A Trip to Indonesia

I recently returned from a meeting of the International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) Board of Trustees, which was held in Bali, Indonesia. IRRI is a large rice research center located in Los Banos, near Manila in the Philippines. The institute was established in 1960 and has primarily conducted research to benefit developing countries in Asia and the Pacific Rim. The center has been successful in many areas but probably most successful in variety and germplasm development. One of the first varieties released from the center (IR 8) was widely adapted and led to substantial yield increases through its area of adaptation. IR 8 was a high-yielding, semidwarf variety that replaced many older low-yielding varieties. This variety is credited with much of the progress made during the “Green Revolution” in the 1960s and early 1970s. Another, more-recent variety from IRRI (IR 64) is probably the most widely grown variety in the world today.

My participation in this meeting stems from my recent agreement to serve as Scientific Liaison Officer between IRRI and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This agency appoints a Scientific Liaison Officer (SLO) to each of the international agricultural research centers it supports, with an understanding that the SLO will serve as a resource person, fostering research linkages between the center and the U.S. scientific community. Informally, the SLO advises both the center and USAID on scientific aspects of the center’s programs. My agreement to take on this responsibility was based on the expectation that I could facilitate a closer working relationship between IRRI and the rice scientists within the LSU AgCenter, which I think will be of ultimate benefit to the Louisiana rice industry. For example, the IRRI Genetics Resource Center houses more than 90,000 germplasm lines of rice. While this germplasm is available to us as it is to any breeder, because of this large number, it is sometimes difficult to decide which lines may be of use to us in our Louisiana program. Having a better dialogue with the scientists that have intimate knowledge of these lines could be of benefit to the breeders here at the Rice Research Station in Crowley.

One of the issues discussed at this meeting was whether IRRI should initiate a program to research the effects of global climate change on rice production and how to best address these potential effects. I know there remains a great deal of disagreement on the entire issue of climate change. However, as researchers we need to have long-term outlooks, and I think it is important that this is an area of discussion. I think that a research project such as this would not be something that the Rice Research Station could tackle alone. However, I think that we could cooperate on a well-designed global project that may benefit the Louisiana rice industry down the road.

Another area of mutual interest is the potential for the use of transgenics to improve rice production. This is an area where we have much more experience than they do. However, the issues we face with this technology are very similar, and addressing them with a united effort will benefit all of us. One board member is a Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China. That country may have the first commercial production of transgenic rice. This production will probably be insect-resistant (Bt) lines that have shown excellent resistant to stem borer pests of rice. These lines are ready to be commercialized and are only waiting for governmental approval. This deputy minister is the individual who will decide whether these lines will be approved or not. It was very interesting hearing him relate to the amount of pressure he was receiving, both pro and con, on his decision. Apparently, some international organizations are putting a tremendous amount of resources into preventing the approval of these lines. Some of the stories he told are almost beyond belief.

I also had an opportunity to look at rice production in Indonesia on this trip. The farms are very small by our standards (2 acres is a large farm). Much of the rice is produced on hillsides and thus the use of intensive terraces is necessary. Many of these terraces have been farmed by the same family for hundreds of years. Everything in these fields is done manually including seedbed preparation, transplanting, weeding, applications of pesticides, as well as harvesting. Each producer also has a small structure in the middle of their field that houses one or two beef cows. These are fed to eventually be marketed for beef but perhaps more importantly to produce manure. This manure is the most important source of fertilizer for these rice fields.

These are proud rice producers and are just as dedicated and devoted to their chosen profession as the rice producers of Louisiana.