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AGP - About the IRC
 

Welcome

 

The International Rice Commission (IRC) was established by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1949 in face of the stagnation of world rice production during the 1940s to promote national and international action in matters relating to the production, conservation, distribution and consumption of rice.

Rice has pivotal importance to issues such as food security and poverty alleviation. In 2002, rice was grown in 113 countries and it is the staple food of more than half of the world's population. In Asia alone, more than 2 billion people obtain 60 to 70 percent of their caloric intake from rice and its derived products. It is the most rapidly growing food source in Africa and is an important element of food security in an increasing number of low-income and food deficit (LIFD) countries. Moreover, rice cultivation and post-harvest operations employ several hundred million people in rural areas in the developing countries. Improvements in rice yield from the Green Revolution have increased the return from rice production and incomes of rice farmers and have provided poor people in both rural and urban centres with better access to food.

However, the increases in the incomes of rice farmers have been negated by the recent decline in rice prices. In addition, there is evidence of yield deceleration, productivity decline, yield ceilings, the existence of a large gap between potential yield and actual yield, social inequity and environmental degradation within current rice-production systems. Water and land resources for rice production, especially in Asia, are becoming scarcer. The situation calls for appropriate strategies on rice development and production, as well as the harmonisation of efforts from various sectors.

 

Origin

Rice has fed Asian peoples for a longer period of time than any other food crop. In Asia, the ability to produce a surplus of rice has contributed to the development of communities, whereas the failure of rice crop production has led to widespread famine, death and political instability in many countries throughout the long history of the continent. In response to stagnation in world rice production, the Fourth Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations met in 1948 and approved the agreement formulated at Baguio, Philippines on the establishment of the International Rice Commission. The International Rice Commission (IRC) became operational on 4 January 1949, following the endorsement of 12 countries to the Constitution of the Commission, which satisfied the Article IX conditions:

"This Constitution shall enter into force as soon as notifications of acceptance have been received from the governments of at least ten countries members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations representing in the aggregate not less than half of the world production of rice in the crop year 1947/48 as shown by official statistics."

The first Regular Session of the International Rice Commission was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 1949.

 

Membership

Membership in the International Rice Commission is open to all member countries and associate members of FAO. In order to become a Member of the Commission, the country must submit an Instrument of Acceptance to the FAO Director-General.

Since 1949, the IRC has grown steadily, from 12 members to 26 members in 1959; 40 in 1979; 52 in 1989; and 62 at present (Table 1). Among the Members, The Netherlands and United Kingdom are neither rice producers nor major rice consumers, while the remaining members consist of large and small rice producers as well as major rice consumers. China was a member from 11 July 1949 to 21 July 1952, date of withdrawal of China from FAO. In 2007, China has resumed its membership to the Commission.

The 62 members of the Commission represent five continents: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Also they include small and large rice producing countries of the world. In 2005, the rice production in the 62 member countries of the Commission contributed about 98.43% to the global rice output. Similarly the harvested rice area in the 62 member countries of the Commission was about 98.08 % of the global rice harvested area in 2005

 

Functions of the Commissions

Article IV of the Constitution, which was amended by the Fifteen Session (1982), stated that the Commission shall, except in matters relating to international trade, perform the following functions:

  • Review the scientific, technical, and economic problems involved in the production, conservation, distribution, and consumption of rice;
  • Encourage and coordinate research on the above-mentioned problems and promoting its practical application;
  • Undertake, where necessary and appropriate, co-operative projects directed to solve of the above-mentioned problems;
  • Provide recommendations to the Members of the Commission, through the FAO Director-General, regarding necessary or desirable national and international actions as may appear to the Commission for the solution of the above-mentioned problems;
  • Provide recommendations to the FAO Director-General on the provision of technical assistance to Members of the Commission;
  • Assemble and disseminate, through the FAO publications and other mediums, information relating to the problems and activities pertinent to the functions of the Commission; and
  • Transmit at appropriate intervals to the FAO Director-General a report embodying views, recommendations and decisions of the Commission, and produce other reports on matters relating to the production, conservation, distribution and consumption of rice, at the specific request of the FAO Director-General or the Conference of the Organization.

