Genetic diversity for sustainable blast management in China:

Adoption and impact

Imelda R. Molina
IRRI Thursday Seminar
5 February 2009
“Without rice, even the cleverest
housewife cannot cook.”
-Ancient Chinese proverb
Study area: Yunnan Province, China
Rice blast disease
Causal organism:
Magnaporthe grisea

Infection during two

growth stages:

a) Vegetative - leaf
blast
b) Reproductive – neck
or panicle blast
 Two types of rice varieties
grown in Yunnan
Hybrid rice Glutinous rice

• High yielding • High socio-cultural and

• Low market value market value
• Resistant to blast • Better eating quality
• Low yielding
• Highly susceptible to
blast
Glutinous rice planted on only
2% of total rice production area
 Research on genetic
diversification started in 1997
New planting pattern: mixed
planting system

15 cm 30 cm 15 cm 30 cm 15 cm 30 cm 15 cm
Pure stand of hybrid rice

15 cm 15 cm 30 cm 15 cm 15 cm

Mixed planting glutinous rice & hybrid rice

Transplanting glutinous rice in
between four rows of hybrid rice
Rice mixed planting close
to harvest
Separate harvesting of hybrid
and glutinous rice varieties
Interplanting reduced blast
severity by 94% (Zhu et. al., 2000)
Successful disease suppression

Item Old system New system

Number of sprays 3.4 0.7

Cost of pesticides (USD) 44.42 15.00

Labor for pesticide application 20.76 2.63

(person-days)

Imputed cost of labor (USD) 47.75 6.05

Total cost (USD) 91.95 21.05

Financial benefit (USD) 70.90

 How does it work?

• Barrier effect
• Microclimate
modification
• Dilution effect
• Induced resistance &
competition
 Rapid rate of adoption

Year Area under Number

rice mixtures (ha) of counties
1997 12 1
1998 812 6
1999 3,342 10
2000 43,000 41
2001 107,400 62
2002 314,368 102
2003 551,334 205

Source: Plant Protection Stations, Yunnan Province.

 Nearly 1 million hectares across 10
provinces sport distinctive pinstripes of
rice varietal interplanting.
 This study

Basic questions addressed in the current study:

• Is suppression of blast disease the only
advantage of the rice interplanting system?
• What are the reasons behind the rapid and
large scale adoption of the rice interplanting
system?
Additional advantages?
Experimental approach
Comparing pure stands with mixtures using
several mixing ratios of hybrid and glutinous
rice
Additional advantages?

Main conclusions

Hardly any resource complementarity between

the two rice varieties
Prevention of lodging of glutinous rice is another
major advantage of the new system

(Revilla-Molina et al., 2009)

In pure stand, lodging of glutinous
rice is a serious problem
Rapid adoption by farmers

Approach: Farm household surveys

– Held in July and October 2000
– 100 Adopters and 30 Non-adopters were
interviewed
– Several analyses were made:
• Cost and return analysis
• Tobit analysis
• Stochastic frontier analysis
 Characteristics of sample
respondents
Education 6
Age, yr 44

Farm experience, yr 24
Household size 4
Farm size (ha) 0.23
Area under rice (ha) 0.16
Per capita income ($/yr) 206
Share of rice income (%) 39
 Yield advantage
11.0
12 10.2
9.5
8.9 8.9 9.1
10
Yield, t ha-1

8
Glutinous
6 Hybrid
Total
4 2.1
1.3
2 0.4

0
1996 1999 1999
Adopters Nonadopters

Mean yield of glutinous and hybrid rice by type of farmer before

and after adoption of rice interplanting.
 Additional income (In US$)

Adopters Nonadopters
Item 1996 1999 1999
Gross value of production 2,385.60 2,490.04 1,808.10
Price kg-1 of
Glutinous rice 0.47 0.37 0.38
Hybrid rice 0.20 0.19 0.19
Cost of production
Seeds
Glutinous rice 2.54 1.90 2.67
Hybrid rice 53.67 46.44 53.30
Fertilizer 182.01 179.51 181.68
Pesticides 19.00 15.00 44.20
Hired labour 469.81 472.15 427.06
Net returns above cash costs 1,658.57 1,775.04 1,189.19
Uses of additional income from
rice interplanting

13% 20%
savings food
14%
house repairs
16%
education
12%
appliances
3% 8% 14%
holidays clothes farm inputs
 Promotes on-farm conservation
of traditional varieties
14000 0.4

Huangkenuo Hongkenuo 0.35

Genetic diversity index

12000
Zinuo Giugu
0.3
10000 Huangpangshiew Zigu
Milexiangmi Xianggu 0.25
Area

8000 Alunuo Xiangnuomi

0.2
6000
0.15

4000 0.1

2000 0.05

0 0

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Proportion of area planted to different traditional varieties and index of genetic

diversity, Yunnan Province, China, 1997-2002.
Improved health and environment
 Factors influencing technology
adoption and diffusion
Farmers’ contact with
extension
workers and
perceptions of
technology-specific
attributes of rice
interplanting were
major factors
determining adoption
probability and use
intensity.
Impact on technical efficiency
of rice farming
Farming experience &
access to extension
workers reduced technical
inefficiency of farmers.

Farmer adopters who had

been trained made the best
out of the interplanting
technology and as a result
performed better.
Impact on technical efficiency of
rice farming
With healthier plants,
output became more
responsive to inputs
such as fertilizer,
seeds and labor.

Improvement of technical
efficiency of rice production
results from positive
interactions among inputs.
High returns on investment

Benefit-cost ratio
Discount rate
1997-2000 1997-2007

15 2.7 22.0

50 2.0 8.7

100 1.3 7.8

 Lessons learned
The rice interplanting system in Yunnan has shown that
genetic diversification is able to control blast disease, to
attain acceptable crop yields and to provide high-quality
food and income.
 Lessons learned
Farmers’ early participation in the project is a crucial factor
in showing the impact of using the technology and
subsequently in its adoption.
 Lessons learned
The Yunnan experience has demonstrated that the best
way to push a technology from concept to actual practice is
to strengthen the links among research, extension,
policymakers and farmer communities.
Beyond the Yunnan experience

• Can a similar approach

be extended to other
crops?
• Will it work in other rice
production
environments, other
countries?
• How about for other
pests and diseases?
 Acknowledgment
IRRI-WUR Sandwich PhD Fellowship
Asian Development Bank
Yunnan Agricultural University
YYZhu and staff
TWMew, HLeung, MHossain
HVKeulen, LBastiaans, MJKropff, GVLaar
NCastilla, VBartolome, VSalazar
Thank you!