rice variety News
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44 New Rice Varieties in Asia and Africa
In 2013, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partners released 44 new and improved rice varieties, continuing the decades-long mission of using rice science to reduce hunger. Around half of the current global population—or about 3.5 billion people—relies on rice as a source of sustenance and livelihood. Resilience to climate change is a big thrust of IRRI’s ...
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India takes to new flood-tolerant rice
A new flood-resistant rice variety developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines is proving to be popular in the flood-prone areas of India and Bangladesh. In India, since release in August 2009, more than 100,000 farmers have received seeds of the ‘Swarna-sub1’ variety and it is now being grown over 12 million hectares, the IRRI said in a press ...
By SciDev.Net
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Biohappiness key to future, says Swaminathan
The father of the Green Revolution in Asia and World Food Prize winner, M.S. Swaminathan, has launched a book on 'biohappiness'. In Search of Biohappiness maintains that true, long-term wellbeing can only be achieved by harnessing biodiversity to work for people in sustainable and equitable ways. "Biohappiness arises from the conversion of bioresources into jobs and income in an environmentally ...
By SciDev.Net
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Plan to boost African rice R&D unveiled
A research strategy to help boost rice production in Africa has been formally unveiled by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), a pan-African agricultural research organisation. The ten-year plan, launched this month (1 February) aims to help the continent become nearly 90 per cent self-sufficient in rice production by 2020, with at least ten countries expected to full meet their own needs. This ...
By SciDev.Net
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Genetic makeup of thousands of rice varieties placed in global seed data pool
Genome sequences of more than 3,000 rice varieties have been placed with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) by the world's leading rice research institute in a move boosting plans to set up a global data exchange system for crop genetic resources. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Treaty (ITPGRFA) made ...
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New seeds of hope for Nepal’s farmers
Farmers badly affected by changing weather patterns in South Asia now have the opportunity to improve food security by planting new varieties of rice capable of withstanding the impact of both severe droughts and floods. This is particularly good news for countries such as Nepal, where around 65% of its more than 26 million people are involved in agriculture. Rice is the country’s most ...
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Upcoming IRRI young rice scientist to present research on association mapping of bacterial blight resistance at IRC2014
Christine Jade Dilla-Ermita of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has been selected as one of the 29 Young Rice Scientists (YRS) awardees who will present their research at the 4th International Rice Congress (IRC2014) in Bangkok, Thailand on 27 October-1 November 2014. “To share my research on the genome-wide association analysis of bacterial blight resistance before an ...
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Basic food crops dangerously vulnerable
In the case of wheat, for instance, as a deadly new strain of Black Stem Rust devastates harvests across Africa and Arabia, and threatens the staple food supply of a billion people from Egypt to Pakistan, the areas where potentially crop and life-saving remnant wild wheat relatives grow are only minimally protected. “Our basic food plants have always been vulnerable to attack from new strains of ...
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Night warming threatens rice output in Asia
Hotter nights arising from climate change will put a brake on the rise in rice production in Asia over the coming decades, with the effect worsening as the century progresses, scientists said yesterday (9 August). The first study to use 'real-world' data from farmer-managed rice farms has shown that, while hotter days may boost productivity, hotter nights more than compensate by reducing it. ...
By SciDev.Net
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As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive
On a sun-scorched wasteland near India's southern tip, an unlikely garden filled with spiky shrubs and spindly greens is growing, seemingly against all odds. The plants are living on saltwater, coping with drought and possibly offering viable farming alternatives for a future in which rising seas have inundated countless coastal farmlands. Sea rise, one of the consequences of climate change, ...
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Former IRRI scientist appointed as acting CEO of major cereal crop genomics facility in Australia
Sigrid Heuer, a former IRRI scientist and current associate professor at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) has been appointed as acting CEO of ACPFG along with Michael Gilbert. Dr. Heuer spent nearly ten years as researcher at IRRI in the Philippines where she made one of the most groundbreaking discoveries in rice science—a gene responsible for rice phosphorus ...
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USD 10-million facility for studying climate change effects on plant growth opens at IRRI
On a hot, breezy afternoon on 21 January 2016, an international gathering of agricultural scientists and development officials dedicated the Lloyd T. Evans Plant Growth Facility (PGF) on the campus of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The opening of the USD 10 million state-of-the-art facility manifests IRRI’s commitment to better understand the effects of climate change on ...
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Florendovirus: new genus of virus in plant genomes
While the extent and importance of endogenous viral elements have been thoroughly researched in animals, there is a dearth of knowledge when it comes to plants. Within the framework of a broader international effort, researchers at INRA Versailles-Grignon and Cirad have described a new genus of the Caulimoviridae family of viruses, called Florendovirus, whose members have colonised the genomes of ...
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Science: what has it done for the millennium development goals?
When the United Nations published the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, with aspirations including the ending of poverty and hunger; the promotion of gender equality and a reduction in child mortality, there was little mention of science. Yet most people involved in working towards the goals accepted that achieving them would rely on the successful application of science. Now, ...
By SciDev.Net
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Agricultural technologies must be `appropriate`
How an agricultural technology is generated and where it comes from — be it through local efforts or global centres — are not as important for development as whether the product is appropriate, says development expert, Sara Delaney. 'An appropriate technology is accessible, affordable, easy-to-use and maintain, effective — and most importantly, it serves a real need', says Delaney. A ...
By SciDev.Net
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Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief
Namibia urged to invest more in science and technology Increasing investment in science and technology could help Namibia reduce poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment, said former president Sam Nujoma last week. Launching the country"s National Science, Engineering and Technology Week, Nujoma said: "If Namibia has to turn around the slow rate of economic development, which is currently ...
By SciDev.Net
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Global map of seeds, food and biodiversity launched
A recently launched (15 October) website aims to provide news and resources on crop seeds and biodiversity threats for researchers, policymakers, educators and farmers. The site’s interactive map presents more than 375 case studies from around the world that address issues of food diversity, its threats and potential solutions. But some experts say that, while on the right track, the site ...
By SciDev.Net
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