Abstract
Green revolution technology, centered on high-yielding varieties, has revolutionized rice production since the late 1960's. These varieties are characterized by higher yield potential, better grain quality, shorter growth duration, multiple resistance to diseases and insects and tolerance to problem soils. High yielding varieties are now planted to 70% of the world's rice lands. Most countries in the Asian rice belt have become self sufficient in rice and some have exportable surpluses. The real prices of rice have declined in most countries. This price decline has benefitted the urban poor and rural landless. Labor requirement has also increased from higher intensity of cropping and resulted in growth of income of the rural landless workers. Availability of rice varieties with multiple resistance reduced the need for application of agrochemicals and facilitated the adoption of integrated pest management practices. The population of rice consumers is increasing at the rate of 2% annually. However the rate of growth of rice production has slowed to 1.2%. To reverse this trend, rice plant types with higher yield potential are being developed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonman, J. M.; Khush, G. S.; Nelson, R. J.: Breeding rice for resistance to pests. Annual Review of Phytopathology 30: 485–506 (1992)
Bergstrom, G.: The Hungry Planet. MacMillan Press, New York, USA 1972.
David, C. C.; Otsuka, K. (ed.).: Modern Rice Technology and Income Distribution in Asia. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder and London 1994.
Hayami, Y. in association with M. Kikuchi, P. Moya, L. Bambo and E. Marciano: Anatomy of a Peasant Economy: a Rice Village in the Philippines. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines 1978.
Hossain, M.: Nature and Impact of Green Revolution in Bangladesh, Research Report No. 67. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC 1988.
Hossain, M.; Laborte, A.: Recent Trends and Future Prospects of Rice Farming in Asia. Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, Taipei, Taiwan 1994.
IRRI: IR36, The World's Most Popular Rice. International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines 1982.
IRRI: Planning for the 1990's. International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines 1989.
Jena, K. K.; Khush, G. S.: Introgression of genes fromOryza officinalis Well ex Watt to cultivated rice,O. sativa L. Theor. Appl. Genet. 80: 737–745 (1990)
Khush, G. S.: Disease and insect resistance in rice. Adv. Agron. 29: 265–341 (1977)
Khush, G. S.: Development of rice varieties suitable for double cropping. In Tropical Agricultural Research Center, 235–246. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan. Tropical Agriculture Research Series 20 (1987)
Khush, G. S.: Multiple disease and insect resistance for increased yield stability in rice. In: Progress in Irrigated Rice Research, 79–92. International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines 1989.
Khush, G. S.: Selecting rice for simply inherited resistances. In: Stalker, H. S. and Murphy, J. P. (eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium on Plant Breeding in the 1990s, 303–323. C. A. B. International, Wallingford 1992.
Khush, G. S.: Breeding rice for sustainable agricultural systems. In: Buxton,D. R.; Shibles, R; Forsberg, R. A; Blad, B. L.; Asay, K. H.; Paulson,G. M.; Wilson, R. F. (eds.), International Crop ScienceI, 189–199. Crop Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 1993a.
Khush, G. S.: Varietal needs for different environments and breeding strategies. In: Muralidharan, K. and Siddiq, E. A.(eds.), New Frontiers in Rice Research, 68–75. Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad, India 1993b.
Paddock, W.; Paddock, P.: Famine 1975! Little Brown and Company. Boston, USA 1967.
Pinstrup-Andersen, P.: World Food Trends and Future Food Security, Food Policy Report, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC 1994.
Ponnuthurai, S.; Virmani, S. S.; Vergara, B. S.: Comparative studies on the growth and yield of some F1 rice hybrids. Philippine Journal of Crop Science 9: 183–193 (1984)
UNDP: Human Development Report 1994. Oxford University Press 1994.
Virmani, S. S.; Prasad, M. N.; Kumar, I.: Breaking yield barrier of rice through exploitation of heterosis. In: Muralidharan, K. and Siddiq, E. A.(eds.), New Frontiers in Rice Research, 76–85. Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad, India 1993.
Yap, C. L.: A comparison of the cost of producing rice in selected countries. FAO Economic & Social Development Paper 101. FAO, Rome 1991.
Yoshida, S.: Fundamentals of Rice Crop Science. International Rice Research Institute. PO Box 933, Manila, Philippines 1981.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khush, G.S. Modern varieties — Their real contribution to food supply and equity. GeoJournal 35, 275–284 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00989135
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00989135