Chinese agriculture scientists have bred new rice varieties named “Green Super Rice (GSR)” for developing Asian and African countries to reduce hunger and increase local farmers’ income.
Supported by the Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project has bred 78 GSR varieties for 18 countries with a total grown area of 6.12 million hectares since its launch in 2008, hoping to benefit 30 million resource-poor smallholder rice farmers in Asia and Africa.
GSR varieties are superior rice varieties that can produce high and stable yields under fewer inputs. They need less chemical fertilizers, pesticides and water, and are more tolerant to pests, diseases, drought, salinity, submergence and other abiotic or biotic stresses, said Li Zhikang, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences.
China used to consume 40 percent of global chemical fertilizers, resulting in serious pollution in the past. GSR provides a new possibility to reverse the unsustainable pattern.
The target regions of the project include nine other Asian countries (Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) and nine African countries (Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal). In addition, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou provinces, and Guangxi Zhuang and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions of China are included.
The research team led by Li has developed an efficient molecular breeding strategy by which the selecting period of new varieties can be cut down from 8-10 years to 4-6 years.
Scientists upgraded the parent seeds, which were grown in a temperate zone in China to adapt to a tropical climate. The target countries choose from abundant varieties with diverse superiority according to their local agriculture conditions including drought, submergence and problematic soils.
With a stronger tolerance for tough conditions, GSR varieties can achieve an average 0.89-1.83 tonnes increase per hectare, which means 230.9 dollars per hectare for a rice farmer, according to a survey conducted in the Philippines.
“China has a very strong rice breeding and rice genetics effort, and the GSR project has shared germplasm resources from Chinese research institutes to many Asian and African countries,” said Gary Atlin, senior program officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“China has provided really wonderful support for rice research and development all over the developing world.”
As the Belt and Road Initiative has become popular among more and more countries, a lot of advanced technology and products from China will go abroad and play a key role in promoting food security in resource-poor areas, said Li Zhikang, the researcher.
source ghananewsagency.org
