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Kenya: Experts Back New Weather Resilient Rice Variety
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April 2008
Beatrice Gachenge
Seed varieties that are more adaptive to the environment will help African countries to feed their populations in the face of rising food prices, experts say.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has consequently supported the release of new rice varieties in Kenya, Uganda, Mali, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi.
AGRA programme officer Jane Ininda said the initiative was aimed at improving food security by boosting local production and reducing reliance on rice imports.
Concern is rising around the world that spiralling food prices and new restrictions on rice exports from Asian countries, could condemn countries with low production of the grain to starvation.
"Our dependence on Asian rice imports is putting us at risk. We must grow our own food," said AGRA President Ngongi Namanga during the inaugural Rice Breeders Network meeting in Kampala a week ago. African rice consumption exceeds its production, with only 54 per cent of needs satisfied locally. Rice demand is also growing at two times faster than the population growth because of its affordability compared to other staples like maize and wheat.
Current efforts are now focusing on breeding the locally adapted Nerica rice, a resilient, high-yielding cross of an African and Asian rice species. Nerica is an upland rice that is not restricted to growing in paddies, attributes that saw it win the World Food Prize in 2004.
Statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), show that farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa produce between 12 and 17 million metric tonnes of rice annually. Most of this rice is produced and consumed by small-scale farmers.
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In a related effort, Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has been licensed to use Arcadia Biosciences Technologies to develop rice varieties that will be distributed to smallholder farmers in Africa, without payment of royalties, by 2016.
Under the agreement, AATF will employ Arcadia's Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and Salt Tolerance technologies for use in African rice. The innovations will enable high yields with 50 per cent less nitrogen fertiliser than conventional rice.
The Salt Tolerant rice may reduce the demand for scarce fresh water supplies.
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