In response to requests for help from countries hard hit by the Asian tsunami disaster, the first shipments of rice varieties suitable for growing in salt-affected conditions are being sent to beleaguered rice farmers around the region.

The shipments are part of a carefully coordinated response by agricultural research institutes in Asia and elsewhere to assist in the recovery of food production and rural economic activities as quickly as possible. The move is seen as vital in helping the devastated areas of the region move from a dependency on food aid to self-sufficiency and independence.

The Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has already received urgent requests from Malaysia and Sri Lanka for seeds of saline-tolerant rice varieties that would grow in areas devastated by last month's tragic tsunami. IRRI is home to the International Rice Genebank, a unique, long-term facility that carefully maintains samples of more than 100,000 rice varieties, including a small number that can grow and produce grain in salty soil conditions.

Already, experts from IRRI have begun studying the rice production problems in the battered areas of Indonesia and India, and a two-person team will visit Sri Lanka in early February. The Institute is also using the Internet, and its well-known electronic information service the Rice Knowledge Bank, to provide essential information on growing rice in the aftermath of the tsunami to anyone working with rice farmers, anywhere and at any time.

The Web site is at www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/default.htm
<http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/default.htm> and provides those who need it with up-to-date information on rice production in tsunami-affected areas as well as advice on how to overcome the many problems farmers will face when trying to grow rice in fields swept by the giant waves.

A tsunami or invasion of salt water can affect rice production in several different ways, including direct crop losses, soil damage via erosion or salt contamination, and storage losses. The Rice Knowledge Bank's information deals with issues such as:
* How to store grain and seed safely
<http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/How_To_Store_Grain_and_Seed_More_Safely__.htm> 
* Salinization, soil loss, and soil deposits
* How can salt-affected soils be reclaimed
<http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/How_Can_You_Reclaim_Salt_Affected_Soils_.htm> ? 
* Do rice varieties vary in their tolerance of salt
<http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/Do_Rice_Varieties_Vary_in_Tolerance_to_Salt_.htm> ? 
* What to do if labor is in short supply
<http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/What_can_I_do_if_labor_is_short_.htm> 

"Many of those affected by the tsunami depended on local agriculture not just for food but also for their livelihoods, and rice obviously played a particularly important role in many of the worst-affected regions," IRRI's deputy director general for research, Ren Wang, said. "Therefore, it's essential to the success of any recovery effort that agriculture in the region get back on its feet as quickly as possible.

"One of the first problems spotted after the disaster was that the tsunami dumped a lot of salt on what was previously productive agricultural land," Dr. Wang explained. "Now, only plants that can grow in salty conditions are likely to be productive in such areas. That's why rice varieties tolerant of salty conditions have become so useful and important."

One of the key questions for IRRI and its many partners around the region is how much land has been completely lost due to salt contamination caused by the tsunami, and what land can be reclaimed immediately by using salt-tolerant rice varieties. Researchers will also be looking at what salt-contaminated land could eventually be reclaimed through the use of different strategies and techniques.

"We hope that much of the salt-damaged land can eventually be returned to productive agricultural use by either the use of salt-tolerant crop varieties or the implementation of successful recovery strategies," Dr. Wang
explained.

He estimates that IRRI has access to more than 40 different rice varieties that could tolerate salty conditions and could be used either immediately by farmers in suitable areas or in breeding programs to adapt local varieties that are already popular with farmers for salty conditions.

The seeds of six or more salt-tolerant rice varieties are being shipped to Malaysia and Sri Lanka by IRRI, while the staff of the Institute's office in Indonesia have been working with officials there to see what local rice farmers need to become productive again. In Myanmar, officials have told IRRI that the country's rice-growing areas were not affected by the tsunami as the main damage was suffered in the Tanintharyi coastal region and in the Ayeyarwady delta where mostly fishing communities are situated. Officials in Bangladesh and Thailand said that their main rice-growing areas were also mostly unaffected by the tsunami.

IRRI is working closely with its 14 sister centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to help the nations battered by the tsunami recover their agricultural productivity. The CGIAR centers involved in the recovery effort include four research institutes based in the worst-hit countries: the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka; the WorldFish Center in Penang, Malaysia; the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia (CIFOR); and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India (ICRISAT).

The ten other research institutes of the CGIAR are also closely involved in the agricultural recovery effort, which is being carefully coordinated with the other major international agencies working to help the devastated region recover as quickly and sustainably as possible from the unprecedented disaster. For more information on the CGIAR's efforts in the tsunami-affected areas, please visit www.cgiar.org <http://www.cgiar.org/> .

On January 20, all the CGIAR centers active in Indonesia met in Bogor with representatives from their national partners as well as universities and students from the affected areas and other regional and international agencies to coordinate their efforts. Details can be found at www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/W-New/aceh.asp
<http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/W-New/aceh.asp> .

The following is a complete list of tsunami-related Web sites posted by the CGIAR centers:

1. IRRI: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/TsunamisAndRice/default.htm
2. The World Agroforestry Center: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/W-New/aceh.asp
3. The WorldFish Center: http://www.worldfishcenter.org/
4. IWMI: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/
5. The International Food Policy Research Institute: http://www.ifpri.org/ 
6. CIFOR: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/  
7. ICRISAT: http://www.icrisat.org/web/asp/SATrends.asp#1 
8. CGIAR-CSI: http://csi.cgiar.org/tsunami.asp
9. IWMI maps: http://csi.cgiar.org/tsunami_maps/tsunami_maps.html
10. CGIAR: http://www.cgiar.org/newsroom/releases/news_20050104.html

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world's leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with offices in 10 other Asian countries, it is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving 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 of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. Please visit the Web sites of the CGIAR
(www.cgiar.org) or Future Harvest Foundation (www.futureharvest.org), a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and supports food and environmental research.