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Art of RiceArt of RiceExhibition in California regards food for the spiritExhibition in California regards food for the spirit

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L Y E A R O F R I C E 2 0 0 4

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contents

should not be construed as expressing IRRI policy or opinion on the legal status of anycountry, territory, city or area, or its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries.

Rice Todaywelcomes comments and suggestions from readers. Potential contributorsare encouraged to query rst, rather than submit unsolicited materials. Rice Todayassumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited submissions, which shouldbe accompanied by sufcient return postage.

Copyright International Rice Research Institute 2004

International Rice Research InstituteDAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, PhilippinesWeb (IRRI): www.irri.org; Web (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org;

Web (Riceweb): www.riceweb.org; Web (Rice Knowledge Bank):www.knowledgebank.irri.org

Rice Todayeditorialtelephone (+63-2) 580-5600 or (+63-2) 844-3351 to 53, ext 2401;fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 or (+63-2) 845-0606; email: [email protected]

Rice Todayis published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the worldsleading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and withofces in 11 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprot institution focused onimproving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers,particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of16 centers funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. For more information,visit the CGIAR Web site (www.cgiar.org).

Responsibility for this publication rests with IRRI. Designations used in this publication

Vol. 3, No. 1

NEWS .......................................................................................................... 4

Closer collaboration for cereal centers

Gates gives $25 million to HarvestPlus

IRRI attracts Korean technology

Pesticide-reduction project wins another award

RICE IN THE NEWS ............................................................................ 6

India ink: Press coverage of IRRI in South Asia

Earliest rice cultivation pushed back 3,000 years

FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT...................................................................7

The Art of Rice: Spirit and Sustenance in Asiais a thought-provoking and eye-openingexhibition at the UCLA Fowler Museumof Cultural History

CONTOURS OF CHANGE .............................................................. 8

In this excerpt from the exhibition bookThe Art of Rice, a member of a celebratedPhilippine mountain tribe contemplatesthe erosion of her native culture and theancient rice terraces that have nurtured it

FERAL PLAY........................................................................................ 14

Crop scientists use wide crosses to breedinto cultivated rice varieties the hardinessof their wild kin

SPECIAL SECTION: RICE AND .............................................. 20

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Millennium Development Goals dependon rice research: CGIAR annual generalmeeting focus

Scientific support team award celebratesFilipinos' role in sustainable development:IRRI wins 3 years running

Meeting challenges with energy andcharisma: Outgoing IRRI Board ChairAngeline Kamba

Development in Dhaka: IRRI boardattends Poverty Elimination Through RiceResearch Assistance communication fair

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICE ........................................ 26

Year launched in New York: Food andAgriculture Organization DirectorGeneral Jacques Diouf presides

National committees plan for InternationalYear of Rice: Progress report fromAsian countries

Cover Don Cole, courtesy UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History

Editor Peter Fredenburg

Deputy editor Adam BarclayArt director Juan Lazaro IVContributing editors Duncan Macintosh, Gene Hettel, Bill HardyDesigner and production supervisor George ReyesPhoto editorAriel JavellanaPrinter Primex Printers, Inc.

IRRI scientific publication offers $3,000 inprizes for research papers

International Year of Rice 2004 calendarhighlights

Conferences, meetings, workshops

and trainingPEOPLE................................................................................................... 32

Partners in progress

Keeping up with IRRI staff

DONORS CORNER ......................................................................... 33

Cooperating for peace: A priority of theGerman government and the FederalMinistry for Economic Cooperationand Development

NEW BOOKS ....................................................................................... 34

IRRI adds four new titles to its inventoryof publications on rice research andrelated topics

Rice Trails: Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler

explores the world of rice that thrives betweencrop science and cookbooks

RICE FACTS.......................................................................................... 36

Trading up: A fresh look at the world ricemarket for Asians who still equate foodsecurity with self-suffi ciency

GRAIN OF TRUTH........................................................................... 38

Let's promote brown rice to combathidden hunger


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NEWS

$3 million to boost food securityThe Asian Development Bank approved inNovember a US$3 million grant for agricul-tural research projects to boost food securityin poor regions of 14 Asian countries. IRRI

will develop with national partners croppingsystems and technologies to stabilize and

increase rice productivity in unfavorablemonsoon-dependent rice environments inBangladesh, India, Indonesia, Laos, Phil-ippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Two other

Consultative Group on International Agri-cultural Research (CGIAR) centers the WorldFish Center and the InternationalCenter for Agricultural Research in the Dry

Areas will implement projects.

Asian rice supplies assuredThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) resolved in August to establish anEast Asia Emergency Rice Reserve Systemto ensure adequate supplies of the regionsstaple food. The ministers also welcomed

movement toward developing an ASEAN

Food Security Information System to helpstrengthen regional food security.

Rice Todaygoes quarterlyRice Today is doubling its publication fre-quency for International Year of Rice 2004,appearing in mid-January and the beginningof April, July and October. Readers are urgedto complete and return survey postcards inthe October 2003 and January 2004 issuesor by logging on to www.irri.org/ricetoday/

readerssurvey.asp.

New rice CD-ROMsThe IRRI-supported Mountain AgrarianSystems (SAM) Program has released aCD-ROM in English, French and Viet-namese covering the projects rst-phase(1998-2002) efforts to improve agri-cultural productivity, natural resourcemanagement and living standards in the

Vietnamese highlands. The material is alsoavailable at www.knowledgebank.irri.org/sam/intro.html. Another new CD-ROM

provides access to 3 decades of literatureon the golden apple snail, its ecology andmanagement options. To order, contact

Agricultural Librarians Association of thePhilippines President Salome Ledesma([email protected]) or PhilRiceLibrarian Elaine Joshi ([email protected]).

India moots sharp rise for researchThe Indian Agriculture Ministry has pro-

posed raising Indias annual contributionto international agricultural research fromthe present US$750,000 to $10 million. Ag-riculture Minister Rajnath Singh describedsuch an increase as appropriate consideringIndias position in the world today and itsstake in agricultural development.

Seed health recommendationsThe Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry andIRRIs Seed Health Unit held in Novembera workshop on Rice seed health testingpolicy for safe and efficient germplasm

Briefy Briefy Briefy

Kwang-Ho Park of the Korea NationalAgricultural College in Seoul has devel-oped new labor-saving direct-seeding tech-

nology for adoption by IRRI stakeholders.The machinery uses lightweight steel wheels

that allow a conventional tractor to oper-ate easily in paddies and a tractor-toweddirect seeder that sows pregerminated seedin rows and covers it with sand or silicatefertilizer.

As economic development draws laboraway from agriculture, more farmers willadopt labor-saving practices such as directseeding which, however, still suffers poorseedling establishment, weed problems,lodging and inferior grain quality.

This will improve crop establishmentfor direct seeding and help prevent lodging,said Shaobing Peng, IRRI crop physiologist.

IRRI attracts technology transfers from South Korea

It will also reduce bird damage becauseseed is protected under fertilizer or sand.

IRRIs ongoing collaboration with

South Koreas Rural Development Adminis-tration (RDA) includes developing japonica

rice for temperate regions and high-altitudetropics. IRRI and RDA co-sponsored in Oc-tober the 2nd Rice Technology Transfer Sys-tems in Asia course at the RDA InternationalTechnical Cooperation Center (pictured).Sixteen participants from 12 Asian coun-tries studied technology transfer successesand made eld visits to Korean agriculturaldevelopment and cooperative projects.

Separately, more than 60 Filipinoalumni of RDAs training and scientist ex-change programs met in September in LosBaos, Laguna, to form the Philippine-RDA(Korea) Alumni Association.

Pesticide-reduction projectwins yet another award

An initiative to reduce insecticide use inVietnam has won the International GreenApple Environment Award. K.L. Heong, IRRIsenior entomologist, collected the awardfrom the U.K.-based Green Organizationin a November ceremony at the Houses of

Parliament in London.Dr. Heong and his collaborators mo-

tivated rice farmers to reduce insecticidespraying by communicating sound sciencethrough popular media, notably a series of ra-dio skits that proved extremely popular with

Vietnamese farmers. The process quicklyspread over the Mekong Delta to reach 2million farmers. Insecticide use plunged by53% without affecting rice yield.

Most farmers in the Mekong nowknow that early season insecticide spray-

ing is unnecessary, said Nguyen Huu Huan,vice director general of Vietnams Plant Pro-

tection Department and one of Dr. Heongscollaborators. The initiative has since beencarried to central Thailand and the RedRiver Delta of northern Vietnam.

While in London, Dr. Heong was inter-viewed on the BBC News World Edition.

In 2002, Dr. Heong and his team wonthe St. Andrews Prize for Environment andthe Golden Rice Award from Vietnams Min-istry of Agriculture and Rural Development.(This just in the teams Three Reductions

Initiative, which builds on its experiencewith pesticides, won the 2003 Golden Rice

Award. Details in Rice Todayin April.)

JIN-GONAHN

4 Rice TodayJanuary 2004


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NUTRITIONISTS AND PLANT SCIENTISTS from 14 countries met at IRRI on 6-8 October for the HarvestPlus Rice Cropmeeting to plan strategies for alleviating malnutrition through the development of high-nutrition rice under the lead-ership of HarvestPlus Program Director Howarth Bouis (1st row, 7th from left) and HarvestPlus Rice Crop Leader SwapanDatta (on Dr. Bouis right). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the following week a grant of US$25million that would cover half of the programs 4-year budget. The announcement generated widespread press coverage.

movement at IRRI. Participants reviewedcurrent knowledge of rice seed-borne patho-gens and policies on seed health testing andmade recommendations on developing seedhealth testing standards, plant quarantinepolicies, pest identification, and testingprocedures and methodologies.

