A common question but very difficult to answer. Depending on your definition of variety, the answer could be anything from zero to around 500,000 varieties of Oryza sativa (Asian cultivated rice). In the technical sense used by taxonomists (biologists who classify organisms into groups based on evolutionary relationships), descriptions have been published of 14 varieties,...
The simple answer to the question posed by the title is “no”— because most rice is not dangerous. On closer inspection, though, we find that some rice-cropping systems are more likely than others to take up metals that are toxic to humans. Such metals may be a natural part of the local environment or present in industrial pollution. Who is most at risk from contaminated...
Since land was first cultivated to create a favorable environment for crops, other less desirable plants have exploited the same land more effectively. Control of weeds has been described as humanity’s biggest single occupation, and while herbicides have greatly reduced the effort needed to control weeds in some farming systems, in others, controlling them requires more...
Africa is labeled as a “poverty continent.” While respectable progress has been made in reducing poverty in other regions of the developing world, the number of African people living on less than one dollar per day has increased, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The region, which includes countries in central, eastern, western, and southern Africa, is now the main...
Rice research can play a major role in achieving many of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those that call for the eradication of poverty and hunger, and for environmental sustainability. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) conducts research that regularly leads to validated technologies that have the potential to improve...
Involving farmers and farming communities in decisions about new agricultural technologies or management practices and allowing them to try a technology form the crux of the participatory approach to research. Not only does this give farming communities a sense of ownership, it also ensures that the technologies are sustainable under the farmers’ own management But is...
