Speaking at the launch of the "International Year of Rice 2004," and making the case for increased investments in rice research, Ronald Cantrell, Director General, IRRI said: "Achieving at least two of the eight Millennium Development Goals heavily depends on continued and strengthened research efforts to help farmers grow rice more efficiently, profitably and sustainably."

  In the early years of the Green Revolution up to the early 1980s, the rice-producing nations of Asia enjoyed annual rice yield increases of 2.5 percent and production gains of over 3 percent. However, between the middle of the 1980s and the late 1990s, the rate of annual yield increase was nearly halved, and the rate of production increase fell even further.
Recent research has shown that in 1999, for every US$1 million invested at IRRI, more than 800 rural poor in China, and 15,000 rural poor in India, were lifted above the poverty line. These poverty-reduction effects were even greater in earlier years.

Dr. Cantrell's address provided participants with a snapshot of activities being undertaken by IRRI and its partners to improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability of rice farming:

• Developing more nutritious rice rich in essential micronutrients as iron, zinc vitamin A, and protein
  
• A new type of dry-field rice that reduces the amount of water used in rice cultivation thereby helping mitigate Asia's looming water crisis where farmers use unsustainable levels of up to 3,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of rice
  
• Developing rice that withstands stresses such as drought or saline soils.
  
• Developing hybrid rice and other varieties that will provide higher yields for farmers and motivate private sector investment in developing improved varieties for farmers.

For more information, visit www.rice2004.com