially isolated or have limited access to basic learning resources, makes sharing of practices for improving the

uality of their seed di cult. The Ashroy Foundation has

taken a female-friendly approach that has proven e ective and it doesn’t involve only women. Improved but low-cost techniques that build on local knowledge to upgrade harvesting and seed management processes such as drying and cleaning are shared with farmers.

“We organized a series of meetings in the courtyard (within the

village) and personal consultations with the women’s husbands, religious leaders, and other in uential people in the local community,” Momotaz K hatun, executive director of the Ashroy Foundation, explains.

“During these sessions, we emphasized that, if women practice the improved methods of rice seed preservation, this will lead to increased yields, increased surplus, and more income for their families.”

The work extends across K hulna, Satkhira, Narail, and Bagerhat districts of Bangladesh and has seen 23,000 farmer participants, including 17,250 women.

According to Ms. K hatun, 83% of the participants adopt the improved practices they learn, and the added benefits include giving the women social mobility and improving family cooperation, especially from their husbands.

This activity is part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in Bangladesh. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) provided technical guidance and demonstrated the improved technologies.

M s. Clayton is the p ublic relations manager at IRRI.

Appearances matter at least for African women who were part of a proj ect that sought to

understand how marketing practices in uence consumer preference between locally produced and imported rice.

In Africa, women undertake much of the work in traditional rainfed, mangrove, and upland rice production systems. However, they often have limited access to land for rice growing, particularly in irrigated environments. Therefore, they typically specialize in postharvest activities, such as processing, quality control, and marketing. But, in order to compete against massive rice imports, they need to e ectively market local rice to consumers.

A study with K har Y alla G ueye, a women’s association in Senegal in West Africa, was conducted at Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) by economist atty emont, ulbright research fellow Caitlin Costello, and sociologist Maï mouna Ndour. The association aims to help women market their local rice varieties more e ectively.

AfricaRice provided training programs to women on business, entrepreneurship and marketing, provided mechanized processing equipment, and developed a home brand for their company.

ac aging is a significant part of how consumers in Senegal decide which rice to buy. Furthermore, ex-perimental auctions have shown that consumers are willing to pay price premiums of 17% for their preferred brand. This demonstrates the need for a greater focus on marketing research as a way to improve the competitive-ness of local rice.

“Marketing is an important tool in adding value to local rice in

enegal, e plained atty emont, IRRI senior economist. “And, it should be used e ectively as organizations work toward increasing demand and creating a successful rice sector.

“Investing in a local brand and creating a distinguishable commercial identity for the women’s association K har Y alla G ueye in Pont G endarme may be one step toward increased competitiveness of the domestic rice sector in Senegal with concomitant impacts on women’s livelihoods,” he concluded.

The study was supported by Syngenta Foundation and the U .S. Fulbright Program.

U pon seeing for herself the promise of Swarna-Sub1, Asha Singh, a mother of two,

decided to encourage her village in Sitamarhi, Bihar, India, to try the new rice variety for themselves.

She mobilized 200 farmers to demonstrate how well the

ood tolerant variety performed. She organized women’s meetings to educate them about climate change and explained how Swarna-Sub1 could help reduce their crop losses due to

ooding. uch is the in uence of a woman

who has been convinced that a technology is good for her and her community.

Y et, Asha is one among millions of rural women who have been left out by agricultural research and development programs, despite the fact that women are the backbone of India’s agricultural workforce. The roles they play are vital in the day-to-day maintenance of their rice farms.

The Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) proj ect has consistently paid special attention to the roles of women in its programs. The STRASA proj ect involves them in participatory varietal selection (PV S). In PV S

activities, women like Asha help choose, evaluate, and disseminate new rice varieties that suit their needs.

“Women farmers have been taking the lead in selecting new rice

varieties for stress-prone areas,” said Dr. Thelma Paris, IRRI scientist and gender specialist.

“These women contribute in decision-making on varietal selection by giving feedback on the cooking and eating quality of rice,” she said. “In this way, women make an important contribution in identifying suitable new varieties.”

M s. B aroñ a- E dra is a p ublic relations sp ecialist at IRRI.

Women in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionWomen in motionby Sophie Clayton

A woman’s touch saves seeds

by Ma. Lizbeth Baroña-Edra

by Ma. Lizbeth Baroña-Edra

Women build a brand

From one woman’s hand to a village’s choice

Syngenta Foundation and the U .S.

and demonstrated the improved important contribution in identifying suitable new varieties.”

In celebration of International W omen' s D ay, we honor the contribution of women in improving rice production and food security in their respective communities and countries.

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WOMEN ARE the backbone of India's agricultural workforce.

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What does it really take to grow rice? IRRI sta� who signed up for Rice Survivor found out for themselves the hard realities of rice production that farmers face everyday. From the backbreaking work of transplanting the seedlings, to battling pests and weeds, to just keeping the crop alive. These challenges have given them new insights about rice farming—and a deep respect for farmers.

15Rice Today Jul y-S e p t e m b e r 2013

Increasing the yield potential of rice has always been the priority in working to increase food security. But, in the race to feed the world,

grain quality, is sometimes forgot-ten. Developing rice varieties without considering grain quality can leave farmers with a low-value product and consumers with rice they find unap-pealing to eat. So, IRRI is developing strategies to improve grain quality in rice with high yield potential.

Grain quality is not a luxuryG rain quality traits such as size, fragrance, shape, texture, color, and taste may be perceived as something of interest to only richer consumers. In fact, rice consumers across the globe look at the same indicators to define their own preferences. Since more than half of the world' s population eats rice, many of whom are poor, the preferences of the poorest rice consumers matter to ensure that their rice is both nutritious and palatable.

L ikewise, farmers see the value of grain uality because better uality means higher prices, and this can translate into more profit. owever, some farmers continue to plant low-yielding varieties—because the grain quality of higher yielding varieties is unacceptable to local consumers. So, ensuring good or even better grain quality is one way of encouraging farmers to adopt more productive rice varieties.

G rain quality is also an important factor during the milling process. It determines whether the grains can withstand milling without breaking. Broken grains have a lower value and can reduce the quantity of grain that reaches the consumers.

Uncompromised quality“In the past, increasing yield somehow compromised grain quality. But unimpaired grain quality and optimum yield are something that we would like to have at the end of the day,” explains

Nese Sreenivasulu, head of the G rain Q uality and Nutrition Center (G Q NC) at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). “Since 2004, the G Q NC team has been analyzing various grain quality traits in di erent types of rice to help breeders select and develop varieties with enhanced grain quality.

