Los Baños, Philippines-An international team of researchers led by an American economist have confirmed for the first time that there is a proven strategy to help solve three of the most pressing and chronic problems facing the developing world: poverty, environmental degradation, and food security.

The breakthrough follows a call by those attending last month's G8 summit in Japan for more effort to resolve the problems of the developing world, especially through technology transfer. This new research suggests that strategies that make a real difference are already available, but until now it had been very difficult to measure their actual impact.

However, an independent study of the impact of improved rice varieties and other crops has found that over the past 40 years, they have significantly reduced prices for poor consumers, saved thousands of hectares of forests from being turned into farmland, and reduced the number of malnourished children. The results are especially significant for rice, as it is the food that feeds half the world.

The research, led by respected American economist Dr. Robert Evenson from Yale University, is the first major attempt to assess the economic impact of improved crop varieties, not just rice but also other important food staples such as wheat, maize, barley, cassava, and potato. Dr. Hans Gregersen, the head of a panel that reviewed the research, described the study by Dr. Evenson and his huge team of researchers as a "milestone" and a "monumental effort."

Dr. Gregersen, a professor at the College of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota in the United States, said that Dr. Evenson and his team had been able to bring together a wealth of data that would be crucial in answering some of the most basic impact questions that concern the international development community. "No one denies that with better baseline data and records over time, a more refined set of conclusions could have been reached. But this study should still be recognized as a landmark for future, more refined studies that will become possible with improved monitoring and record keeping," Dr. Gregersen explained.

He added that the project had been a collaborative effort involving impact assessment experts from many of the centers that make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) of which the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is a member. "Those who worked on the study were able to get major inputs on specific crops from experts around the world and this made all the difference," Dr. Gregersen said.

The breeding of improved rice varieties, known scientifically as crop germplasm improvement, is considered some of the most important and fundamental work done in agriculture, but until now it has been very difficult to assess the impact of such research, especially in the developing world. "For many years, our breeding work has been generously supported by many different countries and organizations. Now we can finally show them what we have really achieved as a result of all that research," IRRI Director General Dr. Ronald P. Cantrell explained.

Dr. Evenson and his team found that the development of improved rice varieties between 1970 and 1995 had substantial impact in four major areas. Their findings indicate that were it not for the development of improved varieties:

Dr. Cantrell added that another key finding of Dr. Evenson's team was the important role that international agricultural research centers (IARCs) such as IRRI have played in the development of improved crop varieties. "The focus of Dr. Evenson's work was the crop improvement research of the 16 centers belonging to the CGIAR," he said. "I'm pleased to say that his research has also confirmed that institutions like IRRI continue to have a crucial role to play in this important area of international research."

Using data supplied by scores of scientists, Dr. Evenson found that the work of IARCs has boosted the ability of poor rice-producing countries to develop new rice varieties by as much as 30 percent. This figure becomes even more impressive considering that many developing countries face the law of diminishing returns when developing new rice varieties, unless they have access to the germplasm of improved varieties made available by the IARCs.

"One of the most fundamental goals of centers like IRRI is to help build the research capacities of our scientific partners in poor rice-producing nations. Dr. Evenson's work has shown that the development of improved rice varieties directly helps us to achieve this goal," Dr. Cantrell said.

The regular exchange of genetic material or germplasm needed to develop improved rice varieties is handled at IRRI through the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER). Since it was established 25 years ago, more than 21,000 breeding lines and varieties of rice developed in countries around the world have been exchanged and evaluated through INGER, crossing political, religious, cultural, and philosophical boundaries.

By the late 1990s, more than 350 breeding lines had been released as more than 530 varieties in some 62 countries. The global nature of the cooperation is confirmed by the fact that varieties made available in countries as dispersed as Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam were bred in nine or more other countries and organizations.

For example, the breeding line BG90-2, which was bred at the Rice Research and Development Institute in Sri Lanka, was released in 12 Asian and African countries. These nations are all covered by INGER and represent an enormously wide diversity of agroclimates, soil types, cultural practices, and consumer preferences.

In total, INGER has shared rice genetic material with more than 95 nations. Out of this vast rice germplasm exchange, thousands of lines have also been used as parents in hybridization to diversify and further improve rice germplasm in cooperating countries.

It should also be noted that in many cases it is the poorest countries that have benefited most from varieties introduced by INGER with the financial value of such sharing and collaboration already clearly established.

In earlier work, Dr. Evenson calculated the annual net worth of each variety released via INGER to be about US$2.5 million. In addition, the 290 modern varieties released through INGER and selected for the earlier Evenson study are estimated to generate an additional $725 million a year. This is a very large impact indeed, especially in developing countries, which are the key cooperators and main supporters of the network. It is clear, therefore, that the genetic material made available through INGER has contributed significantly to increased rice production in many countries and, therefore, greater food security.

In addition, worldwide germplasm collaboration has not only accelerated the development of improved varieties but has also greatly enhanced farmer access to a much larger range of varietal pedigrees. Dr. Evenson found that the value of these donor parents was enormous as they helped protect crops, stabilize yields, save on pesticides and other agrochemicals, and thus protect the environment and human health.

But perhaps one of the most significant impacts of INGER is seen in how the spread of improved rice varieties has benefited the poor by contributing to a steady decline in the real price of rice. The improved varieties supplied by INGER have led to increased yields, which in turn have lowered the cost per unit of output. Since INGER was established in 1975, there has been a steady increase in rice production and a steady fall in price. While INGER cannot take all the credit for this, there should be no doubt that its network and the inter-center collaboration have had an impact on poverty.

Dr. Evenson concludes his latest research paper by saying that "Consumers benefit most, and poor consumers benefit most of all from agricultural research. Farmers are consumers too and for the world's smallest farm producers, the total producer and consumer gains are large." For these reasons, he says the "continued development of improved rice varieties has a very strong justification."

IRRI, with its headquarters in the Philippines and offices in 11 other countries, is the world's leading international rice research and training center. It is an autonomous, nonprofit institution that is focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies that funds 16 international research centers.

For more information visit the CGIAR (www.cgiar.org) or Future Harvest websites (www.futureharvest.org). Future Harvest is an initiative of the 16 CGIAR research centers and their donor agencies to raise public awareness of the importance of agricultural research. The Future Harvest website also features a detailed backgrounder on this story.

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Last Updated on 8/18/00 By Dan Ellis Email: information@biotech-info.net