Building a food-secure future by International Rice Research Institute

RICE FOR CHANGING NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE

Healthier Rice

Two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition or hidden hunger. This is a silent epidemic of vitamin and mineral deficiencies which pose serious risks to people of all gender and ages. They not only cause specific diseases, but also act as exacerbating factors in infectious and chronic diseases, greatly impacting morbidity, mortality and quality of life.

In Asia, many people rely heavily on rice for most of their entire calorie needs because they cannot afford or do not have access to a full range of nutritious foods. As a result, lack of iron, zinc and vitamin A has become prevalent micronutrient deficiencies in rice-consuming countries.

Because rice is the dominant cereal crop in most Asian countries and is the staple food for more than half of the world’s population (including many of those living in poverty), even a small increase in the micronutrient content of rice grains could have a significant impact on human health.

Healthier rice varieties have the potential to reach many people because rice is already widely grown and eaten. IRRI, with its team of scientists, is working on developing advanced rice varieties with improved nutritional content to fight micronutrient malnutrition.

IMPROVING HEALTH AND NUTRITION THROUGH RICE SCIENCE

IMPROVING HEALTH AND NUTRITION THROUGH RICE SCIENCE

IRRI scientists work relentless on improving the nutritional content of rice varieties to solve the micronutrient-deficiency problem affecting more than two billion people, mostly in rice-consuming Asian countries.

Genetically engineered rice with high levels of iron and zinc is developed

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), iron (Fe) is the most pervasive form of malnutrition and a leading cause of anemia in women and children. While zinc (Zn) deficiency causes stunting and has serious consequences for health, particularly during childhood.

Safer Rice

Rice plant absorbs metals from the soil for its own metabolic processes. Along with iron and zinc which are metals necessary for the rice plant to survive, it also absorbs heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead among others.

IRRI is working on ways to reduce the harmful metals and enhance the good metals in the rice grain. One such way is through breeding rice plant varieties that are resistant to arsenic and other heavy metals. We are also developing ways of managing irrigation, such as the alternate wetting and drying water management technology, that helps reduce absorption of heavy metals in the rice plants.

Rice, health, and toxic metals

Occasionally, there have been health scares around contaminants in rice, such as lead, arsenic, or cadmium. While it is important to test for and minimize the causes of food contamination, the vast majority of rice produced for human consumption has so far not been found to be widely contaminated with any of these.

Are we at risk from metal Contamination in rice?

Who is most at risk from contaminated rice? Nutritionally deficient people are more likely than well-nourished people to experience harmful effects from eating rice containing higher than-average levels of metals. As the most impoverished people are the most likely to be malnourished, they too are the most vulnerable.

Management options, technologies and strategies for minimised mycotoxin contamination of rice

Fungal infestation of rice grains can result in mycotoxins contamination. Recent studies and a massive recall of food products in Japan in September 2008, including sake, shoshu, and rice crackers made from imported rice from China and Vietnam, which were tested positive for aflatoxins, and also for pesticide residues, have renewed interest in looking at mycotoxin problems in rice.

Improved post-harvest management options and technologies are available for diversified small-scale post-harvest systems. Small-scale combine harvesters, affordable and simple mechanical dryers and hermetic storage systems can help to avoid delays in the postharvest chain and thus reduce mycotoxin contamination of rice.

Rice with low glycemic index

Rice is a staple food for billions of people and is a valuable source of complex carbohydrates, which is the best source of energy. In the past, rice had been generically assessed as a high-glycemic index (GI) food. GI is a measure of the relative ability of carbohydrates in food to raise blood sugar levels after eating. High-GI foods can increase a person's chances of getting diabetes, while low-GI foods are better for health and can help lower the chances of developing diabetes.

To help ensure that rice can contribute to the healthy diets of rice consumers worldwide, IRRI has studied the glycemic index of rice and is developing healthier rice. Low-GI rice will have a particularly important role in the diets of people who derive the bulk of their calories from rice and who cannot afford to eat rice with other foods to help keep the GI of their diet low. Low-GI rice could help keep diabetes at bay in rice-consuming communities.

NOT ALL RICE IS CREATED EQUAL

The repeated consumption of high-GI foods stimulates insulin secretion from the pancreas and predisposes us to diabetes.