“G rain composition matters to the whole community because of its commercial importance. That’s why we are improving grain quality by also increasing the grain’s nutritional value,” says Dr. Sreenivasulu.

The G Q NC team evaluates physical traits (chalkiness, head rice yield, milling potential, and grain dimensions) and several biochemical traits (amylose content, gelatinization temperature, gel consistency, viscosity, grain elongation, and aroma). These traits help assess milling potential and grain composition, the two maj or aspects of overall grain quality.

In addition to increasing the yield p otential of rice, develop ing rice with high grain q uality is essential so farmers can enefit from its higher commercial alue

In search of the perfect grainby Gladys Ebron

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46 Rice Today January-March 2013

A city with a heart for rice

Singapore is well known for its food culture, which contains a fusion of cuisines from all over

the world. The bustling city-state prides

itself on having highly regarded culinary events every year that attract top local and international chefs. These events are very popular among Singaporeans, who are always interested in learning new recipes and participating in cooking workshops.

In November 2012, the IRRI Fund Singapore participated in Asian M asters, a maj or annual culinary event in which celebrity chefs share their savoir-faire with the public in hotels, restaurants, galleries, and boutiques.

IRRI Fund Singapore partnered with L am Soon and j oined the Masterchef Workshop held at G reat World City, where a demo cooking and tasting workshop using L am Soon’s Naturel Organic Brown Rice attracted uite a large audience.

This is part of the role of IRRI Fund Singapore: to hold public awareness events on the importance of rice and rice research as well as to attract potential donors. .All the money raised by the IRRI Fund goes to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to support its work with hundreds of research and development partners across Asia.

by Flaminia Lilli

Although it’ s a high- tech p owerhouse city, Singap ore has its culture and future rooted in rice

The Asian M asters was a perfect avenue to further share IRRI’s work with Singapore’s public and realize that rice is always a staple close to the heart of any Asian country.

Investing its future in riceToday’s youth are the producers of tomorrow’s food. Thus, making them interested in and appreciative of how rice is produced can never be overemphasized.

Students and teachers had a chance to grow rice through

ingapore s first ever Rice rowing Competition launched in June 2012.

IRRI Fund Singapore organized this contest with Science Centre Singapore in conj unction with the 2012 World Food Day. With its theme, “Agricultural Cooperatives—key to feeding the world,” the competition sought to equip teachers with content knowledge in life sciences, particularly rice biology and geography, as well as with the skills needed to initiate rice growing as a proj ect in their schools.

Fifteen teachers from 10 schools were given rice seeds supplied by IRRI for them to grow. The amount of rice grains harvested was a key j udging criterion of the competition. Other criteria were a 5-minute presentation on the process of cultivating rice crops in school and a creative task involving rice.

The participants presented their pro ects for final udging on 5 November. The winners of the competition were Dr. G oh Y an Y ih’s

team from the Anglo Chinese School and Ms. Angelene Tan’s team from Dunman Secondary School for their acumen in growing rice and doing creative Rangoli art work.

“Singapore is a cosmopolitan city and some of us have never seen a rice field, let alone e perience growing a rice plant,” shared L im

it eng, chief e ecutive, cience Centre Singapore. “Through this competition, Science Centre wishes to cultivate local appreciation for the rice we eat every day and build awareness of issues related to food security, including an escalating world population.”

Each team displayed much enthusiasm and creativity in growing rice. Students from the Anglo Chinese School, led by their teacher, Dr. G oh Y an Y ih, grew rice with hydroponic and aeroponic systems, whereas the team from Dunman Secondary School used styrofoam bo es. ventually, both schools were rewarded with a science study trip to IRRI to be held in 2013.

e are e cited to host the winners of this first rice competition, said eo Chen Ian, e ecutive director of IRRI Fund Singapore. “Folks from ingapore will get first hand e perience in growing rice and learn about rice ecosystems, at the oldest rice research institute in Asia. This brings appreciation of rice to a whole new level.”

M s. L illi is the p artnership develop ment manager at IRRI F und Singap ore.

brings appreciation of rice to a whole new level.”

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A CHEF is whipping up a rice dish during a demo cooking during the Asian Masters event.

SINGAPOREAN high-school students get creative in a Rangoli-making competition.

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Size and shapeDr. Sreenivasulu explains that rice has a rich diversity in grain size and shape, and consumer preferences for these traits vary among di erent regions. For instance, in India, people in the northwest area prefer long grains while those in the east like short grains.

“With the recent success in identifying various genes for grain si e, we are in a better position to breed new rice varieties with short or long grains to suit distinct regional preferences,” Dr. Sreenivasulu says.

ChalkinessG rain appearance is j udged by its opacity or chalkiness—or to the nonexperts—how translucent or how white it is. Consumers generally prefer rice with a translucent grain. Hence, chalky rice is less acceptable in the market.

Chalkiness is also undesirable because it makes rice grains weak and prone to breaking when milled. Rice with broken grains fetches a much lower price in the market. So, from a marketing perspective, high quality often means more whole grains after milling.

In 2012, in an IRRI study supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, elissa i gerald, then head of G Q NC, and her team identified important genetic information on what makes rice chalky. With this discovery, IRRI

scientists are optimistic about developing higher quality chalk-free rice varieties in the future.

Aroma Aroma is an important trait that is generally associated with high quality grains such as those of j asmine and basmati rice. IRRI and other research institutions have shown that most aromatic rice shares the same version of the aroma gene, badh2 . Farmers have highly prized rice with this gene for thousands of years. i erent rice varieties with this gene were widely adopted throughout the ancient rice-growing world.

However, what makes rice grains aromatic remains a scientific mystery today. Although 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), the main aromatic compound responsible for the fragrance of j asmine and basmati rice varieties, has been identified, more than 1 0 di erent un nown aromatic compounds exist, says Dr. Sreenivasulu. Researchers are yet to fully understand the significance of those compounds in contributing to aroma.

Taster. i gerald and other collaborating

scientists conducted research to di erentiate premium rice from “second best” varieties from Thailand, China, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, Pakistan, India, Iran, and Brazil. Through descriptive

sensory analyses with a group of trained panellists, they found that sweet taste played a maj or role in distinguishing the premium rice varieties among consumers in Southeast Asia.

TextureThe economic value of rice also depends on its cooking and eating qualities. In South Asia, particularly in India and Pakistan, aromatic basmati rice is highly preferred for its dry texture as the grains never stick to each other. In Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and L ao PDR, aromatic and slightly sticky j asmine rice is highly desired.

