N.G. Dowling, S.M. Greenfield and K.S. Fisger, 1998. Pacific Basin Study Center and IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines 404 pp.

The overall objective of this book is to examine rice production from many aspects of rice academic and policy base, not only from the side of production and economics but also from the involvement of generations of people of many cultures. Chapters 1 and 2 explain the importance of sustainability of rice in the global food system. The international concern about the growing world population and declining food supplies, especially in countries with the lowest average annual incomes. These include some countries in Asia and Africa that need attention to policies and research to provide a sustainable food supply. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 consider the important aspects of food supply, mainly water, land and labour scarcities, the importance of rice in diet, the cost of growing rice and the impact of income production. Three case studies in China, Vietnam and Japan illustrate the potential of small-scale wet rice farming as a sustainable basis for a diversified rural economy. The elements for maintaining a sustainable rice system and developing a larger framework and structures of regenerative food systems were examined.
Chapters 6 to 17, which deal with rice production systems, are a compilation of papers prepared by specialists in rice at the International Rice Research Institute. These papers present current and pending research on the sustainability of rice in the food supply over the next 30 years. They cover challenges for rice research in Asia, genetic enhancement of rice yields, intensification of rice production systems: opportunities and limits, importance of rice pests and challenges to their management, weeds: a looming problem in modern rice production, management of water as a scarce resource, securing the future of intensive rice system, rice and global environment, new frontier projects: beyond the pipeline, protecting the diversity of tropical rice ecosystems, rice genetic resources and biological diversity of rice landscapes. Chapters 18 and 19 focus on economic issues, with emphasis on economic value of genetic rice improvement and food, energy and the environment: implications for Asia's rice. Chapter 20 and 21 report case studies in rice production constraints in China and priorities and opportunities of rice production and consumption in India. Finally, Chapter 22 made conclusions and proposed a potential research agenda.

Edited by P.L. Pingali and M. Hossain. 1998. Thailand Development Research Institute and IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines, 428 pp.

The publication is the proceedings of the International Rice Conference on the Impact of Rice Research held 3-5 June 1996 Bangkok, Thailand. It consists of 17 contributing papers and an overview one. The contributing papers could be grouped into thematic papers (8) and case study papers (9). Majority of the papers presented and discussed the experiences gained in Asia. In general, authors of papers in this book agreed that rice research has substantially contributed to the improvement of the food security and the reduction of poverty.
The thrusts and activities of IRRI during the last 30 years were reviewed and new directions for rice research were proposed in the first thematic paper. In order to enable rice production to meet demand in the future, the authors argued that rice research should give high priority to the raising of the yielding potential of irrigated rice varieties using hybrid rice and super rice, improvement of direct seeding practices for efficient water use of rice production, and enhancement of farmers' knowledge in crop management practices. The next paper quantified the economic returns of rice varietal improvement activities. It was estimated that the value of rice varieties released by varietal improvement programmes collaborating with the International Germplasm Evaluation for Rice during the last 30 years worth about US$ 1.9 billion. Water is so essential for successful rice production. The global water demand and supply in the future were discussed in the third thematic paper, which postulated that less and less water will be available for rice production. The authors suggested several options for research and development in the future, which include the development of small-scale irrigation, based on farmers' knowledge and the participation of private sector in the development of ground water. In the fourth papers, the authors considered that, with advances made in the field of communication, the improvement of farmers' understanding and knowledge on why, when, and how to apply production technologies will be an important area for rice research in the future. The next paper on IPM (or Integrated Pest Management) served as an example of the benefits of improving farmers' knowledge and understanding. The impact of the Green Revolution on the rural poor was critically assessed in the last thematic paper, in which the authors showed that the Green Revolution has not substantially improve the living conditions of the rural poor. The authors, however, reasoned that this was due to the high population growth rate.

In Asia, the case studies were carried out in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The impact of rice research in Latin America was presented by the CIAT and that in West Africa was presented by WARDA. The results of many case studies strongly supported the views expressed in thematic papers on the positive impact of research. The case studies in Vietnam and Philippines, however, showed that rice research could produce real impact only when national policy is favourable for rice production. The analysis on the impact of research in the publication, however, did not cover the contribution of rice research to other areas such as the conservation of the environment and natural resources. It would be interesting, for example, to know what is the impact of rice research on global warming.

