New Rice Descriptors Published

The original list of rice descriptors published in 1980 has now been revised to include wild relatives of the genus Oryza and to harmonize the descriptors with the International Union of the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The new book, Descriptors of Wild and Cultivated Rice, also highlights a set of minimum descriptors which can be used to discriminate among varieties with a high degree of certainty. The descriptors are drawn from rice experts at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Africa Rice Center and 22 others in the field.

IRRI Rice gene bank head Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton is optimistic that a rapid, reliable and efficient means to restore, retrieve and communicate information can be achieved on rice diversity if all researchers will adopt the scheme described in the book.

For additional information, see the press release at: http://news.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?itemid=2083