Rice in drought-prone areasParticipants at an IRRI-hosted workshopin November for the Challenge Program on

Water and Food Theme 1 examined waysto improve water and food productivity indrought-prone and saline areas. The veresearch themes of the program are 1) crop

water-productivity enhancement, 2) mul-tiple uses of upper catchments, 3) aquaticecosystems and sheries, 4) basin-level wa-ter management, and 5) national and globalpolicies for water management.

Frozen harvestThe CGIAR agreed at its annual generalmeeting in October to freeze the activities of

Future Harvest Foundation, a public aware-ness and fundraising arm of the CGIAR, andthe groups Public Awareness and ResourceCommittee. Members also agreed to sub-sume the International Service for National

Agricultural Research within the Interna-tional Food Policy Research Institute, witheffect in May.

Brown rice revivalThe Asia Rice Foundation will launch

this year a national campaign to promotebrown rice. Foundation Chair Emil Javierannounced the campaign at a symposiumon the supply and demand of brown rice atIRRI in November (see page 38).

Systems workshop in IndiaMore than 40 senior policymakers, re-searchers and agricultural developmentpractitioners participated last Novemberin a workshop on Socioeconomic dynamicsof rice production systems in eastern Indiain New Delhi. The workshop was sponsored

by the joint Indian Council of AgriculturaResearch-IRRI project that documents andanalyzes patterns of change in rice produc-tion systems of eastern India over the past30 years in order to inform technologydesign and policy improvement.

Highland strategies exploredA workshop on Strategies for sustainabledevelopment of agricultural productionsystems in the highlands of the GreaterMekong Subregion (GMS) countries tookplace on 12-16 September in Kunming, thecapital of Chinas Yunnan Province, begin-ning with a 2-day study tour of upland

areas showing how land use has changed with crop intensication. The workshop was jointly organized by the Consortiumfor Unfavorable Rice Environments, Bu-reau of Agriculture of Yunnan Province

Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Scienceand IRRI, with sponsorship from the AsianDevelopment Bank and Chinese Ministryof Agriculture.

Briefy Briefy Briefy

IRRI and the International Maize andWheat Improvement Center (CIMMYThave agreed to explore alternatives forcloser collaboration. In a joint statementissued in October, the institutes boardchairs said the discussions were founded

on anticipated gains based on the insti-tutes complementary goals and mandatesresearch synergies in the social sciencesand biotechnology (especially in light ocolinearity in the genomes of cereal crops)and possible economies of scale in information management, capacity building andintellectual property management.

IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrelsaid that several options would be considered, ranging from an informal relationship

with more joint planning to a complete

merger. We had a series of donor meet-ings, he added. We did not hear one nega-

tive comment about the discussions.The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to

form an oversight committee chaired byRockefeller President Gordon Conway anda working group of external consultants toexamine the options and write a report fordiscussion at a joint meeting of the twoinstitutes boards in mid-2004.

Dr. Cantrell said that the InternationaCrops Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics was considering joining the discussions and that the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) The AfricaRice Center would also be welcome.

Senior representatives of IRRI and itsnational partners in Vietnam met inHanoi on 18-19 September for the first

Vietnam-IRRI workplan meeting since No-vember 1998. Participants agreed on threecommon research goals: establishing andmaintaining food security both nationallyand at the household level, reducing poverty,and protecting the environment. The work-plan, which will remain in force until 2006,identies three broad areas of collaboration:germplasm development through varietalimprovement and germplasm exchange,integrated pest and nutrient management,and capacity building through training andinformation exchange.

Similar areas, with the addition of

socioeconomic and policy issues, mark col-

laboration between IRRI and Indonesia,whose workplan meeting in Bogor on 29-

30 September was hosted by the Indone-sian Agency for Agricultural Research andDevelopment.

In the Philippines, a policy dialogueon Maximizing impact of agricultural in-novation systems in rice production on21-22 October attracted to the PhilippineRice Research Institute representativesfrom IRRI, the Department of Agriculture,NGOs, media, farmer groups and provincialagricultural ofces. The dialogue aimed toassess and map a response to the technol-ogy needs of farmers in provinces with lowrice yields.

Meetings in Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines map collaboration

$25 million Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for HarvestPlus Cereal centers explore optionsfor closer ties but how close?

ARIELJAVELLA

NA

5Rice TodayJanuary 2004


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RICE IN THE NEWS

In a speech delivered on 18 Septemberin the Indian capital of New Delhi, IRRI

Director General Ronald Cantrell com-mented on how funding constraints werehindering the development of water-savingrice varieties. This provided the focus for an

18 September Reuters report picked up thenext day by theEconomic Times newspaper.

There is no doubt the most importantissue in rice over the next 20 to 30 years is theavailability of freshwater, Dr. Cantrell said,citing the effect of deforestation and pollutionon freshwater supplies and competition fromhouseholds and industry. He added that evi-dence now exists that farmers can grow high-

yielding varieties of rice much like wheat, with

alternate wetting and drying of the soil.Dr. Cantrell cautioned, however, that

research into how to grow more rice usingless water was a slow process that fundingcuts were making even slower.

The Financial Express newspaper fo-

cused its coverage of Dr. Cantrells speechon his encouraging the Indian rice industryto diversify its export-bound production ofaromatic rice beyond basmati varieties. Apolicy of promoting traditional non-basmatiaromatic varieties would improve farmersincome, the director general said.

Dr. Cantrell was speaking at the launch inNew Delhi ofA Treatise on the Scented Ricesof India, a book co-edited by R.K. Singh, ricegeneticist and IRRI liaison scientist for India,and Prof. U.S. Singh of G.B. Pant Universityof Agriculture and Technology. (The samemonth saw the launch in New Delhi of the

bookBoro Rice, a collaboration by R.K. Singh,IRRI Social Sciences Division Head Mahabub

Hossain, and scientists in eastern India and atthe Bangladesh Rice Research Institute.)

Funding slumpThe next day, 19 September, found Dr.Cantrell speaking at the Directorate of RiceResearch in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Areport in The Hindu Business Line attributedto Dr. Cantrell the observation that interna-tional assistance for agricultural research hadslumped by 40 percent. Dr. Cantrell was quot-ed as saying that funding for research in Asiain particular was suffering from a little bit ofsuccess the achievement of food security

without solving the problem of poverty andfrom the redirection of funds to Africa.

In Dhaka on 9 September, The NewNation newspaper ran a story looking ahead

to the communication fair of the IRRI-managed project Poverty EliminationThrough Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA)

on 10-11 September, coinciding with the IRRIBoard of Trustees meeting in the Bangladeshicapital. The Daily Star newspaper placed onthat days front page a report on the 8 Sep-tember dialogue on Sustainable agriculturalgrowth in Bangladesh: Should we go for bio-technology for rice improvement? whichincluded IRRI Social Sciences Division Head

Mahabub Hossain and IRRI biotechnologistSwapan Datta.

The Daily Star then ran a story perday about rice research. On Wednesday,10 September, it featured an editorial by

Abdul Bayes, professor of economics at Ja-hangirnagar University, on saline-affectedrice-growing areas, touching on the Coastal

Water Management Project under PETRRA.On Thursday it offered front-page coverage of

Agriculture Minister M.K. Anwars opening ofthe PETRRA communication fair. On Fridayit covered the reception of Dr. Cantrell andIRRI Board Chair Angeline Kamba by PrimeMinister Begum Khaleda Zia in her ofce (pic-ture on page 24). And on Saturday the paperreported on its front page the succession of

incoming Board Chair Keijiro Otsuka and howBangladesh saved US$229 million a year [infood imports] through an annual investmentof $18 million in rice research, irrigation de-

velopment and agricultural extension.The Daily Star covered a PETRRA-

sponsored dialogue on 28 September onhow Bangladesh could boost its exports ofaromatic rice, which featured IRRI Agricul-tural Engineering Unit Head Joe Rickmanemphasizing the need for careful milling.It published on its 1 November front pagea warning from IRRIs Dr. Hossain that,despite progress in controlling its birth rate,Bangladesh must feed 2 million more people

each year (a story picked up by Chinas XinhuaNews Agency). On 18 November, an editorial

by Prof. Bayes considered a paper coauthoredby Dr. Hossain that demonstrated the ben-ets that infrastructure development conferson farm income.

In Sri Lanka, the 22 November issueof theDaily News covered the participationover the previous 2 days of IRRI DeputyDirector General for Research Ren Wang aschief guest of the 15th Annual Congress of thePost Graduate Institute of Agriculture of theUniversity of Peradeniya. At the congress, Dr.

Wang reportedly listed the challenges facingrice research as 1) achieving food security at

both the national and household level, 2)

improving farmers livelihood and eliminat-ing poverty, 3) balancing the intensicationof production with sustainability goals toproduce more and better food using fewerinputs while conserving the environment,and 4) nurturing a new generation of rice

scientists and farmers.

