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Los Baños, The Philippines
May 18, 2001
Exciting new evidence is emerging that two chronic concerns of the
developing world-food security and environmental degradation-can be managed effectively,
especially across the tens of millions of hectares planted with rice.
One of the first detailed studies on the impact of improved rice varieties found that they have
significantly boosted rice supplies over the past 40 years and so have reduced prices for poor
consumers. They have also saved thousands of hectares of forests from being turned into rice farms.
A team of researchers from the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) used
data from the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization to show that, in the four decades
from 1961 to 1991, the population of Asia's developing nations more than doubled, from 1.6 billion
to 3.4 billion.
In the same period, efforts to avert famine resulted in the land area devoted to rice expanding by 30
percent, from 107 million hectares to 139 million hectares. However, rice production grew by an
impressive 170 percent, from 199 million tonnes in 1961 to 540 million tonnes in 2000, thanks
largely to the introduction of improved rice varieties. This unprecedented yield improvement not
only helped millions avoid starvation but also saved thousands of hectares of fragile natural habitats from
falling under the plow to create new rice fields.
"This is fundamentally the success story of the Green Revolution, but what we have now is far better
data to show what was achieved and what its long-term effects were," said IRRI Director General
Ronald Cantrell. "For example, it is clear now that one of the main effects of the Green
Revolution-the adoption by farmers of stronger, higher-yielding rice varieties-did not stop in the
1970s but actually continued well into the 1990s. And the latest increases in production have been
achieved in a far more sustainable and environmentally friendly way."
The IRRI research team, led by senior economist Mahabub Hossain, also found that the total annual
gains from the adoption of these modern varieties now stands at US$10.8 billion-an astounding
figure considering that it is nearly 150 times the total investment in rice research made over the same
40-year period by IRRI and its many partners in the national agricultural research systems of Asia's
rice producing nations.
Dr. Cantrell said it was important that such figures be seen in perspective. "Many of the gains of the
first phase of the Green Revolution, in the 1960s and 70s, were achieved via an increase in inputs,"
he said. "However, the gains in production over the past two decades have been achieved very
much in the context of sustainable, more environmentally sensitive rice farming. At IRRI's main
experimental farm in the Philippines, we have reduced pesticide use by 60 percent, and recent
research projects in Vietnam and China have had an impressive impact on pesticide use in these
major rice-producing nations."
In addition to this, rice farmers in the Philippines now record the lowest levels of insecticide use of
any rice growers in Asia, while achieving some of the highest yields per hectare in Southeast Asia.
"As far as IRRI is concerned, unsustainable high-input rice production makes no sense, and the era
of the rice farm as a sustainable, balanced ecosystem is where we are all heading," Dr. Cantrell
added. "The world's rice-growing regions should be seen as unique ecological regions no less
precious than the great forests and vast oceans of the planet. This is especially so as rice covers
about 11 percent of the earth's arable land surface, making rice growing the largest single use of land
dedicated to feeding the world."
Dr. Cantrell warned, however, that many enormous challenges remain. "We still have growing
populations to feed using less land, less water and less labor," he said. "But even worse than this is
the simple fact that grinding poverty still blights the lives of millions of rice farmers and consumers
right across Asia. It troubles us deeply that, despite 40 years of effort at IRRI, poverty remains such
an huge problem in rice production."
In one of the worst affected countries, Bangladesh, a major new research effort is underway to try to
tackle the poverty problem using an exciting new strategy based on years of research and lessons
learned in the developing world. The five-year, ?9.5 million project called Poverty Elimination
Through Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA) is funded by Britain's Department For International
Development (DFID) and managed by IRRI.
"We're very excited about the PETRRA project, not just because it is easily the biggest project we
are involved in, but also because it takes a whole new approach to the poverty issue," Dr. Cantrell
said. "It also shows that IRRI, its research partners, and its donors are not standing still. We've
learned a lot, not just from our own experiences over the past four decades, but also from the input
and experiences of others. And we are determined to keep looking for fresh, new ways to deal with
this most intractable of problems in the developing world-poverty."
While responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of PETRRA, IRRI is first and foremost a
partner in the project along with DFID, Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture, the Bangladesh
Agricultural Research Council, and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute.
Now in its second year, PETRRA is a demand-led, participatory research initiative whose purpose
is to enhance the productive potential of rice-based farming systems in Bangladesh. The main goal of
the project is to substantially increase domestic rice production and incomes by 2008, so that these
achievements can contribute towards a 50 percent reduction in rural and urban poverty by 2015.
PETRRA will finance, on a competitive basis, the generation of technologies and extension materials
appropriate for poor farmers, as well as try to boost the capacity for demand-led research and
improve the way technologies are being adopted in Bangladesh.
"Put simply, we first went to the farmers to find out what they needed to help them improve their
lives, before we started looking at what projects would be funded by PETRRA," Dr. Cantrell said.
"As IRRI heads into the new millennium, this focus on the direct needs of poor farmers is entirely
appropriate.
"By any measure, IRRI and its many partners have had great success in finding safe, sustainable,
environmentally friendly ways to feed the half of the planet that depends on rice," he concluded.
"What we need now is renewed commitment and vigor in tackling, and defeating, the toughest
problem of all-poverty, and the indifference that surrounds it."
IRRI is the world's leading international rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines
and with offices in 11 other 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 16 Future Harvest centers
funded the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of
public and private donor agencies.
For more information, visit the websites of CGIAR or
Future Harvest. Future Harvest is a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and
supports food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family,
well-nourished children, and a better environment. Future Harvest supports research, promotes
partnerships, and sponsors projects that bring the results of agricultural research to rural
communities, farmers, and families in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
For additional information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, DAPO Box 7777, Metro
Manila, Philippines; telephone (63-2) 845-0563 or (63-2) 844-3351 to 53; fax: (63-2)
891-1291 or (63-2) 845 0606; email: d.macintosh@cgiar.org
Web (IRRI): http://www.cgiar.org/irri;
Web (Library): http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org
Web (Riceweb): http://www.riceweb.org;
Web (Riceworld): http://www.riceworld.org
IRRI news release
N3539 |
