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- Seeds
- Producing technology
- Processing technology
Monsanto
In April 2000, Monsanto announced that it had partly unveiled the rice genome. The company then officially handed in its database to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, which led the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP) until the research was finalized.
Today biotechnology (e.g., genetically modified organisms -GMO) allows research institutes and transnational companies to launch transgenic rice varieties containing interesting nutrients for the human diet (vitamines among other things).
Biodiversity
Fruit of a slow evolution, rice offers an extraordinary biodiversity. The Veda, sacred writings of the Hindu, sites the existence of more than 500.000 varieties of rice. Before the Second World War, approximately 100.000 varieties were counted in Asia and the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) currently conserves at least 86.000 varieties collected from more than 113 countries.
Selecting varieties by crossing methods has led to the introduction of high-yielding varieties to the market, as well as the introduction of precocious rice. The vegetation period for this rice is shorter, from 90 to 120 days (compared with the normal 120 to 150 days)which favors high yields in experimental parcels (from 10 to 12 tons per hectare, compared with the more traditional 1 to 5 tons per ha). Research work is currently being conducted with the purpose of developing varities having a higher productivity that require fewer inputs and less water. The most widespread and prefered varieties are the Japonica rice, with short and round grains, and aromatic rices (Basmati from Pakistán and India and Jasmine from Thailand).
The spread of transgenic techniques leads to a homogenization of vegetal growth and the disappearance of under-explored local varieties. An enormous natural richness is seriously being threatened.
Economizing
up to 25 percent of water
A modern cultivation technique allows producers to save
up to 25 percent of the water used in rice fields compared with traditional
cultivation. This method is characterized by:
- Pre-germinated seeds sown directly onto puddled (muddied) fields, rather
than the traditional transplanting of young plants (25-30 days old) to
fields covered with water;
- Fields periodically irrigated, with no negative consequences to the
yield compared to the traditional system where they are kept permanently
flooded;
- Mechanical or chemical techniques are used to control weeds, instead
of flooding the fields continuously;
- Leveling fields to limit water quantity to the strict necessary.
Within 30 years, approximately half of the world population will depend on rice as its main food source. This method is therefore of great importance for future rice production.
Radar systems for
monitoring rice production
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR), such as the European ERS, the Japanese
JERS-1 and the Canadian RADARSAT, monitors rice growth and surface yield.
In addition, the specific PRIVATEERS treatments (image calibration, speckle
filtering and classification methods) coupled with know-how (agronomy,
radar physics) allow for the extraction of useful information, such as
land-use and area of rice paddies from the satellite SAR images.
The resulting classification can be used to improve forecasts on rice
production which in turn provides valuable information for the stock market
exchange.
Hypoallergenic
rice
Shiseido developed a hypoallergenic rice for those who suffer from uncommon allergies. This rice contains an enzyme that eliminates globulin, a substance that is present in rice and may cause allergic reactions.
Vitamin
A Rice (or "Golden Rice")
The European Union finances a project called "Carotene Plus", which allows for enriching rice with beta carotene (provitamin A). It helps prevent a deficiency in Vitamin A, which provokes blindness in children and increases vulnerability to infectious respiratory illnesses, diarrhea and rubella - aggravators of child mortality. The risk of a Vitamin A deficiency is significantly high in 118 countries where the average diet is based on rice.
