Safeguarding and Preservation of theBiodiversity of the Rice Genepool

Review and Planning Workshop

Penang, MalaysiaDecember 8-12, 1997

Sponsored by MARDI and IRRI

REPORTS

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Cambodia

China

India

Indonesia

Kenya

Madagascar

Malaysia

Myanmar

Nepal

Philippines

SADC

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Uganda

Vietnam

On-farm conservation – India

On-farm conservation – Philippines

On-farm conservation – Vietnam

Access and benefit sharing

PROGRESS IN RICE GERMPLASM COLLECTION AND CONSERVATION INBANGLADESH

M. K. Bashar, H. C. Sarkar & M. KhalequzzamanGenetic Resources & Seed (GRS) Division

Bangladesh Rice Research InstituteGazipur, Bangladesh.

Introduction

Bangladesh constitutes a large part of the South Asian centre of genetic diversity, sharing withIndia and Myanmar. It has rich genetic diversity of land races and wild rices. Bangladesh hasthree distinct rice seasons and four rice groups, i.e. ecotypes under 30 Agro-Ecological Zones(AEZ). The ecotypes are boro (irrigated), aus (upland), transplanted aman (rainfed lowland),broadcast aman (deepwater), as well as rice of the tribal or ethnic people and three species ofwild rices viz., O. nivara, O. rufipogon, and O. officinalis. (Nasiruddin, 1983 and Vaughan, 1988).O. granulata might also be found in the northern part of this country near to India andsoutheastern forest areas near to Myanmar (Lu and Loresto, 1996). Collection of indigenous ricevarieties was started since 1910 and until now the collection and exploration program iscontinuing. During this long period, 90% of the estimated cultivated land races were collectedand with some efforts given for the collection of wild relatives. Systematic collection andconservation of rice varieties have been started during early seventies after the establishment ofa gene bank for rice at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). The total collection reachedup to 7,439 including exotic indica, japonica and O.glaberrima species of which 4,916 wereregistered in accessions. The collected germplasm were conserved in the Gene Bank of BRRI,having capacities for short-term (20-22oc) and medium-term (0-50c) storage. Since there is nolong-term storage in Bangladesh, the duplicate samples of all the germplasm collected by BRRIare sent to the IRRI Gene Bank for safe keeping and long-term storage.

Modern varieties covered about 49% of the total rice land but there is great variation as regardsto areas under different ecotypes (Table 1). The percentage of areas covered by differentecotypes and the respective local varieties as well in different regions of the country reveals thatthere is still a great scope for collection of traditional germplasm from different regions of thecountry (DAE, 1996). Conservation of these germplasm resources is extremely important for thesustainable rice production of this country. As such our target is to collect and conserve theremaining cultivated rices all ecotypes.

Progress in Field Collection and Related Activities:

Since the inception of the SDC-funded Rice Biodiversity project in 1994, 340 germplasm have sofar been collected from different parts of the country representing Aus, Boro, T.Aman, B. Amanand Wild rices as well (Table 3). The collection program is mostly incomplete for majority of thedistricts. About 20samples of glutinous rices were collected from the tribal people of the northernpart (Greater Mymensingh) of the country. There are 20 collections of wild rices done so farrepresenting mostly O.rufipogon, and introgression between O.rufipogon and O. sativa (O.sativaf. spontanea) mostly with the help of the IRRI germplasm collectors. Only four collections of O.officinalis were made comprising three samples from the southern districts and one sample fromthe northern part of the country. These collections were made by the BRRI Germplasm Scientistsin cooperation with DAE and NGOs. One hundred & eighty two collections war already multipliedand duplicate samples were sent to IRRI and the rest are being multiplied and processed forsending to IRRI.

Bangladesh

A 5 day long training program on "Germplasm Collection with Special emphasis on wild rice" anda 2-week long training program on "Documentation and data management for plant geneticresources" were conducted at BRRI, Gazipur in November, 1996 and Nov-Dec, 1997respectively in collaboration with IRRI. Twenty-five participants were selected from differentresearch institutes, DAE and NGOs for the first training with a view to utilize them for thecollection and conservation of rice germplasm. Six participants from BRRI germplasm and otherdisciplines were trained for the 2nd training in order to establish a genebank data base system atBRRI.

Constraints

Availability of transport is a major constraint for collection of germplasm. Besides lack ofmanpower is another constraint for the project. The BRRI genebank is facing acute disruption ofpower supply due to break down of standby generator. On the other hand, the cooling system inthe short term becoming inoperative frequently due to its long life span. The refrigerator unitspresently available for the medium storage are not enough to accommodate the increasingnumber of germplasm. It is worth mentioning that IRRI-SDC Project has kindly provided financialsupport for the procurement of a generator and two air coolers for BRRI genebank. However, atleast 5 (five) more refrigerator is needed to conserve the germplasm safely. Regarding projectfunding, a separate account at IRRI Dhaka office for this project needs to be maintained forproper management of expenditures.

Future Plan

A tentative collection plan for 1997 and 1998 is presented in Table 4. Whenever situation allows,priority areas of collection will be shifted. There will be flexibility in moving from one area toanother depending upon the unavoidable circumstances.

Since Bangladesh is moving fast towards the adoption of MVs, both land races and wild rices arein endangered position. Still there are some areas in the northern, northeastern and southernparts of the country where the adoption of MV rices are very low. So, there is a great scope foron-farm or in-situ conservation of cultivated and or wild rices of those areas. So the feasibility ofon-farm or in-situ conservation for those areas may be studied by the project scientist(s).

The wider areas of future training are need for the Genebank staff such as Cyto-taxonomy, SeedTechnology In-vitro and cryo-preservation, Plant variety protection, Characterization(Morphoagronomic), Molecular characterization, In-situ/On-farm conservation and Seed health &Plant quarantine, Biotechnology & Genetic finger printing. Considering the importance andeffectivity of the training conducted at BRRI by the IRRI scientists, such kind of more localtrainings should be conducted by the trained staff of the concerned scientists of BRRI with morenumber of personnel from DAE and NGOs which would be of very much useful in germplasmcollection and conservation activities. The budget for further equipment logistic support andcollection activities are provided in table 4.

Bangladesh

References:

1. Dept. of Agricultural Extension (DAE), 1996. Agricultural Support Services Project(ASSP), Report No. 60, Bangladesh, PP.26

2. Lu, B.R. and G.C. Loresto, 1996. A report on IRRI-BRRI Cooperative collecting of WildOryza Species in Bangladesh, November 7-8, P.19

3. Nasiruddin, M. 1983. Survey of conservation activities in Asian countries and proposalfor future action, A country report on Bangladesh. Rice germplasm conservationworkshop, IRRI, 27 P.

4. Nasiruddin, M. 1993. Rice in Bangladesh. Proc, of Int'l Symposium of Plant GeneticResources Management in the Tropics, held in Tsukuba, Japan, 25-26 August (In press).

5. Vaughan, D. A. 1988. Oryza germplasm collection, collaborative BRRI/IRRI germplasmcollection in Bangladesh, A mimeographed report, IRRI, P. 37.

Table 1. Total area and change of areas under four rice groups in Bangladesh.Year Area (M ha) Total

Boro(Irrigated)

Aus Deep waterrice

TransplantAman

(M ha)

1970-71 0.80 3.19 1.82 3.91 9.701980-81 1.16 3.11 1.58 4.46 10.301990-91 2.52 2.10 0.93 4.83 10.431994-95 2.58 1.66 0.95 4.63 9.821995-96 2.62 1.74 0.94 4.81 10.11*Area (%) 26 17 9 48 100*MV rice adoption (%) 90 23 0 46 49

Source : Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Year Book of Agr. Statistics and Nasiruddin,1993.* Mean of 4-yr data (1992-1995).

Bangladesh

Table 2. Greater districtwise and seasonwise break up of germplasm collections underSDC-funded project during 1995 to 1997.

District (Greater) Boro Aus T.Aman B.Aman WR TotalDhaka - - 20 8 1 29Mymensingh 5 2 89 4 3 103Comilla - 1 1 5 - 7Sylhet - 1 - - 10 11Kushtia - 31 1 - - 32Khulna 5 47 42 8 4 106Noakhali 6 15 15 - - 36Jessore - 5 5 1 1 12Faridpur - 5 1 3 - 9Bogra - - 4 - 1Barisal - 10 10 - 1 21Total 16 117 188 29 21 371

Table 3. Collection plan of rice germplasm for 1997-1998 under SDC-IRRI/BRRI Project.

Year Month Area to be covered Type of material

1997 Apr. - May Greater Faridpur, Noakhali Boro (C)July - Aug. Rajshahi, Rangpur, Comilla & Chittagonj

HillsAus(C)

Oct. - Nov. Greater Barisal, Dhaka and Faridpur B. Aman (C) + Wild ricesNov. - Dec. Greater Barisal and other coastal districts T. Aman (C) + Wild rices

1998 Apr. - May Greater Mymensingh, Sylhet & Pabna Boro (C)July - Aug. Barisal, Chuadanga, Jessore & Satkhira Aus (direct seeded) (C)Oct. - Nov. Coastal districts, Pabna B. Aman (C) + wild ricesNov. - Dec. Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bagerhat, Tangail and

SherpurT. Aman (C) + wild rices

C= Cultivated

Table 4. Additional budget requirement for collection and supply.

Sl. No Description Unit(s) Cost (US$)1. Refrigerator for midterm storage

(00-50c) 14 cft.5 6,000

2. Voltage stabilizer for Refrigerator 3 1,2003. Electrophoresis Unit 1 30004. Collection LS 10005. Supply LS 5006. Local training on germplasm

collection and conservationLS 1000

Total 12,700

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN BHUTAN*

Ganesh B. ChettriRenewable Natural Resources Research Centre

Research, Extension & Irrigation DivisionMinistry of Agriculture

Bajo, Wangduephodrang, Bhutan

Introduction

The Kingdom of Bhutan is situated on the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. Thecountry has a relatively well conserved environment with over 70% forest cover under naturalforests and alpine pastures. Due to its high topographic and climatic variation and its relativeisolation from other parts of the continent, an enormous biological diversity and a wealth of plantgenetic resources has developed. The major crops traditionally cultivated in the country are rice,maize, wheat, barley, buckwheat, millets, potato, pulses, oilseeds, apple, oranges, cardamom,and a wide range of vegetables.

Rice, the most important food crop of Bhutan is grown from tropical lowlands (150 m) in thesouth up to elevations as high as 2500m in the north. Through a long process of natural andhuman selection, the native rices possess good variation, sometimes hidden in remote areas.The traditional varieties as well as those which have been introduced into Bhutan long agopossess significant genetic diversity and are ecologically well adapted to the local environment.The rich biodiversity has so far been preserved with over 80% of the rice areas still planted tolocal varieties. This is fast changing with the acceleration of agricultural research anddevelopment, and promotion of improved varieties for increased yields. Only about 30% of thelocal rice germplasm has been collected and conserved till date.

Past collection efforts concentrated mainly in the easily accessible areas. The remaining areas(target environments) therefore are remote and difficult requiring long distance trekking in thesteep and mountainous terrain. Rice culture is predominantly irrigated type. Limited upland riceis also grown in some areas. The target species for field collection is the cultivated Oryza sativa.Wild species are un-explored and unknown though weedy types are commonly observed in fieldsas off types. Next to locally adapted landraces, wild species may be found in their naturalhabitat. The Ministry of Agriculture has recently initiated a plant genetic resources programmethrough a Agro-Biodiversity Project to ensure conservation and promote sustainable use of plantgenetic resources. The timely assistance provided by the rice biodiversity project has greatlystrengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture in its conservation efforts.

This report attempts to summarize the progress in field collections of rice germplasm as ofDecember 1997.

Progress in Field Collection

Year 1: 1995

Though field collections were planned to be started from 1995, it was not possible due to thelack of trained personnel in methodical germplasm collection. The need for a in-country trainingon rice germplasm collection was strongly felt to precede the field collection exercise. The

*Participating agencies: Research Extension and Irrigation Division, Ministry of Agriculture; Renewable

Natural Resources Research Centre, Bajo, Wangduephodrang; InternationalRice Research Institute

Bhutan

proposed training could not be conducted during 1995. The in-country training as well as fieldcollection exercises were postponed to 1996.

Year 2: 1996

To address the problem of remoteness and in-accessibility, it was decided to train and involvethe extension personnel from the districts. The in-country training on field collection of ricegermplasm was conducted at the Renewable Natural Resources Research Centre (RNRRC) atBajo, Wangduephodrang from 5-10 August 1996 with technical and financial support from theProject. A total of 26 participants mainly researchers and extensionists from different districtsattended the training course. The trained personnel conducted further trainings for extension atthe district level. An important output of the training was the development of a Field CollectionAction Plan. This training also provided a good basis for germplasm collection of other crops.

The Research Centres coordinated collection activities at the regional level. The researchersand extension staff who were trained provided further district level trainings prior to the fieldcollections exercises. Areas covered and germplasm collected during 1996 is given on Table 1.As planned, the field collection in the Eastern Region covered two districts (Samdrupjongkharand Pemagatshel). A total of 37 germplasm accessions were collected from 10 villages ataltitudes ranging from 400m to 1660m.

The district level germplasm collection training at the East Central Region (Zhemgang andTrongsa) could not be conducted due to prolonged road blocks caused by heavy land slides.Zhemgang was cut off for more than 2 months (September-October) and field collection was notpossible in this region during 1996.

In the West Central Region (Punakha and Wangduephodrang) a total of 38 local varieties werecollected covering 24 villages from elevations ranging from 1200m to 2025m.

In the Western Region (Paro, Thimphu, Haa, Chukha) 79 land races were collected from 35villages at altitudes ranging from 600m to 2480m.

The samples collected in the field were brought to the regional research centres and all regionssubmitted their collections to the RNR Research Centre at Bajo. The samples were cleaned,dried and stored at ordinary condition. All samples were divided into two equal halves and aduplicate set was sent to IGRC, IRRI in February 1997. The other set was planted at RNRResearch Centre, Bajo to maintain a working collection.

Year 3: 1997

During 1997 emphasis on field collection was given to cover the more remote areas of theEastern Region. An in-country training at the regional level was necessary to provide therequired technical skills in germplasm collection. As planned, the incountry training wasconducted from 3-8 October 1997 at RNR Research Centre, Khangma with financial andtechnical assistance from the Project. There were 35 participants mainly from agriculturalextension from the six eastern districts. As a part of the training exercise, detailed fieldcollection plans were developed for every district.

As per the collection plan 43 gewogs (blocks) in six districts of the Eastern Region and 11gewogs in two districts of West-Central Region is expected to be covered in 1997 (Table 1). Thecollection exercises started immediately after the training programme and good progress is beingmade in field collection. Seed samples have started to arrive at the Regional Research Centresand it is expected that all samples (approximately 300) will be received at RNR Research Centreat Bajo by January 1998.

Bhutan

One on- the- job training on rice germplasm characterization was attended at IGRC IRRI by Mr.Neelam Pradhan, Research Assistant of RNR Research Centre from February to April 1997. Allminor equipment and supplies were provided as planned. The procurement of deep fridges isunder process.

Constraints

1. Lack of technical capacity and trained personnel in PGR conservation is a major constraint.

2. Remoteness of the target areas and difficult terrain. Difficult for one team to cover all areassince the crop matures more or less at the same time.

3. Facilities at the research stations for handling and storage of the samples are limited atpresent. There is no genebank or any facility for ex-situ conservation.

Training needs

1. More in-country trainings on germplasm collection particularly for those researchers andextension staff not covered during the past trainings.

2. Data management/documentation training for staff involved in PGR activities (in-countrytraining for PGR staff and on the job training for the genebank manager)

Future Plans

The remaining areas and the type of germplasm to be collected in 1998 is given on Table 2.Collection activities remains to be undertaken in the East-Central and Western Regions of thecountry. Attempts will be made to cover all the remaining areas in 1998. The involvement ofthe regional research centres and the extension staff will continue.

1. Training

a) One in-country training on rice germplasm collection (30 patricipants, one week,September 1998 at RNRRC-Jakar for the East-Central region.

b) One in-country training on data mangement/documentation (10 participants, 5 days,September 1998 at RNRRC-Bajo)

Bhutan

2. Proposed Budget

Budget Head Year 1997(US $)

Year 1998(US $)

Travel 1000.00 500.00Supplies 2000.00 1000.00Training 3000.00 4000.00Deep Fridge 3000.00 -Minor equipments 1000.00 500.00Total 10,000.00 6,000.00

Bhutan

Table 1. 1995-1997 Rice Germplasm Collection in Bhutan.

YearAreas covered(Region/District/Blocks/villages)

Germplasmsamples collected RemarksCultivated Wild

1995 None 0 0 Collection not possible1996 Eastern Region

Samdrupjongkhar (2 villages)Pemagatshel (8 villages)

East Central RegionTrongsa and Zhemgang

West Central RegionWangduephodrang (14 villages)Punakha (9 villages)

Western RegionParo (16 villages)Thimphu (8 villages)Chukha (8 villages)Haa (3 villages)

631

0

2414

3524155

00

0

00

0000

collection completedcollection completed

Road slides preventedcollection efforts

collection completedcollection completed

collection completedcollection completedcollection completedcollection completed

Total samples collected 154 0

1997 Eastern RegionTrashigang (14 gewogs/blocks)Trashiyangtse (8 gewogs)Mongar (10 gewogs)Lhuentse (8 gewogs)Pemagatshel (4 gewogs)S/Jongkhar (3 gewogs)

East Central RegionTrongsa, ZhemgangGaylegphug

West Central regionPunakha (5 gewogs)Wangdue (6 gewogs)

Western RegionSamtse (5 gewogs)Chukha (4 gewogs)Thimphu (2 gewogs)

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

collection exercises inprogress.

collection exercisepostponed for next year.Training support required

collection in progresscollection in progress

collection exercisepostponed for next year

* = collection in progress

Table 2. 1998 Rice Germplasm Collection Activities in Bhutan.

Bhutan

Year Dates Areas to be coveredTypes ofMaterial

wild/cultivatedRemarks

1998 Sept-Nov

Oct-Nov

East Central RegionZhemgang (Ngala, Shingkhar, Bardo,Nangkor,Trong)

Trongsa(K/Rabten,Tashiling,NubiNimshong)

Gaylegphug (4 gewogs)

Western RegionThimphu (Chang, Kawang)Chukha(Zapcho,Bongo,Dungna,Getena)Samtse (5 gewogs/blocks)

cultivated

cultivated

cultivated

cultivatedcultivated

cultivated

Training shouldprecede collectionexercise

Cambodia

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION INCAMBODIA*

Edwin L. Javier and Mak SouenCambodia-IRRI-Australia Project, P.O. Box 01

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Introduction

1. Germplasm collection, 1970-1993

• The first collaborative effort between Cambodia and IRRI on collection of traditional varietiestook place from December, 1972 to January, 1973. Collections available in different stationsand new ones totaling to 765 traditional varieties were brought to IRRI for long term storage.

