Museum highlights struggle to boost rice production<\/p>\n
By Ruth Youngblood<\/p>\n
LOS BANOS, Philippines (DPA): Visitors at the world's only
\nrice museum stroll under towering plants, gamely till fields with
\na water buffalo, and solemnly inspect an ancient infant burial
\njar stocked with grains.<\/p>\n
As scientists struggle to boost rice production in the face of
\na soaring population, dwindling land and the lingering effects of
\nEl Nino-induced droughts, colleagues, government leaders,
\ndiplomats, farmers, students and curious tourists are descending
\non the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in record
\nnumbers.<\/p>\n
The zeal to learn more about the most vital food crop is
\nescalating with researchers fighting against time. By 2025, the
\nworld will need about 880 million tons of rice, 90 percent more
\nthan the average over the last five years.<\/p>\n
"Riceworld provides a unique learning experience," said
\nmanager Mario Morvillon, instrumental in assuring the eye-opening
\ndisplays are anything but boring.<\/p>\n
There are no admonitions against touching. Interaction is
\nencouraged, particularly in a section differentiating between
\nfriendly insects and pests to reduce dependence on insecticides.
\nMicroscopes are plentiful for a close look at the most minute
\nhelpers and enemies of the plants.<\/p>\n
Morvillon, a specialist in agronomy and genetic resources, or
\none of his equally-trained assistants, is available to answer
\nqueries, from the simplest to the most sophisticated. An IRRI
\nresearcher who worked in Africa, south and southeast Asia before
\nbeing named Riceworld manager, Morvillon views his role as
\n"heightening public awareness".<\/p>\n
IRRI, with headquarters in the Philippines and offices in 11
\nother countries, is the world's leading international rice
\nresearch and training center. Visitors have been showing up since
\nresearch activities began in 1962 at the sprawling facilities on
\n252 acres of experimental farms 60 kilometers south of Manila on
\nthe University of the Philippines campus.<\/p>\n
By the 1990s, the numbers had soared to 30,000 annually,
\nMorvillon said. "Public interest was soaring, but we could not
\nkeep interrupting scientists in the laboratories or researchers
\nin the fields," Morvillon said.<\/p>\n
Riceworld was opened in 1994 by H.E. Karl Friedrich Gansauer,
\nthe German ambassador to the Philippines, whose country provided
\nthe bulk of the funding. Last year, the free museum attracted
\n120,133 spectators and far more are expected.<\/p>\n
All are intrigued by progress on "super rice". Breeding
\nstarted in 1989 when 2,000 varieties from IRRI's genebank were
\ngrown to identify donor plants. Since hybridization work started,
\nmore than 1,000 crosses have been made, 50,000 breeding lines,
\nproducts and plant types with the desired traits evaluated. Most
\nof the donors came from Indonesia and belonged to a group of
\nrices called "javanicas".<\/p>\n
"The aim is developing a plant type with yields of 12.5 tons
\nper hectare, an increase of 25 percent over current high-yielding
\nvarieties," Morvillon said. Improving grain quality is a current
\nobjective, he said, and pointed out the extensive root system and
\nthicker, studier stems to prevent the plant from falling.<\/p>\n
With the new rice being field-tested at IRRI's experimental
\nplots, Morvillon said, "Hopefully, it will be really for farmer's
\nfields in two years."<\/p>\n
"If it proves to be as resistant to disease and insects as
\nhoped and meets all the other specifications," Morvillon said
\n"super rice" may well be the answer to the daunting challenge
\nahead. "We're keeping our fingers crossed," he added.<\/p>\n
Samples from the genebank where 85,000 varieties from 110
\ncountries are packed in aluminum cans and stored at minus 18 C
\nare on display. IRRI returned to Cambodia seeds of 524
\ntraditional varieties that had disappeared during the political
\nconflicts that left more than one million people dead in the
\ninfamous "killing fields." Seeds were also returned to war-torn
\nVietnam. As a result, both countries have emerged self-sufficient
\nin their primary staple.<\/p>\n
The journey through Riceworld spans different time zones that
\nreveal rice as the lifeblood of billions of people who cultivated
\nit for thousands of years. A centerpiece shows carbonized rice
\ngrains and hulls dating back to 2,500 B.C., fossils found in
\narchaeological excavations in northeast Thailand.<\/p>\n
Large clay jars unearthed in northern Thailand "provided room
\nto place a layer of rice on the bottom, the dead baby, and
\nanother layer of rice on top," said Morvillon. The urns go back
\nto 1,000 to 300 B.C.<\/p>\n
There are more than 500 rice farming tools in use for
\ncenturies for different stages of cultivation from Asia, Africa,
\nSouth America, Australia and North America and the clothing of
\nrice farmers from Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Laos, Sri
\nLanka and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Even the songs they sing to lighten their spirits during their
\nhard labors are featured, and visitors are encourage to sing
\nalong. One easy-to-learn ditty goes, "Planting rice is never fun.
\nBent from morn till the setting sun."<\/p>",
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