Green Super Rice (GSR) is bred to perform well in the toughest conditions where the poorest farmers grow rice. GSR is a step away from reaching farmers thanks to a major project led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
278 page proposed plan for the Global Rice Science Partnership, Sept 2010
Green Super Rice is actually a mix of more than 250 different potential rice varieties and hybrids variously adapted to difficult growing conditions such as drought and low inputs, including no pesticide and less fertilizer, and with rapid establishment rates to out-compete weeds, thus reducing the need for herbicides. More types of Green Super Rice that combine many of these traits are in the pipeline
Green Super Rice is already in the hands of national agricultural agencies in key rice-growing countries for testing and development.
The project has also identified drought-tolerant GSR lines with IR64 as the recurrent parent. For example, IR83142-B-19-B, a GSR line, performs better than Sahbhagi dhan under drought and zero-input (which means no fertilizers and no pesticides, and only one manual weeding) conditions.
In recent years, rice scientists have been forced to face the additional challenge of balancing food security with preserving natural resources and protecting the environment. For IRRI, the key is a doubly green revolution: the development and diffusion of conventional environment-friendly agricultural practices and innovative varieties such as GSR.
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Summary of potential key impacts. Based on these preliminary analyses of a subset
of expected GRiSP benefits, the following key impacts are forecast from the GRiSP:
By 2020:
- Expenditures on rice by those under the $1.25 (PPP) poverty line will decline by PPP
- $4.9 billion annually (holding consumption constant).
- Counting those reductions as income gains means that 72.2 million people would be lifted above the $1.25 poverty line, reducing the global number of poor by 5%.
- As a result of increased availability and reduced prices, 40 million undernourished people would reach caloric sufficiency in Asia, reducing hunger in the region by 7%. Approximately 275 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions will be averted.
By 2035:
- Expenditures on rice by those under the $1.25 (PPP) poverty line would decline by PPP $11.0 billion annually (holding consumption constant).
- Counting those reductions as income gains means that 150 million people would be lifted above the $1.25 poverty line, reducing the global number of poor by 11%.
- As a result of increased availability and reduced prices, 62 million undernourished people would reach caloric sufficiency in Asia, reducing hunger in the region by 12%.
- Nearly 1 billion tons of CO2 equivalent emissions will be averted.
