New knowledge improves rice quality

A major international initiative is being launched to try to boost the income of the world’s millions of poor rice farmers and at the same time provide consumers with more nutritious, better tasting food.

New scientific knowledge is allowing rice researchers to develop better quality rice varieties that could fetch a higher price from consumers, especially increasingly affluent rice consumers in Asia.

The main aim of the new International Network for Quality Rice is to help rice breeders around the world develop varieties with improved quality traits such as better taste, aroma, and cooking characteristics as well as higher levels of nutrition. Once provided to farmers, the new varieties are expected to command a higher price among consumers, especially those in Asia, who, as they become increasingly affluent, are seeking – and paying for – better quality food.

“Much of this research would not have been possible ten years ago because we simply did not have the knowledge or the understanding of quality that we do now,” Robert S. Zeigler, the director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute, said. “It really is a very exciting time to be involved in such research, especially because we can take the new scientific knowledge generated by activities such as the recent sequencing of the rice genome, and use it to improve the lives of the poor by providing either better quality food or increased income.”

The quality rice network – which was formed electronically in 2006 – met for the first time last month during a three-day workshop entitled “Clearing Old Hurdles with New Science: Improving Rice Grain Quality” at IRRI. The event attracted 71 cereal chemists and other experts from more than 20 nations.

“It’s very clear from the great response we got to the workshop that rice quality is becoming a very hot topic in rice research almost everywhere,” the convener and head of IRRI’s Grain Quality, Nutrition, and Postharvest Center, Melissa Fitzgerald, said. “Many of the issues we discussed may not have even been considered a few years ago, but, with the recent advances in molecular biology and exciting new areas such as metabolomics (the whole-genome assessment of metabolites), we can do things now that we could only dream about before.”

During the workshop, the latest research was presented in several new areas, including

– Breeding for better quality and genetically mapping specific quality traits in rice such as taste and aroma.

– The cooking and eating qualities of rice and how to measure sensory qualities more accurately.

– The role of important substances such as starch and amylose in cooking rice and how they are measured.

“IRRI is very fortunate to have a strong foundation of previous rice quality research to build on,” Dr. Fitzgerald said. “We needed that to ensure we made the right decisions as we move into a whole new era of rice quality research.”

For many years, rice breeders have focused on developing varieties that would boost production and provide some insect and weed resistance to help farmers reduce their use of pesticides; quality was not a high priority. However, major new advances in rice research and Asia’s continuing economic development have created important new opportunities.

“These are the two key changes driving the whole process and making this research area so exciting,” Dr. Zeigler said. “If we can link these two things together – our new and improved knowledge and understanding of rice quality with affluent-consumer desires for better rice – then it’s possible we can also help poor farmers improve their lives.

“This would be an outstanding example of using the latest in science to improve the lives of the poor, while satisfying the desires of the affluent,” he added.