Journal papersPlant Disease, the journal of the AmericanPhytopathological Society, published in Octo-

ber a 14-page paper, Using genetic diversity toachieve sustainable rice disease management,co-authored by Hei Leung (IRRI), YouyongZhu (Yunnan Agricultural University),Imelda Revilla-Molina (IRRI), Jin Xiang Fan(Agriculture Department of Yunnan), HairuChen (Yunnan Agricultural University), Ireneo

Pangga (IRRI), Casiana Vera Cruz (IRRI) andTwng Wah Mew (IRRI). Crop Protection, the journal of the Inter-national Association for the Plant ProtectionSciences, published a 7-page paper, A par-ticipatory exercise for modifying rice farm-ers beliefs and practices in stem borer lossassessment, co-authored by IRRI scientistsM.M. Escalada and K.L. Heong, which detailsndings in pesticide reduction research in thePhilippines.

INDIA INKI R R I r e c e n t l y g a r n e r e d a f a i r s p l a s h

o f p r e s s c o v e r a g e i n S o u t h A s i a

R.K. SINGH launches his book on scented rice flankedby H.K. Jain (left), former director of the IndianAgricultural Research Institute, and Ronald Cantrell.

Also

The British Broadcasting Corporation reportedon 21 October that archaeologists hadfound 15,000-year-old rice in central Korea. Thediscovery of 59 carbonized grains by Lee Yung- jo and Woo Jong-yoon of Chungbuk NationalUniversity pushed back the date for the earliestknown cultivation of rice by 3,000 years. Feaston the story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3207552.stm.

IRRI-INDIA



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THE ART OF RICE

T

he most ambitious exhibition inthe 40-year history of the Fowler

Museum of Cultural History isits current offering, The Art of

Rice: Spirit and Sustenance in Asia. Thethought-provoking and eye-opening show

is also proving to be a delicious coup for thismuseum at the University of California atLos Angeles.

As a detailed and buoyantLos Ange-les Times review stated: The Fowler hasdemonstrated that the popular grain [rice]has provided a lot more than bodily nour-ishment for the diverse peoples who have

been eating it every day for the last 10,000years, and that this hardy crop has had a

remarkably civilizing inuence on a largeswath of humanity.

In a similar vein, the magazine Hu-manities asserted that the Fowler Museumhas shown that, over the centuries, ricehas been more than a diet staple: it is asymbol of spirituality. The periodical is

published bimonthly by a major funder ofthe exhibition, the National Endowment forthe Humanities.

Sacred grainAs they enter the hall, visitors witness a keymoment in Javanese mythology, depictedin traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry,

when the beloved rice goddess Dewi Sri cre-ates the sacred grain. In nine thematicallyarranged galleries, exhibits range from Jap-anese Zen paintings and rare stone-glazedsake bottles from the 17th to 19th centuries,to intricate Indonesian textiles and modern

works created for popular festivals marking

the agricultural cycle.The nal display, named The Future of

Rice, features a photograph, by Ariel Javel-lana, of IRRIs seed-storage facility, preserv-

February to April.Accompanying the exhibition is a book

that, weighing in at 552 pages and morethan 2 kg, ranks as the Fowlers largest-everpublishing venture. Also called TheArt of

Rice, the book, which is available through

the University of Washington Press, pre-serves the structure of the exhibition withsections corresponding to galleries.

Both the exhibition and book havecast a very broad net, so I think there issomething to interest almost everybody,Dr. Hamilton said. For the book, I worked

with 27 experts from a dozen countries andencouraged them to write about what theyfound inspirational.

Among the essays, both scholarly andpersonal, is one regarding the disappearingrice rituals of the Ifugao. The contributorsare Aurora Ammayao and her husbandGene Hettel, head of IRRIs Communication and Publications Services. An adapted

excerpt rom t s c apter o ows on t enext page.

Food for the spiriting for future generations thegenetic heritage of rice.

The guiding force andindefatigable planner of theexhibition is Roy Hamilton,curator of the Fowlers Asian

and Pacic Collections. A tex-tiles specialist by training, Dr.Hamilton can also lay claimto being a rice expert after7 years researching, select-ing and acquiring items forThe Art of Rice a wealthof ceramics, sculptures, ricegoddess statues, puppets,

woodblock prints, vessels,

plain and extraordinaryfarm tools, woodcarvings,

baskets, and paraphernaliafor performing rice rituals(see the inside back cover).

This took a tremen-dous amount of work and

time, particularly negotiat-ing loans and signing agree-ments with other museumsand private parties, Dr.Hamilton recalled. I couldgive a 30-minute lecture oneach of the more than 200items in the show.

Guiding a tour of the gal-leries, he pointed out an early 20th centuryJapanese bridal robe. The sake imps orshojo decorating this material provide asign of good luck for the bride, he said be-fore turning to granary gures of the Ifugaopeople of the northern Philippines. Thesebulul, consisting of a male and female pair,

include an infant, which makes explicitthe connection between rice and humanfertility.

Mix of materials

Dr. Hamilton is most excited about theexhibitions wide-ranging mix of materialsfrom many Asian countries. I had never

before dealt with contemporary paintings,he said, and the ones from Korea and thePhilippines are simply fantastic.

From its gala opening on 4 October,the exhibition will continue at the Fowleruntil April. It will then move to Napa, Cali-fornia, where it will run from September to

November, before shifting again in 2005to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a nal run from

THE EXHIBITION BOOK shows on its cover a detail of a 1930s paintingon cloth of rice farming in Bali; Dr. Hamilton (below) in his ofce.

GENEHETTEL

COURTESYUCLAFOWLERMUSEUMO

FCULTURALHISTORY



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THE ART OF RICE

CONTOURSOF CHANGE

A membe

celebrated Phil

mountai

contemplat

erosion of her n

culture and the an

rice terraces that

nurt

by Aurora Ammayao with Gene Hettel

Excerpt from . . .


9/33

Throughout the 1990s and intothe 21st century, there has beencontinued interest in the directionand pending disappearance of our2,000-year-old rice terraces andrelated rituals and culture. In 1995there was a urry of activities andmeetings in Manila and Banaue

some of which I attended toformally nominate our rice terracesfor inclusion in the United NationsEducational, Scientic and CulturalOrganization (UNESCO) WorldHeritage List as a protected culturallandscape.

Later that year, when ofciallyadding the terraces to the list,UNESCO stated: For 2,000 years,the high rice elds of the Ifugaohave followed the contours of themountain. The fruit of knowledge

passed on from one generation tothe next, of sacred traditions and adelicate social balance, they helpedform a landscape of great beauty thatexpresses conquered and conservedharmony between humankindand the environment. During itsannual summit in December 2001in Helsinki, UNESCO noted itscontinued deep concern for the riceterraces by putting them on its List ofWorld Heritage in Danger. It stated,in part: Despite efforts to safeguardthe site by the Banaue Rice Terraces

Task Force and the

Ifugao Terraces Commission, moreresources, greater independenceand an assurance of permanence areneeded.

Fewer tourists preferredTeodoro Baguilat, governor of IfugaoProvince, stated in the local press thathe would prefer to have fewer touristsin the area to facilitate the terracespreservation. He also said that oncethe terraces are commercialized,more hotels and establishmentswill sprout like mushrooms. Duringa conversation I had with him inMay 2002 in his ofce in the townof Lagawe, he claried that tourismcould be part of a strategy to helpdevelop the rice terraces and provideadditional income for the people.Although part of the countryscultural heritage, the terraces are still

primarily agricultural land,he said. He is afraid that

the goals of tourism

y American husbandcertainly is not aloneas a foreigner with akeen interest in theIfugao and our rice

terraces. My people have been thesubject of articles that date back tothe early days ofNational Geographic

magazine. Dean C. Worcester, thenthe secretary of the interior of thePhilippine Islands, featured the Ifugaoin a special September 1912 issue ofthe publication devoted entirely to theheadhunters of northern Luzon. Inthat issue, he considered the Ifugao tobe barbarians who were nonethelessexcellent hydraulic engineers, asdemonstrated by their marvelous riceterraces.

Nine decades later, foreignersare still fascinated with headhunting.

The practice was abandoned long agoby the Ifugao, but we still have notescaped that moniker. In the 2000bookThe Last Filipino Head Huntersby David Howard, we are described,along with our sister tribes the Bontoc

and Kalinga, as having among ourelders the last living headhunters

in the Philippines. I seriouslydoubt that anyone now

alive has ever beena headhunter.

ARIEL JAVELLANA

AURORAAMMAYAO


10/33

ofcials may not always support whatis really needed to preserve our riceterraces and best serve the people.Lets not preserve the terracesfor the tourists, but for the Ifugaothemselves, he told me emphatically.I agree with Mr. Baguilat that thegovernment should focus on issuesof concern to Ifugao rice farmers,including infestations of rats andgolden snails as well as enhancingthe irrigation systems for mountainfarms. Perhaps most important of allis educating our youth to appreciate

that their culture revolves around ricecultivation and to consider stayingin the region instead of moving to thelowlands to seek their fortunes.

Glimmer of understandingAs politicians continue to discusswhat to do, some ordinary Ifugaocitizens, for their part, express a widerange of feelings and are engagedin a variety of activities related tothe preservation of the Ifugao rice

terraces and the traditions and culturetied to them.

