21st April, 2014

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Worlds longest rice experiment seeks answers vs. climate change

By KIM LUCES, GMA NewsApril 18, 2014 6:08pm
Tags: irri

Clouds hung heavy over the rice fields at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna last April 15, seemingly auguring dark times ahead for the worlds longest-running rice experiment, which turned 52 on that day."Mukhang uulan," said Tony Lambino, IRRIs Head of Communications, just as the celebrations for the LongTerm Continuous Cropping Experiments (LTCCEs) anniversary were about to begin.
Worlds longest-running rice experiment

Since 1962, the LTCCE has been working to determine the impact of continuously growing irrigated rice on overall crop productivity and soil health.This year marks the 150th harvest taken from the same soil from the same field in all those 52 years: each year, the field is harvested three times instead of the usual two. In a typical

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year, this amounts to 17 tons of rice per hectare.So far, the experiment has proven that the judicious use of fertilizer, disease- and insect-resistant rice varieties, soil flooding, and the application of good management practices can result in an abundant annual yield.But climate change threatens to change all that.
Declining yields

The potential maximum yield that rice varieties can achieve under certain climatic conditions has been declining over the years due climate cycles that produce more days like the cloudy, sunlight-deprived morning on the day of the anniversary."If we take the weather data that comes from (IRRI's) Meteorological Station, plug that into crop simulation models, and estimate the potential yield that's driven by the germplasm and the climate, what we find is that the potential yield over the last 10 to 15 years has been declining," Dr. Roland Burech, one of the scientists managing LTCCE, explained.

From 1992 to 2012, the potential yield in the dry season each year (January - April) has been going down. In 1993, the highest annual potential yield in 10 years was recorded at a little over 11 t/ha (tons per hectare). That number erratically went up and down until 1997, and sloped to 9.25 hectares in 2001. By 2012, the potential yield had dropped to 8 t/ha.
The culprit: Climate change

"This is because in the national cycles that are taking place in the climate, (we) see a tendency for more La Nina than El Nino events: more cloudiness, more (of the) weather that you're seeing today, less solar radiation, and less sunshine. (This means) less yield."The LTCCE may be producing more rice in terms of tons per hectare compared to a regular farmer's land, but the maximum potential yield it can produce has been dropping as well.

"The main effect that we're facing is the regular weather that a farmer is going to face, and that's temperature, sunshine, etc. What's happening in much of the world is that temperatures are changing. Sunshine is changing," Burech said in a separate interview with the press.
A silver lining

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This, however, may not necessarily be entirely a bad thing."We in the Philippines have gone through a cycle heavily orientated towards La Nina, which means more cloudy conditions, more rainfall. Under more cloudy and rainy conditions, the yields are lower, but more farmers can plant rice because there's more rainfall. So it's sort of a mixed blessing. The yields might be a little lower, but the overall production doesn't hurt in the country because more farmers can produce," Burech said. The challenge now is to see how to sustain this intensive, high-yielding system in the face of a changing climate."What we have here now is a tremendous opportunity in this experiment, where we have records through time, and the opportunities to really see how to sustain this system in a changing climate. So we have now before us, is not only the 50 years of history of sustainability, but the opportunity for this to be a benchmark on sustainability in the future with a changing climate," Burech said. - TJD, GMA News
Tags: irri

PAU student gets scholarship from IRRI

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times Ludhiana, April 18, 2014 First Published: 20:13 IST(18/4/2014) | Last Updated: 21:15 IST(18/4/2014) doctor of philosophy (PhD) student of the department of plant pathology at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ritu Rani, has been awarded with a scholarship by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, Philippines.The scholarship will enable Rani to conduct a part of her PhD research for a period of four months under the supervision of Dr Bo Zhou, scientist, plant breeding, genetics and biotechnology division, IRRI, Manila.She is working on "Variability in ustilaginoidea virens causing false smut of rice and identification of resistance sources" under the guidance of Vineet Kumar Sharma.

PPS Pannu and Jagjeet Singh Lore, PAU, are her co-advisers.Baldev Singh Dhillion, vice-chancellor, PAU, congratulated Rani and her adviser for this accomplishment.Hailing the achievement, Pushpinder Pal Singh, head, department of plant pathology expressed his profound gratitude to DS Brar, a renowned rice breeder and honorary adjunct professor, School of Agricultural Biotechnology, PAU, Ludhiana, for his guidance in this international collaboration.

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Pakistan exports 3.025 million tons of rice: REAP chief April 18, 2012

Pakistan has exported 3.025 million tons of rice: 0.725 million tons Basmati and 2.3 million Irri-6 and other varieties.This was revealed by Javed Aslam Agha Chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) while talking exclusively to Business Recorder here on Monday.He said that Pakistani rice exporters have exported almost the same quantity of the commodity this year as last year.Agha said that export of Basmati rice declined by 10 percent as compared to the exports of the same period of last year but exports of Irri-6 and other varieties increased by 15 percent against the exports of last year.

We have set 4 million tons of rice export target for the ongoing year and up-to June we will achieve this target.Pakistani Basmati rice is being sold in the international market at $1,100 to 1,200 per ton and nonBasmati rice at $400 per ton he said.He further said that current total exports of Basmati rice are ar ound $800 million while non-Basmati rice exports stand at around $920 million.Agha maintained that by the end of June 2012 another 1 million tons of rice would be exported and larger quantity would be basmati so the country would earn an estimated $3 billion through rice export.

Total production of rice during the current year is 6.9 million tons while total consumption is 2.8 million tons.Therefore, Pakistan has 3.5 million tons surplus rice for exports that would net the country $3 billion.The official added that out of total production of 6.9 million tons of rice, production of Basmati is around 4.3 million tons while the remaining 2.5 million tons is Irri-6. News By Business Recorder

Happy Easter from Oryza! to Christian Community

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Apr 18, 2014

Oryza editorial team is working limited hours this week will be back in full force Monday. Global rice export quotes will be updated daily. Best wishes to you and your family!

Latest Papers to Read

Importance of Rice Research and Development in Rice Seed Policies Insights from Nigeria by Hiroyuki Takeshima (April 2014 )

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