Asia Rice Production Challenges Discussed in Vietnam

More must be done to accelerate the development and dissemination of rice varieties to help farmers keep up with production demands. "The rice-producing nations of Asia are facing many of the same challenges in producing the rice they need, so it makes sense for us to work together to overcome these problems,” said Mangala Rai, Chair of the Council for Partnerships on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA). Senior research representatives of 16 major rice countries that fare members of CORRA converged in Vietnam to discuss the issues and challenges of the Asian rice industry. Rai is also Secretary of India’s Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Rai also stressed that rice researchers should have access to advanced scientific tools such as biotechnology. “We decided that we should actively support the policies of our governments to promote the responsible use of biotechnology to help achieve food security and reduce poverty,” he said. “We also endorsed the risk assessment–based use of transgenic technology in rice as per national priorities for agriculture and for trade.”

Details on CORRA are available at http://www.irri.org/corra/default.asp or for more information email Duncan Macintosh of the International Rice Research Institute at d.macintosh@cgiar.org.