Since 1995, when my husbandwas stationed in the Philippines asa science writer and editor for IRRI,we have made an effort to recordon videotape the various ritualsassociated with the rice-growingcalendar. With the help of AnaDulnuan-Habbiling, the matriarchof the tumon (leading family) inTucbuban village for whom mylate father sometimes ofciatedas a mumbaki(priest) at various

rice rituals, we have been able todocument many hours of ceremonies,particularly the post-transplanting(Kulpe) and the harvest (Ingngilin)rites. We felt that we could at leastshow these tapes to our threehalf-Ifugao children and futuregrandchildren, giving them a glimmerof understanding of what theirmothers culture once was.

Some professional Filipinovideographers and lmmakers

namely Fruto Corre and Kidlat deGuia have had the same idea. Mr.Corre recently won recognition fromthe Film Academy of the Philippinesfor his ethnographic workIfugao:Bulubunduking Buhay, a 45-minute

THE BANAUE RICE TERRACES, seen from the popular tourist viewpoint (previ-ous spread) and more closely (bottom left), received in 1995 recognition asa protected cultural property on the UNESCO World Heritage List. TeodoroBaguilat (top left), governor of Ifugao Province, emphasizes the need topreserve the rice terraces more for the Ifugao people than for tourists. Thepriests, ormumbaki, Yogyog Dogapna (this page top, at left) and BuyuccanUdhuk, pictured here in April 2001 after their last performance, are now intheir 80s and too ill to continue their ritual duties. The authors father,Ammayao Dimmangna (pictured below in 1975), was a mumbakiuntil hebecame a Christian in the mid-1980s.



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E KULPE RITUAL being performed by Buyuccanhuk (left) and the Ingngilin, which involves of-ngs to the gods (center). Ana Dulnuan-Habbiling

ght), pictured here with her granddaughter, strivesmaintain traditional rice rituals despite being acticing Catholic. Women transplant rice (below)

2001, in an attempt to rerecordthe Ingngilin with better cameraequipment and from different angles,I had to pay three mumbakifrom

outside the area to perform the ritualat Ana Dulnuan-Habbilings familygranary. If we had not come, it wouldhave been the rst time that a harvestritual was not held in Anas granary.

Preserving ritualsI asked Ana, who has been apracticing Catholic for many years,

why she still persists to preserve

the post-transplanting and harvest

rituals. She replied that it is herfamily, after all, that has beentraditionally responsible for takingthe lead in performing the rice

rituals. I do not want to be theone remembered for ending thiscenturies-old tradition here inour village, she said. Most likelyneither Yogyog nor Buyuccan,

who are now in their 80s and bothill, will be able to continue theirritual duties. So, emulating Mr.de Guias effort, she requestedthat Gene and I provide her with

a copy of the videos of the rituals

that we recorded in her granathe years. We will make do w

watching your tapes on televishe said. It will be better tha

Excerpted and adapted with pefrom Chapter 31, Let's Hope the

Good!, inThe Art of Rice: Spirit anance in Asia, edited by Roy W. UCLA Fowler Museum of Culturwhich is available from the UnivWashington Press (www.washin

uwpress).

deo that documents the painfullemmas experienced by my peopleday. He skillfully establishes thennections between the terraces and

r traditions indeed, how theyrich and nourish each other. The

deos message is that if the terracessappear, so will our traditiond culture. This tape has been

mmercially packaged and is sold inany video stores and bookstores inanila and elsewhere.

Mr. de Guias work debutedternationally on the Discovery

hannel on 26 December 2001, as

part of its Young Filmmaker series. Init, he shows how we Ifugao ourselvescan document our disappearingrituals and traditions using small,

handheld video cameras. This isexactly what my husband, Gene, and Ihave been doing since 1995, albeit asamateurs.

Even though the production

of these programs may have beenmotivated in part by prot, I think itis still a good thing that our ritualsand culture are being documented for

both Ifugao and the world at large.

In viewing these programs, however,

I could not help noticing that manyof the rituals depicted appear to have

been staged expressly for the camera.This is something that Gene and I

avoided at least initially in ourown videotaping. In 1995, this wasstill possible when, in July, we tapedseveral hours of the rice harvest ritualin Lugu, performed by local mumbaki

Yogyog Dogapna and BuyuccanUdhuk. The ritual would have beenheld regardless of whether or not theyhad known that we were coming torecord it.

Only 6 years later, in June


12/33

Feral play Outbreaks of grassy stunt

virus once ruined riceharvests and broughthardship to poor farmers

in South and SoutheastAsia. Today, most commercial ricevarieties developed by IRRI andits national partners have effectiveresistance to the virus resistance

borrowed from a wild cousin ofcultivated rice that may no longerexist in nature.

In the 1970s, grassy stunt virus

was a major problem, said DarshanBrar, a rice breeder in IRRIs PlantBreeding, Genetics and BiochemistryDivision. IRRI scientists screened7,000 rice lines for resistance to the

virus. Fortunately, one of the wild ricelines, a single line ofOryza nivarafrom India, was found to be resistant.

In 1974, IRRI released threevarieties with grassy stunt resistance

derived from O. nivara.Its a classic example of a gene

that wasnt available in cultivated ricebeing taken from wild rice, added

Dr. Brar, a specialist in such widecrosses. It has had a major impact ondeveloping varieties.

This early success in widecrossing so called because of the

large genetic gap separating the twoparental lines suggests the potential

benets of tapping wild species foragronomically desirable traits. Italso illustrates the practical value of

preserving natural habitats and thebiodiversity they harbor.

That population ofO. nivarafrom Uttar Pradesh, India, has never

been found again, reported GurdevKhush, former IRRI principal plant

breeder and 1996 World Food Prizelaureate. If these truly pricelessseeds, as Dr. Khush described

Crop scientists use

wide crosses to breed

into cultivated rice

varieties the hardiness

of their wild kin

b y A d a m B a r c l a y

them, had not been gatheredconservation in the InternatiGenebank at IRRI, the trait oresistance to grassy stunt mig

been lost forever. Drive a speextinction, and you stand to lmore than the plant itself.

Every minute of every dahabitat disappears somewhe

earth. The reasons for this deare many. Homes and infrastare built for an ever-growingpopulation. New farmland is

Some natural areas are cleareof necessity and some out of

but every loss of natural habiimpoverishing biodiversity.

No one knows how many

exist on the planet. It is estimthat, for every one of the 2 mor so species that scientists h

described, between 5 and 50 have yet to be discovered. Ha

destruction is driving to extinspecies we never even knew eIncluded among them may brice varieties potentially usef

wide-crossing work of Dr. Br

Novel genesWild species themselves areagronomically very poor, he

explained. For example, thebe low yielding and have a loharvest period, poor plant tyseed-shattering seeds thatoff the plant before maturity

other traits that breeders anddont want. But they may alsoa unique property or novel ge some useful factor, like res

to diseases or insects, or toleenvironmental stresses. We wintroduce those kinds of traitthe wild species into cultivatethe cultivated rice will have s

resistance to a particular stre

DARSHAN BRAR, shown standing before IRRIs greenhouses and(top) pollinating a modern rice variety with a wild relative, ispushing the envelope of what is possible in transferring usefulgenes and traits into modern cultivars. Matatag 9 (above), acommercial cultivar with tungro disease resistance that Dr. Brarand his colleagues recruited from wild rice, has been released tofarmers in the Philippines.

p h o t o g r a p h y b y A r i e l J a v e l l a n a

AILEENDELROSARIO-RONDILLA


13/33

Because wild germplasm is notyet thoroughly exploited, added Dr.

Khush, there is still great potentialto develop new modern rice varieties.IRRIs research in this area is at theforefront. No other rice wide-crossingprogram exceeds it in scope andproductivity.

Scientists have identied 20 wildrice species, within each of which areup to hundreds of different geneticlines. It is impossible to speculate onhow many more wild rice lines may beout there, or how many have alreadybeen lost to land clearing. Wild ricecertainly tolerates a wide range ofextreme conditions, including aridenvironments, acidic soils and highaltitudes. David Mackill, head of

IRRI's Plant Breeding, Genetics andBiochemistry Division, points out that

this natural variability makes wildspecies valuable.

To look at them, diversity withineach wild species doesnt appear asgreat as in cultivated rice, said Dr.Mackill. But theres a lot of geneticvariability in wild species, often morethan in cultivated rice. There arelikely to be alleles different formsof genes in wild species that are notpresent in rice. Wide crossing is a wayto cast our net more broadly and getsome of these diverse genes into therice genome.

One of the things that Darshanhas done is push the envelope of whatcan be transferred by crossing plants

that are not really even compatible,Dr Mackill added. Hes developed

a number of ways to get genes outof these very difcult species intocultivated rice.

Viable offspringThe more distantly related any twoparent plants are, the more difcultit is to produce viable offspring.Crossing two lines of cultivated O.sativa is relatively easy. Try crossingO. sativa with, for example, theAfrican wild species O. brachyantha,and you have trouble producinganything at all, let alone a viableplant that possesses desired traits.This is where a painstaking techniqueknown as embryo rescue comes in(see sidebar opposite). Because thecrosses between two distantly relatedspecies of rice rarely produce viableseeds, promising embryos need tobe physically removed under themicroscope and grown in the lab.

Even when a wild rice speciesis related to O. sativa closely

enough that a direct cross is usuallysuccessful, the progeny always inheritundesirable traits from the wildparent. Weeding these out by crossingand re-crossing with the O. sativaparent is a long and laborious process.

