A collaboration between public and private sectors, aiming to increase rice production across Asia through hybrid rice technology measures, was announced at the inaugural meeting of the Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC). 

The move comes as a response to inflationary pressures on the price of rice due to stagnating yields in the region.

“[The] success of hybrid rice in China is well known, and the potential for hybrid rice to have an impact across the rest of the rice-growing world is something that we all believe is real”, said the director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Robert Zeigler. IRRI hosted the HRDC meeting.

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Successful deployment of hybrid rice requires effective cooperation between public research institutions and private sector companies to study ways to overcome current constraints.  HRDC includes 15 public sector institutions from China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, and if the two sectors manage to work amicably together, will act as a model for other countries worldwide.  “In the last 20-25 years, the productivity of rice has not increased despite continuous increase in the population. Increasing rice productivity is really the biggest challenge before us as researchers and policy makers,” noted Dr Paresh Verma, director of research at Indian company, DCM Shiram Consolidated.

“Hybrid rice adoption will increase when we have products that better meet customer requirements,” he added.  “This means that, in addition to high heterosis, new varieties must have better resistance to diseases and insects and, of course, the grain quality that farmers and consumers want.”

The first HRDC meeting covered new plant genetic resources available or under development at IRRI, research reviews on hybrid rice management, discussions on new research priorities, and decision-making on Consortium activities like capacity building for both sectors.

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