Edited by Jata S. Nanda, Science Publishers Inc., Enfield, New Hampshire, 2000. 382 pp

The book provides a comprehensive review of the challenges, progresses, and opportunities of research in breeding and genetics of this world's most important food crop. Going through the whole book, readers will realise the coherence in the arrangement of the 15 papers and the preface of the book. While the preface briefly discussed the issues, challenges and opportunities of sustainable rice production, the first paper introduced the orientation and the possibilities of increasing yield potential of rice varieties through breeding. The sequence of the second to the sixth papers is a little confusing. The second paper reviewed and discussed the exploitation of heterosis in rice for commercial application and its progresses. It also provided the understanding of genetic basis of heterosis in rice and the breeding of cytoplasmic (genetic) male sterility (CMS), fertility restoration, and genetic male sterility. The third paper dealt with issues of sustainable integrated rice production. The paper suggested that rice production should be viewed as a part of holistic farming systems, in which farmers' incomes and welfare, as well as the diversity of social, biological and physical environment, should be integrated into the design of rice technologies. Sustainable rice production, moreover, is possible only with appropriate national policies supported by concrete programs. The development of high yielding and drought-submergence-tolerant rice varieties, which is critical for the improvement of the welfare of millions of rainfed rice farmers, remains elusive as reported in the fourth paper. This paper reviewed the physiological and genetic basis of drought and submergence in rice production. The development of New Plant Type of Rice, having yielding potentials of about 25% over the existing high yielding varieties, its scientific and genetic basis and its progresses were discussed in the fifth paper. In the sixth paper, the genetics of hybrid sterility, its implication to the differentiation of cultivated rice and its application for enhancement of heterosis in rice were presented.
The current rice breeding strategies and approaches and their results in breeding for resistance and/or tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses in rice production were reviewed and discussed in 4 papers, from the 7th to 10th. The application of biotechnological tools, especially the molecular marker-based gene mapping, in rice genomics and for varietal improvement was tackled in the 11th paper, which marked the turning of the presentation to the second area of the book: Genetics. The 11th paper was followed with the analysis on the opportunities, achievements, and challenges in the exploitation of alien species in rice varietal improvement (12th paper); the review of cytogenetics of rice (13th paper); the discussion on the relationships among the species of the genus Oryza (14th paper); and finally a hypothesis on the origin of O. sativa and its ecotypes (15th paper).

Davis Casanova, 1998. Gràfique Pacífic, Barcelona, Spain 219 pp.

This thesis represents detailed research on the "rice-soil-weather" system of the Ebro Delta, Spain, providing knowledge on how temperature, radiation, soil properties and farm management determine rice growth. After an introductory chapter, the findings are developed step by step. (i) Chapter 2 is an overview of conditions in the study area. (ii) Chapter 3 focuses on the study of the soils creating a soil geographic database of the northern part of the Ebro Delta. Four properties were used for defining soil units: soil development, drainage status, texture and salinity. (iii) Chapter 4 and 5 deal with rice growth under limited conditions. Potential productions of 13 tons/ha were estimated, while maximum yields of 11 tons/ha were recorded at field level. In Chapter 4, the phenological development, the daily dry matter production and the leaf area development of rice crop were modelled. In Chapter 5, the use of remote sensing techniques at field level for monitoring the rice crop status was tested. (iv) Chapter 6 and 7, analyse rice growth in relation to soil properties and farm management. Two soil factors were found to dominate the effects on yield: one was topsoil CEC (in strong association with clay content) with a positive effect, and the other one was soil salinity with a negative effect. High groundwater tables did not have significant effects on rice yield, except when the water has a high salt content.
Four main groups of causes within crop status limited rice growth: potassium and zinc shortage where a strong antagonism of either factor with sodium was observed, low plant establishment where a minimum number of 160-180 plants m2 was necessary to maximise yield, and length of growing season, especially the length of the pre-heading period in which potential size of the crop was primarily determined. Potassium and zinc shortage in the plant was mainly induced by soil salinity. High K in saline soils did not increase K uptake. It remains to be determined if addition of Zn will increase Zn uptake. Information on environmental conditions of the study area and data on rice cropping is presented so that farmers, extension workers and decision-makers find themselves in a better position to adapt their management and policy making. This thesis intends to support development of decision systems and to increase cooperation between agricultural and environmental scientists focusing on concerns of society.