“Super Rice”: The Future
of Our Staple Food? [1]
Zhuang Lingzhen (lz.zhuang.2013@economics.smu.edu.sg), 1st Year student, Bachelor of Science (Economics), Singapore Management University
Executive Summary
History has proved the importance of agriculture on the human
race 15,000 years ago. The transition, from hunter-gatherer society to agricultural
society in the Fertile Crescent, has changed the face of the Earth. If not for
agriculture, the world will not be revolutionized to what it is today, where
the human population are ever rising and therefore leading to advancement in
technologies because there will be surpluses supported in different specialized
sectors, this is shown from the past that agriculture had brought about the
development and use of advance technologies in their time to improve and move
forward as a civilization. The bottom-line, if the world does not have enough
food, we are going to slow down and eventually collapse.
Therefore, this paper,
first analyzes the history of agriculture and rice and importance of agriculture
and rice. Next, the current situation the world is in which includes the
problems that arise from the technologies that spurred the Green Revolution and
the need for sustainable agriculture by adopting hybrid rice technology. Problems
from the environment that affects food security and health issues are to be
discussed. These problems might be the drivers for hybrid rice technology. This
paper finally discuss the future of hybrid rice technology with the emergence
of a new “Green Super Rice” strain, that might replace the future of our staple
food.
1. Introduction
As world population is
expected to rise from the estimated 7 billion, current UN projections show a
continued increase in population in the near future, with the population
expected to reach between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050. There
is a growing concern on the sustainability of further world population growth,
highlighting the pressing issues like shortage of global food supplies.
Importance of Rice
Rice is a staple food
for more than half of the global population, providing 20% of the world’s
dietary energy supplies, while wheat and maize supplies 19% and 5%
respectively. It is the major dietary energy source for 17 countries in Asia
and the Pacific, 9 countries in North and South America and 8 countries in
Africa.
Food security, which is the condition of having enough food
to provide adequate nutrition for a healthy life, is a critical issue in the
developing world, as rice is loss in developing nation because of post-harvest
problems. Problems like environment, pest infestation and health. Not only do these losses reduce food
security in the world, the study claims that farmers in developing countries
such as China, India and others lose approximately US$89 billion of income in
preventable post-harvest farm losses, poor transport, the lack of proper
storage and retail. One study claims that if these post-harvest grain losses
could be eliminated with better infrastructure and retail network, in India
alone enough food would be saved every year to feed 70 to 100 million people
over a year.
And in recent years,
various organizations are looking into sustainable agriculture specifically in
this paper on sustainable rice production to alleviate these problems and they are
clear that this is the way forward. The use of hybrid rice technology is
focused but currently it has limitations. So we look into the emerging technologies
of better hybrid rice for being the
future of sustainable
rice. Therefore, it is clear that there will be an revolutionary change in rice
production in the near future.
Therefore, this ties in
to the topic – “Super Rice”: The Future of Our Staple Food Source?
Sustainable Agriculture
It is defined as
production of food, fiber, or other plant or animal products using farming
techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and
animal welfare. This form of agriculture enables us to produce healthful
food without compromising future generations' ability to do the same.
Hybrid Rice
Hybrid rice
is any genealogy of rice produced by crossbreeding different kinds of rice. As
with other types of hybrids, hybrid rice typically displays heterosis also
known as hybrid vigor such that when it is grown under the same conditions as
comparable high-yielding inbred rice varieties it can produce up to 30% more
rice. High-yield crops, like hybrid rice, are one of the most important tools
for combating issues on food security globally.
2. Historical Perspectives
History of Agriculture & Rice
From the extracts of Guns,
Germs & Steel, agriculture took place from 15 000 years ago, where crops
domestication then animal domestication were first discovered from the Fertile
Crescent which is in the region of modern Middle-East. And climate change in
the region caused the people to migrate and eventually spread the way of crops
cultivation to Europe, and slowly we see a rise in European power and human
population and revolutionary technologies. Because agriculture brought about
surpluses to population, which will be working in their specialized sectors,
hence there will be advance in technologies, leading to power and rise of
civilizations and eventually into a world today. Genetic evidence has shown
that rice originates from a single domestication 8,200–13,500 years ago, in the
Pearl Valley region of China.
