THE International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through a group of scientists has received an $11-million grant to develop a new rice strain that uses less water and fertilizer and yields up to 50 percent more in production terms.

Known as the “C4” rice project, the money for this ambitious task comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Scientists are optimistic that boosting rice productivity is crucial to achieving long-term food security.

“This has not been attempted before, but we are optimistic that it will succeed because a lot of new knowledge has been gained in recent years,” said Achim Dobermann, IRRI deputy director general for research.

Dobermann told the BusinessMirror that various groups worldwide started research on this several years earlier. At present, he explained that the focus is to try to understand the genetic controls of C4-photosynthesis in plants and finding such characteristics in rice or species that are close to it.

“We hope to have a proof of concept after three 3 years, but the whole project has a roadmap of about 15 years. At the end of it we hope to have a functioning C4 rice, but it requires to make major anatomical and biochemical modifications in rice,” Dobermann added.

IRRI scientists are experimenting with seed varieties that can withstand droughts and floods, and others are growing rice in dry soil—much like corn—rather than irrigated paddies. The latest of which is the strategy to alter how rice plants perform photosynthesis and concocting hybrid varieties that can boost yields by as much as 50 percent.

John Sheehy, a British physicist heading the research at IRRI, told the BusinessMirror that the basic idea is to make rice behave more like corn and other plants that perform a particularly efficient form of photosynthesis involving four-carbon atoms. Rice photosynthesis has only three-carbon atoms.

“This is a long-term project that will take about 12 years to 15 years to complete. The aim is to convert solar energy more efficiently in the rice plant to produce more grain,” Sheehy said.

Sheehy explained that there would be approximately three direct strategic approaches aimed at understanding how evolution alters the gene to produce an improved photosynthesis in C4 plants, like maize, and apply the technology in C3 plants, like rice. Three other approaches to the problem would be used to build tools and knowledge to support the direct approaches.

“There are too many to simply list here, but we have to also begin to understand what effect a more efficient photosynthetic engine might have on the overall performance of the rice plant, e.g. rate of growth and size of the plant,” the scientist said.

?Given the demand by an increasing population in Asia, combined with less available land and water, adequate future supplies of rice will need to come in large part through substantial yield boosts and more efficient use of crop inputs.

“The result of this strategic research has the potential to benefit billions of poor people,” Sheehy said.

The C4 Rice Consortium project combines the strengths of a range of partners, including molecular biologists, geneticists, physiologists, biochemists, and mathematicians, representing leading research organizations worldwide.