Moving Hybrid Rice to Farmers' Fields: Lessons Learnt from the Successful Programs

摘要

Reducing hunger and poverty are the key UN development goals for the Millennium. This was the main reason behind the UN declaration of the International Year of Rice -2004. The world population is still growing steadily, while land and water resources are on decline. Increasing the productivity of rice systems, therefore, is essential for the food security of more than half of the world population. The Chinese experiences on hybrid rice cultivation demonstrated beyond doubt the contribution of hybrid rice to food security and other developmental goals. Merit of the large adoption of hybrid rice, (about 50% of total rice area) the Chinese rice production has been sustainably increased from 128 million tonnes in 1975 to 191 million tonnes in 1990, while the rice harvested area was reduced from 36 million hectares in 1975 to only 33 million hectares in 1990 (Nguyen V. N. , 2004). The success of the hybrid rice program in China encouraged other Asian countries to establish their own hybrid rice programs during the 1980s. In the 1990s the commercial cultivation of hybrid rice has expanded into a number of Asian countries outside China. The rates of hybrid rice adoption in Asian countries outside China, however, are still low and the full potential of hybrid rice has not been well utilized for reducing hunger and poverty. This paper attempts to analyze the factors behind the successful programs of hybrid rice development and its use in Asia. It will also present briefly the FAO hybrid rice program for food security and livelihood improvement in Asia and elsewhere.