Food Security Case Study

Seoul, South Korea South Korea has received praise for its commitment to public rice research as a key effort assuring the long-term food security of the Korean peninsula. Rice and food security is being highlighted at the International Rice Science Conference in Seoul on 13-15 September, where a keynote speech by Gurdev Khush, the internationally renowned rice expert, is entitled Feeding 5 billion people The role of rice breeding.
Koreas commitment to public rice research is an example for all the worlds rice-producing countries to follow, said Ronald P. Cantrell, director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). At a time when international support for such vitally important research has slumped to worryingly low levels, Korea not only has its own wellresourced, world-class national rice research system, but is also reaching out to help other countries in the region.

With strong support from Seoul, IRRI has been working to boost North Korean rice production and so alleviate food-security concerns there. In addition, South Korea is funding international rice research that will benefit rice-producing countries around the world.

In Asia, Korea is now second only to Japan in its willingness to support international public rice research that ultimately benefits the whole region, Dr. Cantrell said. Clearly, Korea does this not for the recognition but because of its strong commitment to rice production and in recognition of the importance of rice in Asia.

He added that Koreas commitment was especially important in the International Year of Rice and at a time when some developed nations that have traditionally supported such rice research are cutting back. Funding for IRRI slumped from US$46 million in 1993 to $26 million in 2003. This collapse in support for public rice research coincides with increasing concern over Asias ability to feed itself with reduced availability of resources.

Asia must continue to produce more rice but must do so using less land, labor and water, Dr. Cantrell said. Thats why Koreas support is so important.

Korea joined the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research of which IRRI is a member in 1991. Its official support to the group is provided through the International Technical Cooperation Center of the Rural Development Administration. The center has provided funding support for eight ongoing international rice research projects at IRRI and four completed projects.

These varied activities include rice functional genomics and wide hybridization, analyzing resistance in rice, germplasm utilization for adding value, developing water-saving technologies to improve water productivity in rice cultivation, molecular characterizing and allele mining of Korean rice germplasm, training workshops on rice technology transfer systems in Asia, and developing super-yielding japonica rice cultivars suitable for direct-seeding in temperate regions.

Dr. Cantrell said the achievements of this collaboration can already be seen. In the area of developing premium-quality rice varieties, 28 such regionally adapted varieties, with an average yield in 2001 of 5.65 t/ha, have been released to expand the choices open to farmers. Toward developing specialty rice to increase rice consumption in Korea, the country has released 22 cultivars offering a range of eating qualities, including two notable, moderately late-maturing cultivars. Goamy 2 has a high amylose content of 28.1% for a hard and fluffy texture when cooked, as well as high fiber content to keep bowels healthy. Manmi, which has a very low amylose content of 12.9%, cooks up soft and glutinous.

Other achievements include the development of 12 varieties for direct seeding and 10 varieties that mature quickly, including Manho, which can be harvested only 118 days after seeding. Korea has excelled in the development of such labor-saving technologies as partial tillage in dryseeded rice and, for machine transplanting, partial tillage and culturing seed mats with protective mulch.

All this research is being funded by Korea and conducted to world-class standards, Dr. Cantrell said. Thats why we are so pleased and proud to take part in this weeks International Rice Science Conference in Seoul.

The conference is organized by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Rural Development Administration and IRRI, with support from the Korean Society of Breeding and the Korean Society of Crop Science. Heu Sang-Man, the Korean Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, was scheduled to open it at the Education and Culture Center on Monday, 13 September.