 

Achievements

Major achievements obtained before 1990

The notable growth in rice production over the past 40 years is attributable, at least in part, to the work of the Commission in the application of technology, the implementation of cooperative programmes and the dissemination of information. The following are a few examples of the achievements obtained during the early years of the Commission: the initiation of a japonica x indica hybridisation programme (1950); cataloguing of genetic stocks (1951); international blast nursery (1961); holding seminars on water and fertiliser management, industrial processing and mechanisation; training courses in breeding and technology.

The results of these cooperative projects included the development of the Mahsuri variety, an intermediate type of rice with high quality and high yield, in the 1950s. This variety is still cultivated in many countries in Asia as well as in some African countries.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Commission, in collaboration and partnership with its Member Countries, NARS, IARCs, donors and FAO implemented a large number of rice development projects and programmes supporting the Green Revolution in many countries. This was achieved in various thematic areas, including land-water development and use, fertiliser supply and integrated plant nutrition, integrated pest management, processing, and marketing.

Major achievements since 1990

Member Countries and international public organizations have still been very supportive to and have actively participated in the work of the Commission. The United Nations Assembly General, at its 57th Session adopted the following resolution:

  • Recalling the Resolution 2/2001 of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  • Noting that rice is the staple food of more than half of the world's population.
  • Affirming the need to heighten awareness of the role of rice in alleviating poverty and malnutrition.
  • Reaffirming the need to focus world attention on the role that rice can play in providing food security and eradicating poverty in the attainment of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.
  • Decided to declare, on 16 December 2002, the year 2004 the International Year of Rice.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA)'s decision to declare an "International Year" after a single commodity, Rice - is exceptional in the history of the United Nations.

The UN General Assembly invited FAO to facilitate the implementation of IYR in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres, Member Countries and other major stakeholders both within the United Nations systems, non-governmental organizations, private sector and farmers.

Another major IRC achievement was the establishment of four inter-regional networks on rice-based systems in collaboration with international and national agricultural research institutions and national agricultural research systems (NARS). They are:

  • In 1990 the Inter-Regional Collaborative Research Network on Rice in the Mediterranean Climate Areas (MEDRICE) was organised by the NARS in this region to support research and development of japonica rice.
  • The Wetland Development and Management Network/Inland Valley Swamps (WEDEM/IVS) created by NARS in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1990 to promote the development of wetland, especially inland valley swamps for rice and food crop production.
  • In Latin America, NARS organised a Working Group on Hybrid Rice (GRUTHA) in 1994, which later joined with other working groups in 1999 to create the Working Group on Advanced Rice Breeding in Latin America and the Caribbean (GRUMEGA).
  • In 1995, FAO, IRRI and the national agricultural research systems established the International Task-Force for Hybrid Rice (INTAFOHR).

The Commission has been giving importance to the conservation of environment and natural resources of rice production for future generations. In this regard, the Commission promotes the development and adoption of Integrated Crop Management for closing the yield gaps and reversing the declining trend in rice productivity. An expert consultation was organised in September 2000 in Rome, Italy, to review technological options for closing yield gaps and for reversing productivity decline in rice production, and to recommend appropriate actions to Member Countries. Since 1990, Member Countries of the Commission and the international public institutions, including FAO, have approved and funded a great number of field projects (Please see Provision of Support to Member Countries).

In 1999, FAO and IRRI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen the collaborative action aimed at promoting wider adoption of hybrid rice technology outside China, and in 2000 FAO and WARDA signed another MOU to support the Rapid Rice Technology Diffusion in West Africa (RARIDWA). The Secretariat of the Commission is a member of the International Organizing Committee of the Africa Rice Initiative spearheaded by WARDA and UNDP. 

Core Themes