However, not all rice is high GI. Depending on variety, composition, processing, and other factors, the GI index of cooked rice could vary from 30 to 100. There are simple dietary interventions that could potentially reduce the glycemic impact of rice, such as adding vegetables and protein, allowing newly cooked rice to cool down, and lessening the amount of rice per mouthful.

Sustainable rice for food-secure planet

Ensuring food security

Rice is the most important food crop of the developing world. It is the staple food of more than half of the world’s population and provides livelihood for more than 1 billion people. Rice plays a vital role in meeting the global goal of ending hunger. Thus, to ensure food security, rice must be made sustainable.

As the world’s population balloons in the next ten to twenty years, we face numerous challenges. Climate change is a reality that we cannot deny. Urbanization and migration patterns will mean that rice farming is left to women and the elderly. At the same time, we will need to produce more food using less land, water, and resources.

Complex challenges require complex solutions. At IRRI, we are continuously developing responsive solutions and technologies that help farmers, millers, rice producers and marketers meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Increasing yield

IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that high yielding, with better grain quality and can withstand destructive effects of climate change such as drought, flooding and rising sea levels. IRRI through its various country partners shares these advanced rice varieties to farmers across Asia and Africa.

Rice breeding in IRRI

The road toward global food security is not without challenges. The population will balloon to 9 billion in 2050. The signs of climate change have never been so real—frequent floods, droughts, and storm surges. Storm surges make farmland in coastal areas too salty for most crops to grow. Also, pathogens and pests evolve.

With so many challenges that we are facing now, we can't just continue with what we are doing. There need to be changes in the way we do breeding at IRRI.

ASEAN +3 Rice Breeding and Genetics Initiative

It is a holistic solution developed by IRRI to ensure rice availability and affordability across the region. Through a true partnership, it advances a multi-lateral agenda while respecting national interests and allows each nation to underpin the future of the rice sector through co-development and co-investment in key regional resources. It also allows each nation in rice breeding and people as key risk management mitigation steps for nation, for ASEAN and for global food security.

Seeds without Borders

It is a regional seed policy agreement that speeds up the distribution of modern rice varieties across nations in South and Southeast Asia. It aims to ensure that farmers can easily access improved technologies and advancements particularly the seeds of the climate-resilient rice varieties developed by IRRI.

Climate-smart solutions and best practices to improve rice productivity

Mechanization: The ongoing transformation of rice farming in Asia

Rice farming in Asia is dominated by millions of small farmers with an average landholding of 1 hectare. Traditionally, both male and female family members have been involved in rice farming. However, strong economic growth in Asia in the past two and a half decades has led to rapid outmigration of rural youth in search of better economic opportunities.

Rice crop manager

Fertilizer is costly for smallholder farmers and many rice farmers are not aware of the right combination, dosage, and timing of fertilizer application. IRRI developed the Rice Crop Manager (RCM), an app that provides rice farmers crop recommendations including the best management fertilizer appropriate for the rice variety and specific conditions of the farm.

Striking a balance through ecologically engineered rice ecosystems

Rampant use of toxic chemicals will lead to numerous long-term effects on the health of farmers and the environment. To manage pests in the rice fields, IRRI recommends adoption of ecological engineering as a management strategy to build ecological diversity which strengthen the rice field’s natural capacity to cope with pests. To reduce risks to the health of the farmers and environment, IRRI recommends best practices that restore biodiversity and lessen dependence on pesticides.

Water-saving technology for rice found suitable for use across the Philippines

Rice is extremely sensitive to water shortages. The IRRI-developed alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a water saving technology that also reduces greenhouse gas emissions particularly methane.

Global rice partnerships for food security

The link between rice sustainability and food security

The rice sector affects the environment in many ways. If change is not effected by the sector stakeholders (smallholder farmers, millers, input providers, traders, consumers and policymakers), its role as a fundamental contributor to food security faces considerable threats from the excessive use, unsustainable cultivation practices, and climate change.

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A green standard brings a new era of sustainability for the global rice sector

The Sustainable Rice Platform is a promising tool for strengthening Southeast Asia’s rice sector by promoting sustainable rice value chains globally.

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Continuing global partnership through rice

Rice farming is associated with poverty. About 900 million of the world’s poor depend on rice as producers or consumers. Of these, some 400 million poor and undernourished people are engaged in growing rice.

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