IRRI and Bayer Team up to Improve Rice Productivity

Bayer CropScience and the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced that they will work together "to strengthen rice productivity through improved utilization of rice genetic diversity for crop improvement, disease management in rice, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and capacity building for young rice scientists." Bayer and IRRI signed an agreement to establish a Scientific Know-how and Exchange Program (SKEP), which includes four joint activities.

First, the Germany-based crop science company will join an international effort that aims to develop an in-depth dataset of rice genome information for more than 2,000 different rice varieties and wild species. In addition, IRRI and Bayer will work together to develop tools to rapidly detect the dreaded bacterial blight disease of rice. The collaboration also includes the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions in rice fields following a switch from transplanted rice to direct-seeded and water-saving irrigation.

Bayer, early last year, joined the Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), an IRRI-led partnership program between the public and private sector to develop and share hybrid rice technologies.

"This agreement will build on IRRI's capacity to deliver rice science solutions that help rice farmers increase their yields in an environmentally sustainable way and in so doing help lift farmers and consumers out of poverty", said IRRI Deputy Director General for Research Dr. Achim Dobermann.

Read the original story at http://www.bayercropscience.com/bcsweb/cropprotection.nsf/id/EN_20091204?open&l=EN&ccm=500020