History of Hybrid Rice
China's Professor Yuan Long Ping is touted as the “Father
of Hybrid Rice”. In the 1960s and '70s his work led to the development of rice
with genetically inherited male sterility. This meant that self-pollination was
stopped in this rice, allowing it to be pollinated by a different parent, which
facilitated cross-pollination. This technique is now widely used by rice
breeders around the world to develop hybrid rice.
In 1974, the first three
hybrid rice varieties were released in China,
and by 1976 large-scale commercialization of hybrid rice was established.
Although the first
generation of hybrid rice varieties released had higher yields, they also
tended to have inferior grain quality and inadequate disease and insect
resistance. Rice scientists have since overcome these problems and the current
generation of hybrid rice has excellent grain quality and better resistance to
pests and diseases – equivalent to or better than their inbred counterparts.
Analysis
From the analysis of the
history, we can see the importance of agriculture and how big an impact it has
on the world and its economic development, this can be closely related to the
importance of rice, as it is the leading consumption grain, a leading staple
food of the world being produced. With Food Security being the main focus of
global world crisis, we see the importance of sustainable food production and
further the importance of hybrid rice technology that solves this imminent
global crisis which is caused by the technologies based from Green Revolution –
heavy use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for to produce high yield
crops.
3. Current Situation
Rice is a major food
staple and a mainstay for the rural population and their food security. Rice is
also a wage commodity for workers in the cash crop or non-agricultural sectors.
Rice is vital for the nutrition of much of the population in Asia, as well as
in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Africa; it is central to the food
security of over half the world population. Developing countries account for
95% of the total rice production, including China and India who are responsible
for nearly half.
One fifth of the world’s
population, which is more than a billion people depend on rice cultivation for
their livelihoods. Asia, where about 90% of rice is grown, has more than 200
million rice farms, most of which are smaller than 1 hectare. Rice-based
farming is the main economic activity for hundreds of millions of rural poor in
this region. In Africa, rice is the fastest growing staple. This increase in
the demand for rice is also true for Latin America and Caribbean countries. In
most of the developing world, rice is equated with food security and closely
connected to political security. Changes in rice availability, and hence price,
have caused social unrest in several countries. The challenge, above anything
else, is to produce this additional rice with less land, less water, and less
labor, in more efficient, environmentally-friendly production systems that are
more resilient to climate change, among other factors.
Rice is an important
grain, it is the number one crop produced for human consumption, and this
important grain attributes to more than one fifth of the calories consumed
worldwide. With risk of decrease in food security being the driver behind Green
revolution. Green Revolution based on the introduction of high yielding seeds
from and increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, these have
played a huge role in rice production but the revolution comes with great cost
and problems. Problem like environmental, health issues which leads back to
food security. Therefore, these are the drivers for sustainable rice
production.
With the pressing
problems after the 1960s Green Revolution, sustainable agriculture has been a
focus and the way forward to alleviate them. With the use of hybrid rice has
ever since been the focus but there are still limitations to them. Hence, this
section of the paper first looks into the benefits then the limitations of
current technology, which might be the driving factor that calls for better
technology of hybrid rice.
Problems from Green Revolution
The technologies that
spurred the Green Revolution which saved millions from the threat of famine was
diminished, due to the problems which arises from the heavy use of pesticides
and synthetic fertilizers. These problems indirectly threaten the food security
of the world. Therefore, this section of the paper will look into how these
factors impact food security.
