Experts Analyze Trends in Rice Research

Experts from Hong Kong Baptist University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong analyzed the trends in rice research in the past 30 years and made projections for 2030 and beyond. The open-access review paper is published in Food and Energy Security.

Rice production and research have encountered unprecedented challenges in recent years. Production and yield have plateaued significantly in major rice-producing countries, while the demand continues to increase in poverty-stricken areas. This led the researchers to analyze the trends in the past years and present projections including future challenges and priorities for rice research.

The highlights of the review article include the following:

• Rapid population growth is the key challenge in the effort to combat hunger and malnutrition for sustainable development.
• The production of rice in developed regions will remain stagnant or fall slightly. 
• Rice cultivation area is also expected to decline in different countries, for example, China, Vietnam, etc., despite their production increase through yield improvements.
• The trend in rice price will continue to increase until 2023, then the price is expected to decline to US$476/tonnes.
• The demand for rice consumption in Africa will significantly increase, mainly in countries in West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
• Most of the research projects/initiatives aimed to tackle one of the two fundamental challenges—to break the barrier of yield ceiling or to improve yield sustainability.

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