• The joint collection efforts of the Department of Agronomy, Provincial Agriculture Offices,non-government organizations and CIAP produced around 2,200 traditional varieties from 17provinces from 1989-1993. Duplicate samples were sent to IRRI for safe keeping.

• The first collecting activity for wild species of rice took place from 26 October 1988 to 22January 1989. This joint effort between Cambodia and IRRI produced 34 samples from 4provinces and 1 city.

2. Germplasm collection, 1995-to date

• The Department of Agronomy, Provincial Agronomy Offices and CIAP started again theircollecting activities in 1995 with fund support from the SDC Rice Biodiversity Project.

• The target areas for collecting traditional rice varieties are the less accessible provinces(poor transport system and/or security problems) of Cambodia. Many of these areas arebeing grown with upland rice. Upland rice cultivation following the slash and burn method inhilly, forested areas is being done by various ethnic groups. A farm is usually 1km or moreapart from the nearest upland rice area.

• The target areas for collecting wild rice species are all provinces of Cambodia. Oryza nivara,O. rufipogon, their hybrids and their progenies with cultivated rice are expected to bepresent.

Progress in field collection

1. Collection

• The present collecting activity is a collaborative undertaking of the following units:Department of Agronomy, Provincial Agriculture Offices, CIAP and IRRI-Los Banos.

• Collection of traditional varieties were completed in Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, Koh Kong,Mondulkiri, Kratie, Siem Reap and Kampong Cham (Table 1 and Figure 1). Collectingactivity in Preah Vihear has started and will be completed in 1998. The number of samplescollected so far is 1,285.

*Participating agencies: CIAP; Department of Agronomy, MAFF; Provincial Agricultural Offices

Cambodia

• Collection of wild rice samples was completed in 12 provinces (Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, KohKong, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham, Battambang, Phnom Penh, PreyVeng, Takeo, Svay Rieng and Kandal) and 1 city (Phnom Penh) (Table 1 and Figure 2).Collection will be completed in Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Chhnang,Kampot, Kampong Thom, Kampong Speu, Pursat and Sihanoukville in 1997-1998. To date,the number of collected samples is 580.

2. Status of the collected materials

• Duplicate samples of 1561 traditional varieties and 480 wild rices were sent to IRRI for safekeeping from 1995 to 1996. A total of 314 were characterized using the IRRI descriptor forrice in 1996 wet season. A present, 791 collections are being characterized. All collectionsin 1995 are being evaluated for drought tolerance, drought recovery, and photoperiodsensitivity in 1997 (dry to wet season). Collections in 1996 will evaluated for thosecharacters in 1998. In Phnom Penh, some collections are stored in freezers while others arestored in a cold room. Storing collections in the freezer is preferred but the two freezers ofCIAP are full already.

• The collections for 1997-98 will be dried and cleaned. The relative amount of seed for eachcollection will be determined. Collections with sufficient amount of seeds for storage at CIAPand IRRI gene banks, and for morpho-agronomic characterization in 1998 wet season will beidentified. Duplicate samples will be brought to IRRI in 1998. Collections with limitednumber of seeds will be multiplied in 1997 wet season. Duplicate samples will be sent toIRRI in early part of 1999. They will be characterized in 1999 wet season.

Constraints/problems and solutions

1. Collecting germplasm

a) Language barrier - Dialects of tribal groups differ from Khmer and from one another.

Solution: Collectors looked for assistants who could serve as interpreter.

b) Cultural barrier - Some tribal groups would not allow collectors to get panicles because ofcertain beliefs. For example, cutting of panicles is done only after prayers have been saidby family members. Panicles should not be cut during days with full moon.

Solution: Target provinces were visited before the start of rice cultivation. Discussion withprovincial agricultural officers and farmers regarding rice ecosystem distribution, cropproduction practices, varietal maturity groups, mobility, customs of tribal groups and securityproblems was made.

c) Small sample per variety - In shifting cultivation, 2-7 varieties are grown, each varietyoccupying small area. Farmers allow collectors to collect only few panicles (1-5) per variety.

Solution: Collectors obtained only few panicles/variety as instructed. They collectedpanicles of the same variety from other farms. Duplicate samples will not be discarded toinsure that genetic diversity is preserved.

Cambodia

d) Land mines/security problems - Many target areas for collection of cultivated rice havesecurity problems.

Solution: Collectors avoided areas known to have land mines/ security problems. Onecollector hired security guards in visiting places he was not sure of the security situation.

e) Distance between farms - In upland areas, rice fields are often one or few km apart.

Solution: Collectors took advantage of all possible means of transport like walking, ridingelephant and riding a cow cart.

2. Handling, multiplying and storing of collected samples - No problem with handling andmultiplication of samples. For storage, additional deep freezers are needed to storecollections.

Solution: SDC has approved the request for two freezers.

3. Sending collected samples to Phnom Penh - Samples from two districts of Ratanakiri werelost when sent to Phnom Penh through somebody not involved in the project.

Solution: Samples will be brought to Phnom Penh by the collector or will be collected byCIAP.

4. Disbursement and liquidation of funds - No problem.

Future plans

1. The remaining areas for germplasm collection in 1997-1998 are indicated in Table 2 andFigures 1 and 2. Both traditional varieties and wild rice relatives will be collected in PreahVihear. In other provinces, only wild rice species will be collected. Collectors for thoseareas have developed their confidence in doing a good work after attending the in-countrytraining on germplasm collection conducted last month.

2. Characterization of traditional varieties will be continued. This will constitute a major activityin 1998. The Cambodian participant in the OJT on germplasm characterization held in IRRI,Los Banos is currently involved in this activity.

3. Documentation of the germplasm collection is another major activity for 1998. A germplasmcatalog will be prepared for varieties collected from 1993 to 1998. The in-country training ongenebank data management and documentation to be held next year will help in developingthe capability of Cambodia on data management.

4. Traditional varieties collected with small amount of seed will be multiplied. Duplicatesamples of all collections will be sent to IRRI for safe keeping.

5. SDC Rice Biodiversity Project has provided Cambodia various equipment like camera,drying cabinet, computer, GPS, seed moisture tester, filing cabinets and photographicenlarger. This year, two freezers will be purchased for use in preserving the germplasmcollected.

Cambodia

Table 1. Germplasm collection, 1995-1997

Collection (no.) RemarksYear Provinces Culti- Wild Cultivated Wild Species

covered vated Species

1995 Ratanakiri 188 23 To be completed in1996

Completed

Stung Treng 164 16 Completed CompletedKoh Kong 54 1 Completed CompletedTakeo - 48 - CompletedSvay Rieng - 29 - CompletedPrey Veng - 27 - CompletedKandal - 21 - CompletedKampong Cham - 5 - To be completed in ‘96KampongChhnang

- 2 - To be completed in ‘98

Phnom Penh - 40 - Completed1996 Ratanakiri 26 - Completed -

Mondulkiri 329 16 Completed CompletedKratie 303 23 Completed CompletedSiem Reap 26 54 Completed CompletedKampong Cham 51 18 Completed CompletedPhnom Penh - 5 - CompletedBanteayMeanchey

- 9 - To be completed in ‘98

Battambang - 148 - Completed1997 Preah Vihear 114 16 To be completed in

1998To be completed in ‘98

Kampong Speu - 53 - To be completed in ‘98Phnom Penh - 13 - Additonal collectionKandal - 12 - Additional collection

Note: - = not included in the plan

Cambodia

Table 2. Collection activities, 1997 - 1998

Year DatesProvinces to becovered Type of material

1997 October -December Preah Vihear Cultivated + wildDecember Banteay Meanchey WildDecember Kampot WildDecember Kampong Thom WildDecember Kampong Chhnang WildDecember Pursat WildDecember Kampong Speu WildDecember Sihanoukville Wild

1998 January-September Preah Vihear Cultivated + wildJanuary Banteay Meanchey WildJanuary Kampot WildJanuary Kampong Thom WildJanuary Kampong Chhnang WildJanuary Pursat WildJanuary Kampong Speu WildJanuary Sihanoukville Wild

Contribution of the Rice Biodiversity Projectto the Cambodia Rice Program

Area covered by SDC Project

• The collection of traditional varieties involved areas where no collection has neverbeen done before. These areas are very difficult to reach or have securityproblems. In four of these 7 provinces, no collection has never been done beforethe SDC Project started.

• Before the SDC Project, collection of wild rices was done only in accessible areasof three provinces. The SDC project covers all provinces and cities of Cambodia.

• By the end of 1998, Cambodia will have nearly complete collection of ricegermplasm because of the joint efforts of the of the government, CIAP and SDCProject.

Manpower Development

• The SDC project has contributed substantially in improving the manpowercapability in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The 31 provincialagriculture officers who attended the in-country training on field collection of ricegermplsm in 1996 and in 1997 learned how to plan collection trips, recognisedifferences among varieties, and identify different rice species. The 5 Cambodianswho attended OJT at IRRI-Los Baños are now practising what they have learned.

• These trained personnel can be tapped by the government in the conservation ofother crops in Cambodia. Having learned how to differentiate rice varieties, thetrainees can also be involved in rice seed production, another weak area inCambodia.

Financial Support

• The SDC Project has approved a budget of about $ 47,000 for field collection ofrice germplasm in Cambodia and $ 15,000 for in-country training. However, itstotal financial support to Cambodia is more than twice the above amountconsidering other costs like sending the trainors to Cambodia, training 5Cambodians in IRRI-Los Banos OJT, and supporting participation of Cambodiansin workshops (New Delhi and Penang) has spent about $ 15,000 budget forcollection and equipment amounts to $47,000 collection and conservation. But thetotal monetary contribution could reach 130,000 considering the cost of in-countrytraining and costs of bringing in trainors from Los Banos and Laos, partipation inworkshops and OJT Th in country training, staff from The budget for twocompleted in-country trainings, particiapation of DOA and CIAP staff members ininternational conferences (Delhi and Penang)

China

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT ON IRRI-SDC FUNDED RICE BIODIVERSITYPROJECT IN CHINA

Ying CunshanChina National Rice Research Institute

310006, Hangzhou, PR China

Introduction

Rice is the most important food crop in China. The planted area is about 33 to 31 million ha (28%of the total crop area, with 44% of the total grain production in China) at present.

Rice genetic resources are more variable in China. There are cultivated and wild rices,lowland, and upland rices, Hsien (Indica) and Keng (Japonica) rices, early-middle-, late-seasonrices, as well as glutinous and non-glutinous rices.

Since 1950, field exploration and (Collection activities of rice germplasms have been paidgreat attention to in China. Plant genetic resources staff pay attention to observation an(]description of morpho-agronomic traits of rice collections in order to find elite germplasms to beused in both rice improvement and production. On the basis of characterization, a nationwideCatalogue work was organized by the Institute Crop Germplasm Resources (ICGR) with ChinaNational Rice Research Institute (CNRRI) and various provincial academies of agriculturalsciences. At the end of 1995, a total of' 71970 rice accessions were catalogued (Table 1), the64186 rice accessions were stored at the National Genebank ICGR and about 30000 duplicateswere stored at the CNRRI's Rice Germplasm Bank (Table 1).

During the China's Eight five-year plant (1991-1995), CNRRI taken charge of aPurchased program on evaluation of about 2000 elite rice germplasms in cooperation with theICGR and several provincial rice research institutions. In order to screen various valuablegermplasms servicing scientists uses, the CNRRI requested and received one computer andprinter from IRRI-SDC funded project to establish a. data management of 1800 accessions ofelite germplasms with 50 items of characters including 541 accessions good morpho-agronomicalcharacters, 478 resistance to pests, 489 tolerance to cold, drought and salinity, 225 good grainquality and others.

Table 1. Rice germplasm accessions catalogued and stored up to 1995 in China.

Type Accessions catalogued Accessions stored

Traditional cultivars 50530 46941Improved varieties 4085 3285Wild collection 6944 5243Hybrid rice three lines* 1605 1042Genetic markers 120 114Foreign introductions 8686 7561

Total 71970 64186

*Cytoplasmic male sterile, maintainer and restores lines

China

Trained in 1996 and 1997

In 1976, one plant genetic resources stair, Mr. Lu Xin Xiong from National Genebank of the ICGRparticipated in the Regional Training Course on Seed Genebank Management organized byIPGRI and supported by the SDC project held in New Delhi, India. 8-22 Dec. 1996.

In order to strengthen national capabilities to conserve, characterize, evaluate and use ricegenetic resources, 5 yang PGR staff of CNRRI have been trained at IRRI in 1997 (Table 2).

Table 2. Yang PGR staffs trained in 1997.

Training needs Type of training Trainees

Seed health On-the-job or a shortcourse at IRRI

Huang Shiwan

Characterization of wild rice andcultivated rice

On-the-job at IRRI Zhong DaibinWei Xinghua

Genebank management andconservation

On-the-job at IRRI Guo Longbiao

Data management and documentation On-the-job at IRRI Zhang Linping

Future plans

1. Identification and characterization of wild rice (O. rufipogon) in-situ conservation nursery inDongxiang, Jiangxi province.

Dongxiang wild rice distributes at the small-type-hill red soil area, which is 28°14'N,113°36'E and 47.6m above the sea, and is northmost distributed wild rice in the world. Ipropose that a group of 6 monitors and collaborators go to Dongxiang to identify andcharacterize wild rice in-situ conservation nursery for 7 days in 1998. The budget isUS$10,000 including lodging, transportation, etc.

2. Training in 1998

Table 3. Training needs in 1998.

Training needs Type of training No. of trainees*

Characterization of cultivated rice inpaddy field and labs

On-the-job at IRRI 1

Seed storage and management On-the-job at IRRI 1

Taxonomy of wild rices On-the-job at IRRI 1

*Trainees will be chosen from CNRRI and Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources ofCAAS.

India

RICE GERMPLASM CONSERVATION IN INDIAA Country Status Report

P. L. GautamDirector, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources

New Delhi - 110 012, INDIA.

Introduction

Rice is one of the principal staple food crops of the world. It is the basic food for nearly 50%population on the earth and is also major source of calories for people of India. Possibilities offurther increase in area under rice cultivation being limited, major gains in rice production infuture will depend mainly on enhanced productivity. In India, rice occupied about 42 million ha.and annual production reached 85 million metric tones during 1995. The more spectacular yieldgains in rice production expected after the introduction of semi-dwarf varieties were, however,hampered due to several abiotic and biotic stress factors besides constraints in terms ofapplication of inadequate input in most cases. To combat these problems breeders have beenlooking for new sources of diverse genes. Traditional rice has been found to be a major donorfor biotic and abiotic resistance (Table 3.) Some of the wild relatives prevalent in India such asOryza nivara, O. officinalis and, O. rufipogon, have come to the rescue of the rice cropparticularly in the Asian countries against Grassy Stunt Virus, Bacterial Leaf Blight, Brown PlantHopper and blast etc.

According to Sharma and Shastri (1965), the Asian cultivated rice (O. sativa L.) hasevolved following a sequence of wild perennial (O. rufipogon Griff) to wild annual (O. nivaraSharma et. Shastri) and the cultivated annual (O. sativa L.) (Sharma and Shastri 1965). Theweed races also contributed to the differentiation of the cultivated species. This differentiationand diversification of annual species is due to marked climatic changes over long period of timeand selection by human beings according to their need in manipulated cultural environment.Though the place of origin of cultivated rice (O. sativa L.) has not fully settled, it is certain that itoriginated in South and /or Southeast Asia, where India forms a major part of this region. Basedon the published evidences/ information, Chang (1976) asserted that O. sativa L. could haveevolved in a broad area extending over “The foot hills of Himalayas in South Asia and itsassociated mountain ranges in main land, Southeast Asia and Southwest China”. The Asiancultivated rices have distinctly evolved into three eco-geographic races namely Indica, Japonicaand Javanica and three distinct cultural types in monsoon area namely upland, lowland and deepwater. Further, based on local selection according to ethnic, agronomic and taste preferences,several diverse groups have evolved which hold evolutionary climaxes and distinctiveproperties. Hence the survey, collection and conservation of such diverse types that assumedgreatest significance in the post-green revolution era.

Agro-Ecosystems and the land race diversity

There are four main agro-ecosystems of rice in India. Out of 42 million hectares area under therice crop, 47.7% constitutes irrigated ecosystem which produces 58.7% rice. About 10% of thetotal land races are being grown in this ecosystem. The second largest ecosystem is the rainfedlowland which spreads across 38.2% of rice area and produces 31.5% of rice. Nearly 55% of theland races are cultivated in this ecosystem. The upland rice area is 14.3% and produces only6.7% rice. However, about 25% of the rice land races exist in this ecosystem. As far asdeepwater and Tidal wetland ecosystem is concerned, the area, production is 4.8 and 2.8,respectively. Nevertheless, it also has about 10% of the total land races of India, which matchthe figures of the irrigated ecosystem. India, being primary centre of origin of cultivated rice (O.

India

sativa L.), conserves high genetic diversity of rice with its diverse eco-geographic conditions. Itis grown from sea level in the tropical climate of Kerala and Sunderban to 2000-meter a. m. s. l.in the cold climate of Kashimir and Tawang hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Also, it is grown in semi-arid conditions obtainable in Rajasthan and unbunded plateau of Bihar to 6 meter standing watersituation in Assam and Bengal. The range of maturity is wide; varieties take 60 to 330 days tomaturity (Gupta and Tomer 1994). Enormous genetic diversity for grain characters like length,breadth, aroma, cooking, puffing, popping and flattening qualities etc. also exists in the O. sativagermplasm. Nevertheless, population explosion and its chain reactions resulting into increasedpressure on land for food, feed and shelters, leave no choice than to compete for limited landresources causing denudation of forests and erosion of primitive and wild rice species etc.These forces bear direct impact on deterioration of natural resources including the invaluablerice gene pool. Therefore, the collection, evaluation and conservation of the rice geneticresources have received utmost importance for India and considerable activity in this context isgoing on.