Amylose content and gel consistency strongly in uence the cooking and eating characteristics of rice. Dr. Sreenivasulu explains that rice with high amylose content is harder and nonsticky when cooked. These are the kinds that are most suited for people with type 2 diabetes. When cooked rice cools, rice with high amylose content can be

either firm or soft as indicated by its gel consistency. Hard gel consistency often means the coo ed rice is firmer.

“We are also interested in explor-ing grains with high protein content and combining this trait with high amylose in rice to reduce its glycemic index,” Dr. Sreenivasulu says. “By manipulating amylose content among other factors, we can in uence grain quality to make rice healthier.”

Sensory evaluationU nderstanding rice’s composition and desirable traits is only the first step to improving grain quality. The next step, perhaps the most important one, is to have the value of these traits validated by consumers.

This is where Rosa Paula Cuevas, a postdoctoral fellow at G Q NC, comes in. She conducts a regular sensory evaluation of rice with a

group of panelists to better describe and understand the “mouthfeel” and other uality attributes of rice. he hopes that sensory evaluation can bridge what people experience when they eat rice with what scientists understand about grain components.

“Although amylose content and gel consistency can measure hardness, these do not give a complete picture of what consumers perceive,” Dr. Cuevas says. “That’s when sensory evaluation can be used to explore what current routine tests are missing out on. It helps ensure that rice breeding programs re ect the qualities that consumers want.”

Seeds for the futureAccording to Dr. Sreenivasulu, environmental conditions such as drought, salinity, ooding, and high temperature adversely a ect grain quality.

ur goal at C is to attain high grain quality while maintaining high yield in the face of unfavorable environments,” he says. “As of now, we do not fully understand how climate change alters the grain-filling process at the molecular level. Therefore, our priority should remain with developing varieties with the best grain quality suited for the changing climate.

“Our strategy is to explore the vast genetic diversity of rice in the International Rice G enebank, harness what is already known about quality traits across di erent environments, and uncover potential genes conferring enhanced grain quality under abiotic stresses,” he says. “This will help rice breeders select traits that are of interest for consumers and incorporate those traits into new rice varieties.”

For Dr. Sreenivasulu and his team, the work has a long way to go. “IRRI further needs to complement the outcome of this holistic knowledge to optimize precision breeding in order to develop the best quality rice that is suited for changing environments,” he concludes.

s ron is a pu lic relations o cer at IRRI.

THE IDENTIFICATION of important genetic information on what makes rice chalky could lead to chalk-free rice varieties in the future.

SCIENTISTS AT IRRI are using molecular technology to incorporate desirable milling, cooking, and processing quality traits into breeding programs. M

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DR. NESE Sreenivasulu (left), head of the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, and his team including Dr. Rosa Paula Cuevas (far right)aim to help deliver high-quality rice varieties.

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43Rice Today O ct o b e r-D e ce m b e r 2013

Grain of truthGrain of truth

.

In 2000, Science ournal s rea through of the ear

was full genome se uencinghighlighting the accomplishment

of decoding a wor ing draft of the three billion base pairs of the human genome at a cost of billion.

t the time, . ennisi wrote that “Science mar s the production of this torrent of genome data as the brea through of 2000 it might well be the brea through of the decade, perhaps even the century, for all its potential to alter our view of the world we live in.

Come 200 , another brea through followed this time focusing on the remar able amount of human genetic variation identified through the first human ap ap pro ect using three million single nucleotide polymorphism (or pronounced as snip ) mar ers, which are basically changes in the code that di er between individuals.

ubse uent advances have led scientists to pinpoint s lin ed to specific traits that help define who we are ranging from mar ers associated with eye color and bitter taste perception to the predisposition for diabetes and l heimer s disease.

hese achievements have now ushered in the age of personal genomics giving each individual access to nowing about his/her own genome and the predictions it contains. hese can be done through, for e ample, the genetic testing company 2 nd e, which uses a chip with more than

00,000 s simply by sending a saliva sample through the mail, and Illumina s Individual enome

e uencing, which has brought the cost of the personal genome down to less than 10,000.

s with many advances in biology, cutting edge research developed through a large in u of funding in the biomedical sciences

Rice genetics gets personal

often tric les down to agricultural research as well a cascading e ect that has started to revolutioni e rice genetics. or much of the last century, rice breeders have been ta ing advantage of the heredity of rice varieties without the benefit of nowing the specific genes that control traits such as high grain yield or disease resistance. his is uic ly changing because of brea throughs in molecular genetics across the globe and the characteri ation of the wealth of genetic diversity in rice geneban s.

t the same time, new technology has provided rapid, low cost mar er

its laboratory infrastructure by investing in cutting edge e uipment for genetic testing of samples.

In line with this direction, we have recently established the

enotyping ervices aboratory ( ) within the lant reeding,

enetics, and iotechnology ivision at IRRI. he lab aims to e ciently provide high uality, cost e ective

e traction and mar er genotyping services to research and breeding programs within IRRI and the lobal Rice cience artnership, the C I R Research rogram on Rice, across sia and frica. Current facilities provide genomewide molecular mar ers for genetic mapping, diversity analysis, and fingerprinting as well as trait specific mar ers for breeding programs to select specific traits of interest.

nother e citing development is the founding of the enomic Institute of sia ( I ), a nonprofit startup located on the IRRI campus initiated by the managing director of I Industries. sing the Ion orrent system, I is bringing rapid ne tgeneration se uencing to fast trac genetic discovery and genotyping activities at IRRI and for its partners. ust as the human genome se uence

and personal genomics are now transforming medical research, similar advances in rice genetics promise to accelerate discoveries and supercharge e orts toward developing improved rice varieties that can meet future challenges. lthough the rice plants may not appreciate the power of personal genomics, the rice breeder who needs to select the best individual rice plant in a field of 10,000 will certainly be than ful.

D r. T homson is a molecular genetics and mark er ap p lications sp ecialist at IRRI.