This kind of technology genetic enhancement throughwide crossing is an excitingway to capture useful genes forincreasing resistance to pests,diseases and environmental stresses,

DR. BRAR RESCUES an embryo from awide cross and (top right) places it ina nutrient medium that will allow itto grow. Nasah (top left), a mastersscholar from Indonesia who works withDr. Brar, examines rice chromosomesfrom a wide cross to determine therelationship between cultivated and

wild rice.



14/33

and improving sustainability andnutritional quality, said Dr. Brar.During the last 10 or 20 years,there has been a revolution inmolecular biology. The answers tomany questions for which we werentexpecting answers are becomingclearer and clearer.

Since IRRI started experimentingwith wide crossing a few decadesago, the institute has notched upsome impressive successes in thearea of pest resistance. In additionto grassy stunt resistance, scientistshave transferred to cultivatedvarieties resistance to the debilitatingbacterial blight (BB), blast and tungrodiseases. A wide-crossed tungro-resistant variety (Matatag 9) hasbeen released in the Philippines as astop-gap variety for tungro hot spots.

Wide crossing has also producedrice resistant to brown planthopper,the insect pest that carries a doublewhammy by transmitting grassy stuntvirus. Four such varieties derivedfrom a wide cross with O. ofcinalis,an Asian wild rice have beenreleased in Vietnam.

The transfer of BB resistancefrom the wild species O. longistam-inata, found in Africa, tells the tale ofhow the combination of wide crossingand new techniques in molecularbiology is having impact. A specicgene found in O. longistaminata known asXa21 offers rice a broadspectrum of resistance. There aremany races of BB, and any resistantplant is unlikely to be immune toall of them.Xa21 does an excellentjob, though in the Philippines, forexample, there are nine prevalent BBraces, andXa21 offers resistance to allof them.

Traditionally, nding out whether

a new line of rice was resistant to adisease entailed physically inoculatingeach individual plant. Today, atechnique known as molecularmarker-assisted selection has madethis process and the subsequentdevelopment of resistant commercialvarieties far quicker and easier.Researchers take a sample of a riceplant, extract its DNA and examineit in the lab to determine whethera particular plant has inherited

a specic trait. This method hasfacilitated the transfer ofXa21 andits associated BB resistance to manycommercial rice varieties in the rice-growing world.

Coming of ageWild rice and wide crossing are alsointegral to the production of most ofthe hybrid rice grown commerciallyin the world today. Hybrid rice ricewith two different varieties as parents came of age in China and is nowbecoming increasingly popular in

subtropical Asia. Although farmersmust buy new seed each seasonbecause seed saved from a hybridcrop performs badly, hybrid rice canyield up to 20 percent more grainthan traditional inbred varieties.

To produce hybrid rice, you needdistinct male and female parents. Toachieve this, one of the parents mustpossess a trait known as cytoplasmicmale sterility (CMS), which rendersthat parent purely female.

The vast majority of commercialhybrid rice has a CMS source derivedfrom wild rice, said Dr. Brar.The discovery of CMS, by Chinesescientists, is another major exampleof how wild rice has contributed to awidening of the gene pool.

Just as crops that are resistantto pests greatly reduce the needfor pesticides, crops that competesuccessfully with weeds could leadto major cuts in herbicide use. Incollaboration with the West AfricaRice Development Association

(WARDA) The Africa Rice Center,IRRI is currently working withan African rice, O. glaberrima, toachieve that result.

Oryza glaberrima is cultivated ina small area of West Africa and so isnot, strictly speaking, a wild rice, butit is a relatively distant relation ofO.sativa. More to the point, it has a traitthat Dr. Brar and his team are keen tobreed into some of IRRIs commercialvarieties weed-competitive ability.

Managing a mismatch

Crossing cultivated rice, Oryza sativa,

with a distant wild relative can be

difcult. Any of a number of barriers

can combine to prevent a successful cross.

There is no guarantee of producing any sort

of progeny at all and even if a hybrid

results, it will almost certainly be sterile.

Into the breach step Darshan Brar and his

colleagues in IRRIs Plant Breeding, Genetics

and Biochemistry Division, who are expert at

a technique called embryo rescue.

Embryo rescue requires the physical

excision under a microscope of promising

embryos from their impoverished seeds.

These embryos then grow in tissue culture

in the lab until the resulting plants are

mature enough to be transferred to soil and

eventually crossed with their cultivated rice

parent. The process of determining whether they exhibit their wild parents useful trait can

then begin. Breeders cross the rescued hybrid with its O. sativa parent; the progeny from

that cross is crossed again with O. sativa and so on using embryo rescue each time.This backcrossing is repeated until the resulting plant is almost identical to the originalO.

sativa parent and yields a fertile seed. If things go according to plan, the only signicant

difference in the new plant is that it possesses the desired wild rice trait.

Although embryo rescue is not a technically difcult procedure, the painstaking nature

of the process derives from the sheer number of times it needs to be performed. As many as

98% of the seeds created from wide crosses dont even carry an embryo, and any resulting

embryo wont necessarily possess the sought-after wild rice trait. Therefore, breeders need

a very large sample of wide-crossed seeds up to several thousand, hundreds of which

may be embryo rescue candidates to have a chance of nding at least one with the

desired trait.

DR. BRAR SELECTS a promising embryo and places itin the nutrient medium.



15/33

A weed-competitive plantppresses the growth of weedsat would otherwise stie its ownowth. Researchers still have much

learn about the mechanics ofeed competitiveness how plantsmpete underground for water and

utrients and how some even exude

bstances that inhibit the growth ofeir rivals but rapid early growthat shuts out competitors and deniesem the energy of the sun appearsbe a major factor. Such weed

mpetitiveness, said Dr. Brar, ispecially useful where farmers adoptrect seeding of rice elds in place of

the more labor-intensive practice oftransplanting seedlings.

When you grow rice by directseeding, the weeds may overpower it

and strongly affect rice productivityand yield, he explained. If we cantransfer weed-competitive ability intocultivated rice, then the rice grown

by direct seeding will automaticallysuppress weeds and reduce the needfor herbicides.

IRRIs success in breeding ricevarieties with resistance to pests and

diseases offers encouragement as theinstitute now refocuses on breedingfor tolerance of so-called abiotic

stresses such as drought and saline oracid soils.

Theres good potential to ndalleles in wild species that will

contribute to agronomic traits relatedto abiotic stress, said Dr. Mackill.Darshan has shifted his emphasistoward shing for desirable genes that

may not be obvious at rst sight.

Prize winnerDr. Brar and his colleagues havealready crossed IRRIs popular

IR64 cultivar with O. rupogon, awild species that naturally growsin acid sulfate soils in Vietnam. In

collaboration with Vietnam's CuuLong Delta Rice Research Institute(CLRRI), one of the resulting lines(AS996) has been released in Vietnam

for commercial cultivation. It nowoccupies 100,000 ha of moderatelyacidic soil and recently netted CLRRIa prize from the Vietnam Union of

Science and Technology Associationsfor its popularity with farmers in less-favorable rice-growing areas.

Dr. Mackill continued: Droughtis the No. 1 abiotic stress in rainfed

rice. If you could calculate the damagein terms of yield loss, it would be veryhigh, probably at the top of the list.

But the thinking isthat there will be

water shortageseven in irrigated

areas. And we arelooking at trying to

breed rice that isadapted to using less

water. Perhaps thesoil would not beooded as it usuallyis with rice. Thisidea of developing

high-yielding ricefor nonoodedconditions is really

quite new. We call it aerobic Everyone these days is tr

do more with less, and rice faare no exception. If wide-cro

rice varieties help farmers prmore grain using fewer resou particularly water, pesticidherbicides farm communitprosper, poor rice consumer

have more cash for necessitiethan rice, and pressure to plothe last remaining areas of reundisturbed nature will decr

On top of the better-knowbenets of conserving naturahabitats, successful deploymrice cultivars improved throucrossing helps maximize the

of discovering, preserving anbeneting from as-yet-undiscspecies of wild rice. Given th

traits in wild rice, scientists liDr. Brar and his team will de

commercial varieties that arefriendlier to the environment

better able to nourish the pooI come from a rural farm

family and I really know, prahow essential it is to improveplants, said Dr. Brar. Moreif you want to help society contribute to humanity as a s

by improving access to betterfood then I think this is a gapproach.

Mr. Barclay is an Australian Y

Ambassador assigned for a ye

IRRI, where his duties include

as deputy editor ofRice Today

DR. BRAR EXAMINES an example ofthe wild species Oryza rupogon,which donated tolerance to acidsulfate soils to IRRIs popular, high-yielding variety IR64, as Philippinestaff researcher Joie Ramos andKo Bimpong, a masters scholarfrom Ghana, look on. The resultingcultivar, AS 996 (bottom), is popularamong farmers in Vietnam.

BUICHIBUU/CLRRI

Rice TodayJanuary 2004 Rice TodayJanuary 2004


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A

chieving most of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals spelled out by the United Nations

3 years ago hinges on policymakers recognizingthe essential role rice plays in the lives andlivelihoods of most of the worlds poor. A renewed

mphasis on this reality has marked recent gatherings in

ternational agricultural research.IRRIs parent organization, the Consultative Group on

ternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR), welcomedmost 1,000 policymakers, scientists and developmentecialists to the groups annual general meeting on 28-31

ctober in Nairobi, Kenya the only country to host theadquarters of two CGIAR research centers, the World

groforestry Center and International Livestock Research

Special section: RICE AND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Millennium Development GoalsDEPEND ON RICE RESEARCH

Institute. Much of the discussion at the CGIAR meetingfocused on dening the achievements and challenges of

the CGIAR research centers in terms of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals.