Diversity based on Isozymic Groups

Six distinct groups have been suggested recently based on isozyme analysis and India has themaximum group diversity (Glaszmann 1987). Group I correspond to the typical indica group.Group II consists of varieties originating from the foothills of Himalayas covering a wide range ofcultivation regime, from irrigated conditions to dry land conditions. In the North-eastern regionGroup II clearly corresponds to the “Aus” ecotype, some boro varieties also constitute part of it.Group III consists of deep-water varieties. Group IV consists of varieties having floating habitsseeded with boro rices, with growth cycle up to 12 months. Group V spreads along theHimalayas, consisting of high quality basmati rice. Group VI corresponds to the japonica groupspread over the Himalayas/ the Northeast region and also includes tropical japonicas grown inupland conditions.

Institutional mechanism for rice germplasm management

The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), is the nodal agency under theumbrella of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) that spearheads all activities relatedto PGR to plan, conduct, promote and coordinate their collection, conservation andmanagement. It has also gradually developed and strengthened the Indian National PlantGenetic Resources System (IN-PGRS) by linking up the National Active Germplasm sites(NAGs) responsible for different crops where germplasm collections are evaluated and multipliedunder field conditions backed by medium-term storage facilities. Germplasm AdvisoryCommittees (GAC) have been set up in various crops, including rice, with the primary objectivesof getting advice from crop specialists/ scientists. It is to improve the capability, efficiency andeffectiveness of services related to crop genetic resources and has contributed significantlytowards review of the collection and conservation status of crop-specific PGR managementstrategies.

Besides NBPGR and its network of regional stations which are situated in rice growingregions of the country, about 42 other rice research centres and Agricultural Universities havebeen engaged in rice genetic resources related activities and about 89,000 germplasm lineshave been maintained. The main active rice germplasm sites (Table 2) in the country are theNBPGR, the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack (16345), Directorate of Rice Research,Hyderabad (10219) and Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishva Vidhyalaya (IGKVV), Raipur (20374).

India

Status of rice germplasm collection in India

Early collections of local rice varieties have been done with ICAR assistance, by the network ofrice research stations established in different agro-ecological zones of the country. A collectionof about 2000 local rice varieties was done by the year 1946-47 (Parthasarthy 1972). During the1950’s, a systematic survey of Jeypore tract of Orissa was undertaken by the Central RiceResearch Institute (CRRI), which was designated as regional centre for indica varieties and 1745local land races were collected (Govandasami and Krishnamurty 1959). A systematic collectiondone in the Manipur State during 1962-66 fetched 904 germplasm lines. The Assam ricecollection (ARC) covering Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, madea huge contribution of 6630 land races during 1967-72. Under PL-480 funded project, manypromising sources of useful types were subsequently identified (Sharma et al. 1971). Thesecollections were deposited to IRRI gene bank and a duplicate set maintained at CRRIsubsequently.

A large number of collections were assembled in West Bengal through the efforts of RiceResearch Station Chinsurah, Bankura, Hathwada and Kalingpong (3750) in 1971. During 1976, atotal of 1431 collections were made from rainfed, upland areas of India from the states of Bihar,Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. A massive collection effortwas made by ICAR, in collaboration with State Agricultural Departments and Universities, during1978-80 and 6439 germplasm lines were collected in 14 states (Table 1). PAU Rice ResearchStation Kapurthala collected about 1178 land races from Punjab mostly indica types with somejaponica types. A total of 600 basmati and 360 non-basmati collection were made by H.A.U. inHaryana State. In Rajasthan and Maharastra about 3489 collection were made during 1980-1990.

A concerted effort made by Dr. R.H.Richharia to collect the genetic diversity of rice bowl ofcentral India, i.e. the state of Madhya Pradesh, adjoining to the Jeypore tract of Orissa. Itresulted in systematic collection of 19226 local land races of rice from all rice growing districts(42 out of 45 of M. P.) during 1971-81. These collections are being maintained and evaluated atthe IGKVV, Raipur, Madhya Pradesh, and part of it is also available in the National Gene Bankat NBPGR. A summary of the major collection initiatives and number of collections made indifferent parts of the country is depicted in Table 1.

India

India

NBPGR has played a very significant role in collection of rice germplasm across the country invarious crop-specific or collaborative explorations. NBPGR/collaborators collected more than15000 accessions since its inception. During 1976-1984 the Bureau collected 8353 cultivatedand 87 wild rice germplasm lines from different parts of the country in collaboration with CRRIand State Agricultural Universities. Further, during 1984-1995, 6214 germplasm lines ofcultivated and 896 lines of 4 wild species were collected from Orissa, Bihar, U.P., Haryana,Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal and Northeast India including the difficultareas of the country. Passport data of each line was systematically collected on standard format.

Various wild rice species and its relatives found in India including O. rufipogon, O. nivara, O.officinalis, O. granulata, O. malapuzaensis, and Porteresia coarctata, have been surveyed andcollected by Indian and foreign scientists and about 840 representative sample collection ofthese wild species have been made. A CRRI-IRAT-ORSTOM collaboration resulted in thecollection of 79 accessions of O. nivara, O. officinalis from Western Ghats in 1984(Krishnamurthy and Sharma 1987). A joint exploration by in the coastal mid-land andmountainous area of Kerala during 1987 resulted in a total of 75 samples of wild rices comprisingO. officinalis; O. granulata, O. rufipogon, O. nivara and O. spontanea were collected (Vaughanand Murlidharan 1989). Three more joint NBPGR-IRRI exploration trips undertaken in Orissa,Bihar, West Bengal, M. P. and U.P. during 1990-1992 fetched 588 samples of wild ricescomprising O. rufipogon, O. nivara, O. granulata and O. spontanea (Malik and Vaughan1990,1991; Tomar 1993). NBPGR base centre at Cuttack made a comprehensive survey ofSimlipal hills of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa during 1989 and collected O. officinalis, O.granulata and O. nivara from an altitude of 300 m above sea level. Porterecia coarctata wascollected from coastal region of Balasore district of Orissa (Malik and Dikshit, 1990). During 1989and 1990 NBPGR Regional Station, Thrissur has collected 80 samples of wild rices from Keralaand Karnataka. Recently in October 1997 NBPGR has collected 12 populations of three wildspecies of rice i.e. O. nivara, O. rufipogon and O. spontanea from Bharatpur bird sanctuary(Rajasthan). Comprehensive survey and collection efforts made by NBPGR are summarized inTable 1.

Rice germplasm maintenance and conservation

The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) established its first conservationmodule during 1983, which was expanded later on with a capacity of 1 million seed samples inthe National Gene Bank. Ever since then, over 1.63 lakh seed accessions of various agri-horticultural crops have been conserved in its long term repository at -20oC + 1oC which include42,000 accessions of rice (Table 4). Nearly half of the base collection is contributed by CRRIalone, which is followed by about 8,700 accessions from IGKVV, Raipur. NBPGR andDirectorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad have deposited nearly 3,900 accessions each. Thenational gene bank also holds a modest collection of 3,500 accessions received from IRRI,Philippines. The number of germplasm from other centres, viz. ICAR Research Complex forNEH Region, Tripura Centre (20), MSSRF, Chennai (43) and IARI, New Delhi (20) is very low.

In contrast with the number of collections made in various exploration trips, which isestimated to be nearly 67,000 (Table 1), the size of base collection is smaller, being just two-thirds in simple interpretation. This implies a huge task ahead, in terms of multiplication of seedsamples and depositing the same to the National Gene Bank and also calls for matchingfinancial support, land facilities and manpower. The growth of base collection of rice at NBPGR(Fig. 2) shows a sigmoid trend; a gradual increase in the initial period was followed by steepincrease of 13,642 samples in 1988 to 33,349 samples in 1993. The increment between 1993and 1996-97 (35,780 accessions) has, however, been very slow. Nevertheless, in 1997 alonenearly 6,250 samples were added from CRRI, Cuttack and IGKVV, Raipur. About 50,000 landraces of rice are expected to exist in India (Richharia, 1979). Considering the national and states

India

collection together, a total of nearly 66,745 accessions (Table.1) have so far been collected fromvarious parts of the country (Fig. 1). Presuming about 50% of these as duplicates, about 17,000land races of rice still remain to be collected which indeed would need very concerted efforts inthis direction.

In terms of maintenance of active germplasm, nearly 30 centres across the country areestimated to have around 90,000 accessions (Table 2) which is an optimistic figure and indicatesthe possibility of a definite inflow of germplasm to the national collection in the coming years. Aneed to invigorate the collaborative mission mode approach has been felt by the Indian NARSand the NBPGR has initialed active mediation for seeking germplasm from these centres. Thebilateral arrangements, national protocols and memoranda of understanding clearly favor thatthe further PGR activities in the periphery should be discouraged and NBPGR's (ICAR) co-ordination partnership must be sought for all collection, conservation and documentationactivities.

HOLDINGS

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

19861987 1988 1989 1990 19911992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997Nov.,'97HOLDINGS

Figure 2. Conservation of rice germplasm for long term storage in National Gene Bank

Figure 0. Conservation of rice germplasm for long term storage(-200C) in National Gene Bank

India

Status of naturally preserved tracts of land races and wild relatives

At least six distinct regions can be earmarked in India where diverse land races are still undercultivation by natives and in most cases they are using traditional cultivation practices (Table 5).India, being the home of quality, scented rices, which hold the highest premium in the worldmarket, there is a concern for the sustainability of various 'forms' of Basmati rices. The areasunder traditional cultivation of Basmati rices are now masked by cultivation of improved varietiesbacked by improved technology. However, the farmers in the particular tracts of easternHaryana, plains of Western Uttar Pradesh, foothills of Uttarakhand Himalayas including DoonValley and Western districts of Punjab continue to grow traditional seed of high quality scentedrice, which is likely to have potential cryptic diversity. Parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh are stillcovered under Boro (winter sown) rice cultivars whereas the South Bihar Plateau is the house oflandraces of upland types. Some other tracts under traditional upland types are Bastar area ofMadhya Pradesh, Phulbani District of Orissa and the Northeastern states. The glutinous round,red rices of northeast hold specific preferences by the natives and are traditionally grown inabundance. It is imperative to have a systematic monitoring activity to assess the drift incultivation of particular land races over time. In terms of lowland types some of the areas rich intraditional farmers' cultures are Midnapore District of West Bengal, Balasore District of Orissaand Bastar area of Madhya Pradesh besides parts of Southern Plateau and Ghats.

Out of the wild relatives, Oryza nivara and O. rufipogon have been known to be potentialdonors for resistance factors. The former is abundant in the Koraput area Jeypore tract andSimilipal Hills of Orissa, Raipur and Raigarh Districts of Madhya Pradesh, South Bihar,Southwest Bengal and Eastern Uttar Pradesh whereas O. rufipogon is prevalent in NortheastOrissa, southwest Bengal and Western Ghats. The Similipal Hills area in Orissa is also rich inprevalence of O. officinalis and O. granulata whereas Porteresia coarctata is found in plenty inthe Sunderbans of West Bengal and Bhitarkamika tidal forest of Orissa. All these tracts whichhold traditional landrace cultural diversity should be recognized as workable areas for on-farmconservation9Table 6). In fact, research scale on-farm conservation models are now beingstudied in some selected pockets as in Bastar district of M. P. by NBPGR/ IGKVV/ IRRIcollaboration which may be helpful in designing long term strategy for in-situ on-farmconservation.

Future endeavors

Based on past achievements and present scenario, the following line of action is being pursuedwhich shall be sustained to strengthen the PGR management activities on rice in India: Thegenetic erosion being fast in recent years, the collection and conservation of rice germplasmdeserves urgent attention. Keeping this point in view, NBPGR has made a five-year plan forintensive collection and conservation of rice germplasm in collaboration with CRRI and otherpartners. Priority collection trips shall be made in the identified areas not sufficiently covered sofar and a repeat collection shall be made in other areas that showed elaborate diversity in thepast.

More emphasis shall be given in future on trait specific explorations in different parts of thecountry as given below:

Scented rice Tarai areas (foot hills of Himalayas)Short stature types North Cachar, Manipur and Arunachal PradeshGlabrous husk forms Along the Myanmar border in ManipurWaxy endosperm types Mizoram and Garo hillsJaponica types Kameng Sabansiri in Arunachal PradeshDrought tolerant Garo hills and Tamil NaduCold tolerant types H.P. and U.P. hills

India

Stem borer tolerant Meghalaya, Assam and Arunachal PradeshGall midge and GLH resistant Garo, Mikir, Khasi and Jantia hillsRice tungro tolerant Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal PradeshWild rices U.P., parts of Bihar, Orissa, Andra Pradesh, M.P.,

etc.

Looking into the fact that the wild rices are also disappearing very fast, the collection of wildspecies is also accorded a high priority. Collaborative program for survey and collection of wildrices in Eastern India has been chalked out which shall be pursued in other areas too, in themedium long term.

A coordinated and collaborative program on characterization/ evaluation and documentationshall be strengthened at CRRI, NBPGR, DRR, IGKVV and other institutes and agriculturaluniversities.

Periodic monitoring of the base collection shall be done in terms of loss of viability and otherphysical and physiological changes. The regeneration priorities shall have to be fixed on case-to-case basis.

To sustain a rich genetic stock of exotic rice material within the country, all out efforts shall bemade to conserve all exotic genotypes at the Gene Bank and to maintain the materials underactive collections at the IN-PGRS partner locations.

The National Research Centre of DNA fingerprinting at NBPGR shall actively support theNational Gene Bank/ NBPGR in molecular classification of rice germplasm for its effective use infuture.

References

Chang, T. T., Adair, C.R. and Jhonston, T.H. 1982. The conservation and use of rice geneticresources. Advances in Agronomy 35: 37-91.

Devadath, S. 1983. A strain of O. barthii, an African wild rices immune to bacterial blight ofrice. Curr. Sci. 52: 27-28.

Govindaswami, S. and Krishnamurthy, A. 1959. Genetic variability among cultivated rice ofJeypore tract and its utility in rice breeding. Rice Newsletter. 7: 12-15.

Gupta A. and Tomar J. B. 1994. Collection of rice germplasm in Bihar. Ind. J. Plant Genet.Resour.

Jena, K. K. and Khush, G.S. 1986. Production of monosomic alien addition lines of O. sativahaving a single chromosome of O. officinalis Pages 199-208 in Rice Genetics.International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines.

Krishnamurthy, A. and Sharma, S. D. 1987. Current status of rice germplasm conservation inIndia. Paper submitted for the regional meeting of the SAARC countries held atNBPGR, New Delhi from 26-28 May 1987.

Malik, S. S. and Vaughan, D. A. 1989. Collection of wild rices from West Bengal -India. AnnualReport of NBPGR, Base Centre Cuttack 1989-1995.

Malik, S. S. and Dikshit, N. 1990. Occurrence of O. officinalis and O. granulata in Orissa.J.Econ.Tax.Bot.14 (3): 605-608.

India

Malik, S. S, Dikshit, N., Singh, S. K., Singh, U.D. and Padhi, B. 1993. Rice germplasmscreening for important discuses. Presented in Indian Soc. of PGR. Dialogue, at NewDelhi: Dec.1993. P.P.52.

Malik, S. S. and Khush, G. S. 1996. Identification of wide compatible varieties and tagging ofWC gene with isozyme markers. Rice Genetics Newsletter, 13:

Paroda, R. S. and Malik, S. S. 1990. Rice genetic resources, its conservation and use in India.Oryza 27:361-369.

Parthasarathy, N. 1972. In “International Rice Research Institute, Rice Breeding “ P.P. 5-29, Los.Baños, Philippines

Richharia, R.H. 1979. An aspects of genetic diversity in rice. Oryza 16:1-31

Roy, J. K. 1977. The Rice germplasm survey in Sambalpur. Orissa India IRRN (1): 1.

Roy, J. K. 1979. The rice germplasm program of India. Plant Genet. Resour. News. 37:4-5.

Roy, J. K., Biswas, S., Sharma, S. D. and Mehra, K. L. 1979. Genetic conservation of rice inIndia. Rice Germplasm conservation workshop, IRRI/ IBPGR. 31-32.

Roy, J. K. De, R. N. Ghorai, D. P. and Panda. A. 1985. Collection and evaluation of geneticresources of rice in India. Phytobreedon 1 (2); 1-9.

Sharma, S. D; Vellanki, J. M. R.; Hakim, K. L. and Singh, R. K. 1971. Primitive and currentcultivars of rice in Assam. a rich source of valuable genes, Curr. Sci. 40: 126-128.

Sharma, D. K.; Sahu,G. R. and Shrivastava, M. N. 1987. Present status of rice germplasm inMadhya Pradesh (India), Oryza 24127-131.

Sharma, S. D.; Krisnamurthy, A. and Dhua, S. R.1987 a. Evaluation and utilization of ricegermplasm in India, Presented in the First Symp. On “Crop improvement” held at P. A.U. Ludhiana during Feb. 23-27, 1987.

Sharma, S. D.; Krisnamurthy, A. and Dhua, S. R.1987 b. Genetic diversity in rice and itsutilization in India. Presented in National Symp. “Plant Genetic Resources- Indianrespective” held at NBPGR, New Delhi. March 3-6,1987.P.P.108-120

Srivastava, D. P. 1977. Gene ecological variation from Northeast India and their importance inrice breeding program. Proc. of 64th Indian Sci. Cong. Part II, P.P.77 (Abstract).

Vaughan, D. A. and Murlidharan, V. K. 1989. Collection of wild relatives of rice from Keralastate-India. Plant Genet. Resour. Newsl. 42:2-6.

Yoshida, S. and Oka, I. N. 1981. “Rice Research strategies for the future”. IRRI. Los Baños,Philippines.