L isten to a p odcast on IRRI radio about the at h p sn im irri-gsl

rice plant in a field of 10,000 will

"IRRI has been a key player in the genomics revolution in rice—

making key investments to leverage new knowledge and technology to accelerate progress in research and

breeding."

genotyping that enables alleles at important genes to be trac ed and transferred into new improved rice varieties e ciently.

he International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has been a ey player in the genomics revolution in ricema ing ey investments to leverage new nowledge and technology to accelerate progress in research and breeding. rait development teams at IRRI, in collaboration with advanced universities such as niversity of California avis, have successfully identified high impact genes for breeding. ne good e ample is the SU B 1 gene that confers tolerance of submergence in popular rice varieties.

t the same time, the . . Chang enetic Resources Center has wor ed

to characteri e valuable rice accessions with high density chips and ne t generation se uencing. Its ultimate goal is to se uence the entire geneban . IRRI has recently upgraded

46 Rice Today Jul y-S e p t e m b e r 2013

Grain of truthGrain of truth

Arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead are four ubi uitous trace elements nown to have a harmful e ect on human

health. hese elements are naturally present at very low concentrations in the environment, and human bodies are able to deto ify them in limited amounts.

ost of what we now about to icity of these elements comes from case studies of people who were e posed to the to ins through unrecogni ed pollution sources. In these cases, the people were e posed to the to in through many ways such as air, water, and food simultaneously.

o far, no evidence shows clearly that rice consumption, by itself, has had to ic e ects on humans.

ut, since the e ects of longterm chronic e posure are not well

nown, people are concerned that rice consumption might e pose them to these elements and endanger their health. his concern has led to interesting scientific investigation and discussion in the years since I last wrote on this topic (see Are we at risk from metal contamination in rice on page , ol. , o. of Rice T oday).

Arsenic f these four elements, arsenic

remains the biggest concern. rsenic can move from the soil into rice grain, and rice produced in high arsenic soil has higher arsenic than average.

he arsenic in soil or irrigation water is sometimes high enough to inhibit plant growth, resulting in low yield. cientists have already identified rice varieties that grow well in high arsenic conditions and can minimi e arsenic accumulation in the grain. o, plant breeding programs can potentially develop even safer varieties. lso, rice plants in more

ooded soil (anaerobic conditions) ta e up more arsenic. o, an e ective

Rice, health, and toxic metals

way to lessen arsenic upta e is to use moderately dryer growing methods through irrigation management. he relative to icity of di erent chemical forms of arsenic is still debated. ut, the science for di erentiating among these forms is progressing rapidly. I hope that we will soon now which forms of arsenic are safer and which forms accumulate in rice grains under di erent conditions.

Cadmium Cadmium is second as a public concern about to ins in rice. e now that rice plants can ta e up cadmium from polluted soil and produce grains with elevated cadmium concentration. owever, very few reports have shown cadmium concentrations higher than the allowable limit for rice grains, even when they are grown in moderately polluted soil.

ut, not everyone agrees on what this allowable limit should be. Cadmium is nown to be more li ely ta en up by rice plants when the soil is aerobic (the opposite of arsenic). o, one way to minimi e cadmium upta e would be continuous ooding.

tudies to understand and identify the genes that control the movement of cadmium from rice roots into the grains are in progress including the identification of genes that essentially prevent cadmium from reaching rice grains. hese genes can be helpful in plant breeding programs to ensure that all new rice varieties have a very low cadmium ris .

Mercury he mercury content of rice has

not received much public attention because of other more important food sources of mercury (most notably, fish). ercury in rice is reportedly lower than allowable limits with the same caveat that these limits are still under discussion.

potential problem is that, although mercury in rice is lower than in fish, a large amount of rice consumed from some contaminated areas may be enough to raise the overall consumption of mercury to a worrisome level. ince moderate mercury contamination is widespread from coal burning e haust, some scientists have been investigating how mercury contamination a ects rice. ne of the more to ic forms, methylmercury, is formed in ooded or intermittently ooded soils and is sometimes present in rice grains.

ome rice varieties are better than others at e cluding mercury from the grains, but we don t now yet how they do this so we cannot recommend which varieties are the safest.

Leadead, on the other hand, received

the least public interest until last month, when an unpublished study indicating high lead in rice was presented at a scientific meeting, causing a publicity stir.

owever, these anomalously high concentrations have not been published scientifically, and the preponderance of published evidence so far indicates that very little lead accumulates in rice grains, even in areas with moderately polluted soil.

ConclusionConsumers need not change their rice eating habits based on any

nown ris s from to ic elements. cientists can now detect very low

amounts of these elements in rice grains. ome studies are being done on how these elements move within soil and rice plants. e hope that these will enable us to develop even safer rice varieties and rice production techni ues.

D r. B eebout is a soil chemist at IRRI.

20 21

Scientists and sta� at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) took on the challenge of personally growing rice in the �eld

Rice Survivor: IRRI’s own reality showby Bianca Paula Ferrer

A diverse array of 20 IRRI scientists and scholars gathered in the great outdoors of the IRRI Experiment Station in

December 2012 to take up a 6 -month-long farming challenge aptly called Rice Survivor. Divided into four teams, they competed to see who could produce the highest yielding rice crop most e ciently and sustainably. This unique proj ect could be called IRRI s first reality show.

“On their relatively small patch of land (1,240– 1,6 00 square meters each), the four Rice Survivor teams had to plan their land preparation, come up with a water management regime, sow seeds or transplant seedlings, look out for pests and diseases, hand-pull some weeds, and decide on various management approaches to use,” said Nicola Wunderlich, agronomy extension specialist at IRRI’s Training Center. “They then had to harvest their crop and compare results.

“They had to plan the season ahead including all the steps involved in between,” she said. “Participants recorded the sources of information that they used in making their crop management decisions. We especially wanted to know how much IRRI’s Rice K nowledge Bank (RK B) was helpful for them.”

According to Rice Survivor co-organizer K atie Nelson who is also an agronomy extension consultant at IRRI, “In its current state, the RK B is a great source of technical information. It' s j ust like a textbook—useful for students and researchers. “It explains

rice k nowledge on pages 36 -37 of Rice T oday V ol. 8, No. 3).

Meet the survivorshe four teams of five persons each imaginatively named

themselves: M atatag (Filipino for strong), Hayahay(Filipino for comfortable), the Double Trouble Makers, and the Future Techs.

The men and women team members were a

mix of nationalities (seven countries) and scientific

backgrounds, but with no experience in actually growing a

rice crop. Their disciplines included molecular biology, social science, geography, education, computer science, and horticulture.

Matatag team members hailed from India, Myanmar, U SA, and the Philippines. “We chose wetland preparation because it’s traditional and we thought it would be a good experience for us,” said Jason Beebout, a consultant at IRRI currently working with the Cereal Systems Initiative in South Asia-Bangladesh proj ect.