People are discovering that the goals have practicalvalue, said Mike Jackson, IRRIs director of program

planning and coordination. They provide researchorganizations with a touchstone for assessing the relativemerits of different projects in a tight funding environment.

And they provide policymakers and funding agencies witha framework to guide their investments.

Some 7 weeks before the CGIAR confab, an IRRIBoard of Trustees meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh,coincided with a 2-day communication fair sponsored

3Promotegenderequality

and empower

women: Womentraditionally shouldermany of the chores ofrice farming and todayare assuming additional

responsibilities as theirmenfolk seek off-farmemployment. Researchthat makes rice farming more efcient frees wome

grow cash crops and independently pursue remunactivities to support personal fulllment and covefees for all of their children, boys and girls alike.

4 & 5Reduce child mor

and improve mahealth: Because As

poorest depend on rmost of their calorieprotein, many suffedeciencies of iron,

vitamin A. Globally,hunger for these es

micronutrients aficts more than half of humanitespecially women and young children. Making ricnutritious will help protect those most vulnerable

hidden hunger.

7Ensure environmental sustainabiRice occupies more farmland in Asia thother food crop 60% or more in the p

countries. Rice research that improves the producexisting elds boosts harvests in line with growth number of mouths to feed, without encroaching oand other natural areas. Research that optimizes f

pesticide and fertilizer use improves their incomeprotects the environment.

by the IRRI-led project PovertyElimination Through Rice Research

Assistance (PETRRA) in cooperationwith the Bangladesh Rice Research

Institute. The PETRRA fair attractedsome 2,000 visitors each day to seefor themselves the progress made

by the 45 research-for-developmentsubprojects under the innovative

PETRRA umbrella.All PETRRA subprojects use rice

research and extension as the entrypoint to spur rural development and

improve the lives of rice growersand consumers alike. This reectsthe conviction that research to helpfarmers grow rice more efciently,protably and sustainably is the

essential rst step toward achievingsix of the eight United NationsMillennium Development Goals.

1Eradicate extreme

poverty and hunger: Mostof the worlds poorest and

least food-secure people

live in rice-producing

Asia. Manyare ricefarmers and

even more areslum-dwellers

or landless farm laborers who buytheir daily rice. Rice is so central totheir lives that any solution to global

poverty and hunger must includeresearch that helps farmers earn a decent prot whilegrowing rice that is affordable to consumers.

2Achieve universal primary education:Asias poorest spend 20-40% of their income onrice. Helping farmers grow rice more efciently

means cheaperrice for consumers,

higher income forproducers, and moremoney for bothto invest in their

childrens education.More efcient ricefarming techniquesalso lighten the labor

burden on farm

households, leavingchildren more timefor their studies.

CAROLYNDEDOLPH

ARIELJAVELLANA

CHRISSTOWERS(4)



17/33

MEETING CHALLENGES WITH ENERGY AND CHARISMA

continued on page 24

F

ilipino researchers have wonfor the 3rd consecutive year

the worlds most prestigiousaward for a scientic support

team in publicly funded agriculturalresearch. The award was announcedon 27 October at the annual generalmeeting in Nairobi of the ConsultativeGroup on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR), which each yearpresents the CGIAR Excellence inScience Awards.

The winning team comprises33 Filipino scientists working in theGenetic Resources Center (GRC)

at IRRI. The researchers operatethe GRC, which manages theInternational Rice Genebank, andplay a central role in the centersachievement of signicant scienticadvances in the conservation anduse of rice genetic resources. Theteam is responsible for storing,testing, multiplying, characterizingand documenting seed samples fromthe worlds most comprehensivecollection of rice genetic resources 110,000 samples of traditionaland modern varieties of cultivatedrice, as well as wild species and

distributing them to farmers, plantbreeders and other scientists.

We aim to protect traditionalvarieties of rice so that they canbe used to help poor rice farmersthroughout the world, said RuaraidhSackville Hamilton, head of theGRC. We are open to any nation,including those who do not deposittheir traditional varieties with us,provided they agree not to infringethe sovereign rights of nations overtheir biodiversity.

Reputation for excellence

The Filipino team has been instru-mental in building the genebanksreputation for excellence. The recentexternal review of CGIAR genebankoperations cited it as the best in theCGIAR system and a model forothers to emulate.

The team developed anonlineManual of Operations thatdocuments all daily managementoperations and is used by manynational and regional genebanks asa guide and distance-learning tool.The GRC team has also supportednational and regional genebanks by

establishing and upgrading geneticresources facilities and conducting

genebank and data-managementtraining in Bangladesh, Cambodia,India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar andthe Philippines.

Genebank Manager Flora deGuzman, who traveled to Nairobito receive the award, said that IRRIhas been actively conserving ricebiodiversity for 4 decades, since theestablishment of the genebank in 1962.

Over the past decade, therehave been signicant changes andimprovements to genebank facilities

and operations, particularly in seedproduction and conservation, datamanagement and research, said Ms.de Guzman.

Since 1986, the genebank hasdistributed 250,000 seed samples,facilitating the free movement ofgermplasm among 96 countries. Thisincludes repatriating 32,000 ricesamples to 34 countries of origin.

Restoring traditional rice varietiescan increase farmers income andso advance Millennium DevelopmentGoals as dramatically demonstratedin the IRRI-led project Exploiting

Two of the most remarkable years of my life, saidAngeline Kamba, summing up her term as chair of theIRRI Board of Trustees. IRRI faces some enormous

challenges, not least of which is the urgent need tocontinue to develop reliable new sources of funding. Thiswas one of the central issues during my time as chair, and

Im pleased to say that some promising new strategies arebeing developed by the institute.

Mrs. Kamba, IRRIs rst female or African boardchair, took over from Sjarifudin Baharsjah of Indonesiain January 2002. She was scheduled to hand over to theincoming chair, Keijiro Otsuka, a respected Japaneseagricultural economist, at the end of December.

As someone with no direct connection to rice orrice research, I had some concerns about what I couldcontribute to an institute like IRRI, she recalled. Now,at the end of my term, Im pleased at what I and my fellow

ANGELINE KAMBA withthe Earth Institutes

Jeffrey Sachs (left) andCGIAR Chairman Ian

Johnson at the CGIARannual general meetingin Nairobi.

Filipinos role in sustainable developmentl Me

YUSUFWACHIRA/IMAGEHUNTERS(3)



18/33

Biodiversity for Sustainable Pest

Management, which netted lastyears support team award. Theresearch saw high-value but disease-susceptible traditional rice varietiesinterplanted with disease-resistanthybrids to produce, with reducedspraying of fungicide, a healthycrop worth nearly US$281 more perhectare than a crop of hybrids alone.Access to the traditional varietiesstored by the GRC was pivotal to theprojects success.

Genetic resources also supportIRRIs hybrid rice breeding team,which won the award in 2001.

Other winnersOther winners this year includedAbdul Mujeeb Kazi of the Inter-national Maize and Wheat Improve-ment Center, who was named Out-standing Scientist for generatingand making available new geneticdiversity for wheat improvement.

Honored as Promising Young

Scientist was Jonathan Crouch, theglobal theme leader for biotechnologyat the International Center forResearch in the Semi-Arid Tropics,who led the effort to develop theupstream biotechnology and geneticenhancement program at the centerand was instrumental in establishingits Applied Genomics Laboratory.

Two papers received the Out-standing Scientic Article award.Dietary aatoxin exposure and

impaired growth in young children

from Benin and Togo was published in2002 in theBritish Medical Journal,Vol. 325. The co-authors are three re-searchers at the International Institutefor Tropical Agriculture: K. Cardwell,A. Hounsa and S. Egal, along with Y.Y.Gong, P.C. Turner and C.P. Wild ofthe University of Leeds, and A.J. Hallof the London School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine. The study docu-mented a striking association betweenmalnutrition in children and theirexposure to aatoxin, thus revealingthe need to address aatoxin contami-nation in stored food grains.

The prize-sharing paper Africanpastoralism: Genetic imprints oforigins and migrations was publishedin 2002 inScience, Vol. 296, by OliverHanotte, Joel W. Ochieng, YasminVerjee and J. Edward O. Rege of theInternational Livestock ResearchInstitute, and Daniel G. Bradley andEmmeline W. Hill of the SmurtInstitute at Trinity College in Ireland.

The rst continent-wide study of thegenetic diversity of cattle in Africa,the paper reports 7 years research incharacterizing, conserving and usingindigenous animal genetic resourcesfor the benet of Africas poor.

The Outstanding Partnershipaward recognized the Vitamin A forAfrica (VITAA) Program, coordinatedby the International Potato Center, forits work with 44 local and internationaldevelopment organizations to

implement the program in seven

African countries. VITAA is a researchand public health initiative to combatwidespread vitamin A deciency bypromoting new varieties of orange-eshed sweet potatoes.

The winner of the award forOutstanding Journalism wasIndian journalist Pallava Bagla forhis articleDrought exposes cracks inIndias monsoon model, publishedin 2002 in the prestigious journalScience, and for a body of scienticarticles published in mainstreammedia and reputed journals.