India

Table 1. Rice germplasm collections in India

S.No. Agency/ Area Year

No. ofcollections References

1. Base collection from Coimbatore(AC)

1911-47 2000 ICAR/CRRPub.1971National GermplasmCollection of rice

2. Jeypore Botanical Survey (JBS) 1955-59 1745 Govindaswami andKrishnamurthy, 1959

3. Manipur Collection (MNP) 1965-70 904 Krishnamurthy and Sharma,1970

4. West Bengal CollectionChinsurah, Bankura and Kalimpong

1960-71 5550 Annual reports

5. Assam Rice Collection (ARC) 1968-71 6630 Sharma et al., 19716. Dr. Richharia’s Collection from M.P. 1971-81 19000 Sharma et al., 19877. Collection from various states

(Upland)1976-77 1431 Roy et al., 1977

8. National collaborative program (NCS) 1978-80 6439 Roy et al., 19799. U. P. Hill collection by Pantnagar

Univ. and VPKAS, Almora1978-90 2580 Ann. Reports

10. Lowland and saline types from Orissa 1980-82 300 Roy et al., 198311. Collection by NBPGR from different

parts of India1976-84 8353 NBPGR Annual Reports

12. Collection by P. A. U., Kapurthala 1982-84 1178 Ann. Reports13. Collection by H. A. U. Kaul 1982-86 960 Personal communication14. Collection by NBPGR/CRRI from

Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Sikkim,Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh andOrissa

1984-88 3092 CRRI Annual Reports

15. Collection from Rajasthan andMaharastra

1980-90 3489 Ann. Reports

16. Collection by NBPGR from Orissa,W.B.

1986-95 3122 NBPGR Annual Report

17. Collection by CRRI from Orissa 1990-95 717 CRRI Annual Reports

18. Wild rice Collection by NBPGR/IRRI/IGKVV/CRRI

1984-97 840 NBPGR Annual Report

Total 66,760

India

Table 2. Rice germplasm maintenance at major rice research stations in India.

No. of accessions maintainedS.No. Centre/Location Name of station (Malik)

1997(Murlidharan)

1994(Dua &

Sharma)1994

1. CRRI, Cuttack National Centre 16345 16345 223412. Andhra Pradesh DRR, Rajendranagar 10219** 10219** 10219**3. Assam Titabar, Katimganj, Lakhimpur 3299 3299 32944. Bihar Pusa, Patna and Sabore

B.A.U., Ranchi3187511

3187511

3456--

5. Gujarat Nawagaon 933 933 --6. Haryana Kaul and Karnal 960 -- --7. Himachal Pradesh H. P. K. V. V., Malan 496 496 4968. Jammu & Kashmir Khudwani, R. S. Pura 426 -- --9. Karnataka Mandya 185010. Kerala Pattambi, Moncompu 720 -- 66711. Madhya Pradesh I. G. K. V. V., Raipur 20374 20374 2038412. Maharashtra Parbhani, Karjat 1119* 100 --13. Manipur Wangbal 240 -- --14. N E H Complex Barapani, Tripura 535 535 --15. Orissa O. U. A. T., Bhubaneshwar 840* 840* 120016. Punjab P. A. U., Kapurthala 1000 1000 73417. Rajasthan Banswara, Kota 2570 2570 257018. Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, Aduthurai 7858* 7858* 657019. Uttar Pradesh VPKAS, Almora

PantnagarFaizabad, Kanpur, GhaghraghatB.H.U., Varanasi

157711121548200

--1112450200

----

690--

20. West Bengal Chinsurah, Bankura, HathwadaB.C.K.V., Kalimpong

3730 3730 600

21. NBPGR CuttackShillongTrichur

2248*2600*2873*

------

------

Total 89440 84085+ 83539+

+ Not comparable with actual figures*Also included in the National Collection at CRRI, Cuttack**Also included at IGKVV, Raipur (M. .P.)

India

Table 3. Evaluation and utilization of rice germplasm in India.

Major stress condition Donors identified and utilized

Biotic stressGall midge Ac 35, AC 1368, ARC 5859, ARC 5951, ARC 5984, ARC 6158, ARC 6302,

ARC 6221, ARC 6238, ARC 6257, ARC 7317, ARC 7318, ARC 10494, ARC10534, ARC 10817, ARC 13616, ARC 14187, JBS 446, JBS 673, PTB 10, PTB18, PTB 21, PTB 27, PTB 28, PTB 32, HR 42, HR 63, Eswarkorra, W 1251, W1253, W1257, W1263, W 12708, Leaung 152, Siam 29, CR 94, Peykeo P129,Peykeo E 53, R 68-1

Stem borer TKM 6, MTU 15, CB-I, CB-II, ARC 10368, ARC 10443, Phouren, MNP119,NCS 236, NCS 266, 464, Tadukan

Brown plant hopper ASD 7, ASD 9, ARC 14766, PTB 18, PTB 21, PTB 33, Manoharsali, Leb MueyNahng, Karivennel

White backed planthopper

ARC 5803, ARC 6064, ARC 7188, ARC 7318, ARC 10370, ARC 11704, ARC14529, ARC 14342, ARC 13788

Green leaf hopper PTB 8, PTB 18, ASD 7, ASD 8, Sigadis, Pankhari 203, PetaBlast Tetep, Tadukan, Carreon, CO 4, CO 25, CO 29, SM 6, SM 9, S 67, BJ 1, Ch

48, Seluz 44, Aichi Asahi, IR 8, AC 1613, Zenith, Pankhari 203, Intan,Thavalakkanan, Dular, Raminad Str. 3, Ram Tulsi

Bacterial leaf blight TMK 6, BJ 1, ARC 5827, ARC 18562, Lacrosse-Zenith-Nira (LZN), Chogoku45, Wase-Aikoku, DZ 192, Sigadis, RP 5-32, RP 31-49, W 1263, UPR 30,UPRB 31

Rice tungro virus Kataribhog, Latisali, Kamod 253, TKM 6, PTB 10, Pankhari 203, ARC 14766,HR 21, PTB 18, PTB 21, Gampai 15, Ambemohar 159, Intan, ARC 1626,Tilakkachari, ARC 13677, ARC 13959, ARC 10342, ARC 13820, ARC 13901,NSJ 198

Helminthosporium Ch 13, Ch 45, BAM 10, AC 2550Stem rot Basmati 370, Bara 62Grassy stunt Oryza nivara

Abiotic stressDrought tolerance MTU 17, N 22, PTB 10, PTB 28, Jhona 349, Lalnakanda 41, CO 18, CO 29,

CO 31, Gora, JBS 508, Early Kolpi, Suvarnamodan (ARC 11775), TaichungNative 1, BAM 3, B 76, Lalsal, TKM 6, TKM 7, Kalakari

Flood tolerance FR 13A, FR 43B, CN 540, Chakia, MadhukarDeepwater tolerance HBJ 1, HBJ 2, HBj 3, HBj 4, Nagariboa, Kckuabaoo, DW 3, DW 4, DW 5,

Jalmagna, Jaisurya, AR 1, ARC 353-148, TNR 1, TNR 2Cold tolerance Dunghanshali, AC 540 (Russian), CH 988, CH 1039, Khonorullu, HR 12, HR 19Salt/alkaline Getu, Damodar, Dasal, SR 26B, Pokkali, Pathai 23, Luna Bokra, Raspanjar,

Chervirippu, PVR 1, MCM 1, MCM 2, Bhurrarata, Kalarata, Billekagga,Karekagga

High altitude Ch 1039, Ch 988Scented types Basmati 370, Gopalbhog, Kaminibhog, Sitabhog, Randhinipagal, T412, T-3,

HansraIron toxicity Mahsuri, IR 36*Aluminum toxicitytolerance

Karangiya gora, CR 400-12*, SS 54-1, MW 10*

*With semi-dwarf plant-type

India

Table 4. Conservation Status of Rice Germplasm at National Gene Bank

Centre No. of accessions

NBPGR, Trichur 1086NBPGR, Cuttack 1299NBPGR, Shillong 1207NBPGR, Bhowali 270NBPGR, New Delhi 15IARI, New Delhi 20ICAR Res. Complex, Tripura 60DRR, Hyderabad 3900CRRI, Cuttack 21874IGKVV, Raipur 8712MSSRF, Chennai 43IRRI, Philippines 3518Total 42,004

Table 5. Potential areas for in-situ on-farm conservation.

1. Upland Phulbani, Koraput districts of Orissa and South Bihar Plateau2. Upland/ Lowland Northeast and Bastar district of M. P3. Lowland Midnapore district of West Bengal and Balasore and Cuttack districts of

Orissa4. Quality Scented Rices Eastern Haryana, Western U. P. including Dehradun Valley and

Foothills of Himalayas5. Boro Rice Eastern U. P. and some lower parts of West Bengal

Table 6. Potential Areas for Conservation of Wild Relatives

Species Area(s)

O. officinalisO. granulata

Simlipal Hills, (Mayurbhanj Distt.) of Orissa

O. rufipogon Northern Orissa, S. W. Bengal, Western GhatsO. nivara Koraput and Simlipal Hills of Orissa, Southern Bihar, Southwest Bengal,

Eastern U. P. and Raipur, Raigarh districts of M. P.Porteresia coarctata Sunderbans in West Bengal and Bheeterkanika, Balasore Dist. in Orissa

India

India

HOLDINGS

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

19861987 1988 1989 1990 1991 19921993 1994 1995 1996 1997Nov.,'97HOLDINGS

Indonesia

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION ININDONESIA*

Tiur Sudiaty SilitongaResearch Institute for Food Crops Biotechnology

AARD, Ministry of AgricultureJl. Tentara Pelajar 3A, Bogor 16111, Indonesia

INTRODUCTION

Rice germplasm is an important national asset that has to be conserved. Research Institute forFood Crop Biotechnology (RIFCB) is one of the Institutes under the Agency for AgriculturalResearch and Development (AARD). Beside doing research on biotechnology, RIFCB has amandate as a centre for the conservation of food crops germplasm. Until June 1997, a total of2891 rice accessions have been conserved. The collection consisted of traditional rice, elitelines, introduced varieties/lines and wild rices. Seeds were dried, sealed in aluminum foilenvelope and kept in short and medium term storage at 10oC and -5oC- -10oC with RH 50%respectively. Since the freezer with very low temperature (-18oC - -20oC) is available, the seedcould be kept for long term. Beside the collection in RIFCB, a total of 8500 duplicate samples arealso deposited at IRRI for conservation.

Through a cooperation of the International Rice Research Institute with SDC-Safeguardingand Preservation of the Biodiversity of the rice genepool, exploration and collection have beenconducted in the Province of Aceh, Central Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, Moluccas andSulawesi. A total of 550 samples were collected from those Provinces. Exploration andcollection will be continued in Irian Jaya in 1998.

KEY WORDS Safeguarding, preservation, rice genepool.

Progress in Field Collection and Preservation

Collection of cultivated rice was conducted in the Province of Aceh, Central Kalimantan, EastNusa Tenggara, Moluccas and North, Central, South, and Southeast Sulawesi. Collections weredone by the staff of RIFCB, Provincial Agricultural Offices and Extension Agricultural Service. Wewere also helped by the head of village and farmer’s cooperator. A total 145 cultivated rice wascollected from all district in Aceh except Southeast Aceh District. None of wild rice was foundthere. The collection made consisted of cultivated lowland, rainfed lowland and upland rice.

Collection to Central Kalimantan Province consisted of 22 varieties of rainfed lowland rice,105 upland rice, 42 tidal wetland and one O. rufipogon.

When collecting in East Nusa Tenggara Province, we visited Provincial Agricultural office inKupang and met Ir. Datuk Siagian and Ir. Y Ressi. We discussed about collecting plan and theysuggested to have collection in the District of Belu, Timor Tengah Utara and Timor TengahSelatan in Kupang Island, District of Sikka, Ngada and Manggarai in Flores, district of West andEast Sumba in Sumba, and district of Alor in Alor. Collecting in Timor Island were conductedtogether with Provincial Agricultural staff and District Agricultural staff. While collecting, they weretaught how to do collection. After finishing the collection activities in Timor Island, the team wasdivided into two groups. Group 1 conducted the collection in Flores Island, while the other group

*Participating agencies: Research Institute for Food Crop Biotechnology and Provincial Agricultural

Offices

Indonesia

(group 2) went to Sumba Island. Collection to Alor Island has not been conducted yet because itwould spend at least one week there. In Sikka District, East Flores, there were five local varietiesthat could not be collected because of traditional culture which avoid harvesting without having aceremony. A total of 95 cultivated rice were collected from all districts, and none of wild rice wasfound in East Nusa Tenggara.

Collection was conducted in all provinces in Sulawesi. The collection have covered allareas except Central Sulawesi. This area is isolated by mountains, so it was difficult to reach thearea. A total of 122 local varieties were collected in Sulawesi (Table 1).

Newly collected materials will be multiplied in the wet season, 1997/1998. Seeds will bekept in the seed bank under short term storage (temperature 10oC-15oC) and medium term(temperature -5 - 10oC). At present, seeds could also be kept in the long term storage(temperature -18 - -20oC). Seeds of newly collected material will be sent to IRRI as duplicatesamples.

Constraints

In the early 1970’s, many rice growing areas started using modern rice varieties. The rapidadoption of modern varieties has been a major factor in the erosion of rice genetic resources infarmers’ fields. Since then, the collection activities were started by CRIFC in collaboration withIRRI. Collaboration was actively conducted after 1982.

In 1987, the number of rice genetic resources in CRIFC were 13, 511. The accessionwas stored under short term conditions. The rice germplasm status was reported to IRRI, and ofthese, about 8500 accession are deposited at IRRI for duplicate sample (Plucknett et al. 1987).

Unfortunately, the bad conditions of storage in Bogor also caused genetic erosion in theex-situ collection. Until 1997, the Gene Bank in RIFCB conserved 8536 accessions of food cropgermplasm, mainly are rice genetic resources.

Collecting Activities

Wild rice was expected to be found in Kuala Pembuang and Kuala Kapuas (Southern part ofCentral Kalimantan). However, when collecting in Kuala Pembuang, only one wild rice wasfound. Trip to Kuala Kapuas had been canceled because of huge wave and none of the boatmanwas willing to go. It was better if collection to Southern part of Kalimantan come throughBanjarmasin (South Kalimantan).

Collecting to Northern part of Central Kalimantan has also not completed yet. The areascould only be reached by boat from Puruk Cahu or Muara Teweh, while transportation to MuaraTeweh from Palangkaraya should be by airplane.

Future Plans

Collection of cultivated rice and wild relatives in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan was almostcompleted. If it is possible, it is supposed to do collecting again in Southern part of CentralKalimantan, and in the remaining uncollected remote areas such as Alor Island, East TimorProvince, and Luwuk, Peleng and Banggai in Central Sulawesi. Further exploration andcollection will be in Irian Jaya in next March 1998. Irian Jaya Province has 9 districts, and thebudget proposed for collecting in this province is about $US. 13,000.00. (Table 3).

Indonesia

To strengthen the capability of the national programs, in country training courses/workshopon field collection and conservation will be held in the areas to be visited. Training on datamanagement and documentation will be held at IRRI, in the early year of 1998. Furtherequipment needs to support conservation activities in Indonesia such as drier seed,dehumidifiers, and incubator.

Table 1. Germplasm collection, 1995

Year Areas covereda No. of germplasm collected Remarksb

cultivated wild species

1995 Aceh Province Almost completeWest Aceh District 58 -South Aceh District 25 -Great Aceh District 3 -Pidie Aceh District 5 -Central Aceh District 10 -North Aceh District 14 -East Aceh District 27 -Sabang 3 -

Total 145 -

1995 Central Kalimantan Not completeEast Kotawaringin 61 -Palangkaraya 4 -North Barito 70 -West Kotawaringin 34 1

Total 169 1

Indonesia

Table 2. Germplasm collection, 1997

Year Areas covereda No. of germplasm collected Remarksb

cultivated wild species

1997 East Nusa TenggaraProv.Belu district 7 -TTU District 11 -Sikka 16 -Ende 10 - CompleteNgada 6 -Manggarai 19 -West Sumba 8 -East Sumba 16 -Total 95 -

1997 Moluccas Province Not completeNort Moluccas District 19 -Total 19 -

1997 North Sulawesi ProvinceMinahasa District 17 - CompleteBolaang Mongondow 11 -Gorontalo 7 -Total 35 -

1997 Central Sulawesi Prov.Donggala District 1 - Not completeTotal 1 -

1997 South Sulawesi ProvinceGowa 28 -Jeneponto 7 - CompleteTanatoraja 25 -

Total 60 -1997 Southeast Sulawesi Prov. - Complete

Kendari District 26 -Total 26

Total 236 -

Table 3. Collection activities for 1998.

Year Dates Areas to be coveredType ofmaterial

(C/W)

Proposed Budget($US)

1998 March 3-22 Irian Jaya Province and C + W 13,000.00July Remaining uncollected

remote areasC + W

Kenya

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN KENYA*

Dan Kiambi, Joseph Kemei, and Paul Chahira

Introduction

The Genebank of Kenya currently holds 581 accessions of rice mainly the introduced varietiesgrown in Kenya while the National Irrigation Board has a considerable number of breeding lines.Before the establishment of the Genebank, Taylor collected a total of 255 accessions ofcultivated rice which included some land races found in parts of the coastal belt and Nyanza. Healso collected 12 accessions of wild relatives in these areas. However, all this collection got lostdue to equipment breakdown at the Plant Quarantine Station where it was stored. Consequentlyrecollection of the areas he covered needs to be done. A recent collection mission by Kiambiand Kemei collected 122 accessions of Oryza sativa and 3 wild relatives but this only coveredthe lower Tana River Basin. It is therefore, evident that a comprehensive collection of both landraces and wild relatives needs to be done.

Rice is one of the four major cereals of the world. It ranks second from wheat in the number ofhouseholds that depend on it as their staple food. In Kenya, it ranks second to maize inconsumption preferences especially in urban, high potential and coastal areas. Rice growing inKenya started well before the arrival of the Portuguese along the coast but documentedevidence dates only to this century. Today it is grown along the coast, Mwea Tebere irrigationscheme in Central Kenya and Ahero Irrigation Scheme in Western Kenya near Lake Victoria. Itis also grown in many other areas on relatively small scale. However, because of its earlyintroduction to the coastal area, middle and lower Tana River basin are particularly rich inlandraces.

It is also reported by Ibrahim and Kabuye (l987) that four wild species of Oryza occur in Kenya.These are Oryza eichingeri, O. longistaminata, O. barthii, and O. punctata all occurring in areas0-1200m above sea level. Oryza longistaminata is reported as a valuable fodder grass but theother two are of no importance to grazing. All four differ in their natural habitat requirements.Oryza eichingeri prefers wet soils in forest shade while O. longistaminata grows in swampygrasslands in shallow water, O. punctata on the other hand occurs along stream banks and pondmargins. O. barthii is found in open grasslands and woodland savannah in seasonally flooded orstagnant water habitats. These three habitats are found in most parts of Kenya.

Other related genera found in Kenya include Leersia hexandra, L. denudata and L. tisserantii. Arecent herbarium survey indicated that L. hexandra is the most common and has been foundacross the country from seal level to altitudes above 2000m asl. and occurs along river banks,flood plains, swamps and dam edges in shallow water. L. tisserantii is not very common butcollections have been made in Baringo and Nakuru in Central Rift Valley. However, it may befound in areas with similar climate especially around L. Victoria and Masai Mara. Other speciesrecorded near the Kenyan border include L. drepanothrix. (Teso in Uganda) Oryza eichingeri-punctata complex and O. brachyantha (Tanzania).

