Nitrogen-Use Efficient, Water-Use Efficient and Salt-Tolerant Rice Project

Transcription

1 Nitroge-Use Efficiet, Water-Use Efficiet ad Salt-Tolerat Rice Project

2 Backgroud Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has for the last two decades bee experiecig a cotiuous icrease i rice cosumptio drive mostly by a shift i cosumer prefereces, urbaisatio ad rapid populatio growth. Rice has therefore become a staple of cosiderable strategic importace, of which its growig demad poses a ecoomic challege for the cotiet. Aual rice cosumptio i SSA stads at 24.3 millio toes while productio is estimated at 12.5 millio toes (MT) of milled rice, most of which is produced by smallholder farmers. With the exceptio of a few coutries which have attaied self-sufficiecy, rice demad exceeds productio i most of SSA ad large quatities of the grai cotiue to be imported to meet domestic demad. Overall, imported rice accouts for about 40 percet of SSA local rice cosumptio. This traslated to about 12.0 millio metric toes i 2012 valued at over US$ 5billio. The Uited Natios Food ad Agriculture Orgaizatio (FAO), forecasts that the world s largest icrease i rice cosumptio over the ext 10 years will occur i Africa. The curret isufficiet rice productio affects the well-beig of over 20 millio smallholder farmers who deped o rice as a staple. SSA coutries are spedig more tha US$ 5 billio aually o rice imports. The rice productio deficit alog with the subsequet large outflow of foreig exchage presets a great developmet challege to govermets ad developmet agecies i SSA millio toes SSA aual rice cosumptio 12.5 millio toes Aual rice productio i Sub-Sahara Africa

3 Improvig rice productivity i Africa Africa s aual rice productio of 12.5 millio toes ad its cosumptio of 24.3 millio toes creates a deficit of 12 millio toes that affects over 20 millio smallholder farmers who deped o it as a staple. Low yields experieced by farmers are resposible for the rice imports i SSA where over 40 percet of the rice cosumed today is imported. The average grai yield i Africa (2.2 t/ ha) is below the world average (3.4 t/ha) by 49 percet ad several factors accout for this low yield. Soil itroge deficiecy has bee cited as a major costrait to rice productio. Nitroge deficiecy is mostly acute i the highly weathered uplad areas where a average yield of oly oe toe per hectare, which is about 25 percet of yield potetial, has bee recorded. Also, itroge is difficult to retai whe applied i lowlad areas due to floods ad flowig water that characterise such areas. A major cocer that costraits rice productio i itroge deficiet soils is the iability of farmers to buy fertilisers to address this costrait, ad whe they buy, they ca hardly afford the required rate for optimal yield. Improvig the itroge use efficiecy (NUE) of rice is oe meas of overcomig these limitatios. Similarly, drought has bee idetified as a major limitig factor i rice productio i SSA where about 80 percet of rice farms traditioally deped o raifall. The farmers are ofte resource costraied, ad caot afford irrigatio systems. With the utilisatio ad applicatio of water use efficiet (WUE) compoet, the rice will require less water ad this will offer a appreciable copig mechaism agaist drought. Also, high saliity is icreasigly becomig a major problem i rice growig areas of the coastal lowlads ad magrove swamps of Africa. Project goal The goal of the Nitroge-Use Efficiet, Water-Use Efficiet ad Salt-Tolerat (NEWEST) Rice Project is to develop ad dissemiate farmer preferred ad locally adapted rice varieties with ehaced itroge-use efficiecy, water-use efficiecy ad salt tolerace millio toes Africa s aual rice importatio USD$ 5.7 billio... value of rice imported aually i Africa

4 Implemetig the NEWEST Rice Project Facts ad figures o rice i SSA The NEWEST rice project offers hope to rice farmers. As a breeder, I see it as a vehicle to brig trasgeic rice varieties possessig combiatios of itroge use efficiecy, water use efficiecy ad saliity tolerace to Ghaaia rice farmers. I am also excited by the possibility of freely backcrossig these gees ito other varieties. Paul Kofi Dartey, Rice Breeder CRI, Ghaa Aual rice productio i SSA estimated at 12.5 millio metric toes (MT) Africa has a deficit of about 12.0 millio MT per year valued at over US$ 5 billio that is imported aually. The isufficiet rice productio affects over 20 millio smallholder farmers who deped o it as a staple. The Africa Agricultural Techology Foudatio (AATF) is workig with parters to develop ad dissemiate farmer preferred ad locally adapted rice varieties with ehaced itroge-use efficiecy, water-use efficiecy ad salt tolerace (NEWEST). AATF coordiates project activities throughout the etire product value chai (itellectual property maagemet, busiess developmet, project maagemet, regulatory affairs ad commuicatio ad outreach), esurig that activities are carried out as plaed. 20 millio umber of smallholder farmers who deped o rice as a mai food.

5 Beefits of NEWEST Rice Project Abadoed croplads will be reclaimed reducig lad shortages A additioal 1.3 millio toes of rice will be produced i Africa each year, reducig the curret deficit by 10 percet. Available techologies for further use by scietists Availability of improved farmer-preferred rice varieties Improved crop yields, resultig i ehaced household food security ad productio of marketable crop surplus Food self-sufficiecy i rice will redirect limited foreig exchage used to import rice Our belief is that improved rice varieties developed with the itroge-use ad salttolerace techologies that we have doated to the project will eable smallholder Africa rice farmers to sustaiably icrease their productio ad their profits eve i the face of variable ad ofte challegig evirometal coditios. Our goal is thus to icrease smallholder productivity ad food security, with a parallel reductio i egative evirometal impacts. Eric Rey, presidet ad CEO Arcadia Bioscieces Ic

6 The Nitroge-Use Efficiet, Water-Use Efficiet ad Salt-Tolerat Rice Project Partership Ghaa Ugada Keya AATF is cotributig its leadership experiece i public private partership maagemet, techology stewardship ad project maagemet expertise. Arcadia Bioscieces is doatig the NUE, WUE ad ST trait techologies, producig trasgeic plats ad providig techical support. Public Itellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA) is doatig the eablig techologies for plat trasformatio. Iteratioal Cetre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is carryig out seed icrease, prelimiary agroomic trials ad field testig for trait gai. Natioal agricultural research parters - Natioal Agricultural Research Orgaisatio, Ugada; Crop Research Istitute, Ghaa; ad Natioal Cereal Research Istitute, Nigeria are ivolved i field testig for trait gai. Ivestors The Uited States Agecy for Iteratioal Developmet (USAID) fuds project activities. Iitial fudig to support coceptualisatio ad implemetatio came from UK aid from the UK govermet ad USAID. What I really wat is better rice seed varieties that ca give me higher yields as I do t grow aythig else o my farm apart from rice. Therefore, I would urge researchers to work o better rice seed varieties. I would also really wat to grow uplad rice that does ot eed a lot of water ad is easier to grow. Florece Apochi, rice farmer Osudoku-Asutsuare Greater Accra, Ghaa For more iformatio cotact: Africa Agricultural Techology Foudatio P O Box , Nairobi, Keya Tel: +254 (0) Fax: +254 (0) aatf@aatf-africa.org Website: