NERICA
NERICA ( New Rice for Africa , "New Rice for Africa") are made of intersections emerged rice varieties , by the West Africa Rice Development Association to increase were developed by the earnings of African rice species.
Although 240 million people in West Africa meet most of their energy and protein needs with rice, the vast majority of rice is imported. This has a cost of approximately one billion US dollars. Sufficient rice production for self-sufficiency should therefore improve both the food situation and economic development in West Africa.
African and Asian rice
African rice ( Oryza glaberrima ) has been cultivated for 3500 years and is well adapted to African environmental conditions. It is characterized by particularly lush plant growth, which inhibits weeds; it is also resistant to drought and native African pests and plant diseases. However, African rice has relatively low yields because it kinks when the panicles become too heavy. The grains can also shatter, which further reduces the yield.
The cultivation of African rice was abandoned in favor of Asian rice varieties ( Oryza sativa ). However, Asian rice varieties are poorly adapted to African conditions and their cultivation requires large amounts of water. Asian rice cannot inhibit weed growth as it was specially bred for short stature and is susceptible to pests and disease in African conditions.
New Rice for Africa
The "New Rice for Africa" was created by crossing O. glaberrima and O. sativa . Since these varieties cannot be crossed naturally, a special technique ("embryo-rescue") was used to ensure that crosses survive and reach maturity. The new rice shows the heterosis effect , the phenomenon in which descendants of genetically different parents grow faster, are more productive and withstand stress better than any of the parent plants taken individually.
Key properties of the new rice varieties include:
- Panicle enlargement from 75 to 100 to 500 seeds per panicle
- Yield increases from 1 ton per hectare to 2.5 tons per hectare; Yield increase to five tons per hectare with fertilization
- contain two percent more protein than the African and Asian parent varieties
- they grow taller than most rice varieties, which makes harvesting easier
- they are better adapted to diseases, drought and barren soils than Asian rice varieties
Future prospects
It is estimated that if a quarter of rice growers in Guinea , Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone grow NERICA varieties, $ 20 million a year can be saved. NERICA could be useful in other arid areas as well, including Latin America and Asia .
The Sierra Leonean scientist Monty Jones, who was a leader in the development of NERICA, was awarded the World Food Prize in 2004 and was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine in 2007 . The continuous increase in African rice production over the past six years is largely attributed to the spread of NERICA.
literature
- M. Dingkuhn, MP Jones, DE Johnson, A. Sow: Growth and yield potential of Oryza sativa and O. glaberrima upland rice cultivars and their interspecific progenies. In: Field Crops Research. 57, 1998, pp. 57-69.