Bangkok, Thailand
May, 2007
Revitalization was the buzzword and the underpinning theme at
the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting of the
International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER)
held from 8-11 May, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Rising to today’s daunting challenge of exchanging rice breeding
materials amid complex intellectual property regimes and
dwindling resources were representatives from 17 countries in
Asia and Africa, 3 CGIAR centers (IRRI,
WARDA,
ICARDA), and the
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO).
Welcoming them were Thailand’s Rice Department Director General
Mr. Surapong Pransilapa and IRRI Program 1 Leader Dr. David
Mackill, who both stressed the need to strengthen collaboration
among rice scientists in order to realize further increases in
rice productivity. Dr. S.P. Tiwari, deputy director general of
the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and a
special participant at the meeting, congratulated INGER for
facilitating the release of at least 667 varieties in 62
countries, a contribution valued at US$1.67 billion or an
average of US$52 million each year since INGER’s establishment
in 1975.
To update the INGER TAC on the breeding resources to expect from
IRRI, Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology (PBGB) Division
Head Dr. Darshan Brar presented the state of the art on rice
breeding, and IRRI Program 5 Leader Dr. Hei Leung discussed
possible applications of DNA bar-coding and association genetics
in INGER. Specific objectives of IRRI breeding programs and
networks were discussed by Drs. Arvind Kumar, R.K. Singh, K.K.
Jena, and Dave Mackill.
Global developments were reviewed on rice breeding material
exchange by INGER Coordinator Dr. Ed Redoña, on data management
and use of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) by
T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Center Head Dr. Ruaraidh Sackville
Hamilton, and on a Global Partnership Initiative on Plant
Breeding Capacity building(GIPB) by FAO Senior Officer Dr. Elcio
Guimarães. INGER’s contributions, in terms of direct varietal
releases and in increasing the diversity of parental materials
in NARES breeding programs, were repeatedly underscored in the
country reports from Asia to Africa.
Key outputs of the meeting were the realignment of INGER
nurseries and activities according to the needs and priorities
of NARES and CG centers, refinement of INGER’s operational
mechanisms, heightened NARES awareness on the SMTA and its
positive implications for global germplasm exchange, and
identification of key areas for improvement such as the use of
IT for expediting seed requests, submission and analysis of
data, and generation and dissemination of reports. The need to
infuse a new science dimension to INGER’s activities was also
emphasized. TAC members pledged to nominate more entries to
INGER in order to increase NARES-to-NARES sharing and use of
rice breeding and genetic resources that have been INGER’s
hallmark during the past 32 years.
The plans formulated by the TAC will be presented for approval
at the next meeting of the Council for Partnership on Rice
Research in Asia (CORRA), INGER’s Steering Committee, in Vietnam
this coming September. Hailed as one of the most successful and
enduring partnership among NARES and CGIAR centers, INGER has
played a vital role in facilitating the continued spread of
modern rice varieties, thus sustaining the gains of the Green
Revolution. Coordinated by Dr. Ed Redoña since September 2006,
INGER is positioning itself into becoming the model and leading
global network for the multilateral sharing of breeding and
genetic resources and related information in the modern era. |
|