‘Miracle’ of rice science turns gold

As the world marks five decades of IR8, the miracle rice variety developed in the Philippines and which helped avert a global food crisis in the 1960s, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) wants to build on gains with climate-smart varieties and other new rice technologies to face future threats of shortages.

Fifty years ago in November 1966, then six-year-old IRRI released its first product— which was also the world’s first high-yielding rice variety— that eventually sparked the Green Revolution in Asia that saved the region from famine over the following decade.

When the average yield in the Philippines was just about one ton per hectare, IR8 promised close to 10 times or 9.4 tons, prompting Philippine media to dub it “Miracle Rice.”

IR8  would be adapted to different conditions in countries like Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, ushering in other high-yielding varieties that solved farmers’ biggest problems at the time by being resistant to pests and diseases and also more vigorous under the elements.

Founded in 1960 with the mission to develop high-yielding rice varieties, the IRRI team led by Peter Jennings crossed 38 available varieties including dwarf rice from Taiwan called DGWG or Dee-geo-woo-gen and a tall, pest-resistant rice from Indonesia called Peta.

This pairing of DGWG and Peta, the eighth among the 38 varieties, was tagged with the unexciting but efficient (research-wise) name IR8.

Among all the plants cross-bred, it was the most promising. IR8 would become famous as Milagro Filipino in Mexico, Lua Honda in Vietnam, Peta Baru 8 in Indonesia, Padi Ria in Malaysia and Magyaw in Burma.

“As much as the journey for IR8 was a one-of-a-kind technology, the future growth of the global rice sector will not just be a journey of technology, but also a journey of humanity and of critical partnerships,” IRRI director general Matthew Morell says, noting that the story of IR8 and subsequent varieties of the Green Revolution demonstrated how the concerted efforts in scientific innovation improved lives.

Morell says the scarcity of time and resources means that rice science must be multidisciplinary.

In the Philippines, as in other countries that supported the propagation of IR8, farmers’ participation was key to its success.

In the latter half of 1966, 2,350 farmers went to IRRI and took home 2 kilos of IR8 seeds, which they got for free.

The neighbors of these farmers, who saw IR8 doing better than their own crops, followed suit.

“Our partnerships must bring rice-growing countries, as well as different sectors of the rice value chain, together in order to advance rice research and effect progressive policy change,” he adds, “This is the only means by which we will leverage science for maximum benefit of those we serve.”

Looking toward a future where there is always a threat of food shortage, IRRI has been pushing a Rice Action Agenda for Asean+3, aimed at creating a regional environment that encourages scientific and innovation exchanges, technology sharing and investments in the rice sector.

Asean+3 refers to the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam—and their three closest dialogue partners, China, Japan and South Korea.

The Rice Action Agenda brings together breeding and other rice-related technologies, capacity building, policies, raising of public investment in agriculture, and raising food and nutrition for farmers and consumers alike.

“Through partnerships such as this, we ensure that our research agenda is aligned with those concerns and addresses the greatest needs,” says Morell.