The Hindu Business Line : Brimming rice bowls

In the 1960s, in the rural towns and farming villages of Tamil Nadu, where life is steeped in tradition, the likely name for a newborn would be `Murugan' or `Pandian'. Some babies were even named after film stars. But one farmer decided to name his baby son `Ayyaarettu', in celebration and as thanksgiving for the unprecedented, bounteous harvest that a new variety of rice gave him that season. `Ayyaarettu' was how the Tamil farmers called IR 8 — a "miracle" rice seed that came from the research facilities of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in faraway Philippines. IR 8 resulted from the fusion of an Indonesian rice variety, which was resistant to pests and disease, with another bounteous variety from Taiwan; and this fusion heralded the green revolution.

In the 40 years that have passed, farmers have been introduced to other improved varieties of rice even as the world has seen a rapid shrinkage of farmland, and dwindling labour and water resources. It still requires over 3,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice. However, the yearly global rice crop which was 257 million tonnes then has today increased to 700 million tonnes. Nestled in the small town of Los Banos, in the Philippines, IRRI has over the years seen phenomenal success in helping feed over half the earth's population, bringing out rice types that carry better yield, water-efficiency and nutritional values; varieties that now cover 70 per cent of the world's rice fields.

Cross-country fusion

Here in India, government scientists conduct basic, applied and adaptive research on crop improvement and resource management in rain-fed ecosystems, in addition to training researchers, trainers and specialists. Santosh Mohanty, plant pathologist at the Central Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, mentions the breakthrough that the CRRI achieved in fusing the strong-column characters of the Javanicas Indonesian rice variety with the indigenous Indica, making the local rice stalk stand strong and not "lodge" to the ground. The institute was also the first to introduce the successful semi-dwarf rices, in addition to the world's shortest, 68-day sowing-harvest variety for rain-fed upland and post-flood situations.

"We have introduced 67 rice varieties suitable for different ecological conditions," says Mohanty, and adds that CRRI has its own gene bank of over 25,000 germplasm. Another first from his institute has been the introduction of rice-fish farming that integrates multiple enterprise for ensuring food and nutritional stability. Dr Mohanty also mentions CRRI's introduction of eco-friendly, economically viable mitigation technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emission, in addition to popularising the spraying of tulsi and bael extracts to check blast disease in rice, as also a non-destructive screening technique to identify submergence-tolerant rice germplasm.

Amidst emerald fields

Los Banos is a two-hour ride from the Philippines capital, Manila, and the journey affords a glimpse of the much talked about emerald countryside. Rivers and irrigation canals that have been nourishing the Philippine Rice Revolution provide splendid vistas. On reaching Los Banos, we learn that IRRI is slightly away from the town, and we hire a Jeepney to take us there. The Jeepney is a transport vehicle unique to this archipelago nation; it is a native amalgam of the vintage American world war jeep with an elongated body and short roof, into which are squeezed 20 or more passengers and cargo. Horns are seldom used in the country, but the blaring music from the vehicle makes up for that. Our Jeepney driver Miguel explains that Los Banos got its name because of its hot sulphur springs and spas, making it a favourite weekend and tourist spot. We stop at a bakery to sample some buko, the town's famous coconut delicacy. In the distance we spotted Mount Makiling — volcanic but, thankfully, dormant at present. We pass the Philippine University and the Philippine Rice Research Institute, facilities that together with the IRRI next door have inspired the Government to declare Los Banos the country's "special science and nature city".

India connection

Dr Sant Virmani, former Principal Scientist at IRRI.

We enter the sprawling 252-ha IRRI premises. There we meet Sant Virmani, IRRI's former Principal Scientist and now on consulting missions in the country. He first arrived here in 970 as a post-doctoral fellow from the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, accepting an invitation that "hired people here, giving scientists no problem except their research". Virmani, after two decades of single-minded focus at his lab, proved to the world that the right hybrid technology gave the highest benefits to the rice farmer, dispelling doubts and fears of high-cost seed production.

He points to a signboard near a large rice field that announces the institute's programme of "long continuous cropping experiment" at "the most intensively continuous cropped experimental site in Asia"; an experiment that has been on since 1962, and one which aims to increase future crop yield without an increase in prices and "ensure the permanency of 24 million ha of irrigated rice in Asia."

IRRI's scientists, says Virmani, have applied research directly relevant to the farmer. "It's a global responsibility of sharing strategic research information; we create opportunities for scientists the world over to share the knowledge gained through long research and common programmes. Thus, we act as a catalyst to synthesise technology," he concludes.

At the exhibits enclosure, our distinguished guide points to a photograph of farmers posing with a 15-ft rice stalk — a deepwater variety.

We come to another hall where young women swiftly sort rice grains before putting them into small cans that are stored in a chamber that is reportedly fire and earthquake-proof. It is minus 18 degrees Celsius inside the storage facility. "We have, in our gene bank, over one lakh rice varieties of the world; a similar set is stored in the US," Virmani tells us.

It is evening before we finish our IRRI tour and the scientist takes us to his home, where spouse Indu welcomes us with steaming idlis and vadai. Indu has written a rice recipe book, Home Chefs of the World, which is among the top ten favourites at Los Banos even 15 years after its first publication. During our ride back to the city bus station, the scientist, with a chuckle, informs us that his best pieces of published work languished around the 40th slot in the city's popularity charts!

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