The Hindu : Vitamin A rice part of new ICAR-IRRI work plan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 17, 2002

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Vitamin A rice part of new ICAR-IRRI work plan

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi Feb. 16. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, signed a work plan for collaboration in rice research from 2001 to 2004. The collaboration would include sharing germ plasm on `super rice' for higher yield and `golden rice' with vitamin A for better nutrition quality.

The transgenic `golden rice', which is now being evaluated for safety by the IRRI should be available for transfer to fields within four years, while the ICAR is indigenously working with `Sambha Mussouri' variety for producing vitamin A rice transgenically which might be available in less than two years. The ICAR is also set to produce its variety of genetically modified cotton before the next sowing season.

The major collaboration research areas are for improvement and development of rainfed rice, hybrid rice technology, biotechnology and rice-based cropping systems. Both the institutes will also collaborate on crop resource management, socio-economic studies, human resource development and joint publications on rice research. The agreement was signed by the Director-General of ICAR, Punjab Singh, and the Director-General of IRRI, Ron Cantrell, here.

Besides, the agreement, the IRRI today opened its office in New Delhi, which will house several other research buildings.

The areas identified for collaboration focussed on enhancing livelihood of farmers, tackling the water problem in rice plantation (how to grow rice differently with less water) with growing population and shrinking biomass break yield barriers with germ plasm, methods to increase yields in fragile environments, using new tools of biotechnology and genetically modified organisms for better quality and looking at new and innovative ways of technology transfer to fields.

Addressing a joint press conference after the signing the agreement, Dr. Singh said the challenge before researchers was to enhance productivity area-wise to improve plant types and shift productivity from the existing 2 tonnes per hectare to at least 3 tonnes per hectare.

Dr. Cantrell said the IRRI had the largest research work plan with India as the scientists and institutes here were of high quality and the Government was committed to scientific research. He said the ICAR and the IRRI were collaborating on 44 projects. The major concern was whether scientists were able to use science to make changes in food production as in the past.

In the context of the `golden rice', Dr. Cantrell said the IRRI's role was not to promote biotechnology or genetically modified organisms.

Its role is to objectively evaluate the new strategies and options that biotechnology may offer the rice industry and work with its partners to see whether such strategies were suitable and sustainable in different countries.

He said the IRRI had allocated only five per cent of its budget to biotechnology as things had to be "in a perspective".

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