*Participating agencies: National Genebank of Kenya, National Museums of Kenya, International Plant

Genetic Resources Institute

Kenya

Progress and future plans

Herbarium studies have been carried out at the East African Herbarium. Two collection missionshave so far been carried out. The first mission was held from 11-18 August 1997 and coveredmainly the Western Province and parts of the Rift Valley. No wild relatives of rice werecollected but 33 accessions of Leersia sp. were collected. The second mission was held from 5-12 September 1997 and covered the Central and part of Northern Province of Kenya. Similarlyno wild rice species are known to occur in the areas covered but the mission collected 29samples of Leersia sp. Table 1. summarises the results of the collecting missions. Due tounavoidable logistical and security problems collecting could not be done in the Coast and theWestern Provinces. The plans for collecting in these areas are summarised in Table 2 and thestatus of the budget is provided in Table 3.

Training needs and equipment

The staff of the Genebank of Kenya are well trained. However a short course on familiarisationwith conservation and multiplication of wild rice species would be useful. A member of staff ofthe Genebank attended a three-week course on multiplication and handling of rice wild speciesheld at IRRI in September 1997. The Genebank has adequate conservation and documentationfacilities.

Arrangements for multiplication and long term conservation

Currently, the samples are being processed and sorted out. Duplicates will be sent to IRRI forlong term conservation (pending finalization of the conditions and logistical arrangements withIRRI) where accessions with small sample sizes will be also be multiplied.

Constraints experienced

1. Transport logistics - lack of and unavailability of appropriate field vehicles when neededdelayed the collecting programme

2. Poor seed setting, small population sizes and high levels of sterility led to collection of verysmall sample sizes in many cases

3. Security problems led to the inaccessibility of collecting sites in the Coast Province.

4. Difficulties in determining physiological maturity and lack of uniformity in maturity of seedsleading to big sample sizes initially but very small sample sizes after processing.

Table 1. Results of collecting missions

Mission Dates Areas covered Speciescollected

No. of seedsamples

No. ofvegetativesamples

Total No.of samples

Mission 1 11-18 August Kajiado, Narok, Trans Maraand Kisii Districts

Leersiahexandra

L.denudata

28

1

4

0

32

1Mission 2 5-12

SeptemberNyeri, Meru, Kirinyaga, Embu,Isiolo National Park

L. hexandra

L.denudata

23

2

4

0

27

2

TOTAL NO. OF SAMPLES PER SPECIES L. hexandra

L. denudata

51

3

8

0

59

3

TOTAL NO. OF SAMPLES 54 8 62

Table 2. Proposed collecting plans for 1998

Year Dates Areas to be covered Type of material

1998 February Lamu, Kilifi, Tana River Deltaand Basin

wild relatives andlandraces

1998 March Kwale and Taita Tavetadistricts, Galana River Basin,Tsavo Game Reserve and LakeJipe

wild relatives andlandraces

1998 August/September

South Nyanza, Kisumu, Siaya,Busia, Mara River Basin,Ahero, Transzoia and NandiDistricts

Wild relatives andlandraces

Table 3. The status of the budget

Activity Amount (US $)

Collecting mission to North Coast 2976Collection missions to South Coast 2663Collection missions to the Lake Region (WesternProvince) 3733Vehicle maintenance and fuel 702Materials 793 Total 10867

Total spent in 1997 Balance to be spent in 1998

6,5744,293

RICE GERMPLASM COLLECTION AND CONSERVATION IN MADAGASCAR

Simone RavaonoroRice Germplasm Laboratory In-Charge

Rice Research Department, FOFIFA, Antananarivo, Madagascar

Introduction

Germplasm Conservation in Madagascar began during the French colonial regime in 1927 atwhich time, some 700 local traditional varieties were in the collection. Most of the accessionswere for the lowland and were used in the breeding program. Number in the collection increasedwith the introductions, most of them modern varieties, mainly from IRRI and IRAT and countrieslike China and Japan. Materials in the collection also include selections from landraces, specialtypes and mutants. Varieties of different cultural types (upland, rainfed lowland and irrigated)are represented in the collection.

Madagascar has collaborated with IBPGR in germplasm collection activities. From 1986to 1990 Japanese collection missions in 1986 and 1988 helped also in building up FOFIFA's ricecollection. The Madagascar-IRRI Rice Research Project funded by USAID to enhance riceresearch in Madagascar includes assistance for germplasm and related activities. Madagascarreceives funds from SDC with the main objective of collecting and preserving Malagasy ricegermplasm. FOFIFA conserves about 6,000 accessions of Oryza sativa. Wild rice accessionsare still few; about 27 strains of O. longistaminata and O. punctata were recently collected (1995to 1997) with funds from SDC.

The rice germplasm collection was before kept at Lac Alaotra station at ambiantconditions and rejuvenated annually during the wet season. Thus, the collection was underconstant threat from field hazards like drought, flood and damage from rodents. The collectionwas moved to Mahitsy (near Antananarivo) with the completion of a cold room for mediumstorage and a seed laboratory at the Departement of Rice Research building of FOFIFA. Thecold room, freezers, dehumidifiers, seed containers, seed packaging equipement and supplieswere acquired with assistance from IBPGR, and USAID-IRRI. Added to these are the logisticalsupport like transport and others. Funds from SDC became available in 1995 which enabled usto purchase additional equipement we need for germplasm work. The equipement includedcomputers, generators and freezer. We were also able to buy a motorcycle for making trips tothe more remote areas.

Seed rejuvenation is undertaken at Tsararano Station (near Marovoay) during the dryseason for accessions with germination lower than 85 per cent. Germplasm materials forcharacterization are also grown in Marovoay.

Progress in field collection

In 1995, first collection trips were undertaken in the regions of Fenoarivobe-Tsiroanomandidy inthe country's Mid-West which are in the more remote areas of the province of Antananarivo. Previous collection efforts had not covered these areas. We considered the regions high prioritybecause of the greater diversity of rice growing environments that included valleys, plains, andterraces and the threat of diffusion of modern varieties. Two different growing seasons arerecognized in the areas: Vary aloha (May - December) and Vary vakiambiaty (November - April). We collected Vary vakiambiaty varieties and some Vary aloha.

We also had collection trips covering four districts in the eastern and northern regions. The districts were Antalaha, Vohimarina, Sambava and Andapa. Two rice growing seasons arerecognized in the regions. Vary taona (rainy season rice) and the Vary ririnina (cold and wetseason). We collected samples of Vary taona from rice fields and in the case of early maturingvarieties from threshing floors. FOFIFA staff stationed in Antalaha assisted our team incollecting Vary ririnina varieties. Climate is very humid and hot and primary forest is almostpresent.

Collection trips started in 28 May and ended 15 June 1996 and covered four coastalSouth-East districts of Mananjary, Manakara, Farafangana and Vangaindrano. Climate here ishumid and hot with an average temperature of about 28-30° C. Mananjary has still its primaryforest while the other three districts have their forest cover almost totaly lost through slash andburn land use. Mananjary area is very mountainous and rice is grown in narrow paddy fields atthe valley bottoms. Rice fields are generally located at about 100 m above sea level.

The districts of Manakara and Farafangana have more or less the same topographicfeatures; they are somewhat hilly with many inland valleys and flood plains. In respect toVangaindrano district, compared with others, it has a cooler climate but much more eroded soils.Flooding and submergence are common. On the districts, there are two rice seasons: the Varyhosy (June-December) which corresponds to cooler part of the year with small rains and the Varyvatomandry (December-May) coinciding with the rainy and hot period of the year.

We have planned the Anosibe An'ala areas to be covered in 1997 collection. Here,farmers grow rice in the mountains by cutting and burning the vegetation causing gradualdestruction of primary forest. Irrigated rice areas are very limited. There are no roads. Altitudevaries between 100 to 700 meters above sea level and the temperature between 24° C to 30° C. The rains start in November and from late July to October, heavy rains are rare but smalldrizzles are common. It is during the drier period when it is possible to travel to the town ofAnosibe An'ala by road. In the two trips we had, we were guided by a staff of the ExtensionService, Ministry of Agricullture.

From the Eastern and Northern regions, we collected 31 Vary taona varieties of Oryzasativa and two samples of wild species of Oryza longistaminata and 11 accessions of what seemto be O. punctata in very restricted area of Vohimarina. Seed samples of Vary ririnina varietiesare expected to be received from the local staff of FOFIFA. From Fenoarivobe andTsiroanomandidy areas in the Middle West, 69 varieties of O. sativa and 1 accession of O.longistaminata were collected. The O. longistaminata was found unexpectedly growing onsummit of hills in swampy depressions.

In the South-East region 90 varieties of cultivated rice are collected and one accessionof Oryza longistaminata.

From four areas of Anosibe An'ala region, we collected 108 varieties of cultivated rice,mostly upland, during the two trips. Collecting populations of O. longistaminata was donetravelling from Antananarivo to Mahajanga on a different mission.

Table 1: Number and types of Germplasm collected from a given area from 1995 to 1997.

Year Areas covered No. of germplasm collected Remarks

cultivated wild species

1995 Eastern regionNorthern regionFenoarivobeTsiroanomandidy(principal season)

31

69

11

01

Seeds of Vary ririninaseason are expectedto be sent by localFOFIFA agency orextension service, orthe team will go againthere

1996 South-East regionwhere 4 districts wereprospected: Mananjary,Manakara, Farafangana,Vangaindrano (principalseason)

90 1 Seeds of Vary hosywill be collected on1997, so as seeds ofupland varieties. Itcouldn't effectively bedone because theyare destroyed by thetiphoon Gretelle

1997 Anosibe An'ala areas

(Anosibe An'ala- Lakato-Beforona- Brickaville)

Mahajanga

108 0

2 Collected whentravelling toTsararano station

The team of collecting missions was composed of the rice germplasm laboratory in-charge, one breeder, two assistants and one driver.

Agency and individuals involved in the collection:

The Department of Rice Research (DRR) of FOFIFA handles the rice germplasm collection inMadagascar. Participating in collection trips are the breeders of DRR and staff of the Ricegermplasm laboratory and breeders. In the field, station personnel of FOFIFA assist in thecollection. Extension service agents of the Ministry of Agriculture guide the collection team tofarmers and to local village authorities.

Status of collected materials.

Seed samples collected in 1995 (see Table 1) were divided into two; one for sending to IRRI andthe other is kept by FOFIFA. The part intended for IRRI was sent on April 1996 for seeds of O.sativa and in September 1996 for the wild species. FOFIFA's part of the samples was multipliedand kept in cold room at 15°C, 40-60% relative humidity at below 10% moisture content. Duplicate samples are held in the freezers at -10°C.

For seeds collected in 1996, samples for IRRI were sent in March 1997 for those withenough seeds, where amount of seeds is inadequate, seeds will first be multiplied in dry seasonApril- October 1997 at Tsararano Mahajanga and will be sent to IRRI in 1998. Accessions

collected in 1997 with enough seeds will be also sent to IRRI in 1998 and the remainingaccessions, after their seed multiplication at the end of 1998.

Constraints encountered in field collection.

Our problem for the wild rice species Oryza longistaminata is that mature seeds shatter and arenot available for collection during trips that live plant samples had to be taken. We observedthat this wild species does not flower readily in pots, specially when tillers are congested andsmall. We have requested the extension service agents to collect seeds and send them to ourlaboratory.

Duplicate samples in our collection is also a problem. For the meantime, however, wewill collect and analyse later to eliminate as far as we can the duplicates.

There are two or more rice growing seasons (not on same field) in Madagascar and it isnot possible to sample the varieties for different seasons in one visit. We have to make morethan one trip or teach the local agents how to collect and to send us the seeds.

There is the problem of language as farmers speak in their dialect, which is not wellunderstood by members of the collection team. Help of local extension service personnelhas to be sought.

We could not use the GPS because we haven't experiences how to manipulate it.

Constraints in seed handling, multiplication and storage.

Problem of seed mixtures exist. Even at the collection sites, farmers could not recognized someof the mixtures. Handling Oryza longistaminata is difficult because they do not flower readily orflowers do not set seeds. We find handling Oryza punctata is not as difficult.

Problem of Disbursement and Liquidation of Funds.

Poor or delayed communication with the bank that sometimes, we could not use the funds ontime. We hope this will improve as we have moved our office from Mahitsy to Antananarivo.

We would suggest, if possible, to send the Cash Disbursement Register, the Statementof Expenditures and Fund Balance for the Period ending every three months, because veryoften, we are in a trip for prospection or for field rejuvenation and this way is also cheaperespecially for DHL. The cost for sending faxies and other mail matters was supported by IRRIMadagascar excepted the cost of sending seeds which is paid from our supplies budget. IRRI-Madagascar wouldn't be still in position to pay it before the starting of the eventual new project. Consequently, we will request for additional budget to cover cost for faxes and other mailmatters. The approximate amount is US$600.

Future Plans

In 1998, in the South-East, we are planning a trip to collect remaining upland varieties it was notpossible in 1997 because the crops were destroyed by the typhoon "Gretelle". On this trip, weplan also to collect lowland Vary hosy varieties.

For 1998, the main collection trips will be undertaken on the western coastal areas(Maintirano area). We also plan on collecting from Tsiroanomandidy region Vary aloha varieties. If we will have stil time we will finish collections trip in the mid- North- East coast area.

We will continue processing samples collected (characterization, seed multiplication andstorage) and sharing seeds with IRRI.

These plans are shown in the table 2.

Table 2. Collection activities 1998.

Year Dates Areas to be covered Type of material (C/W)

1998 January-FebruaryMay-JuneJuly-AugustOctober

Varieties of Vary aloha season inTsiroanomandidy areaUpland rice of south-east coastMaintirano areaRemaining area of mid-North East coast

C + W

C + W

C + W

Proposed and approved budget 1997-1998 in US Dollars.

Resources and budget 1997 1998 Remainingbudget 1996

Total

Travel cost - Public transportation - Per diem - Honorarium and secretary - Vehicle rental (gasoline, etc)

50 650 2000

3143

400 1100 2300

6039

278,928

15960,928

Supplies cost 586 586 -182,694 989,306

Equipment 927,340 927,340

Total budget 6429 10425 1023,574 17877,574

Training and other logistic needs to carry out a successful collection trip

In 1997, two types of training were undertaken:

1. On-the-job training: with the participation of one student Mr RANDRIANARIVONY HeryLalao Lwyset, Laboratory Germplasm Assistant, at IRRI Phillippines for three topics:

- Field characterization of rice gemplasm (08-18-1997 to 09-12-1997)- Genebank management and documentation (09-13-1997 to 10-10-1997)- Data management and documentation (10-13-1997 t o11-07-1997)

2. In country training for field characterization and germplasm collecting trip:- 12 participants followed the courses from 08-25-1997 to 08-30-1997 and lack of timewas the main problem: one day devoted to field characterization and germplasmcollecting for wild and cultivated rice is a very limited time; practices are very needed. I have submitted to the project coordinator a proposal to fund again this training.

Besides it would be more helpfull if the manual was translated into Malagasy; aproposal was also submitted to the project cordinator for funding this translation.

Training for screening gerpmlasm against biotic and abiotic stresses was not possible untill now.

Logistic needs

• The motorcycle that we requested in case of very remote villages was purchased sinceNovember 24, 1997.

• The generator used in case of electricity problem for the cold room and freezers is alreadyordered and will be available this month.

• We would need to add one deep freezer for keeping the duplicate samples of seeds fromfuture collecting missions; this request was approved by the project cordinator and will bealso available this month.

Acknowledgment

The author is thankful to her hierarchical Chieves in FO.FI.FA. allowing her to participate at thisworkshop and to Dr T. Masajo for reviewing the manuscript.

Malaysia

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN MALAYSIA

Abdullah Md. ZainMARDI Rice Genebank, MARDI Research Station

Seberang Perai, P.O. Box 203, Kepala Batas 13200S.P.U. Penang, Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

In Malaysia, rice cultivation, having its root in a subsistence economy, covers a total of about 0.6million ha. And cultivated on different physiographic features of high hills and mountains, rollingto low hilly lands, intermediate to high terraces, flood plains and low terraces and coastal plains.Because of these, Malaysia is endowed with great genetic diversity in rice. But when riceproduction changed from subsistence to the market economy beginning in the early 60’s, thetraditional land races begun to be replaced by the modern varieties especially in the granaryareas. For fear of genetic erosion, agricultural workers began to collect the local landraces andpreserve ex-situ in the respective State Agriculture Stations all over the country and laterassembled for centralised conservational and evaluation at MARDI Research Station. Thegermplasm accessions are now preserved in the New Genebank Facility at MARDI SeberangPerai. Currently, the genebank holdings stand at 8900 registered accessions of O. sativaincluding duplicates of which 72% are of local origin. In addition, more than 150 samples of 4wild species of rice (O. rufipogon, O. officinalis, O. ridleyi, O. meyeriana) have been collectedand the majority being O. rufipogon. We project a collection size of 10,000 accessions (localand introductions) by the year 2000. MARDI gets most of the foreign germplasm from GeneticResources Center (GRC), IRRI and at he same time deposited its duplicate samples of localcollections at GRC for safekeeping.

Based on available passport data and expert advice of rice scientists, it was decided thatplanning for SDC project placed high collection priority in the upland environments and themajority of which are found in Sarawak and Sabah. These environments are still farmed under asystem of slash and burn shifting cultivation and contain a rich reservoir of traditionalgermplasm. But, lowland rice pockets in the very remote areas are included. Our target speciesalso include the 4 wild species which were earlier identified.

PROGRESS IN FIELD COLLECTIONS (1995-1997)

During the year 1995-1997, nine collection trips were made to the interior regions in P. Malaysia,Sabah and Sarawak. A total of 565 samples were collected (Table 1). Two hundred twenty-two(222) samples have been duplicated at IRRI while others are at initial seed multiplication stage.The areas (Figures 1a-1k) covered were as follows:

Gua Musang, Kelantan P. Malaysia (Fig. 1a). The area visited is located at an altitude of150m-350m. Historically, Kelantan has the largest hill rice acreage in P. Malaysia andconcentrated in Gua Musang areas. Even though, collecting expeditions have been made in thepast but after some consultation with relevant govern agencies, it is felt that it may be fruitful insome areas. Interestingly enough, we found, except for 1 site, farmers have abandoned hill ricecultivation over the last 5 years or so either due to the easy rice supply or discouragement ofslash and burn agriculture to prevent soil erosion.

