Subject:   Nitrogen Fixing Rice Moves a Step Closer
An international network of scientists is continuing to make
goodprogress
with research that could ultimately revolutionize the way rice andother
crops are grown.  The researchers are trying to answer one of the most
important questions facing the rice industry: Can rice be made
toproduce
its own nitrogen ?
All crops, including rice, generally require high levels of nitrogen
tohelp
them achieve profitable grain yields. However, few crop
varieties,except
legumes, fix nitrogen naturally.  Most, such as rice, must havenitrogen
applied as a fertilizer to ensure a good yield.
The key question being studied by scientists around the world
involvedin
the Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) Working Group is can other crops
such
as rice produce their own nitrogen just as legumes do?  The phrase
biological nitrogen fixation means simply the ability of legumes to
produce
or fix nitrogen biologically rather than by having it applied by
afarmer in
the form of fertilizer.  If rice could be made to produce its own
nitrogen
in the same way, the implications for the rice industry would be
enormous.

At present rice growers, like many other farmers, spend millions
ofdollars
a year on nitrogen fertilizers as it takes one kilogram of nitrogen to
produce between 15 and 20 kilograms of rice.   If the research work
ofthe
scientists involved in the BNF Working Group eventually
provessuccessful it
will mean more rice and substantially greater profits for millions
ofpoor
farmers around the world.

But that's not all.  At present about 10 million tons of nitrogen
fertilizer
is used worldwide each year in rice production and this requirement is
expected to double over the next 20 years.  Manufacturing the 10
million
tons of nitrogen fertilizer needed today requires fossil fuel
energyequal
to about 15 million tons of oil, in a production process that not only
endangers human health but also the environment.
Therefore, nitrogen-producing rice not only has the potential to help
millions of poor rice farmers and consumers by lowering the cost of
production and, as a result, prices, but it would also help protect the
environment and indirectly improve human health.
The Director General of the Philippines-based International
RiceResearch
Institute (IRRI), Dr. Ronald P. Cantrell has praised the efforts of
theBNF
Working Group, describing it as model for future international research
efforts.  "The way this project has been able to utilize the
knowledgeand
skills of a network of top scientists from around the world to find
solutions to this challenge is, I think, an excellent example forfuture
scientific collaborative projects,"  Dr. Cantrell said.
"But it is equally important to note what can be achieved when
scienceis
applied to challenges and problems in agriculture.  We need morescience
in
agriculture and the BNP project shows what we can achieve when this
isdone
in the right way," he said.  "If are going to be able to feed
themillions
of poor and hungry in the developing world of tomorrow, then it
isessential
that science is used to achieve these types of breakthroughs
inagriculture
in an organized and systematic way." 
To further encourage and support research in this direction, IRRI
coordinates the global effort that is assessing opportunities
fornitrogen
fixation in rice.  Under the guidance of the project's team leader,
Dr.J.K.
Ladha, a soil microbiologist with IRRI's Soil and Water
SciencesDivision,
the Institute recently hosted the "Third Working Group Meeting
andReview of
the Project on Assessing Opportunities for Nitrogen Fixation in Rice".
The
four day event included not just the members of the BNF Working
Groupbut
scientists and researchers from many different countries,
includingexperts
from IRRI, who have been working in this area for many years.
"This is what we call a Frontier project," said Professor AlfredPuehler
the
Chairman of the Project Review Team, and the head of the Institute of
Genetics at the University of Bielefeld in Germany. "The research sofar
suggests that we can get rice to produce its own nitrogen but we
cannotsay
when we will be able to achieve this in the field."
Prof. Puehler said the global research effort already underway
wasfocused
primarily on rice because it was recognized as the world's
mostimportant
food source. "We feel that we have established in principle that
ricecould
produce nitrogen.  What we need now is the support and funding to do
research to show how this could be done on a viable basis as
thebenefits
for rice farmers will be very substantial," he said.
The research discussed at the IRRI conference focused on three
mainareas.
The first involved the transfer of the ability to generate the nitrogen
fixing nodules found in legumes to rice, thus allowing rice to produce
nitrogen in the same way as a legume, such as clover, does.  The
secondarea
of research has focused on the use of biotechnology to transfer the
microbial genes responsible for fixing nitrogen directly to the
riceplant.
The conference was told that the latter has been achieved in
principlewith
the successful transfer of one gene. "Now we have to show that this
canbe
achieved with all the other genes involved in the nitrogen
fixingprocess,"
said Dr. Frans J. de Bruijn, the chairman of the BNF Working Group anda
Professor of Microbiology at Michigan State University in the
UnitedStates.
The third research area, while not involving the direct transfer of the
genetic ability to fix nitrogen, is closely linked to the first two. It
involves the use of bacteria inside the rice plant to promote growth
inthe
same way as an application of nitrogen fertilizer does. "What we needis
for
IRRI, with its research facilities and network, to take the results
ofthis
work and start testing them in the field," Prof. Puehler
explained.Funding
for these three areas of study has so far come mainly from
Japan,Denmark
and Germany but remains a problem because of the "frontier" nature
ofthe
research."Real funding has been waiting for breakthroughs that show
clearly that
notonly is it possible to have nitrogen fixing rice plants in theory
butthat
it can be achieved over an extended period of time in the field," Dr.de
Bruijn explained.  "We feel we are getting closer to being able
toachieve
this and, therefore, are ready to start looking for donors who
areprepared
to support this type of research."
For many the benefits of rice plants that can fix nitrogen may be too
technical to understand.  However, there are few farmers who would not
immediately recognize the enormous importance of such a breakthroughand
what it would mean for millions of impoverished rice growers around the
world, not to mention the health of their families and the environment.
   
	IRRI, with its headquarters in the Philippines and liaison offices
in 11 other countries, is the world's leading international
riceresearch
and training center. It is an autonomous, nonprofit institution
thataims to
increase rice production worldwide while preserving natural
resources.Its
goal is to improve the well-being of present and future generations
ofrice
farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes. IRRI ispart
of
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR),an
association of public and private donor agencies that funds
16international
research centers.# # #
For additional information, contact Duncan Macintosh, IRRI, MCPO
Box3127,
1271 Makati City, Philippines; telephone (63-2) 845-0563 or
(63-2)844-3351
to 53; fax: (63-2) 891-1291 or (63-2) 845-0606; email:D.MACINTOSH@CGIAR.ORG
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