Members of Team Hayahay brought a wide range of experiences to the competition. “We picked certified seed of the hilippine rice variety NSIC Rc 222 that was bred at IRRI,” said Adam Sparks, a postdoctoral fellow and member of IRRI’s G eographic Information Systems unit. “Our yield goal was an ambitious 7 tons per hectare,” he added. “We did traditional transplanting and traditional primary dry tillage; and then, we puddled the

‘what a technology is’ but, provides less information on ‘why’ or when a technology could be used.

“Our survivor teams discovered that there are gaps of practical information in the RK B and so we will focus on improving this,” Ms. Nelson said. “Much of the information about managing a rice crop came from colleagues, experts, published research, among other sources. Ideally, the RK B should be the primary source of information on rice production and we are working towards this goal.”

The RK B was launched in 2002 when the Training Center decided to bring together all current validated rice-farming knowledge from IRRI. The idea is for it to become a one-stop shop of online information for extension and farming communities in partner countries (see B ank ing our

Rice Today Jul y-S e p t e m b e r 2013 2147Rice Today January-March 2013

which a young agronomist can be fast trac ed. In their first five years, a research agronomist should engage 20% of his/ her time in extension. The U nited States land-grant system suggests that this should be the norm for his/her whole career. lso, during the first five years, both research and extension agronomists need a defined pro ect to manage. If a young professional develops a competency early for an e tension domain (for e ample, a rainfed tworice crop system) and the nuances across that domain, he/she will then develop confidence to wor in any ecosystem.

G one are the days when a department head directed all activities. oung professionals need space and opportunity to develop their own creativity around issues.

his will help them see farmers as sources of innovations, and be able to ta e more leadership roles in research and extension.

Agronomists need skills to work in a multichannel research and extension system along with the government and the entire industry. armers, too, should have a strong voice in directing research and extension. For the extension domain, it is a good move that IRRI is e ploring the development of a placement program that enables young researchers and extension agents to develop s ills to operate in a multiactor system.

gronomy has been neglected, but the pressure for raising yield ceilings for food security in an environmentally sustainable way requires a new generation of agronomists to ta e up the challenge.

D r. M agor is the head of IRRI’ s T raining Center and p rogram leader for G rowth of the Rice Sector.

See related video on Y ouT ube about the importance of agronomy at h p youtue l d

Grain of truthGrain of truth

There was a time in recent years when it was apparent that an

agronomist was a threatened species. overnment funding focused

on infrastructure, industry, health, and education—not quite on agriculture. he private agricultural sector in developing countries was in its infancy, and s were more concerned with microfinance than technical assistance that may give farmers new economic opportunities.

he I industry, ban ing, engineering, and medicine were the professions for those with top scores in high school.

his was not ust a developingcountry trend. ctually, the agricultural profession has been getting less and less attractive to bright young people around the world.

raditional agricultural schools, in ustralia for e ample, saw reduced

enrollments. nd, with pressure on university funding, some agricultural schools were merged with the environmental sciences. he status of being a farmer in society overall was low. his has not always been the case, though. I am the son of a farmer; for me, it was a source of pride.

In the early 2000s, I became aware of these changes. As a result, the status of agronomy as a profession also became less popular.

Changing perspectivesAgriculture had become a neglected in-dustry, with declining funds since the late 1 0s. ince then, research, public e tension services, and infrastructure for agriculture had been in decline.

Come the 21st century, agriculture and agronomy saw more problems. Aside from the 2008 global food crisis and pest outbrea s, climate change made food security more uncertain. Add to this the challenges of a steadily rising population and scarcities of water, land, and a productive agricultural system. ll these serve as a wa eup call and represent a turning point in seeing the importance of an agronomist.

What needs to be revivedgronomy is about crop production. lthough a researcher may speciali e

in weed science or soil science, he/she must become comfortable with all aspects of crop production, including postharvest and the value chain up to the market.

good turning point for the story of agronomists is how some organi ations wor to sustain their value.

t the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a new training course on agronomy is beginning during the 201 dry season. It is called Rice

urvivor. In this program, young scientists and extension agents are following the rice crop over the season for half a day per wee .

Classes are not formal and the IRRI Rice nowledge an (www.

nowledgeban .irri.org) is a reference source and will support production decisions. s much as possible, the trainees are doing most of the operations themselves. hey are

eeping a ournal of all production decisions and discussions. For the dry season this year, four teams are deciding on all aspects of crop management. he practices to be chosen are direct seeded rice, machine transplanted rice and traditional cultivation, and manual transplanting. his emphasi es rice management, decision ma ing, and discovery learning as a team.

Some recommendations his, itself, is not enough. o meet

the challenge of building confidence at the farm level, researchers should have a parallel village e periment for each station e periment as well as an opportunity for farmer focus group discussions. Issues such as land preparation, crop establishment, crop management, and, most importantly, the profitability of growing rice require such an interface.

We also need to look at the attractiveness of a career path, in

The world needs more AGRONOMISTS

22 23

23Rice Today Jul y-S e p t e m b e r 2013

Center. “The middle part of the plot was slightly higher. Y ou can actually feel the di erence when weeding. Weeding the part, which had less water, was very tough. Next time, I’d encourage laser leveling because a level field ma es water and weed management much easier.”

Grains of goldMost participants helped rival teams during the labor-intensive transplanting, weeding, and other farm activities.

“It didn’t feel like several teams working for themselves in individual plots. It was more like one big team working together across several plots,” said Dr. Q uilty. “Rice Survivor gave us an opportunity to really know some IRRI colleagues with whom we normally wouldn’t otherwise interact. Even if it’s j ust for advice, we know now whom to ask.”

Rowena Oane, a biochemist who spends most of her time in a molecular lab at the Plant Breeding, G enetics, and Biotechnology Division, learned to appreciate the management aspect of growing a rice crop. She also found that succeeding in rice farming requires three key factors: technical knowledge, time, and resources.

ach team selected di erent rice-farming strategies enabling them to try di erent IRRI technologies and approaches,” said Rowell Dikitanan, an economist with Team Double Trouble Makers. “Now that I ve become familiar with di erent ways of growing rice, it’s easier for me in my regular j ob when I interact with farmer-interviewees who are adopting similar technologies.”

Team Hayahay’ s Man Marcaida,

who works in water management in CESD, said, “Farming is a community undertaking. We started as competitors ready to beat the other teams, but instead we actually helped one another with various management activities, even coming up with collective decisions involving water management and controlling rats. It highlights that collaboration is very important for what we do here at IRRI.”

The third criterion, sustainability, had to be dropped this time around. “Judging sustainability proved too di cult as the teams couldn’t measure the amount of water used and some other inputs,” said Ms. Wunderlich. “But, we are working on a possible assessment scheme for sustainability in a future episode of Rice Survivor.”

