Filipino, Japanese scientists team up to develop new rice varieties

MANILA, Philippines - Scientists from Japan and the Philippines have teamed up for a research project to develop new disease-resistant, high yielding rice varieties.

The Wonder Rice Initiative for Food Security and Health (WISH) is set for completion next year by a research team from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Nagoya University and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

 â€œThe project shows plenty of promise in supporting JICA’s integrated program to boost rice production and address food shortage in developing countries,” said Motoyuki Ashikari, a rice expert and professor from Nagoya University.

Scientists use conventional crossbreeding, a rice improvement technique where desired traits – grain number, branching number for every panicle or cluster of rice flowers, panicle and grain size – from specific rice varieties are marked for transfer to recipient varieties.

They would then backcross the resulting line thrice to retain the inherent trait of the existing variety, while collecting the target trait from the donor.

 The technique reportedly recovers 93.7 percent of the background of the recipient rice varieties, which result in better rice varieties.

Ashikari, who had been collaborating with local scientists at IRRI, said they aim to come up with at least 200 new varieties of rice.

He said they are also developing other location-specific breeding techniques that other countries like Kenya and Mali in Africa can adopt.

 Ashikari said the Philippines is a viable location for the research given the climate, available facilities and scientists, and long history in rice production.

He said Japanese researchers could also easily communicate with Filipino scientists using English, and response is easier because Japan is only one hour ahead of the Philippines.

IRRI was a participant in so-called Asian miracle in the 1960s when rice research and technology helped address massive starvation in poor countries.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice Research Institute was a   recipient of JICA’s development assistance through financial aid and technical training in the 1980s and has been helping transfer knowledge to African farmers through another JICA extension training program.