Biotech Updates

Looking For Solution to the Rice Virus Disease Problem in the Mekong Delta

June 8, 2007

Rice production in Vietnam, particularly in the Mekong Delta, has suffered major setbacks when outbreaks of virus diseases carried by the brown planthopper (BPH) caused significant losses in rice yields. Extensive outbreaks of BPH were also reported in China, Korea, and Japan. Vietnamese and IRRI scientists, with the support of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), will undertake an 8-month project to obtain information needed for the development of an integrated management of the BPH/virus problem. The initiative will review the literature, historical data, and reports, and it will collect preliminary data to scope for research and implementation issues in order to provide some understanding of the vector-virus relationships, vector migrations, and vector variability. The project will also explore farmers’ and extension workers’ perceptions of viral diseases and their management.

Read the news article at http://bulletin.irri.cgiar.org/bulletin/2007.22/default.asp.