Beyond the fact that all the participants “survived,” special

recognition was given to some exemplary survivors. Ms. Annie Barreto received the Proudest Farmer award since she was a standout in caring for her field on a daily basis. Dr. Magor was named Most Obsessive Weeder. Sarah Beebout won the Best Record K eeping award while Jason Beebout was named Most Altruistic.

Ms. Rowena Castillo was the Best Communicator while Dr. Q uilty was the Best Team Player.

“I think each team member came out a winner,” concluded Dr. Magor. “This challenge provided a rich practical experience for all participants in coming to grips with growing rice. It provided satisfaction for each person. The sense of solidarity and learning from each other and the IRRI Experiment

tation sta was a plus for each of us and for IRRI.”

M s. F errer is a p ublic relations sp ecialist at IRRI.

F ollow the adventures of the Rice Survivors at h p ricesur i or logspotcom . L isten to nine survivor p odcasts on IRRI Radio at h ps soundcloud comirri-radio sets rice-sur i or.

RICE SURVIVORS get to know more about some rice diseases from rice pathology expert Nancy Castilla (center).

At the �nish lineSo how did the teams fare at the end of the challenge? Well, all “survived” with varying degrees of success.

The Double Trouble Makers harvested 7.3 tons per hectare from NSIC Rc 222—the highest from a single rice variety. They also got 6 .0 tons per hectare from their other variety, Pirurutong. Team Hayahay got a combined yield of 6 .8 tons per hectare from their two varieties, NSIC Rc 222 and NSIC Rc 148. Teams Matatag and Future Techs harvested 4.9 and 4.8 tons per hectare, respectively.

Team Double Trouble Makers also won in terms of overall profitability. Its profit was 40 ( h 1 ,4 1) while Team Hayahay that gained 2 1 ( h 12,0 4) came in second.

Team Matatag and Team Future Techs profited 22 ( h , ) and (PhP3,816 ), respectively.

22 Rice Today Jul y-S e p t e m b e r 2013

field. fter that, we did a secondary wet tillage and then a final smoothing before we transplanted.”

“Our team decided to do a regular puddled and transplanted field, e plained arah eebout, a soil chemist on Team Double Trouble Makers. “We decided on this traditional cultivation because there are a lot of weeds here in this part of the research farm. And, it’s very well-suited for lowland rice production.

“We also tried mechanical transplanting rather than hand transplanting of two di erent varieties,” Dr. Beebout added. “In one half of the plot, we tried a popular cultivar, NSIC Rc 222, while in the other half, we tried traditional variety Pirurutong, which has purple grain.”

Team Future Techs was the only group that tried direct seeding. “We opted for mechanized seeding using a 4 wheel tractor attached to a seeder,” said Bhagirath Chauhan, a weed expert. “We think the future of rice farming is in mechanization because getting labor at critical times such as transplanting is becoming more di cult, he e plained.

The diversity of approaches the teams took in how to establish and manage their rice crops and the various management methods employed re ects how farmers themselves operate and make decisions.

Let the games beginhe first real physical challenge for

the teams started with transplanting the rice plants. Everyone quickly realized that this is hard work!

It s my first e perience to pull out the seedlings and sow them row by row,” said V alerien Pede, an economist on Team Hayahay. “It was quite challenging. When I looked back and saw how crooked the rows were, I said to myself, ‘Wow, they look terrible! ’” related Dr. Pede. “I checked what the more experienced guys were doing and then realized I was not doing it right. So, I adj usted. Anyway, I enj oyed the learning process.”

After transplanting, the challenges kept rolling in. There were a few surprises, which worked well for some, but not so well for others.

For example, Team Double Trouble Makers experimented with alternate wet and dry irrigation, which entailed keeping the plot dry for some time. U nfortunately, a well-meaning farm worker irrigated their plot, plus water seeped in from the adj acent plots. So, they switched back to the more traditional continuous ooding irrigation.

The curse of the snailsG olden apple snails were one of the most serious concerns for all competitors. “Y ou can take one

step, and maybe pick up 50 snails, and then take another step and do the same, said Jason Beebout. “It’s overwhelming.”

In the beginning, his team was looking at a good crop stand of one to two tillers per hill, but they had to re-plant after the snails had a chomping frenzy on their seedlings. “One thing that I’ve learned is that we should have thought about snails before the seedlings ever went into the ground,” Mr. Beebout said.

More �eld surprisesTeam Future Techs didn’t have any problem with snails because they went for dry direct seeding, so they didn’t irrigate their plot. But, they had to contend with their own problem when using this practice—weeds.

“We didn’t get it right at the start of the season,” said James Q uilty, a postdoctoral fellow in IRRI’s Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD). “Our crop establishment was poor and as for crop protection, there wasn’t any. They direct seeded their plot right before the start of the Christmas season. With the Institute closed for the holidays, by the time the team returned to its plot in January, lots of weeds were there.

“Since we did not use herbicides, we had to pull the weeds with our bare hands,” said Dr. Q uilty, “and it was very labor-intensive.”

L ike Team Future Techs, Team Hayahay also had a weed problem. “One thing that came through for us was the need for a leveled field, said Noel Magor, head of IRRI’s Training

GOLDEN APPLE snails were one of the serious concerns for all competitors.

RICE SURVIVORS talk about their plans and strategies for the entire dry season series of Rice Survivor.

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36 Rice Today O ct o b e r-D e ce m b e r 2011

Congee is the first meal of the day in many parts of Asia, and it makes a wonderful snack too. It is simply rice

cooked in an excess of stock such as pork or chicken, with a range of savory additives. In Lao PDR, it is called khao piak khao, which literally means “wet rice.” Both the stock and rice require some forward-planning, but it is well rewarded.

What’s cooking?

Watch Dr. Vial demonstrate how to prepare this dish in a 8:52 video on YouTube at http://snipurl.com/lao_congee.

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Boil stockIn a large pot, put 4–5 liters of water, then add:A large piece of pork or chicken (up to 1 kilogram)A few pieces of ginger, according to taste2–3 whole onions, according to taste2–3 whole small coriander plants

Boil slowly for 30–60 minutes. Powdered stock with added ginger is a much quicker option if you have less time.

Cook riceAdd a cup of rice (good for four persons) to about 2 liters of stock, but you can dilute the stock according to taste. Some people use some or all glutinous rice for a creamier texture. Boil slowly for 30–60 minutes. Rice can be cooked ahead of time (cooked in the standard way, one part rice and one part water), then simmer the precooked rice in stock when required.