Bakun (Belaga District), Sarawak (Fig. 1b). The areas covered are located along the BaluiRiver, one of the tributaries of Rajang River within altitude of 120m-240m. The trip was timely

Malaysia

because the area is now under construction for an hydroelectric plant to be known as Bakun damto generate power for Malaysia, especially Sarawak.

Upper Baram (Baram District), Sarawak (Fig. 1c). The areas covered are located along theTutoh river and its tributaries and the areas surrounding the Mulu National parks within altitudesof 34m-274m. The collectors travelled by river and road (logging tracks). Rice is planted on thehill slopes and terraces. The farmers are mostly tribal groups and some tribes still practicenomadic way of life.

Long Pasia (Interior District), Sabah (Fig. 1d). The areas covered were located at an altitudeof 160m-1080m in the midst of the dense jungle on the Crocker Range, passable only by 4WDtrucks and trails by foot which are notoriously difficult. The collecting routes by land and river(river Padas and tributaries) stretched very close to the Indonesian border. Tresspassing isrampant and in the event rice varietal exchange between bordering farmers is taking place. Riceis planted on hill slopes as well as on flat plateau.

Kota Belud, Sabah (Fig. 1e). The area is flat and under wetland rice cultivation with an altitudeof 160m.

Grik, Perak, P. Malaysia (Fig. 1f). Perak has the 3rd largest upland rice acreage in P. Malaysia.The areas covered is a reserved area for aboriginal tribes located at altitude 31m-457m on theundulating mountainous regions of the Main Range. Hill rice is cultivated on hill slopes.

Kuala Lipis, Pahang, P. Malaysia (Fig. 1g). Pahang has the 2nd largest upland rice acreage inP. Malaysia. The area covered is a reserved area for aboriginal tribes located at altitude rangingfrom 110m-220m on the Main Range. The collecting routes are along the Jelai river and itstributaries. Hill rice is cultivated on hill slopes.

Batu Berendam, Malacca, P. Malaysia (Fig.1h). The area covered is a lowland rice area. Ourtrip has salvaged one sample of O. rufipogon in an area being earmarked for a housing project.

Lubuk Antu, Sri Aman, Sarawak (Fig. 2c). Lubuk Antu is a regional district under Sri AmanDivision. It is here that Batang Ai Dam, which is the first man-made dam to generate hydro-elctric power in Sarawak. The dam which is at 200 meters above sea level is serviced byseveral rivers, such as Sg. Batang Ai, Sg.Engkari, Sg. Danok and others and its tributaries. Forthis particular trip, we concentrated on the long houses or villages alaong Sg. Engkari and areasalong the road from the town to the dam and around the town itself. As we have done in some ofthe difficult areas, the farmers were invited to come to specific meeting place in this case, thevillage head’s house. We visited 4 long houses (a long house is equivalent to a village) andcollected 203 samples with some duplication, at least by variety name.

Pensiangan, Interior Division, Sabah (Fig. 2b). The area is about 250 meters above sea level.Most samples were collected on the farm sites along the rivers and all of them are uplandvarieties.

Cameron Highlands, Pahang, P. Malaysia (Figure 2a). The collection sites ranged from 500mto 650m above sea level. But according to some elders, in the past, upland rice was plantedeven on much higher ground.

Temerloh, Pahang, P. Malaysia (Fig. 2d). A little different from other areas in Pahang, thecollection sites were located in the lower terraces of the main range (20m to 30m above sealevel). Upland as well as lowland types were collected.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Malaysia

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to many people for their excellent support:The Director of the Department of Agriculture, Sarawak and Director of Department ofAgriculture, Sabah, Department of Aboriginal People’s Affairs (JHOEA) and Local Leaders, havegiven their invaluable logistic support and their enthusiasm in the endeavour. Staff membersfrom the above agencies and local leaders displayed keen interest and dedication to the task offield collection. In this regard, mentioned is made of the following Aos: Puan Teo G.K. and Mr.Danny Foong (DOA, Sarawak), Puan Julia Lamdin, Miss Mary Siambun and Mr. Janie Tatingand staff (DOA, Sabah), En. Khairi and staff (DOA, Pahang), En. Nik Aziz Nik Mat and staff(MARDI Bentong), En. Aznan Abu Lazib and staff (JHOEA, Grik), En. Krisnam b. Hasbullah andstaff (JHOEA, Cameron Highlands, En. Patrick Engkasan and staff (Lubuk Hantu). A specialacknowledgement goes to our drivers, boatmens, and guides for their professional competenceand good cooking during the collection trips.

CONSTRAINTS

As indicated in the proposal that target areas are located in the remote interior and accessibilityis very unpredictable especially during the cropping season. Therefore, collecting during cropripening is very difficult. Another problem is related to local taboos where no one is allowed totake sample unless the farmers have started harvesting in the particular area. To overcome thelogistic problems we execute collecting activities towards the end of the harvesting season. Theuse of robust 4WD vehicles and river boats and skilled drivers enabled us to proceed. But insome very remote areas, farmers brought their seed samples to designated locations along thecollecting routes or bring to our lodging huts during the evening. Influential local leaders haveresolved our problems with social taboos.

The seed samples are packed in individual brown paper bags and packed in boxes. Atthe genebank, the samples are registered, dried to a moisture content of 12% or less before theseeds are processed for temporary storage in the short-term room condition. Initial seedmultiplication starts during the following main season.

TRAINING NEEDS

As far as training of PGR staff is concerned, IRRI has given a slot in each of the 3 on-the-jobtraining sessions held in 1997.

Malaysia

PROPOSED BUDGET (1997-1998)

Y e a rParticulars 1997 1998

Travel costs (in RM)Public transportation (air, rail, etc.) 6,000.00 6,000.00Per diem 3,000.00 3,000.00Honorarium (guides) 3,000.00 3,000.00Vehicle rental/gasolines 5,000.00 5,000.00

Supplies costs 6,000.00 6,000.00Equipment costs 2,000.00 2,000.00

Total budget (RM) 25,000.00 25,000.00

Further equipment need

Unit Costs

Deep freezer 2 RM36,000.00

Malaysia

Table 1. Germplasm collection, 1995-1997.

No. of germplasm collectedYear Areas covered Cultivated Wild

1995 Gua Musang (Kelantan, P. Malaysia) 5 -Bakun (Sarawak) 86 -

1996 Upper Baram (Baram, Sarawak) 47 -Long Pasia (Interior Division, Sabah) 27 1 (O. officinalis)Kota Belut (Sabah) 7 -Kuala Lipis (Pahang, P. Malaysia) 35 1 (O. officinalis)Batu Berendam (Malacca, P. Malaysia) - 1 (O. rufipogon)Grik (Perak, P. Malaysia) 51 1 (O. officinalis)

1997 Temerloh (Pahang, P. Malaysia) 41Pengsiangan (Interior Sabah) 41Cameron Highlands (Pang, P.Malaysia)

22

Lubuk Hantu (Interior Sarawak) 203

Total 565 4

Table 2. Collection activities, 1997-1998.

Year Dates Areas to be covered Type of materials

1997 March/April Sabah and Sarawak (uncovered orless covered areas especially inthe inland Malaysian-Indonesianborder areas

Upland, lowland, wild rices

1998 June/July Taman Negara, Pahang, Belum,Perak and Endau Rompin, Johor

Upland, lowland, wild rices

January/February/March

Lowland rice areas (including thegranary areas)

Wild rices and “naturalhybrids”

UPM Malaysia

OVERVIEW OF CROP GENETIC CONSERVATION IN MALAYSIA

Abdul Ghani Yunus and Mohd. Said SaadPlant Genetic Resources Center, Institute of Bioscience

Universiti Putra Malaysia43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

The approval of the National Biodiversity Policy by the cabinet is important forcrop genetic conservationist as it will enhance their work. Crop geneticresources of rubber, oil palm, fruits, root crops and medicinal plants weredescribed.

Rubber and oil palm are very important crops of Malaysia and to broadenthe genetic base, germplasm has to be collected in their countries of origin.Utilization of the genetic resources has improved the yield and quality of thecrops tremendously.

There is a great diversity of fruit species in Malaysia and varietalselection and hybridization has produced many good quality durian, starfruit,papaya, and pineapple. Root crops and medicinal plants are two groups ofplants. which are underutilized but have great potential and need priority inconservation.

With the establishment of the institutional framework for biologicaldiversity and identification of funding mechanism, some of the problems ingenetic conservation can be solved.

Introduction

The National Biodiversity Policy was approved by the Cabinet recently as part of the commitmentMalaysia made at the historic June 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Policy calls for theconservation of Malaysia's biological diversity and to ensure that its components are utilized in asustainable manner for the continued progress and socio-economic development of the nation(Zakri, 1996).

The approval was a significant event for those involved in crop genetic conservationwork. Their activities will be guided by some definite strategies (Zakri, 1996) and these willenhance their present and future projects.

Malaysia is rated as one of the world's 12 "megadiversity" countries and it is importantthat adequate protection and proper management is given to the country's natural resources toensure long term economic benefits, food security and environmental stability.

The importance of crop genetic resources as part of the biological diversity was realizedby the scientist for a long time and the activities related to it are reviewed for some crops.

UPM Malaysia

Crop genetic resources

There are about 12,000 species of seed plants indigenous to Malaysia and about 300 have beenutilized (Zakri et. al., 1989). Some of the important crops are exotic and the germplasm has to beintroduced. Crop genetic conservation work is handled by the respective crop-based researchinstitute usually as part of their research activities in plant breeding. Malaysian AgriculturalResearch and Development Institute (MARDI) has jurisdiction on most of the crops except rubberand oil palm which are managed by Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) and Palm OilResearch Institute Malaysia (PORIM) respectively. Universities like Universiti Putra Malaysia(UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti SainsMalaysia (USM) are also involved with crop genetic resources projects.

Crop genetic conservation in Malaysia was reviewed before (Arasu, 1985; Zakri, 1986;Zakri et. al., 1989; Yunus and Saad, 1995). Review on the following selected crops was basedon Yunus and Saad (1995) and was updated with the latest information.

Rubber

Natural rubber production from Malaysia made up 19.1% of the world's output in 1995 and thearea under rubber was 1.7 million hectares with export earnings of RM 4 billion Anon., 1997).

Most of the earlier planting materials used were derived from the 22 seedlings introducedfrom Brazil to Malaysia by Sir Henry Wickham in 1876 (Subramaniam and Mohd. Noor Ghani,1975). In order to broaden the genetic base several introductions were made. Tan (1987)reported that the first was in 1951-52 when 1614 seedlings of five Hevea species, H brasiliensis,H. guianensis, H. benthamiana, H. spruceana and H.pauciflora and also hybrid seeds fromdifferent provenances in Brazil were introduced. Another 25 South American leaf blight-resistantclones were imported in 1953-54. In 1966 seeds of different Hevea species were also importedfrom the Schultes Museum at Belem, Brazil. The more important collection was reported by Onget al (1983) when collection was carried in 1981 in three western states of Brazil namely Acre,Rondonia and Mato Grosso. From this collection a total of 9,748 genotypes are still surviving(Ramli et al., 1996) and the most recent collection by RRIM was in 1995 where 4.7 tonnes ofseeds were collected from the Amazonian region of Brazil. The seeds comprised of the followingspecies, H. brasiliensis, H guianensis, H. spruceana, H rigidifolia, Hpauciflora, H. benthamiana,and their interspecific hybrids. From the share given to Malaysia 50,357 seedlings weresuccessfully raised.

Ramli, et al. (1996) stated the objectives of the RRIM breeding programme which were toproduce elite clones with high yield and good secondary characteristics such as resistance towind damage, good growth vigour, resistance to major leaf diseases, good bark thickness, goodgirth increment on tapping, tolerance to brown bast, response to low tapping, response tochemical stimulation and of late selection of clones which have good bole volume for timber. Itwas reported that the yield has improved from 500 kg/ha/yr for unselected seedlings to yieldsranging from 2500 kg/ha/yr to 3000 kg/ha/yr for modem clones.

Oil Palm

The oil palm plantation covers 40% of the country's cultivated land with 2.52 million hectares in1995 and 6.5 million tonnes of palm oil was exported with the earning of RM 1.78 billion (Anon.,1997).

UPM Malaysia

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is not indigenous to Malaysia so germplasm collection has tobe carried out in the country of origin. The earliest collection of oil palm was by MARDI andNigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) in 1973 (Rajanaidu, 1985a) where 919accessions were collected in Nigeria. Further collection were made by PORIM in several Africancountries and made up a total of 1780 accessions of E. guineensis (Rajanaidu, 1994) (Table 1).Related species of oil palm, E. oleifera, was also collected and 167 accessions were obtainedfrom Central and South America. The PORIM field genebank maintains 59,625 palms covering406 ha. (1000 accs.). The germplasm was evaluated for various traits, such as fresh fruitbunches yield, oil and kernel content in bunches, height, fatty acid composition, physiologicalparameters and flower census. Rajanaidu (1994) reported tenera palms yielding more than 10tonnes oil per ha. per year in the Nigerian collection compared to the current yield of 5 tonnes.The palms are also short with annual height increment at only 15-25 cm as compared to 45-75cm of the current D x P materials. The palms also produce oil with high iodine value and highkernel content. From biochemical screening, the results showed that the Nigerian population isgenetically more diverse than Zaire population. E oleifera has several desirable characteristicslike higher oil unsaturation, reduced trunk increment, higher level of parthenorcarpic fruits,resistance to sudden wilt, tolerance to Ganoderma and seedling resistance to Fusarium wilt(Rajanaidu, 1985b). It can be useful for future hybridization work.

Rajanaidu and Jalani (1996) further reported that PORIM can now release to the industryhigh yielding parental palms with dwarfness, unsaturated oil and high kernel content. Genotypeswith high Vitamin A, Vitamin E and cocoa butter substitute were identified.

Fruits

The area under fruits was estimated to have grown by 6.6% a year in the Sixth Malaysia Plan(1991-1995) to 244,923 hectares. The area is expected to increase further by 7.1% a year in theSeventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000) to reach 345,126 hectares by 2000.

An estimated 1.58 million tonnes of fruit were produced in 1995 and expected to increaseto 3.3 million by 2000 (Anon., 1997).

There is a great diversity of fruit species found in Peninsular Malaysia (Hashim, 1986),the number of indigenous species are 530 and 93 of the wild species are edible. Sixty-seven ofthe native species are cultivated (Table 2).

Fifteen species are considered as major fruit which were identified for the development ofthe fruit industry (Mond. Yusof et. aL, 1991) (Table 3) and no less than 40 species are minorfruits (Zainal Abidin et. aL, 1989).

MARDI has played an important role in the collection of fruit species and in a project withInternational Board of Plant Genetic Resources 5 major species were collected and for the fivespecies the number of accessions at MARDI are durian (586), mango (370), rambutan (253),Lansium (27), and Artocarpus (100) (Zainal Abidin and Rukayah, 1995). They also noted of notless than 150 rare wild species. Earlier record (Zainal Abidin et al., 1989) showed other fruitspecies were also collected, namely: Musa, Averrhoa, Citrus, Garcinia, Salacca, Ananas, Carica,etc.

Besides MARDI, other institutions also held fruit collection like Universiti Malaya, notablycitrus (Jones, 1989). The Department of Agriculture of Malaysia are also involved in thecollection of fruit particularly clonal collection (Sohaimi et al., 1993, Wong, 1993). Universiti PutraMalaysia

UPM Malaysia

now has 100 accessions of starfruit and recently collected 150 accessions of Mangifera specieswhich include M. indica, M. odorata, and M. foetida.

Characterization and evaluation were documented for papaya (Chan, 1987), banana (SitiHawa, 1986), and durian (Zainal Abidin and Abdul Rahman, 1986). The diversity in starfruit weredetermined morphologically (Saad et al., 1993) and through isozyme analysis (Yunus et al., 1994,1995). The difersity in the different genera and families were also studied, e.g. Baccaurea(Salma et al., 1994), Sapindaceae (Rukayah and Salma, 1994) and Annonaceae (Mohd. Khalid,1994).

Clonal selection by the Department of Agriculture of Malaysia has produced somepopular fruit clones like starfruit (B2, B10, B17), Artocarpus (CH19, CH27, CH28, CH30), durian(D2, D10, D16, D24, D99), papaya (Subang, Sitiawan). Through hybridization, MARDI hasproduced durian (MDUR78, MDUR79, MDUR88) and papaya (Backcross Solo, Eksotika).Recently, a new pineapple hybrid ‘Josapine’ was developed by MARDI (Chan and Lee, 1996).

Root crops

This group of plant is considered as minor crop in Malaysia and consists mainly of cassava(Manihot esculenta), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), and taro (Colocasia esculenta). In 1991,the area for cassava was 7243 ha., sweet potato, 2118 ha., and taro, 1165 ha. (Anon., 1991) andit was less than 200 ha for tannia (Xanthosoma spp) and yam (Dioscorea esculenta). In MARDI,the germplasm collection of sweet potato was recorded at more than 500 accessions; cassava,93; Colocacia, 701; and Dioscorea, 277, but the collection has decreased in number (Tan, 1995).Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia also used to hold 730 accessions of Colocasia (Ghani et al.,1987) and it is not certain whether the plants are still there. At present, Universiti Putra Malaysiahas 200 accessions of sweet potato in its collection and recently 84 accessions of taro werecollected.

Evaluation on the local sweet potato varieties showed the presence of great variation formorphological and yield characters, enzymes and nutritional contents that include dry matter,starch, protein and fibre (Saad, 1994, 1995; Tan 1994). Hybridization of the sweet potato hasresulted in one variety UPMSS5 which produced high yield of more than 25t/ha under farmersfield condition, good taste, resistant to Scab and less susceptible to Cylas formicarius (Tan andSaad, 1994). Varietal evaluation of sweet potato by MARDI has produced the clone 'Gendut' butit is susceptible to Scab disease (Tan and Saad, 1994).

Medicinal plants

Medicinal plants are of interest to some people who are seeking alternative medical care. Theseplants were used based on traditional knowledge and the ethnobotanical information wasdocumented (Burkill and Haniff, 1930; Gimlett and Burkill, 1930; Zakaria and Mohd, 1994).However, research is required to elucidate the nature of the biologically active compounds foundin the medicinal plants.

