The
Rice Challenge Initiative launching meeting was held in Montpellier, France in
13-15 Apr 2010. This 4-year project, funded by the Generation Challenge
Programme (GCP) and led by AfricaRice, focuses on breeding for drought
tolerance in the rainfed lowland ecosystems in Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria.
The
main objective is to develop cultivars possessing high-yield potential in
normal years and considerably good yield under drought and other major stresses
of each target environment in rainfed lowland, which will help sustain rice
production, beyond the three target countries, in the large rainfed lowland
ecosystem across Africa.
Details
of research activities, responsibilities of each partner, the time frames and
the budget were discussed at the launching meeting.
