CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Alex F. McCalla
Chair
19 April 1993
Dear Mr. Rajagopalan,
It is my pleasure to submit to you the Report of the Inter-Centre Review of Rice, "Investment in Rice Research in the CGIAR: A Global Perspective", conducted by a Panel chaired by Professor Grant Scobie of New Zealand. The Panel Report and the responses of IRRI, WARDA, CIAT and IFPRI were considered by TAC at its 60th meeting in Rome from 20 March to 3 April 1993.
TAC commends the Panel for a thought-provoking and well-reasoned review of CGIAR investments in rice research. The Panel's report is analytical, and highlights clearly and comprehensively the major issues currently faced by the CGIAR in developing priorities and strategies for rice research.
I attach a copy of TAC's draft strategy statement on rice research in the CGIAR. This statement incorporates TAC's comments on the Inter-Centre Review of Rice, and is based also on the reports from the 1992 IRRI and 1993 WARDA External Reviews, the latest Medium-Term and Strategic Plans of IRRI, WARDA, CIAT, IFPRI and IITA, and the 1992 Review of CGIAR Priorities and Strategies.
TAC believes that rice research should continue to be assigned very high priority in the work of the CGIAR, and that the overall level of System effort should not be reduced. In the draft statement, TAC explicitly addresses the issue of the CGIAR's apparent over-investment in rice research in West Africa, and in the upland and rainfed lowland ecosystems. The Committee also makes a recommendation regarding the future role of WARDA in the CGIAR.
Mr. Visvanathan Rajagopalan
CGIAR Chair
World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
USA
I look forward to a stimulating discussion at the Mid-Term Meeting in Puerto Rico.
Yours sincerely,
Alex McCalla
Chair, TAC
Mail address: Technical Advisory Comm/CGIAR, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 Tel: (916) 752-8648/8649 - Telex: 4900010239 UCD UI - FAX (916) 752-8572 Office Location: 219 E St., Suite 2C, Davis, CA
