A Rice Future for Asia

Thai and Filipino students come together to help ensure the future of rice farming in Asia, sparking new friendships — and friendly rivalries

Rice farming has been the foundation of Asian ways of life for millennia and is still fundamental to economic development in most Asian nations. In much of Asia, rice plays a central role in politics, society and culture. Growing and distributing this commodity directly or indirectly employs more people than any other economic sector.

A healthy rice industry, especially in Asia’s poorer countries, is crucial to the welfare of rice producers and consumers alike. A strong rice research program can help reduce costs, improve production and ensure environmental sustainability. Indeed, rice research has been a key to productivity and livelihood gains over the last 4 decades.

Yet today’s young Asians do not want to work in rice, and many rice farmers encourage their children to leave the unforgiving farming life for careers in cities and industries. And fewer young Asians choose careers in rice science, despite its vital importance to the region. “Sadly, many young people in Asia don’t think of rice as offering an exciting or promising career,” observes Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

A new effort to encourage young Asians to consider a future in rice began in late April, when IRRI, the Thai Rice Foundation and the Philippine Rice Research Institute brought together 19 high school students, aged 16-18, from Thailand and the Philippines for a special rice camp designed to boost their interest in rice and rice science. The nine Filipinos and 10 Thais — all from rice-farming families — spent 5 days at IRRI’s research campus in the Philippines, where they learned about the latest rice research.

Dr. Zeigler emphasizes that the continued development of the rice industry in Asia depends on attracting the region’s best and brightest young people. “We want them to understand that rice research is not some sleepy scientific backwater but right on the cutting edge,” he says. “The recent sequencing of the rice genome attracted enormous attention in the scientific community.”

During their 5 days at IRRI, the students and their teachers tried their hand at several laboratory techniques such as extracting DNA from a rice plant and inserting a gene into the genome of another. Participants also got down and dirty preparing a field for transplanting. A great successes was the camaraderie that blossomed among the students. Despite sharing little language, the young Thais and Filipinos struck up friendships that look set to last well beyond the camp. IRRI Spokesperson Duncan Macintosh reports that the chance to mix with people from a different culture also provided some comic moments.

At dinner one night one of the Filipino boys challenged a Thai boy to a chili-eating competition,” he recounts. “After wolfing down three chilies in the time it took the Thai lad to eat one, the Filipino proclaimed victory — prematurely, as it turned out. In the next minute or so, he turned red and tears streamed down his face as he guzzled water. Meanwhile, the Thai student calmly ate his second chili, then third, then fourth, then fifth. The rest of the students were in stitches.”