Xinhua | IRRI to enhance cooperation with China in addressing global rice issues

IRRI to enhance cooperation with China in addressing global rice issues

By Xu Lingui MANILA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said recently that it seeks to deepen collaboration with China to help developing nations boost rice production. "Given the current world rice situation, with high prices and an urgent need to boost productivity, the IRRI-China relationship will only become more important in the coming years," said IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler in an e-mail interview with Xinhua. IRRI has just received one of China's most prestigious scientific awards, the international science and technology cooperation award, for its contribution to accelerate China's rice science development by imparting rice technologies to China and training Chinese scientists. IRRI is the first international organization to receive the award, which has been only granted to foreign individuals in the past. Zeigler said the China-IRRI partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength, with China's experience and funding support becoming more important to developing nations faced with a rice supply shortage. Zeigler highlighted particularly the future impact of Chinese Official Development Assistance (ODA). He said IRRI's work in China has, for many years, been supported by the ODA of Western governments and agencies. "But now, we look forward to this process being reversed and Chinese ODA supporting IRRI's work in less developed nations, especially those in Asia and Africa," Zeigler said. He said China's ODA could play a major role in agricultural development in developing nations. Zeigler praised China's long history of innovative and successful rice research and said the hybrid rice technologies, in which field China is a world leader, are playing "a key role in boosting rice production in several nations." IRRI established official cooperation relations with China in 1981 after initial visits in the late 1970s. IRRI has helped Chinese rice scientists develop higher-yielding rice varieties that add millions of tons to national yields and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in additional income for rice farmers. "China's self-sufficiency in rice is crucial for world food security, especially with international rice prices near record highs and rice production under unprecedented pressure," IRRI said in a previous press release.