Changing the Face of Rice

• Rice for food security. Securing rice production plays a major role in attaining global food security. Rice is a staple food for the world’s poor. It is grown on more than 155 million hectares and accounts for one-fifth of the global calorie supply.
• Major challenges to food security. Scientists and policymakers are confronted with five major challenges to attaining sustainable food security:

o   Sustaining global rice supply. Policymakers and scientists must strive to meet global food security needs by providing an affordable and stable supply of rice.

o   Striking a balance. Asian agriculture is bound to undergo major structural changes as non-agricultural sectors expand with economic growth. These changes must be managed successfully to balance consumer-producer interests and rural-urban income disparity management.

o   Doing more with less. As the world’s resources become more limited, farmers must be able to enhance efficiency with fewer inputs in all aspects of rice farming and along the value chain. This means cutting costs, which is aided by efficient water, fertilizer, and pesticide use.

o   Reducing environmental footprints. Improvements in input-use efficiency must be undertaken to reduce the environmental footprints of rice production. Beyond the plot level, the challenge is to better manage rice-based ecosystems to reduce the impact to the environment.

o   Improving productivity in the lagging regions. Productivity growth in lagging regions must be attained while continuing to invest in raising productivity in irrigated areas that account for over 70% of total global rice production.

• Global solutions to future challenges. Countries need to undertake a wide range of technological, policy, and institutional options. Global problems need global solutions, but they must be flexible enough to meet local needs. Substantially increasing investments in research and development for the future is urgently needed to assure the future food security of the poor. Also, policies and institutional reforms are needed to achieve and sustain productivity growth while ensuring a stable supply of affordable rice.

Source:

Pandey, Sushil, “Changing the Face of Rice.” Rice Today Vol. 10, No. 2 (April-June 2011), pp. 10-11.