Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa or less commonly Oryza glaberrima. The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera Zizania and Porteresia,both wild and domesticated,although the term may also be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.
Golden rice is a variety of rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene,a precursor of vitamin A,in the edible parts of the rice. It is intended to produce a fortified food to be grown and consumed in areas with a shortage of dietary vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency causes xerophthalmia,a range of eye conditions from night blindness to more severe clinical outcomes such as keratomalacia and corneal scars,and permanent blindness. It also increases risk of mortality from measles and diarrhea in children. In 2013,the prevalence of deficiency was the highest in sub-Saharan Africa,and South Asia.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños,Laguna,in the Philippines,and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to the Green Revolution in the 1960s which preempted the famine in Asia.
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian agronomist,agricultural scientist,plant geneticist,administrator and humanitarian. Swaminathan is a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug,spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies,saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s. His leadership as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987,recognized as the Nobel or the highest honours in the field of agriculture. United Nations Environment Programme has called him 'the Father of Economic Ecology'.
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice),formerly known as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA),is a pan-African intergovernmental association and a CGIAR Research organization,currently headquartered in Abidjan,Côte d'Ivoire. AfricaRice is an agricultural research center that was constituted in 1971 by 11 West African countries. Presently the Center counts 26 African member states. Since 1986,AfricaRice has been one of the 15 specialized research centers of CGIAR.
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is a government corporate entity attached to the Department of Agriculture created through Executive Order 1061 on November 5,1985 to help develop high-yielding and cost-reducing technologies for farmers.
Science and technology in the Philippines describes scientific and technological progress made by the Philippines and analyses related policy issues. The main agency responsible for managing science and technology (S&T) is the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). There are also sectoral councils for Forestry,Agriculture and Aquaculture,the Metal Industry,Nuclear Research,Food and Nutrition,Health,Meteorology,Volcanology and Seismology.
Gurdev Singh Khush is an Agronomist and Geneticist who,along with mentor Henry Beachell,received the 1996 World Food Prize for his achievements in enlarging and improving the global supply of rice during a time of exponential population growth.
Perennial rice are varieties of long-lived rice that are capable of regrowing season after season without reseeding;they are being developed by plant geneticists at several institutions. Although these varieties are genetically distinct and will be adapted for different climates and cropping systems,their lifespan is so different from other kinds of rice that they are collectively called perennial rice. Perennial rice—like many other perennial plants—can spread by horizontal stems below or just above the surface of the soil but they also reproduce sexually by producing flowers,pollen and seeds. As with any other grain crop,it is the seeds that are harvested and eaten by humans.
William Dollente Dar is a Filipino horticulturist and public servant who served as the Secretary of Agriculture under the Duterte administration. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 5,2019,to replace Emmanuel Piñol. Dar held the same position under President Joseph Estrada in an acting capacity from 1998 to 1999. He is also a former Director General of ICRISAT.
Adelina Adato Barrion was a Filipino entomologist and geneticist whose extensive contribution to the study of Philippine spiders earned her the moniker "Asia's Spider Woman," although she also contributed significantly to the study of other species,and to the study of genetics in general.
Norman Uphoff is an American social scientist now involved with agroecology serving as a Professor of Government and International Agriculture at Cornell University. He is the acting director of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs and former director of the Cornell International Institute for Food,Agriculture,and Development (CIIFAD) 1990–2005.
The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg),previously known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC),is an international,nonprofit institute for vegetable research and development. It was founded in 1971 in Shanhua,southern Taiwan,by the Asian Development Bank,Taiwan,South Korea,Japan,the Philippines,Thailand,the United States and South Vietnam.
Ebrahimali Abubacker Siddiq is an Indian agricultural scientist,whose research in genetics and plant breeding is reported to have assisted in the development of various high-yielding rice varieties such as dwarf basmati and hybrid rice. The government of India honoured Siddiq in 2011 with the fourth-highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Mangina Venkateswara Rao was an Indian agricultural scientist,plant breeder,geneticist and the chairman of the Agri Biotech Foundation. He was a former Vice Chancellor of the Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University and a former Deputy Director of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Rao,a recipient of the Norman Borlaug Award,was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri,by the Government of India,in 1999.
Virender Lal Chopra was an Indian biotechnologist,geneticist,agriculturalist and a director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),known to have contributed to the development of wheat production in India. He was the chancellor of Central University of Kerala,a Chancellor of the Central Agricultural University,Imphal and a member of the Planning Commission of India. An elected fellow of several science academies such as Indian Academy of Sciences,Indian National Science Academy,National Academy of Agricultural Sciences,National Academy of Sciences,India,European Academy of Sciences and Arts and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS),he was a recipient of a number of honors including Borlaug Award,FAO World Food Day Award and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan,in 1985,for his contributions to agricultural science.
IR8 is a high-yielding semi-dwarf rice variety developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the early 1960s. It was the work by Peter Jennings and Henry Beachell. In November 1966,IR8 was introduced in the Philippines and India. Promoters such as the IRRI and farmer benefactors of IR8 have called it 'miracle rice',and celebrate it for fighting famine. IR8 dramatically increased the yields of Asian rice from 1 or 2 ton per hectare to 4 or 5 tons per hectare. It played a significant part in the Green Revolution.
Dr. Benito S. Vergara was a scientist in the Plant Sciences,and was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines in 2001,the highest honor bestowed by the Philippine Government for the work of Filipino scientists. Vergara was also behind the development of the Rice Museum and Learning Center,and is known for his extensive plant catalogues in rice and ornamental plant varieties,as well as his work starting the Farmer's Primer on Growing Rice,an illustrated manual explaining basic rice growing concepts.
Sphenoclea zeylanica,called chickenspike,gooseweed,and wedgewort,is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus Sphenoclea,native to Africa,Madagascar,tropical and subtropical Asia,and Australia. It is widely introduced in the New World tropics and subtopics from the southern United States to northern Argentina. Its young leaves are edible and are occasionally eaten,perhaps with a light boiling. A common weed of rice paddies,it can cause yield losses from 25 to 50%.