Environmental Factor
Greenhouse Gas leads to
Global Warming
Rice cultivation on
wetland rice fields is thought to be responsible for 1.5% of the anthropogenic
methane emissions. Methane is twenty times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Global Warming
leads to fall in Yield, which threaten Food Security
A 2010 study
found that, as a result of rising temperatures and decreasing solar radiation
during the later years of the 20th century, the rice yield growth rate has
decreased in many parts of Asia, compared to what would have been observed had
the temperature and solar radiation trends not occurred. The yield growth rate
had fallen 10–20% at some locations. The study was based on records from 227
farms in Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Degradation
of Soil
Green
Revolution relies heavily on synthetic fertilizers, which made land become hard
and carbon material has gone down, making the soil infertile, thus this will
lead to a decrease in food security.
Long Term
Dependence on Pesticides
Rice pests
are any organisms with the potential to reduce the yield or value of the rice
crop. Though pesticides are use to eliminate rice pests to increase
rice-yields. In the long run, heavy dependence on pesticides resulted in a
consequence, which have made pests resistant to the pesticides and this leads
to a rise in pest infestation, which results in a reduction in rice yield, and
thus threatens food security. This shows that there is a need to produce a
strain that does not need pesticides.
Health Factor
In addition
with the, heavy use of chemical pesticides, it also affects human health. The
direct and indirect consumption of the pesticides may increase the likelihood
of cancer in some of the rural villages using them, where poor farming
practices including non-compliance to usage of masks and over-usage of the
chemicals compound in this situation.
Economic Factor
As the UN Millennium
Development project seeks to spread global economic development to Africa, the
"Green Revolution" is cited as the model for economic development.
With the intent of replicating the successful Asian boom in agronomic
productivity, groups are doing research on African agricultural systems, hoping
to increase productivity. As, the methods of Green Revolution do not improve
the food security of poor developing countries where conditions are harsh and
arable land is scarce with populations expanding.
Need for Hybrid Rice
Technology
Again, rice is the most economically important crop in the world
according to the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations database. Rice is the number one cereal crop in the human
diet, supplying human with 23% of its calories.
With the problems from Green Revolution, which are the driving factors to
look into a better technology for sustainable rice production. Research on
hybrid rice began and it was identified be a solution to alleviate the problems
surfaced. Hence, in 1974, the first hybrid rice is being used in China and was
spread globally and it has continuously been improved. But, there are still
limitations even with relentless improvements. So in this part, we look into what
are the limitations of current hybrid rice technology.
Limitations to Current
Hybrid Rice Technology
Although there are
benefits, there are also limitations like it does not solve the economic
problem of developing countries and rice being mostly consumed in Asia, where
most of the developing countries are such as China and India and the results
from the degradation in soil quality has led to scarcity in arable land in
these regions. Further, rice is an increasing staple food in Africa where it
has harsh growing condition and lack of arable land, current hybrid rice are
unable to alleviate this problem of scarce arable land. Therefore, a better
rice or ‘Super Rice’ strain is needed to support these problems. As we learnt
that China is forecasted as the future superpower and Africa being projected as
the emerging market, it is important to look into better rice strains that
could ensure food security in both regions as food security determines economic
development.
Infertile Soil
Utilizing the infertile
soil is still a challenge as most of the land used for agriculture are
infertile due to heavy use of fertilizers, and even though current hybrid rice
save land, its approach is saving land through seeds that could yield more in
small land area thus saving land, but it still does not eliminate the use of
fertilizers which could lead to even more infertile soil, hence this still does
not alleviate the current problem of using fertilizers and eventually solving
the long term problem of large amount of unusable large infertile soil. Therefore
this could lead back to an economic problem and food security problem.
Need for Pesticides
Pesticides health
issues, current technology still requires the need to use pesticides, which are
harmful to health of people. In 1989, WHO and UNEP estimated that there were
around 1 million human pesticide poisonings annually.
4. Future Considerations
Acceleration
of sustainable rice production technology could indicate an age of
revolutionary change. With the focus shifting to hybrid rice and ongoing
research for better hybrid rice, we might see a 2nd Green Revolution
which is only based on hybrid rice. We can see this from numerous research that
concentrate on hybridizing the best rice strains for sustainable rice
production.
