Category: Funding

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Rice breeding gets a boost … and needs it

The Hindu reports that the Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute (TRRI) is now involved in the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), a project funded by USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and launched in January. One of the interesting, but arcane, aspects of The Hindu’s coverage is the use of the phrase “mega collaborative project” to describe CSISA. That phrase may resonate with people involved in the CGIAR’s latest effort to reinvent itself. The other is that “proven technologies will be delivered to the farmers and the pipeline technologies will be evaluated in Adaptive Research Trials for fine tuning and delivery”.

Will those proven technologies include the use of biodiversity other than as a source of interesting traits for the pipeline technologists?

We said originally that CSISA “deserves to be a success” but we’re still wondering how innovative the approach will be.

Rice is clearly going to need all the help it can get to continue to feed people in the next few decades. SciDev.net reports on a recent publication from scientists in Bangladesh predicting a 20% drop in yields to 2050 and a 50% drop to 2075. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the figures, but I can say that the world needs to wake up to the fact that changes are coming, that they are going to require flexibility and adaptability, and that it is not too late to start preparing.

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Will the “Green Revolution” Ever Hit Africa?

No.

Approximately two-thirds of Africa’s population labors on small, dusty farms, frequently failing to produce enough food to feed their families. Europe, North America, and Asia got their “Green Revolutions” and the ensuing productivity growth allowed small farmers to send their kids off to school in the big cities. Africa completely missed the boat.

A long article in the New York Times Freakonomics blog by Dwyer Gunn asks “Will the Green Revolution Ever Hit Africa“? It’s long, and very straightforward. While giving the naysayers a hearing, the article is firmly on the side of GMOs, fertilizer and irrigation. Oh, and forward contracts to supply the Gates Foundation’s ((And labelling it thus rather tells you where the story is coming from.)) Purchase for Progress program, cooked up so that the World Food Programme can buy emergency rations locally, injecting some cash into local economies. Because the two thirds of Africa’s people who labour “on small, dusty farms, frequently failing to produce enough food to feed their families” are going to be entering into forward contracts with WFP? Do me a favour.

I started reading the article in full optimistic flood; here was somebody who understood the issue, really understood it. I finished very, very disappointed. Round up the usual suspects. Luckily there were only three comments, and only two really annoyed me, ((Sturgeon’s Law: 95% of everything is crap really makes itself felt in large-traffic blogs)) so here’s my suggestion. Go there, but leave your comments, if you have any, here. Or, at the very least, in both places.

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3rd Governing Body meeting of the ITPGRFA wrapped up

Following two days of lengthy procedural discussions regarding the establishment of contact groups on the funding strategy and/or compliance, and the eventual agreement to establish both, the Governing Body managed to make good progress going through its heavy agenda. Delegates agreed to: a set of outcomes for implementation of the funding strategy, including a financial target of US$116 million for the period July 2009 to December 2014; a resolution on implementation of the MLS, including setting up an intersessional advisory committee on implementation issues; a resolution on farmers’ rights; and procedures for the Third Party Beneficiary. They also adopted the work programme and budget for the next biennium; agreed to the urgent need to finalize the outstanding financial rules at GB 4; and established intersessional processes to finalize compliance procedures by GB 4 and review the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA). ((ENB Summary and Analysis.))

LATER: Here’s the Treaty’s promotional video.