M.J. Williams of the WorldFishCenter received the OutstandingCommunications award for theFish for All Campaign, which raisedawareness of the ways sh contributeto the food needs of 1 billion of theworlds poor, provide livelihoods to120 million low-income wage earners,and are challenged by a degradingnatural resource base.

THE AWARD-WINNING Genetic Resources Center support team: (left to right, 1st row) Amita Juliano, NeliaResurreccion, Emerlinda Hernandez, Teresita Santos, Adelaida Alcantara, Ma. Elizabeth Naredo, Flora de Guz-man, Ma. Socorro Almazan, Digna Salisi and Renato Reao; (2nd row) Alicia Lapis, Imelda Boncajes, JacquelineManuel, Isabelita de Mesa, Yolanda Malatag, Veronica Mangubat, Minerva Eloria, Lydia Angeles, Minerva Ma-catangay, Maridee Pontipedra, Wilma Lumaybay, Gregorio Mercado and Florencio Villegas; (3rd row) BernardoMercado, Arnold Gonzales, Noel Banzuela, Bernardino Almazan, Felix Llanes, Vicente Arcillas, Melencio Lalap,Romulo Quilantang and Remegio Aguilar (not pictured, Mario Rodriguez). The other winners (inset) in Nairobi

CGIAR CHAIRMAN Ian Johnson arrives at the meetinganked by Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori (left)and Agriculture Minister Kipruto Arap Kirwa.



19/33

engaged in PETRRA subprojects to touch base with eachother and see how their subprojects t into the largerpicture of sustainable rural development and achievingMillennium Development Goals. Donors and prospective

donors, meanwhile, had a chance to learn more aboutthis innovative and competitive approach to organizingand delivering development aid. Finally, the fair was anopportunity to emphasize the central role agriculture playsas an engine of poverty reduction.

The fair featured 47 stalls presenting research-in-progress on technology development, disseminationpathways and methods, and policy. Displayers includedPETRRA and its subprojects, the Bangladesh RiceResearch Institute, Bangladesh Agricultural Development

Corporation, Bangladesh Rice Foundation, and Forumfor Information Dissemination on Agriculture. Some80 farmers, male and female, were available alongsideresearchers in the stalls to discuss their experiences.

The estimated 4,000 people attending the fairincluded students, donor representatives, civil servants,members of nongovernmental organizations, development

workers, agricultural scientists,journalists, farmers and housewives.

Presiding at the opening ceremony,which attracted some 500 guests to theSheraton ballroom, was M.K. Anwar,minister for agriculture of the Peoples

Republic of Bangladesh. In his speech,Mr. Anwar emphasized the need todevelop an agricultural marketingsystem and pursue crop biotechnology.Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, member

of Parliament and state minister foragriculture, also spoke, reporting thatthe government had lowered bank

tinued from page 22

interest rates for investments in agriculture.Speaking for IRRI were Board Chair Angeline

and Director General Ronald P. Cantrell, who strethat ensuring a balanced diet for Asian rice consu

protability for Asian farmers meant growing moon less land so that farmers could plant other cropspeakers included Agriculture Secretary Ayub Quaand Fazle Hasan Abed, the distinguished founderBangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and I

board member.A seminar on PETRRA and the Poor took plac

in the afternoon of the launch day, followed the neday by a seminar on Challenges for Communicati

Agricultural Research Results. Panelists emphasiz

crop diversication and marketing, as well as thedissemination to farmers of information on new rand technologies. They also noted that missing lin

between scientists and breeders on the one hand,

the farming community on the other, could be bri

services and by using print and electronic media.

Sustainable development in Dhaka

board meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Viewing an experimental eld (top left, from left) are Adil-son Serrp, board member; Keijiro Otsuka, incoming board chair; Mahabub Hossain, Social

Sciences Division head; and Mike Jackson, director for program planning and develop-ment. Cutting the ribbon at the PETRRA Communication Fair (above right) is Minister

for Agriculture M.K. Anwar, anked by IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell(left) and State Minister for Agriculture Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.Dr. Cantrell and Minister Anwar (bottom far right) huddle.

Farmers (bottom right) learn about seed health.

The IRRI-led project Poverty EliminationThrough Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA)and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute jointlyorganized a 2-day communication fair at the

Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka on 10-11 September. Theevent coincided with a meeting of the IRRI Board ofTrustees in Dhaka, its rst-ever meeting in Bangladesh.

The objective of the fair was to publicize theportfolio of ongoing research, experiences and results

of the PETRRA project (www.petrra-irri.org), aresearch-for-development project funded by the UnitedKingdoms Department for International Development.Since its launch in 1999, PETRRA has explicitly aimedto contribute to Millennium Development Goals by

halving extreme poverty by 2015.The fair displayed progress to date on the 45

subprojects operating under the PETRRA umbrella.It also provided an opportunity for stakeholders

ard members have been able to achieve with theergetic support of IRRI management, for which I would

ke to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.

IRRI Director General Ronald P. Cantrell praised Mrs.ambas enormous contribution to the institute duringhat has been a challenging period.

Clearly the most painful and difcult experienceuring her term, he said, was the retrenchment in 2002,

hich saw the institute lose 170 staff because of a fundingwnturn. Thanks to her leadership and steady hand, thestitute was able to emerge stronger and with a brighterture.

The energetic and charismatic Mrs. Kamba brought toe job a wealth of experience. A librarian by training, shes served the government of Zimbabwe as public servicemmissioner, director of the National Archives ( whichd to a term as vice president of the International Council

Archives), and Zimbabwean representative (and laterair) of the Inter-governmental Council for the Generalformation Program of the United Nations Educational,

ientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In theternational arena, she has served on the boards of CAB

ternational and the journalInformation Development.Mrs. Kamba played a key role at many IRRI-related

ents. One of the highlights for me was the Internationalce Congress in Beijing in Sep tember 2002, which Chinese

esident Jiang Zemin graciously opened, she recalled. Thisnrmed the enormous respect IRRI is privileged to enjoy

mong the rice-producing nations of the world.Mrs. Kambas swan song representing IRRI was at

e annual general meeting of the Consultative Group on

ternational Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Nairobi ate end of October. It pleased me greatly that the CGIARas nally able to hold one of its annual get-togethers inrica, she said, and that I could participate as an IRRIpresentative.

Mrs. Kamba said that her one regret was leaving IRRIfore the events marking International Year of Rice 2004.

As a cultural activist, I hope that there will be antensive cultural component

the events marking theternational Year of Rice,e added, referring to her

ork with the Southernrican Association for

esearch into Culture andevelopment, Harareimbabwe) Internationalstival of the Arts,

d UN/UNESCOWorld Commission

Culture andevelopment. Inderstand very well

at rice is more thanst food in Asia itsway of life.

DRIK(

4)

Rice TodayJanuary 2004


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DR. LEOCADIO S. SEBASTIANExecutive DirectorPhilRice, MaligayaScience City of Muoz, Nueva EcijaTel: (+63-44) [email protected]

DR. ROGELIO C. CUYNOAsia Rice FoundationSEARCA, UPLB CampusCollege, LagunaTel: (+63-49) [email protected]

MS. KAREN ELOISSA T. BAProgram LeaderPhilRice Technology Promo

MaligayaScience City of Muoz, NuTel: (+63-44) 456-0651 [email protected]

MS. JENNIFER C. JARA-RAExecutive AssistantOffice of the E xecutive DirPhilRice, MaligayaScience City of Muoz, NuTel: (+63-44) [email protected]

with rice, rice arts and crafts, folk dances on plantand storytelling.

The National Steering Committee Secretariat18 November to prepare for the media brieng setDecember. Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo as chairman of the National Committee, and Tour

Secretary Richard J. Gordon and Asia Rice FoundBoard Chair Emil Q. Javier are co-chairs. PhilRiceheaded by Executive Director Leo Sebastian, servthe National Committee Secretariat, with assistanIRRI.

government ofcials. The institute is refurbishing theRiceworld Museum and Learning Center to accommodatethe expected surge in the number of visitors in 2004and is planning special exhibitions on rice and theenvironment (February-April), biotechnology (May-

August), and Graindell and rice culture (September-December).

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts'Subcommittee on Science and Technology Museumsof the Philippines will use rice as a major theme foractivities next year. Four of the 14 member museums have

submitted plans. UST Museum, at the University of SantoTomas, Manila, will present in June and July an exhibitof paintings on rice themes and a science exhibit from theUST Research Center for Natural Sciences. The Philippine

Science Heritage Center will print posters featuringoutstanding scientists in rice research and technology,tapping PhilRice to publish a book, 100 Years of Rice

Research, expected out in May. Malabon Zoo in Manilawill plant rice gardens around the grounds to create a

see and feel exhibit of the rice plant. Museo Pambata ngMaynila will display a special exhibit on rice varieties andsponsor monthly activities for children, including coo king

Year launched in New York

Jacques Diouf, director general of

the Food and Agriculture Orga-nization (FAO) of the United Na-

ons, formally launched Internationalar of Rice 2004 at a special event 31 October at the United Nations

adquarters in New York.International Year of Rice 2004 is

international drive led by the FAOd supported by governments and

ternational organizations, includingRRI, to focus attention on the vital

le of rice in ensuring global foodcurity and alleviating poverty andalnutrition. Forty-four UN member

untries endorsed a proposal initiat-by the Philippines to dedicate 2004this important crop.

