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Mission The Drought Frontier Project (DFP) will develop new genotypes that can potentially double crop yield under drought stress in rainfed environments and will accumulate knowledge of drought resistance (DR) in rice. Goal and objectives The overall goal of the Frontier Project on drought resistant will be to develop new rice genotypes that can potentially double yield under drought stress in rainfed environments. The specific objectives are to Explore rice genetic diversity and identify donors and parental lines for drought resistance breeding. Identify key traits and mechanisms affecting rice drought resistance, and develop relevant screening techniques. Tag the alleles that increase rice productivity under drought stress for markeraided breeding, validate them in farmers’ fields, and use them widely in NARES breeding programs. Deploy gene transformation systems for the identification and exploitation of drought resistance genes in plant breeding. Develop improved rice varieties and hybrids that double yield under drought under both lowland and upland conditions relative to current widely grown varieties, without constraining productivity in favorable years.
Strategies Explore rice genetic diversity and identify donors and parental lines for DR breeding. Identify key traits and mechanisms affecting rice DR and develop relevant screening techniques. Tag alleles that increase rice productivity under drought for marker-aided breeding, validate these in farmers’ fields, and use them widely in breeding programs of national research and extension systems (NARES) in different countries. Deploy gene transformation systems to identify and exploit DR genes in plant breeding. Develop improved rice varieties and hybrids that can double yield under drought relative to current widely grown varieties without constraining productivity in favorable years.
New Book: Drought Frontiers in Rice: Crop Improvement for Increased Rainfed Production
Edited by R. Serraj, J. Bennett, and B. Hardy  Worldwide, drought affects approximately 23 million hectares of rainfed rice. Varieties combining improved drought resistance with high yield under favorable conditions and quality characteristics preferred by farmers are the most promising and deliverable technologies for alleviating poverty in communities dependent on rainfed rice production. This book describes some of the recent advances in the genetics and physiology of drought resistance and the integration of highly efficient breeding and genetic analysis techniques with functional genomics, for launching a Drought Frontiers Project <http://seeds.irri.org/drought>, as a major assault on the problem of improving drought resistance in rice. Featuring contributions from leading international experts, case studies are used to present perspectives on the various multi-disciplinary facets of drought resistance in rice, along with the natural resource management practices it involves and socioeconomic implications that it entails. The readers will be better informed about this highly relevant and complex topic of improving rice drought resistance in a global environment characterized by increased water scarcities.
Serraj R, Bennett J, Hardy B, editors. 2008. Drought frontiers in rice: crop improvement for increased rainfed production. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing and Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 400 p. Click here to view more details |
