Held every four years, the International Rice Congress (IRC) will bring together all aspects of the rice industry with a special focus on the latest research, science, and technology. Hosted by the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and co-sponsored by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), it will be held in Delhi from October 9-13 and include three main events:
"Rice is going through an unprecedented time of change and development," IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler said. "Despite the fact we've been growing rice for thousands of years, the recent sequencing of the rice genome heralded a new era in our knowledge and understanding of this vitally important crop."
"We have learnt more about rice in the past five years, than we have in the past 500 and we will learn even more in the next five years," Dr. Zeigler said. "If you add other issues such as intellectual property, biofortification, the water crisis, climate change, and the huge challenge of improving the lives of poor rice farmers and consumers, then you can start to understand why this congress is going to be so important."
Adding further interest to the event is the continuing struggle of many countries in Asia to produce the rice they need to feed their growing populations--a problem compounded by the current increase in the international price of rice.
According to Mangala Rai, Secretary of India's Department of Agricultural Research and Education and I
'"/>
Contact: Duncan Macintosh
d.macintosh@cgiar.org
63-918-902-5034
International Rice Research Institute
12-Jul-2006