Almost a billion households in

ia, Africa and the Americas dependrice systems as their main source of

mployment and livelihood, Dr. Dioufld UN delegates during the launch.

About four-fths of the worlds riceproduced by small-scale farmersd is consumed locally. Rice systemspport a wide variety of plants and

animals, which also help supplementrural diets and incomes. Rice is there-fore on the frontline in the ght against

world hunger and poverty.Dr. Diouf added that rice produc-

tion and consumption is a pivot of

many cultures around the world, shap-ing religious observances, festivals,customs, cuisine and celebrations.

Its time for the global commu-

nity to work together to increase riceproduction in a sustainable way that

will benet farmers, women, childrenand, especially, the poor, Dr. Dioufstressed. The Year of Rice will act as

a catalyst for country-driven pro-grams throughout the world. We aimto engage the entire community ofstakeholders, from rural farmers to the

scientic institutions that mapped therice genome, in the mission to increaserice production in a manner thatpromotes sustainability and equity.Many member countries have already

formed national committees for the In-ternational Year of Rice, and they willserve as the dynamic link between our

international vision and the practicalrealities in local peoples lives.

Launch activities included anInternational Year of Rice exhibition

on 27-31 October at UN headquartersin New York that featured rice plantsfrom Cornell University, literature onrice (includingRice Today,Interna-

tional Rice Research Notes,Rice Al-manac and Graindell), a slide show,photographs and posters, and dem-onstrations of the FAO and IRRI Websites, including the Rice Knowledge

Bank and the educational childrens

its Graindellstorybook.

NATIONAL COMMITTEES PLAN FOR INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICEit plans to invite as guest of honor FAO Director GeneralJacques Diouf.

The committee resolved to introduce a rice componentinto Environment Week in June, in coordination with the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, andthat all participating agencies should feature rice in theiranniversary programs during the year. Additionally, theDepartment of Tourism will take the lead in organizing

Rock for Rice concerts at various state universities andtourist sites such as the historic Intramuros districtof Manila. The department will seek private-sector

sponsors for the concerts.The committee has adopted the mascot

of the Philippine Rice Research Institute(PhilRice), Palayman, as its ofcial mascotfor International Year of Rice.

IRRI, which has its headquarters atLos Baos, in the Philippine province ofLaguna, will host three separate visitingdays for farmers, diplomats and Philippine DAVY SURYADI (left) of the Association of South-

east Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat lookson as Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China joinsASEAN heads of state in signing an International

Year of Rice poster at the ASEAN+3 Summit inBali on 7 October. At a meeting on 18-22 Augustin Kuala Lumpur of ASEAN, Chinese, SouthKorean and Japanese ministers of agriculture andforestry, IRRI Director General for PartnershipsWilliam Padolina led IRRIs rst active participa-tion in an ASEAN event.

PRCGOVERNMENT

In the run-up to International Year of Rice 2004,several Asian countries established nationalcommittees to coordinate observance of the yearand made progress in formulating plans. This

port describes the state of play whenRice Todaywentpress at the beginning of December and should nottaken as denitive or complete. Partly to stay up-to-te on national plans for the year, IRRI will set up an

ternational Year of Rice homepage to complemente homepage operated by the Food and Agriculturerganization (FAO) of the United Nations atww.rice2004.org. Keep an eye out at www.irri.orgr a new link.

The Philippine NationalSteering Committee for

International Year of Rice agreedat its meeting on 14 November

at the agship joint activity for the year would beWorld Food Day program on 16 October, to which

IRRI SPOKESPERSON Duncan Macintosh (right) withMahmoud Solh, director of the Plant Production andProtection Division of FAOs Agriculture Department,at the launch.

Palayman

KATHERINELOPEZ



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by Indonesian elementary school children. Finally, inNovember or December, Jakarta will be the venue for a

special conference on rice and poverty alleviation with theexpected participation of IAARD, IRF and IRRI.

Pending the naming of an ofcial national committeefor International Year of Rice, the interim contact personsfor the year are:

International Year of Rice, call home!

Our thanks to IRRI country ofces and the International ProgramsManagement Ofce (IPMO) for news about International Year of Ricepreparations in host countries. We encourage national committees and

organizations marking the year anywhere in the world to keep us up-to-dateegarding plans and to supply reports and photos of events as they happen.

Contact IRRI Spokesperson Duncan Macintosh, and please copy your messageo Rice Today([email protected] and [email protected]). Additionally,RRIs collaborators can communicate through IRRI IPMO. Media inquiries should

go to Mr. Macintosh.

Duncan Macintosh Ma. Angeles (Pong) QuilloySpokesperson IPMO IYR Coordinatornternational Rice Research Institute International Rice Research Institute

DAPO Box 7777 DAPO Box 7777Metro Manila Metro ManilaPhilippines PhilippinesTel: (+63-2) 580-5600 ext. 2725 Tel: (+63-2) 580-5600 ext. 2837Fax: (+63-2) 580-5699 Fax: (+63-2) 580-5699Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

The Food and Agriculture Organization has established a special secretariat toupport national committees and organizations efforts to publicize International

Year of Rice activities and an information ofce for media inquiries.

nternational Year of Rice Secretariat Public Information OfcerFAO, Room C-789 International Year of Rice SecretariatViale delle Terme Caracalla FAO, Viale delle Terme Caracalla0100 Rome, Italy 0100 Rome, ItalyTel: (+39-06) 5705-5133 Tel: (+39-06) 5705-6257Fax: (+39-06) 5705-6347 Fax: (+39-06).5705-6347Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

DR. IRSAL LASDirectorIndonesian Institute for Rice ResearchJl. Raya No. 9, Sukamandi 41256Subang, West JavaTel: (+62-260) 520157Fax: (+62-260) 520158Email: [email protected]

DR. SJARIFUDIN BAHARSJAHChairmanIndonesia Rice FoundationTel: (+62-21) 7657608Fax: (+62-21) 7660220Email: [email protected]

DR. JOKO BUDIANTODirector GeneralIndonesian Agency for Agricultural

Research and Development (IAARD)Jl. Raya Ragunan No. 29, PasarmingguJakarta Selatan 12540Tel: (+62-21) 7801242Fax: (+62-21) 7800644Email: [email protected]

DR. HARYONODivision Head, Science and Technology

and Public RelationsIAARDJl. Raya Ragunan No. 29, PasarmingguJakarta Selatan 12540Tel: (+62-21) 78831114Fax: (+62-21) 7800644Email: [email protected]

Indonesia got the process off to agood start in October. Minister ofAgriculture Bungaran Saragih markedWorld Food Day by announcing, at anevent in Ambarawa, Central Java, the

island nations participation in International Year of Riceand, at the same time, the release of a new rice cultivar.Representatives of ministry agencies met in midmonth

to plan activities as did the Indonesia Rice Foundation(IRF).

The IRF will work closely with the Indonesian Agencyfor Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD)in several activities throughout the year. In January orFebruary, an all-night puppet show will usher into fulloperation a museum dedicated to agro-tourism and ricein the Kuwiran district of Solo, Central Java. In Marchand April, the Indonesian Institute for Rice Research(IIRR) will organize separate rice walks for policymakers,students, farmers, extension workers and children designedto instill appreciation of rice research and technology.

The IRF will hold in May or June its fourth seminar on

the cultural aspects of rice, addressing specically rightsto rice lands of the indigenous Minangkabau people inBukittinggi, West Sumatra. In July or August, a seminar inJakarta will focus on gender issues in rice production andrelated activities.

September and October will bring another celebrationof World Food Day and the launch of an IRF-sponsoredbook entitledRice is Beautiful, a collection of drawings

Laos got a jump on InternationalYear of Rice as the NationalAgricultural Research Center seta series of VIP visits between lateOctober and mid-November 2003.

The visits were scheduled early because the next bigharvest will not occur until November 2004, near theend of International Year of Rice. Among the scheduledvisitors were the ambassadors of India, Australia,Switzerland, Japan and the United States; the deputyambassador of Germany; the country directors of theWorld Bank and Asian Development Bank; staff ofAusAID, Japan International Cooperation Agency,U.S. Agency for International Development, and WorldFood Program; the resident representatives of theUnited Nations Development Program and the Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United

GERMPLASM SPECIALIST Appa Rao (center) explains Lao-IRRI Project work toAustralian Ambassador Jonathan Thwaites (left) and Claes Kjellstrm, rstsecretary at the Swedish Embassy responsible for developmentcooperation, during an International Year of Rice VIP visit.

KARLGOEPPERT



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DR. MOON-HEE LEE (CHAIR)Director GeneralNational Crop Experiment Station, RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6601Fax: (+82-31) 295-5410Email: [email protected]

DR. DAE-GEUN OH (INTERNATIONALSECRETARY)

DirectorInternational Technical Cooperation

Center, RDA

250 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-707Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 299-2270Fax: (+82-31) 293-9359Email: [email protected]

DR. HUNG-GOO HWANG (GENERALSECRETARY)

Director, Rice Genetics and BreedingDivision

National Crop Experiment Station, RDA209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6635Fax: (+82-31) 295-5410Email: [email protected]

DR. JE-KYU KIM (ACADEMICSECRETARY)

Director, Rice Physiology andProduction Division

National Crop Experiment Station,RDA

209 Seodun-Dong, Suwon 441-100Republic of KoreaTel: (+82-31) 290-6645Fax: (+82-31) 295