IRRI & PhilRice – Leading The Great Rice Revolution?

 

I’m looking at IRRI anew, at its second life, this time leading The Great Rice Revolution. With PhilRice. The image above is just the beginning.

At this point in time, you have to admit it – IRRI is in the Twilight Zone. Or is it Purgatory? But there’s bright hope I see, with the news & photograph above shared on Facebook that “Green Super Rice Variety Surpasses 4.4 Ton Max Yield, Nets 8.3 Tons/Hectare In PhilRice Field Day[1].” The post is dated 03 October 2020 and is found in the official FB account of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) of the Department of Agriculture, DA. The planting of this variety of Green Super Rice called NSIC Rc 480 almost doubled its guaranteed maximum yield per hectare, at 8.3 tons (125 sacks of rice at 66 kg each), shown in above photo during the PalaysikatanField Day of PhilRice in Santo Tomas in Davao Del Norte. More than 30 farmers took part.

The DA says The Green Super Rice Project is a collaboration of IRRI, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The techno demo comprised rice varieties, technologies, methods and machinery in rice cultivation. The DA said, “It was an eye-opening sight for the farmers, demonstrating to them that rice yields can be dramatically increased through modern crop management.”

I’m not surprised about the 8.3 tons/ha yield, but I’m surprised that IRRI did not do a Muhammad Ali, beat his breast and say, “I am the greatest!” Green Super Rice, GSR, was officially launched in 2018 yet, the golden anniversary of the release of IR8, the revolutionary rice variety.

Yes, Green Super Rice is more than the 2ndMiracle Rice – GSR can resurrect IRRI to its glory days if IRRI knows what to do next. And what is that?

IRRI should now launch a program called Green Super Rice-Based Farming Systems. Because man cannot live on rice alone!

Actually, I wrote about the Green Super Rice of IRRI 5 years ago yet – “The Greener Green Revolution[2]” (22 June 2015, Creative Thinkering). The GSR yields high and needs lower inputs: lower fertilizer, lower pesticides. It grows without irrigation, under wet or saline conditions. It is resistant to pests and diseases. What more do you want out of your rice?!

Rice-based farming system can be any of the following:
rice + corn, or
rice + fish, or
rice + poultry, or
rice + red onions, or
rice + vegetables, or some other combinations.

Even without waiting for IRRI, PhilRice should now launch its own version of The Great Rice Revolution – Because Man cannot live on Rice alone!

The rice-based farming system can also be an agroforestry affair, where you have trees and your crops. And please do not limit the area to only 1 hectare per farmer. And what about if a group of farmers or a cooperative engage in a rice-based farming system?

A multi-crop system means multiple sources of income – Filipino farmers should welcome a source of multiple incomes!@517


[1]http://news.irri.org/2020/12/green-super-rice-variety-surpasses-44.html?fbclid=IwAR0YwDD_IWhjemsZW9JqcZIi1lzCppEeIcWPpoFUxWH5b31hZT5Gz1lsHMg#more

[2]https://creativethinkering.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-greener-green-revolution.html

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