IRRI
and AfricaRice jointly launched the Japan-funded project on “Developing the
next generation of new rice varieties for Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast
Asia.” The eastern and southern African launch of this project took place on 24
Apr 2010, in Kirundo Province of Burundi.
The
launch was attended by scientists from IRRI, AfricaRice and 38 national
research and extension partners from nine east and southern Africa countries
(Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania,
and Uganda.)
The
overall aim of the project is to accelerate the development and deployment of
the next generation of elite rice varieties for major production systems in
sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, where poverty is prevalent and the risk
of food shortage is high.
The
project has the following three objectives:
- Accelerate the development of
high-impact varieties in SSA and Southeast Asia
- Accelerate rice variety
testing, approval, and dissemination in SSA and Southeast Asia
- Contribute to building a new
generation of rice breeders
To
ensure delivery of products well-accepted by farmers and consumers, this
project aims to establish a network of NARS breeders in sub-Saharan Africa and
Southeast Asia that would constitute an Africawide Breeding Task Forces to
develop the next generation of rice varieties in both regions of the world.
This
project will allow IRRI and AfricaRice to rebuild rice breeding capacity at the
national level in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia and pursue a systematic
collaborative approach to rice breeding that will greatly shorten the time
needed to develop new varieties. Delivery of varieties will also be accelerated
through streamlining and harmonizing of varietal release procedures across the
regions.
The
regional launch of this project in West Africa took place in Segou, Mali, 23-26
Jun 2010.