Living collections of medicinal plants can be found in several institutions like UM, UKM,USM, UPM, MARDI and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (Latiff, 1989). Recently there was areport (Asiah and Azizol, 1997) about setting up a Genebank for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.

Conclusion

Almost all the crops mentioned were conserved as living collection because their seeds wereeither recalcitrant or they were vegetatively propagated. This raised a problem in the

UPM Malaysia

maintenance of the field genebank such as high cost, risk from infection, loss of material etc.(Yunus, 1995). Possibly in future these crops can be maintained in vitro (Engelmann and Rao,1996).

It was reported that the same species of crops were held in different institutions exceptfor rubber and oil palm. Each institution may have its own research programme but for thepurpose of conservation it may be redundant unless as duplicate collection. This may beovercome when the institutional framework for biological diversity management is established andreinforced (Zakri, 1996) and perhaps the problem of funding too when funding mechanism isidentified.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia for thepermission to present this paper.

References

Anon. 1991. Area of miscellaneous crops, Peninsular Malaysia 1991 Kuala Lumpur, Ministry ofAgriculture.

Anon. 1997. Malaysia Agricultural Directory & Index 97/98. Agriquest Sdn. Bhd. KualaLumpur.

Arasu, N. T. 1985. A decade of plant genetic resources activities in Malaysia. IBPGR/SEAN9:11-12.

Asiah, 0. and A. K. Azizol. 1997. Genebanks for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. Bull. of theGenetics Soc. of Malaysia. 3(1).

Burkill, I. H. and M. Haniff. 1930. The Malay Village Medicine. Gard. Bull. Sing. 6: 264-268.

Chan, Y.K. 1987. Maintenance, characterization and utilization of the papaya genetic collectionin Malaysia. IBPGR/SEAN workshop on characterization and preliminary evaluation ofcrop genetic resources. Bangkok, 27 Nov. 1985. IBPGR Newsletter (special issue) June1987.

Chan, Y.K and 11.K.Lee. 1996. 'Josapine’: A New Pineapple Hybrid Developed at MARDI. In:0. Mohamad et. al. (eds) Genetics Into The Next Millennium. Proc. of The SecondNational Congress on Genetics. Kuala Lumpur.

Engelmann, F. and R. Rao. 1996. In Vitro Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources: AnOverview of Activities at the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). In:M. N. Normah et. al. (eds) In Vitro Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources. Proc. of theInternational Workshop on In Vitro Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources. KualaLumpur.

Ghani, F. D., M. H. Lee, R.S Raja Barizan and H. Mat Saad. 1987. Evaluation of Local keladi(Colocasia esculenta) cultivars. Malays. Appl. Biology 16 (l):83-94.

Gimlett, J.D. and I. H. Burkill. 1930. The Medical Book of Malayan Medicine.Gard. Bull. 6:323-474.

Hashim, M.N. 1986. A lesser known and under-utilized forest resource. In: Y.K. Chan et. al.

UPM Malaysia

(eds) Proc. of the National Fruit Symposium. MARDI.

Jones, D. T. 1989. Collection, utilization and conservation of Citrus genetic resources inMalaysia. In: A. H. Zakri (ed). Genetic Resources of Under-Utilized Plants in Malaysia.Proc. of the National Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources, Subang Jaya, Malaysia.

Latiff, M. 1989. Genetic Resources of Medicinal Plants in Malaysia. In: A.H. Zakri (ed) GeneticResources of Under-Utilized Plants in Malaysia. Proc. of the National Workshop on PlantGenetic Resources, Subang Jaya, Malaysia.

Mohd. Khalid, M.Z. 1994. Variations in some Annonaccae species. In: K. Chong-Lek (ed). TheRole of Genetics in National Development. Proc. of the First National Congress onGenetics, Kuala Lumpur.

Mohd. Yusuf. H., A. Saharan and 0. Mohamad. 1993. Production research strategies for thedevelopment of fruit industry. In: M. Z. Mohd. Khalid et. al. (eds) Ke Arah Industri BuahBuahan Berdaya Maju. Presiding Simposium Buah Buahan Kebangsaan Ketiga, GentingHighlands Pahang.

Ong, S.H., M.N. Ghani, A.M. Tan and H.Tan. 1983. New Hevea germplasm - its introduction andpotential. Proc. RRIM Planters Conference, Kuala Lumpur.

Rajanaidu, N. 1985a. The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) collections in Africa. Proc. of theInternational Workshop on Oil Palm Germplasm and Utilization. ISOPB/PORIWIBPGR.Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Rajanaidu, N. 1995b. Elacis oleifera collection in Central and South America. Proc. of theInternational Workshop on Oil Palm Germplasm and Utilization. ISOPB/PORIM/IBPGR.Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Rajanaidu, N. 1994. Porim Oil Palm Genebank. Collection, Evaluation, Utilization andConservation of Oil Palm Genetic Resources PORIM.

Rajanaidu, N. and B. S. Jalani. 1996. Emerging trends in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis): Breedingand improvement into the next millennium. In: 0. Mohainad et. al. (eds). Genetics intothe next millennium. Proc. The Second National Congress on Genetics. Genetic Societyof Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur.

Ramli, 0., B. Masahuling and S. H. Ong. 1996. Genetic enhancement for Hevea improvement.In: 0. Mohamad et. al. (eds) Genetics into the next millennium. Proc. The SecondNational Congress on Genetics. Genetic Society Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur.

Rukayah, A and I. Salmah. 1994. Species diversity of fruit trees in the family Sapindaceae inPeninsular Malaysia. In: K. Chong-Lek (ed) The Role of Genetics in NationalDevelopment. Proc. of the First National Congress on Genetics, Kuala Lumpur.

Saad, M. S. 1994. Sweet potato Breeding in Malaysia. In: Tan at. el., (eds) Tuber Productionand Utilization in Malaysia. MARDI, UPM, MSHS. pp: 103-119.

Saad, M.S. 1995. Genetics and variabilities of starch, protein, fibre and ash in sweet potato fromMalaysia. In: Saad and Nordin (eds) Research and Development of Sweet Potato andPotato in Malaysia. MARDI, SAPPRAD, UPM. Pp: I-12.

Saad, M. S., A.R. Milan, A. G. Yunus and S. Ayama. 1993. Variation in Averrhoa carambola inMalaysia. In: M.Z. Mohd.Khalid et. al. (eds) Kearah Industri Buah Buahan Berdaya Maju.

UPM Malaysia

Prosiding Buah Buahan Kebangsaan Ketiga. Genting Highlands, Pahang.

Salma, I., A. Rukayah and H. Masrom. 1994. Genetic diversity of the genus Baccaurea inPeninsular Malaysia. In: K. Chong-Lek (ed) The Role of Genetic in NationalDevelopment. Proc. of the First National Congress on Genetics. Kuala Lumpur.

Siti Hawa, J. 1986. Characterization and evaluation of the Banana Grrmplasm in Malaysia.Prosid. Simp. Buah Buahan Kebangsaan, Serdang, Malaysia.

Sohaimi, M., B. T. Lim and A. Khairudin. 1993. Koleksi Buah Buahan di Pusat Pertanian Relau,Pulau Pinang. In: M.Z. Mohd. Khalid et. al. (eds) Kearah Industri Buah Buahan BerdayaMaju. Prosiding Buah Buahan Kebangsaan Ketiga. Genting Highlands, Pahang.

Subramanium, S. and Mohd, Noor Ghani. 1975. Genetic resources of Hevea and theirconservation, pp. 179-181. In: Williams et. al. (eds) South East Asian Plant GeneticResources, BIOTROP, Bogor.

Tan, Y.C. 1994. Isozyme Analysis in Sweet Potato. B. Agric. Sc. Thesis. Faculty of Agriculture,Universiti Pertanian Malaysia.

Tan, H. 1987. Strategies in rubber tree breeding. In: Abbot and Atkin (eds) ImprovingVegetatively Propagated Crops. Academic Press London. pp. 22-62.

Tan, S. L. 1995. Conservation of Tuber Crops. In: 0. Mohamad et. al (eds) The IndigenousFood Crops Conservation in Malaysia. Proc. of a National Seminar. ASEAN-NewZealand IILP, MARDI.

Tan, S. L. and M. S. Saad. 1994. Sweet potato varieties for fresh consumption. In: Tan et. al.(eds) Tuber Crop Production and Utilization in Malaysia. MARDI, UPM, MSHS.

Wong, W. W. W. 1993. Clonal fruit collection in Sabah. In: M. Z. Khalid et, al.(eds) KearahIndustri Buah Buahan Berdaya Maju. Presiding Simposium Buah Buahan KebangsaanKetiga. Genting Highlands, Pahang.

Yunus, A. G. 1995. Field Genebanks for Food Crops Conservation. In: 0. Mohamad et. al, (eds)The Indigenous Food Crops Conservation in Malaysia. Proc. of a National Seminar.ASEAN-New Zealand IILP, MARDI.

Yunus, A. G. and M.S. Saad. 1995. Conservation and Utilization of Tropical Crop Germplasm inMalaysia. In: 0. Endo et. al. (eds) Proc. 1995 TASAE: Present Situation, Problem,Prospect and Practical Implementation Program of Education and Research on PlantBreeding and Genetic Resources for Sustainable Development of Agriculture in Asianand Pacific Countries. University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Yunus, A. G., R. Ito and M. S. Saad. 1994. Isozyme polymorphism in the starfruit, Averrhoacarambola. In: K. Chong-Lek (ed) The Role of Genetics in National Development. Proc.of the First National Congress on Genetics, Kuala Lumpur.

Yunus, A. G., M. S. Saad, R. Ito, A. R. Milan and A. G. Othman. 1995. Collection and evaluationof tropical fruits germplasm in Peninsular Malaysia. Presented at the InternationalSymposium and Workshop on Conservation Biology. Nov. 19-23, Kuching, Sarawak.

Zainal Abidin, M. and M. Abdul Rahman. 1986. Fruiting behaviour of durian clones in the MARDIcollection. Prosid. Simp. Buah Buahan Kebangsaan, Serdang, Malaysia. Zakaria, Mand M.A. Mohd. 1994. Traditional Malay Medicinal Plants. Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn.

UPM Malaysia

Bhd. Kuala Lumpur.

Zainal Abidin, M and A. Rukayah. 1995. Conservation of Fruit Genetic Resources in Malaysia.In: 0. Mohainad et.al. (eds). The Indigenous Food Crops Conservation in Malaysia.Proc. of a National Seminar. ASEAN-New Zealand IILP, MARDI.

Zainal Abidin, M., J. Siti Hawa and Y.K. Chan. 1989. Genetic Resources of Malaysian FruitSpecies. In: A.H. Zakri (ed) Genetic Resources of Under-Utilized Plants in Malaysia.Proc. of the National Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources. Subang Jaya, SelangorMalaysia.

Zakri, A. H. 1986. Status of conservation and utilization of crop genetic resources in Malaysia.Malay. Appl. Biol. 15: 169-178.

Zakri, A. H. 1996. National Strategies on Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of GeneticResources in Malaysia. In: M.N. Normah et. al. (eds). In Vitro Conservation of PlantGenetic Resources. Proc. of the International Workshop on In Vitro Conservation ofPlant Genetic Resources. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Zakri, A. H., L. G. Saw and N. Rajanaidu. 1989. National Conservation Strategies of PlantGenetic Resources in Malaysia. In: A.H. Zakri (ed). Genetic Resources of Under-utilizedPlants in Malaysia. Proc. of the National Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources, SubangJaya, Malaysia.

UPM Malaysia

Table 1. Oil palm germplasm collections at Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia.

Country Year No. of accessions

Elaeis guinnensisNigeria 1973 919Cameroon 1984 95Zaire 1984 369Tanzania 1986 60Madagascar 1986 17Angola 1991 54Senegal 1993 104Gambia 1993 45Sierra Leone 1994 56Guinea 1994 61

E. oleiferaHonduras 1982 14Nicaragua 1982 18Costa Rica 1982 61Panama 1982 27Colombia 1982 41Surinam 1982 6

UPM Malaysia

Table 2. Number of wild and cultivated fruit species in Peninsular Malaysia.

Family GenusNo. of native

spp.No. of edible

wild spp.No. of cultivated

spp.

Anacardiaceae Bouea 2 2 2Anacardiaceae Dracontomelum 1 1 -Anacardiaceae Mangifera 16 9 9

Bombacaceae Durio 13 6 1

Ebenaceae Diospyros 70 3 -

Euphorbiaceae Baccaurea 20 13 3Euphorbiaceae Phyllanthus 22 1 -

Fagaceae Castanopsis 17 2 1

Flacourtiacea Flacourtia 1 1 -

Guttiferae Garcinia 49 12 7

Leguminosae Dialium 10 10 1Leguminosae Parkia 4 1 1Leguminosae Pithecellobium 12 2 2

Meliacea Lansium 1 1 1Meliacea Sandoricum 2 2 1Moraceae Artocarpus 18 7 7

Myrtaceae Eugenia 193 4 8

Myristicaceae Myristica 10 1 -

Rutaceae Citrus 4 2 7

Sapindaceae Nephelium 16 6 7Sapindaceae Xerospermum 5 2 -

Sterculiaceae Scaphium 4 4 -

Elaecarpaceae Elaeocarpus 30 1 1

Total 530 93 67

Source: Hashim, 1986

UPM Malaysia

Table 3. Major fruits of Peninsular Malaysia.

Common name Botanical name

1. Papaya Carica papaya L.

2. Pineapple Ananas comosus (L) Merr.

3. Banana Musa spp.

4. Durian Durio zibethinus L.

5. Rambutan Nephelium Lappaceum L.

6. Mango Mangifera indica L.

7. Starfruit Averrhoa carambola L.

8. Guava Psidium guajava L.

9. Melon Citrullus lunatus L.

10. Citrus Citrus spp.

11. Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

12. Manggosteen Garcinia mangostana L.

13. Soursop Annona muricata L.

14. Ciku Achras sapota L.

15. Duku, Langsat, dokong Lansium domesticum Jack.

Myanmar

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN MYANMAR*

U Than Sein, Daw Khin Than Nwe, and Dr. A. G. GarciaManager of Seed Bank, CARI; Deputy General Manager & Head of Rice

Division, CARI; and IRRI Representative to Myanmar

INTRODUCTION

Myanmar is rich in natural resources and no doubt genetic resources are one of it. It is wellknown as the primary center of diversity for rice. Collection of traditional varieties in Myanmarbegan in 1970, and more than 5000 accessions are maintained at Seed Bank, CARI. About1727 accessions of cultivated rice species are conserved at the International Rice Gene Bank.

The wider adoption of high-yielding varieties in Myanmar leads to the loss of geneticdiversity. To prevent the genetic erosion, collection and preservation of genetic resources isessential.

In 1990, Myanma Agriculture Service and IRRI undertook a three years collectionprogramme of the wild relative of rice in Myanmar. During the missions six divisions and threestates were visited. During the expedition a good collection of 161, accessions of wild rices 5species and 116 accessions of cultivated rices. The collected or target areas of the traditionalrice varieties are cold-tolerant, high-elevation rices, upland, saline and submergence tolerantgermplasms.

There are two major purpose of plant genetic resources in Myanmar:

(1) To explore, collect and evaluate collected indigenous and exotic genetic materials and;

(2) To preserve crop genetic resources safety for short-term (duration 3 to 5 years) and mediumlong terms (duration 20 to 25 years).

PROGRESS IN FIELD COLLECTION

Myanma Agriculture Service have a programme with IRRI, between 1996 to 1998 to collecttraditional varieties and wild relative of rices. In-country training course on germplasm of ricewas held in August 1996. Nineteen participants from Southern Shan State, and Chin State, forthe moth of November 1996 to January 1997. About 210 accessions from southern Shan Stateand 95 accessions form chin State, were collected. (Figure 1). Some of collected materialswere rare and valuable for cold-tolerant germplasm. Only Southern part of Shan State wascovered in 1996. Shan State is one of the most wide-agroecological zone and different part ofthe country. The areas covered had not been completed. Collection of Northern Shan State willbe done next year. General manager of CARI, IRRI Representative, staff of rice division, seed-bank, CARI, and trained staff of extension from Shan and chin states were involved in thisoperation.

The collected materials were seeds and panicles. Panicles were already threshed whenreceived in seed-bank, CARI. For seed multiplication, collected seeds will be sown in 1997 WS.At seed-bank collected samples were stored in dehumidified room as reduced seed moisturecontent. Each 40 gms. of duplicate samples will send to IRRI Gene-bank in March 1997.

*Participating agencies: CARI-MAS and IRRI

Myanmar

In-country training on gene bank data management was held in August 1997. Sevenparticipants from seed bank (CARI) staff participated in this course. In-country training courseon germplasm collection was held in September 1997. Nineteen participants from NorthernShan, Chin, Kachin, Rakhine State and CARI staff were involved.

CONSTRAINTS

Most of the areas in Chin and Shan States are above 100 meters altitude and remote areas.Travelling is the main problem during the collection trips. The collection team could notcovered all of the cultivated areas. These two states have many ethnic groups and differentlanguages . The collectors used guide one by each village because of different languages. Theanother problem from farm-store’s collected sample were mix seeds and the collectorsrequested to the farmers for true seeds and selected.

In Northern Shan State were remote areas. Travelling is main problem too. Travellingand drinking water are problem in Rakhine State, during the collecting trip. The collectors useonly boat to collect the germplasm.

FUTURE PLANS

The target areas will be collected in Northern Shan State, Kachin, Rakhine States in 1997 andKayah, Kayin States and Tanintharyi Division in 1998. The remaining areas will be theNortheast part of Myanmar and boundary of China, coastal region of Rakhine and Southernareas of Kayin State for 1997 and 1998. (Figure 2). Type of germplasm will be salt-tolerant,flood-tolerant, upland rice, lowland rice and wild relative of rices. To carry out a successfulcollection trips, germplasm collection training this year is needed and PGR staff needs toupgrade skill in conservation and documentation of collection germplasm. Further equipmentneeds to support conservation activities are shown in Table 3.

