The world’s top rice scientists, researchers and experts are to gather in Japan this November to hear the latest on these and many other vitally important questions not just for Asia, but also the rest of the world. The World Rice Research Conference (WRRC) will take place in the Japanese science city of Tsukuba on 5-7 November after an opening ceremony in Tokyo on 4 November.

A climactic event of the United Nations’ International Year of Rice, the conference brings together leading rice researchers from all over the world to present papers on the latest scientific knowledge in four key areas:

• Innovative technologies for boosting rice production. Recent rice shortages in some Asian countries have highlighted that the region’s food security cannot be taken for granted and that increasing rice production to satisfy future demand is one of Asia’s most urgent priorities.

   

• Perspectives on the place of rice in healthy lifestyles. Rice plays a fundamental role in the lifestyles of almost half the world’s population. Scientists think they can also make rice more nutritious and, in the process, provide exciting new solutions to some major public health problems.

   

• Adaptable rice-based systems that help improve everybody’s livelihoods. Most well-managed paddy fields are environmental friendly. Not only can they improve the livelihoods of farmers, they can also play a role in improving the general quality of life in Asia. Known in Japan as the multifunctionality of rice, such rice-based systems are a vital part of sustainable agriculture in Asia.

   

• The role of rice in environmentally sustainable food security. New technologies such as improved, higher-yielding rice varieties have already saved thousands of hectares of Asian rainforests from conversion into rice farms. However, environmental sustainability continues to be a crucial issue affecting Asia’s future food security.

“We’re pleased and honored to be a partner in such an important international event,” said Ronald P. Cantrell, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). “For IRRI, this will be our most important conference in the International Year of Rice.

“Considering the momentous and historic recent changes and breakthroughs in rice science - such as the sequencing of the rice genome, the development of nutritional rice and aerobic rice, as well as the introduction of plant variety rights - the WRRC comes at a crucial time for the international rice industry,” Dr. Cantrell added. “And it is especially appropriate that Japan hosts such an event considering its leading role as a supporter and practitioner of international rice research.”

The WRRC is jointly organized by the following organizations under the leadership of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF):

• National Agriculture and Bio-oriented Research Organization (NARO)

   

• National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS)

   

• National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES)

   

• National Institute for Rural Engineering (NIRE)

   

• National Food Research Institute (NFRI)

   

• Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)

   

• Policy Research Institute, MAFF (PRI)

   

• The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), based in the Philippines

For more details, please visit the WRRC Web site at: www.irri.org/wrrc2004