Add toppingsSome suggested toppings are the following, for one person:A tablespoon of fried garlicA tablespoon of chopped spring onionsA tablespoon of chopped corianderOne sliced boiled eggA pinch of dried or fresh chillies

Add ground pepper and soy sauce to taste.

Note: Other toppings are limited only by your imagination!

Source of the recipe: Thanks to my instructor Deng, the proprietor of Kung’s Café Lao, just around the corner from Wat Simuang, Vientiane, Lao PDR.

Dr. Vial came to the Philippines to head IRRI’s Experiment Station

in early 2011, after a 15-year career in the Australian rice industry, then 3 years pursuing a PhD and consulting to an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) lowland rice project in Lao PDR. Three years in Lao PDR exposed him and his family to the full range of Southeast Asian cooking. Congee proved a particular favorite for him, his wife, Sue, and two boys, Digby and Rory.

Laotiancongeeby Leigh Vial

32 Rice Today July-September 2011

Biryani is a rice-based meal made with spices, rice (usually basmati), and meat, fish, eggs, or vegetables. The name is derived from the

Persian word beryā, which means fried or roasted.

The dish originated from Iran (Persia) and was brought to the Indian subcontinent by Iranian travelers and merchants. Biryani is popular not only in South Asia but also in Arabia and within various South Asian communities in Western countries. It has many local variants.

The recipe presented here by Sam Mohanty, head of the Social Sciences Division at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is a somewhat simplified Indian version of what he says can be a very complex confection.

Dr. Mohanty, who joined IRRI in 2008, is a widely published and award-winning economist with a knack for cooking for his family when he is not searching for the direction of the global rice market (see Rice Facts on pages 44-45).

S A M ' S

Chicken Biryani

What’s cooking?

Watch Dr. Mohanty demonstrate how to prepare this dish in a 12:26 video on YouTube at http://snipurl.com/sams_chicken_biryani.

Ingredients• 4tablespoonsvegetableoil• 4smallpotatoes,peeledandhalved• 6eggs,boiledandpeeled• 3–4largeonions,sliced• 2clovesgarlic,crushed• 1tablespoongingerpaste• 1/2teaspoonchilipowder• 1/2teaspoongroundturmeric• 1teaspoonsalt(accordingtotaste)• 2–3mediumtomatoes,chopped• 2–3greenchilies(accordingtotaste)• 2tablespoonsplainyogurt• 15–20freshmintleaves• 2tablespoonschoppedfreshcilantroleaves• 3poundsskinlesschickenpieces(thighandleg)• 8podsgreencardamom• 10podsblackcardamom• 5–6bayleaves• 8wholecloves• 1(1inch)piececinnamonstick• 1poundbasmatirice• 11/2teaspoonssalt

Directions1. Cleanandwashthechicken.Marinatethechickenwithyogurt,salt,

turmeric,andchilipowderfor2hours.

2. Inapot,addvegetableoilandfrytheonionsuntiltheyaresoftandgolden.Addgarlicandgingerpasteandthewholespices.Fryandcontinuouslystirfor5minutes.Addgreenchiliesandtomatoesandfryforanother5minutes.Coverandcookoverlowheat,stirringoccasionallyuntilthetomatoesarecookedtoapulp.Itmaybenecessarytoaddalittlehotwaterifthemixturebecomestoodryandstartstosticktothepot.

3. Whenthemixtureisthickandsmooth,addthemarinatedchickenpiecesandpotatoesandstirwelltocoatthemwiththespicemixture.Coverandcookoververylowheatuntilthechickenistender—approximately35to45minutes.Thereshouldbeonlyalittleverythickgravyleftwhenthechickenisfinishedcooking.Ifnecessary,cookuncoveredforafewminutestoreducetheamountofgravy.

4. Washricewellandsoakitfor30minutes.5. Putplentyofwaterinanotherpot,addsalt,andboilthewater.

Oncethewaterstartstoboil,drainthesoakedriceandputitintheboilingwater.Boilitagainatahightemperaturefor5–7minutes.

6. “Parcook”therice(meaning3/4cooked,whiletherestwilljustgetcookedlater).Donotboilthericetoomuch.

7. Putcilantroleavesontopofthecookedchicken,stirthemin,thenaddmintontop.Drainandaddthe“par-cooked”riceontopofthismixture.

8. Coverthepottightly,turnheattoverylow,andsteamfor20minutes.Donotliftthelidorstirwhilecooking.

9. Spoonthebiryaniontoaservingdishandgarnishwithhalvedboiledeggs.

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SCIENCE LOVE, once upon a time in Mexico. Husband and wife Jun and Teri Ulat—both IRRI associate scientists—look set for an archaeological adventure with Rice Today issues in hand. The photo was taken at the Pirámides in Teotihuacán, Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where pyramidal structures were said to have existed since 100 BC.

SUNNY AT THE BAY. Rice Today editor Lanie Reyes of the International Rice Research Institute smiles along the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Orissa State, India. The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world.

ALL THE way to Timbuktu. (left to right) IRRI’s plant breeder Glenn Gregorio and plant physiologist Abdelbagi Ismail take Rice Today to Djinguereber Mosque, Timbuktu, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mali, Africa.

FARMERS’ DAY. Proceso Alcala, agriculture secretary of the Philippines, and Dr. Robert Zeigler, IRRI director general, enjoy a good read of Rice Today, while spending a day with farmers at IRRI headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

IN THE company of twin giants. Sharlene Santos-Peralta, IRRI public relations staff, and Rice Today are framed by the famed Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. At more than 450 meters high, they are the tallest twin buildings in the world and a symbol of Malaysia’s pride.

FUTURE INVESTMENTS. IRRI and Landbank, a financial institution of the Philippine government, recently launched a scholarship program for the next generation of rice scientists. In photo: (second from left) Land Bank President and CEO Gilda Pico, IRRI Deputy Director General for Communication and Partnerships V. Bruce J. Tolentino (third from left), Landbank senior representatives, and IRRI staff.

RICE TODAY, paiting! Paiting is a Konglish (nonstandard abbreviations or combinations of English words invented by Koreans) term derived from fighting. It is used to encourage someone, often in sports or whenever facing a challenge. This expression is usually accompanied by a fist pump, a gesture denoting enthusiasm, exuberance, or victory—shown here by members of the Korean Women’s Association in the Philippines, together with IRRI scientist Joong Hyoun Chin and his wife, Jeehyoung Shim-Chin (second from left), as they cheer and rally for Rice Today.

