CGNET Customer Highlight:  IRRI Catalyzes the Second Green Revolution

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The International Rice Research Institute has been harnessing scientific research to battle famine since the 1950s. IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler recently gave the keynote address at the quadrennial International Rice Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, detailing the progress of the Second Green Revolution

As described on IRRI’s own website, “He cited the very wide array of problems, previously thought to be absolutely insurmountable, that researchers can now find solutions for more rapidly using scientific tools coming out of parallel high-science revolutions in genetics, molecular biology, and plant physiology.”

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Under Zeigler’s leadership, IRRI has continued to promote public-private coordination in improving agriculture throughout the developing world. He made special note of a new rice variety that was developed in 2008, and has now “spread like wildfire in eastern India and other regions where flooding is a perennial problem.” In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, rice farmer Asha Ram Pal planted a particular rice variety—which contained the SUB1 gene for flood tolerance—that allowed his formerly submerged crops to recover and produce an effective yield.

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In a piece in November, The Wall Street Journal noted that “the returns to society as a whole from higher-yielding rice varieties are staggering. The IRRI’s semi-dwarf varieties, including the famous IR8, saved India from famine in the 1960s.” It went on to point out that “the environment will also benefit from the second green revolution, as crops will require less water, fertilizer and pesticides.”

CGNET is proud to highlight the great work being done by our customer, the International Rice Research Institute. IRRI is one of a growing number of agricultural research groups that CGNET works with to provide IT & communication support.