IRRI to set up molecular centre for rice

The Director General of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Robert S. Zeigler has said that the institute was discussing with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) the possibility of developing an India specific programme of molecular genetic and breeding for rice.

One possibility the Phillipines-headquartered IRRI was looking at was the creation of a single centre in Hyderabad. The other was the setting up of a number of institutions which would be coordinated by the IRRI and the ICAR, Mr. Zeigler said here on Saturday on the sidelines of the forty-sixth annual rice research group meeting at the Directorate of Rice Research of ICAR.

He told the group meeting earlier that eastern India had the greatest potential for rice production as rice-rich Punjab and Haryana would no longer be able to meet the food needs of the next generation. On the progress of field trials undertaken by the IRRI for ‘golden rice'— a genetically modified rice engineered to produce pro-vitamin A, Mr. Zeigler said they gave “wonderful” results. An important announcement was expected this month.