Books

Read the Almanac on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZC56TC

8 Rice Today January-March 2014

Since the first edition was completed in 2010,

research partners in the ADB-IRRI Rice Planthopper Project have been conducting routine monitoring as well as evaluating repellents, studying reversion of resistance, and using molecular techniques. Several workshops were held to compare results and discuss the methods, analyses, and interpretation. The feedbacks were the basis of this second edition of the book. The other update of this book is that Professor Z. Liu of Nanjing University, now one of the authors, has contributed to beef up the contents of this book. In fact, four more chapters are added in this edition. In general, this book provides step-by-step procedures for readers to design experiments and use the program for analyses. It describes insecticide resistance reversion and how to use the resistance stability point as a steadier baseline for comparing resistance. Also, it provides information on the use of molecular tools to detect field resistance. In a nutshell, this second edition of the book is now more complete and provides readers the whole range of research methods in toxicology and insecticide resistance monitoring. Although all the methods described are applied on rice planthoppers, the principles and methods can be mainly applied to other test organisms. ■

Research Methods in Toxicology and Insecticide Resistance Monitoring of Rice Planthoppers (Second edition)

By K.L. Heong, K.H. Tan, C.P.F. Garcia, Z. Liu, and Z. Lu

Published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 145 pages.

TRAINING COURSES AT IRRI

For inquiries, contact IRRITraining@irri.org, m.maghuyop@irri.org, or a.aquino@irri.org. Phone: (63-2) 580-5600 ext 2538 or +639178639317; fax: (63-2) 580-5699, 891-1292, or 845-0606; mailing address: The IRRI Training Center, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines (Attention: TC Course Coordinator); Web site: www.training.irri.org.Note: Fees and schedules are subject to change without prior notice.

Course title Date Venue

Basics of Rice Production (First o�ering) 1-3 April IRRI, Philippines

Rice: Postproduction to Market Training Course (First o�ering) 21 April-2 May IRRI, Philippines

SNP Data Analysis 5-9 May IRRI, Philippines

Rice: Research to Production 19 May-6 June IRRI, Philippines

Rice Production Techniques for Research Technicians (for African participants) 28 July-15 August IRRI, Philippines

Basics of Rice Production (Second o�ering) 9-11 September IRRI, Philippines

Scienti�c Writing Workshop 10-14 November IRRI, Philippines

The fourth edition of the Rice Almanac continues

the tradition of the first three editions by showcasing rice as the most important staple food in the world. It also breaks new ground in its coverage of issues related to rice production, both environmental—including climate change—and its importance for food security and the global economy.

It also further expands its coverage to include 81 of the 117 rice-producing countries representing 99.9% of the world’s rice production.

Published by GRiSP, the CGIAR Research Program on Rice, this book is a product of collaboration among key institutions. In addition to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), other major partners in GRiSP include the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad), L’Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD, formerly ORSTOM), and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS).

The statistics presented are derived primarily from FAO, which include official country data (FAOSTAT), surveys, reports, and personal communications; IRRI’s RICESTAT database, which is based on primary data from requests and questionnaires and secondary data from statistical publications and international organizations including the International Labor Organization and the World Bank; and regional data from AfricaRice and CIAT. ■

For orders, send email to: riceworldbookstore@irri.org or visit http://books.irri.org.

Rice Almanac (Fourth edition)Published by the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP).283 pages.

The International Rice Congress is the largest gathering of rice scientists and experts who come from all over the world

to share their latest research work. The upcoming Congress (IRC2014), which will be held on 27 October- 1 November 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand, will focus on increasing the food security of half the world’s population.

Why attend?IRC2014 is a forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, and best practices, and learning about the latest developments in rice science as well as key issues in the rice industry. But, it is also a great opportunity for participants to be part of a community for networking and contributing to trends and initiatives.

“‘Participants will be among 2,500 intelligent, innovative, and engaging players in global rice science and industry—surely a rich learning and networking environment,” said Bruce Tolentino, IRC2014 chair and deputy director general for communication and partnerships at the International Rice Research Institute.

“Participants’ perspectives will be broadened because IRC2014 will enable delegates to meet and interact with a wide range of delegates, scientists, and other rice industry players,” he added. “This promotes synergy in meeting shared challenges together.”

What to expect“With its theme, Rice for the world, we are obviously looking at the whole range of topics from growing rice in the deltas to looking at root physiology, for example, or

Held every 4 years, the International Rice Congress brings together the brightest minds to discuss the latest scientific findings, industry trends, and changes in the marketplace

from climate-ready rice to real-time satellite mapping and remote sensing,” said Mike Jackson, science chair of IRC2014.

The IRC2014 organizing team wants to be quite innovative. Each morning and afternoon, there will be a plenary lecture given by speakers who are not necessarily rice scientists.

“We have invited several speakers who will bring new

Jackson. “We want to encourage the participation of rice researchers and experts everywhere, especially young rice scientists, and give everybody a chance to have their work presented.”

Most rice researchers or graduate students for MS or PhD degrees working in a relevant rice research discipline under the age of 35 are considered to be “young rice scientists.”

“They should think seriously about presenting their work at IRC2014,” added Dr. Jackson. “They never know; theirs might be selected

for the oral program. If not, they can always present a poster.”

However, those below 35 years of age who received their PhD degree before 1 January 2012 will not be considered in this category. “Well, it’s possible that someone like this could be already on their second postdoctoral

fellowship, and we’d like to even the opportunities somewhat,”

explained Dr. Jackson. The Call for Papers and Posters-

Submission of Abstracts will begin in mid-January once the IRC2014 website has been launched. For oral presentations, young rice scientists must be the lead author. All abstracts for oral presentations will be selected on merit, and, if their abstracts are chosen, each young rice scientist will receive a travel grant and free registration.

“This is a huge event,” stated Dr. Jackson. “Imagine it as an excellent networking opportunity. There will be more than 200 oral papers and perhaps as many as 800 or more posters.”

Interested parties can visit the IRC2014 website (http://ricecongress.com/) for further announcements and the latest information.

Let’s talk rice at IRC2014!Let’s talk rice at IRC2014!Let’s talk rice at IRC2014!

perspectives on agricultural development issues relevant to rice science,” Dr. Jackson added.

“We also want to add a great deal of value by carefully identifying the best speakers,” said Dr. Tolentino. “They must have the necessary expertise, practical experience, and the ability to engage audiences in an interesting way.”

Open invitation to young scientists“We are in the process of building a program that is broad in its scope, scientifically very strong, and interesting in its detail,” said Dr.

9Rice Today January-March 2014

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