The Need for A Revolutionary Hybrid Rice Technology
As the UN Millennium
Development project seeks to spread global economic development to Africa, the
"Green Revolution" is cited as the model for economic development.
With the intent of replicating the successful Asian boom in agronomic
productivity, groups are doing research on African agricultural systems, hoping
to increase productivity where these rice are selected to tolerate the harsh
growing conditions of African agriculture, that will dramatically increase rice
yield in Africa and enable an economic resurgence. Ongoing research in China to
develop perennial rice could result in enhanced sustainability and food
security. Therefore in the next part of this paper, we will look into the
‘Green Super Rice’, which is a breakthrough in hybrid rice research, that could
result in enhanced sustainability and food security for both Asia and Africa,
through the elimination of the limitations of current hybrid rice.
This
section of the paper examines the ‘Green Super Rice’ that is an evolution to
current hybrid rice and could be revolutionary as it looks to deal with
environmental stresses caused by current technologies of agriculture. This
paper will look into the advantages and disadvantages and assess the impacts
that could arise in the future if the ‘Green Super Rice’ is to replace current
hybrid rice on a global scale and become the future of our staple food.
Advantages of ‘Green
Super Rice’
This ‘Super Rice’ does not depend on fertilizers, as it could be
cultivated in infertile lands caused by current practices also in scarce arable
lands in Africa. Hence, this leads to sustainability in rice production without
the cost of environment also leading to economic development in the rural
regions as it could provide jobs for them
Additionally
the ‘Green Super Rice’, is drought resistance. Rice depends heavily on water to
grow. As, global warming is a huge factor in climate change, which brings about
drought in this large rice production area such as China, and therefore drought
stress is still identified as the single most important constraint in rice
production.
Also, the
‘Green Super Rice’ has a resistance to insects and diseases, which leads to
zero pesticide application. Hence this
have a positive impact on health of the people and likewise important the risk
of food security problem from the loss of rice due to pest infestation and
diseases.
Lastly,
the ‘Green Super Rice’ is high in quality compared to current hybrid rice.
Historically, many breeding programs took yield potential as the primary
target. Consequently, many popular high-yielding hybrids have relatively poor
quality. With the increased living standard, the improvement in cooking,
eating, and appearance quality of the rice grain has become a priority.
Additionally, more than half of the world's population, mostly the poor in
developing countries such as in the Africa, suffers from the devastating
consequences of micronutrient malnutrition. For areas in those countries where
rice is the major staple food, there is also a need for improving the
nutritional quality of the rice grains to enhance the intake of micronutrients.
Hence,
emphasizing on the environmental problems, which leads back to the problem on
food security and economic problem. The ‘Green Super Rice’ eliminates the all
the problems, which continually lead to food security and economic problem, as
it emphasizes not only on being a high-yielding rice strain but also taking
into account the long-term problem that is actually cost by the environment.
Consideration on the Disadvantage
Being a genetically
modified product, it is still hard for some people to accept this because of
long-term health issues.
5. Conclusion
In summary, we see the
importance of agriculture and the impact it has on the revolution of the earth.
As rice, being the leading consumer grain, which also is a staple food for more
than half of the global population and with population increasing and concerns
of food security still arising even after Green Revolution. This signals a
problem with the method based from Green Revolution, therefore the focus is
being shift from high use of pesticide and fertilizers to produce high yielding
crops to researching on hybrid rice, though the hybrid rice technology solves
some of the problems, it still has limitations which still indirectly leads to
food insecurity and economic problem. Therefore, the ‘Green Super Rice’ is produced
and looks to spread on a large scale. Though it eliminates the indirect effect
of environment and health and eventually solving food security and economic
issues in the long run. The idea that this is a type of GMO food will still be
hard for people to accept and might pose a huge challenge to be developed into
large scale.
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[1] Peer reviewers: Thian Wen Li and Benedict Leong
Kwok Yuen
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