Myanmar

Table 1. Germplasm collection 1995-1997

Year Areas covered No. of germplasm collected Remarks---------------------------------------------------------

Cultivated Wild species

1995 - - - -

1996 Southern Shan State Kalaw township 30 - Completed Hopone township 30 1 O. rufipogon Taunggyi township 36 Completed Sesaing township 28 Completed Namsan township 46 Completed Kyaukme township 40 Completed

Chin State Paletwa township 10 Completed Thanllang township 24 Completed Falan township 38 Completed Hakha township 14 Completed

1997 Southern Shan State - 2 O. rugipogon, O. nivara

Northern Shan State - - -Kachin State - - -Rakhine State - - -

Myanmar

Table 2. Collection activities 1997-1999

Year Dates Areas to be covered Type of material (C/W)

1997-98 October 1997 Northern Shan State (3 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesNovember 1997 Kachin State (6 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesDecember 1997 Rakhine State (5 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesJanuary 1998 Rakhine State Cultivated, wild ricesFebruary 1998 Rakhine State Cultivated, wild rices

1998-99 October 1998 Kayah State (3 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesNovember 1998

November 1998 Kayin State (3 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesDecember 1998

December 1998 Tanintharyi (5 townships) Cultivated, wild ricesJanuary 1999 especially O. redleyi

January 1999 Kayin State Cultivated, wild ricesFebruary 1999

Myanmar

Table 3. Estimated detailed budget for germplasm collection and preservation 1998-99

Sr. No. Items Cost (estimated) US$

I. Travel expense of collectors and CARI staff

a) Kayah state (4 townships) 1,500.00

b) Kayin state (4 townships) 2,000.00

c) Tanintharyi (5 townships) 2,000.00

II. Research supplies

Printer paper, diskettes, bond paper, laser printer toner,collection bags, sign pen, slide and print film, filmprocessing, etc.

1,000.00

III. Training

In-country training on germplasm collection 3,000.00

IV. Equipment

Dot matrix printer (132 column) 500.00

Total 10,000.00

Nepal

RICE GERMPLASM IN NEPAL

M. P. Upadhyay, S. R. Gupta, and T. Katsumoto

Rice farming is the mainstay of the Nepalese economy. It occupies nearly 60% of theagricultural area and contributes 20% to the agricultural GDP and 54% to the total food grainproduction (MOF, 1995), engaging over 75% of the population for six months annually.Furthermore, rice is the staple food and accounts for 50% of the calorie in the regular diet.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is grown in diverse agro-ecological zones ranging from plain area of theTerai (70 m asl) to the high mountains (2621 m asl). Major rice land system units of the countryalso exhibit the variability in rice growing environments (Table 1). These variations coupled withthe antiquity of agricultural system have evolved wild species and landraces suited to variousniches. Thereby, Nepal represents a cradle of cultivated rice.

Prior to the advent of improved high yielding rice varieties, landraces occupied the total ricecultivated area. The organized efforts of agricultural research and development to popularizemodern varieties have successfully introduced semi-dwarf and dwarf rice varieties in favorableproduction environments. However, landraces with farmers preferred traits and adaptive tostress environments are still being grown. Information on the extent of genetic erosion is notavailable but apparently visible. It is fortunate that the collection of local rice germplasm wasinitiated at a crucial period by IRRI and IBPGR when the modern varieties were replacing thetraditional cultivars from their habitats.

Genetic Diversity

Rice is cultivated in wide array of environments including tropical/subtropical/temperate regionsof the world ranging from latitude 53°N to 53°S (Chang and Oka, 1976). In Nepal, japonica,javanica and indica types of rice are available (Kihara, 1955). Similarly, wild relatives of riceOryza nirvana, O. rufipogon, O. officinalis, O. sativa f. spontanea, Hygroryza aristata and Leersiahexandra have been observed during our regular plant collecting missions. Wild rice productionin their original habitats is associated with religious and cultural values in certain sectors of theTerai.

Rice landraces are available throughout the country. Scientists have realized the significance ofindigenous genepools which provide location specific adaptability, superior grain quality (graintype, cooking quality and fragrance), tolerance to pests and eco-edaphic stresses (Gupta et al.,1996). Fine scented varieties, namely, ‘Basmati’, ‘Kalanamak’, and ‘Kanakjira’ are popular ondining tables. ‘Chhomrong’ and ‘Jumli Marshi’ possess chilling tolerance. ‘Jasawa’ is a popularvariety of eastern and central Terai region because of its wider adaptability, medium fine grainand god parboiled rice quality. ‘Bageri’ and ‘Sokan dhan’ are resistant to green leafhopper andbacterial leaf blight. ‘Gamadhi’, a traditional rice cultivar in which panicle remains enclosed byflag leaf until maturity, escapes bird damages and its maturity period is short. Thereby, it hassynonyms like ‘Sathiya’ (60 days), ‘Garvey’ (Pregnant), ‘Dulhaniya’ (Bride), and ‘Thagiya’(Cheating). ‘Laila-Majanu’, a ‘Jodi dhan’ contains two rice kernel in a single caryopsis. Ingeneral, local varieties are tall, suitable to subsistence farming, and vary in photoperiodsensitivity and maturity. Five major rice cultures are being grown (Table 2). It has beenobserved that genetic diversity is conserved in remote areas because of location specificity oflandraces and the least disturbed forests.

Nepal

Utilization by National Program

The effectivity of the germplasm conservation depends on the environments under which thematerial is characterized and utilized for breeding purpose. National rice breeders havesuccessfully demonstrated that exploitation of locally adapted germplasm in breeding programresults in identification and release of a popular variety e.g. ‘Khumal-4’. ‘Pokhareli Masino’, alocal cultivar is a parent in it. The significant achievement has encouraged rice breeders toselect landraces from Local Germplasm Evaluation Nursery (Table 3) managed by Plant GeneticResources Unit under Agriculture Botany Division and National Rice Research Programme. Theobjective of the breeding activity is to create genetic diversity by utilizing landraces in theprogram (Sthapit and Dhani, 1997).

Major Activities Under the Project

1. One day training was organized to share knowledge on methodologies related to plantexploration and germplasm collection.

2. Three week long expedition mission collected altogether 96 local landraces (Table 4). Fourdistricts of western Nepal, namely, Banke, Rukum, Jajarkot, Dandeldhura, Surkhet andDailekh were intensively covered for the purpose from 24th November to 17th December1995. During the mission, the group felt a need of training in the field of collection,identification and conservation of rice germplasm including wild relatives.

3. The collected germplasm has been stored in Agriculture Botany Division and InternationalRice Research Institute as per the spirit of the project. The standard procedure for exchangeof germplasm was followed.

4. Equipment and other accessories were purchased to enhance national capabilities incollection and to a limited extent in the field of conservation.

5. Two activities related to the project have been proposed for 1997 and 1998.

a) a short course training on field collection and conservation of rice germplasm.

b) Morpho-agronomic characterization and evaluation of rice germplasm collected fromwestern hill districts.

Reference

Chang, T. T. and H. I. Oka. 1976. Genetic variation in the climatic adaption of rice cultivars. In:Proceeding of the “Symposium on Climate and Rice,” IRRI.

Gupta, S. R., M. P. Upadhyay, and T. Katsumoto. 1996. Status of Plant Genetic Resources inNepal. Paper presented at the 19th Summer Crops Workshop, Nepal.

Kihara, H. 1955. Flora and fauna of Nepal Himalaya. Fauna and Flora Research Society ofKyoto University, Japan.

LRMP. 1986. Land Use Maps of Nepal. Ministry of Forest and Environment - Land ResourcesMapping Project, Kathmandu, Nepal.

MOF, Nepal. 1995. Economic Survey (Revised), FY 1994/95, Ministry of Finance, Kathmandu,Nepal.

Nepal

Shrestha, G. L. 1988. Genetic Stock of Rice in Nepal. Paper presented in “Workshop on PlantExploration and Related Activities,” Nepal.

Sthapit, B. R. and N. B. Dhami. 1997. Research Highlights of Temperate Rice BreedingProgram. Paper presented at the “20th Summer Crops Workshop.” Nepal.

Nepal

Table 1. Major rice land system units in Nepal.

Land System Unit Region Dominant Cropping PatternDominantSlopes

Higher (river) terrace Tarai and Siwaliks Forest; Rice-Wheat < 1°

Depressional Tarai and Siwaliks Rice-FallowRice-Lentil

< ½°

Intermediate position (level) Tarai Rice-Wheat < ½°

Intermediate positiion(undulating)

Tarai Diverse crops < 1°

High position Siwaliks Bunded rice < 2°

Gently rolling Siwaliks Rice-Wheat/Lentil 1-5°

Alluvial plains Hills and Mountain Rice-Wheat diverse crops < 2°

Alluvial fans Hills and Mountain Diverse crops 1-10°

Dissected and non-dissected Hills Rice-Wheat, Maize-Mustard

0-5°

Moderate to steep slopes Hills and Mountain Rice-Wheat-Maize-Wheat/Millet; Forest

< 30°

Source: LRMP, 1986

Table 2. Major rice ecotypes and their distribution.

Ecotype Altitude % total area

Early rice 100-700 m 10

Main rice 100-2600 m 52

Temperate rice 1000-2600 m 26

Upland rice 300-800 m 9

Deepwater rice < 200 m 3

Nepal

Table 3. Rice landraces utilized in breeding programme

S. No. Local Name S. No. Local Name

1 Pokhareli Masino 14 Salo Dhan

2 Jumli Marshi 15 Rato Dhan

3 Pahenle 16 Thapachiniya

4 Jetho Budho 17 Kalo Jaran Dhan

5 Kalo Patle 18 Jhilinge Dhan

6 Chhomrong 19 Jogidhan

7 Basmati 20 Jhyale Ghaiya

8 Silange 21 Gopal Dhan

9 Pyuthane Masino 22 Sano gunde

10 Raksali 23 Kalo gunde

11 Shyam Jeera 24 Darmali Dhan

12 Dhunge Dhan 25 Nani ghaiya

13 Jhali Dhan

Nepal

Table 4. Rice germplasm collection

SNColl.

#Acc.No. Coll. Date Local Name District Village

Alt(m) Remarks

01 01 8806 21/11/95 Jharanga Dhan Banke Bhuje Gaun (Surkhet road) 180 Wild spp. (O. nivara)02 02 8807 26/11/95 Dedhwa dhan Banke Bhuje Gaun (Surkhet road) 180 -03 03 8854 27/11/95 Pahele Rajmele Rukum Chaurjahari-6, Bijeshwori 762 Upland rice04 06 8808 28/11/95 Jhali dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-6, Risang 89905 07 8809 28/11/95 Kangreshi Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-6, Risang 899 -06 13 8810 30/11/95 Baragaule Dhan Jajarkot Dandagaun-4, Dandagaun 838 -07 14 8811 30/11/95 Kaile Dhan Jajarkot Dandagaun-4, Dandagaun 838 -08 18 8812 30/11/95 Sano Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-1, Dalli 869 -09 21 8813 30/11/95 Rajkumar Dhan Rukum Bhelma Jyulo-7, Bhelma

Jyulo823 -

10 22 8814 30/11/95 Kamal Dhan Rukum Bhelma Jyulo-7, bhelmaJyulo

823 -

11 23 8815 01/12/95 Ramlahari Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-8, Rimna 762 -12 27 8816 01/12/95 Pakhe Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-8, rimna 762 Upland rice13 28 8817 02/12/95 Baragaunle Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-8, Pipe 747 -14 31 8818 02/12/95 Thulolahari Dhan Rukum Bhelma-7, Bhelma 823 -15 35 8819 02/12/95 Pakholahari Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-6 853 Upland rice16 36 8820 03/12/95 Pyuthan Dhan Jajarkot Khalanga-6 853 -17 37 8821 05/12/95 Rato Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-3, Bhel 1585 Upland rice18 41 8822 05/12/95 Thapchinia Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-3, Matargaum 1585 -19 46 8823 05/12/95 Jhuse Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-3, Matalgaum 1585 Upland rice20 49 8824 05/12/95 Jalwadali Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 Upland rice21 50 8825 05/12/95 Marsho Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 -22 51 8826 05/12/95 Jawlya Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 Upland rice23 53 8827 05/12/95 Pele Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 Upland rice24 54 8828 05/12/59 Salo Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 Upland rice, highly

scented and soft25 55 8829 05/12/95 Marshi Dhan Dadeldhura Ghatal-5, Joishina 1585 -26 57 8830 06/12/95 Thapachinia Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 -27 59 8831 06/12/95 Seto shyamjeera Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 -28 64 8832 06/12/95 Binanam Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 Upland rice29 65 8833 06/12/95 Rato Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 Upland rice30 66 8834 06/12/95 Dhudhe Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 Upland rice

Nepal

Table 4. Cont.

SNColl.

#Acc.No. Coll. Date Local Name District Village

Alt(m) Remarks

31 67 8835 06/12/95 Chhatange Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 -32 68 8836 06/12/95 Salo Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1158 Upland rice, scented,

sweet taste, good forkhaja1

33 74 8837 06/12/95 Chiunde Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1128 Lowland, good forkhaja, not for bhar2

34 75 8838 06/12/95 Kature Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1128 Upland rice35 76 8839 06/12/95 Hansaraj Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1128 Lowland, scented,

good taste and finerice

36 78 8840 06/12/95 Basmati Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1128 Both up and lowlandrice, highly scentedand good taste

37 79 8841 06/12/95 Mansara Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-9, Manana 1128 Both up and lowlandrice, good for bhat

38 80 8842 06/12/95 Tauli Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-4, Rain 1402 Upland rice39 82 8843 07/12/95 Rato Dhan Dadeldhura Ugratara-8, Pokharabajaar 1530 Upland rice40 83 8844 07/12/95 Bokati Dhan Dadeldhura Ugratara-8, Pokharabajaar 1530 Upland, grown high

and low altitude41 86 8845 07/12/95 Jawle Dhan Dadeldhura Ugratara-8, Pokharabajaar 1530 Upland rice42 89 8846 07/12/95 Rato Dhan Dadeldhura Ugratara-8, Pokharabajaar 1530 Upland rice43 93 8847 07/12/95 Danda Basmati Dadeldhura Ugratara-9, Siraunla 1530 Upland rice44 100 8848 07/12/95 Modora Dhan Dadeldhura Dotighatal-9, Haatgaun 1585 -45 101 8849 07/12/95 Jaule Dhan Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-5, Bhandara 1150 Upland rice46 102 8850 07/12/95 Shyamjeero Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-5, Bhandara 1150 -47 103 8851 07/12/95 Sunaulo Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-5, Bhandara 1150 -48 104 8852 07/12/95 Jado Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-5, Bhandara 1150 -49 105 8853 07/12/95 Thapachinia Dadeldhura Sahashralinga-5, Bhandara 1200 -50 02 8855 27/1195 Darmali Dhan Surkhet Dashrathpur-9, Pitedanda 1200 Lowland rice

1Fresh rice soaked in water and eaten directly (Khaja in general term is applied for Tiffen [light day meal] in Nepali).2Boiled rice

Nepal

Table 4. Cont.

SNColl.

#Acc.No. Coll. Date Local Name District Village

Alt(m) Remarks

51 03 8856 27/11/95 Pokharel Dhan Surkhet Dashrathpur-9, Pitedanda 1200 Lowland rice52 04 8857 27/11/95 Haribhakte Dhan Surkhet Dashrathpur-9, Pokharidanda 1000 Lowland rice and

shattering53 05 8858 27/11/95 Jaran Seto Dhan Surkhet Dashrathpur-9, Rautekhola 1020 Lowland rice54 06 8859 27/11/95 Kalo Jaran Dhan Surkhet Dashrathpur-9, Pokharidanda 1000 Sweet smell when

cooked55 07 8860 28/11/95 Jhilingi Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice56 08 8861 28/11/95 Gogi Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice57 09 8862 28/11/95 Lahari Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice58 10 8863 28/11/95 Rato Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice59 11 8864 28/11/95 Damari Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice60 12 8865 28/11/95 Kalnathe Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice61 13 8866 28/11/95 Dehradune Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-7, Sitapur 500 Lowland rice62 14 8867 28/11/95 Dhunge Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice63 15 8868 30/11/95 Dhayale Ghaiya Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice64 16 8869 30/11/95 Boomboli Ghaiya Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice65 17 8870 01/12/95 Goji Dhan Dailekh Basntamala-9, Kimugaun 1350 Upland rice66 18 8871 03/12/95 Gopal Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice67 19 8872 03/12/95 Pangali Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice68 20 8873 03/12/95 Thulo Gunde Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice69 21 8874 03/12/95 Patte (Aulali) Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice70 22 8875 03/12/95 Darmali Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice71 23 8876 03/12/95 Kalo Gunde Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-3, Khursanibari 1500 Lowland rice72 24 8877 11/12/95 Tunde Dhan Dailekh Tribeni-3, Dhita 1400 Lowland rice73 25 8878 11/12/95 Jhayle Dhan Dailekh Tribeni-3, Dhita 1400 Lowland rice74 26 8879 11/12/95 Bhursale/Jadan

DhanDailekh Tribeni-7, Sota 1200 Lowland rice

75 27 8880 04/12/95 Sano Gunde Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Lowland rice

Nepal

Table 4. Cont.

SNColl.

#Acc.No. Coll. Date Local Name District Village

Alt(m) Remarks

76 28 8881 04/12/95 Dehradune Dhan Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Lowland rice77 29 8882 04/12/95 Thulo Kalo Gunde Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Sweet smell when

cooked, latematuring, diseaseand insect pestresistant

78 30 8883 04/12/95 Jhilli Dhan Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Late maturing79 31 8884 10/12/95 Sano Kalo Gunde

DhanDailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Disease resistant, late

maturing, sweet smellwhen cooked, paperybark

80 32 8885 10/12/95 Bhaise Gunde/Dhaluwa Pyale

Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Late maturing

81 33 8886 04/12/95 Bhurshale Dhan Dailekh Toli-5, Naumule 1050 Sweet and smoothwhen cooked

82 34 8887 06/12/95 Dawadi Ghaiya Dhan Dailekh Toli-1, Toligaun 1300 -83 35 8888 28/11/95 Rate Ghaiya Dhan Surkhet Ramghat-4, Ganeshpur 560 Upland rice84 36 8889 07/12/95 Nani Ghaiya Dailekh Toli-1, Toli 1300 Upland rice85 37 8890 08/12/95 Mache Ghaiya Dailekh Toli-1, Toli 1300 Upland rice86 38 8891 15/12/95 Bada Gaunle Dailekh Bilashpur-9, Bhurti 1350 Lowland rice87 39 8892 15/12/95 Gopal Dhan Dailekh Bilashpur-9, Bhurti 1350 Lowland rice88 40 8893 13/12/95 Gita Choure Dhan Dailekh Basantamala-4, Nayagaun 1300 Lowland rice89 41 8894 12/12/95 Gogi Dhan Dailekh Basantamala-4, Nayagaun 1350 Upland rice90 42 8895 18/12/95 Anadi Dhan Surkhet Birendranagar-2, Tinkume 700 Lowland rice91 43 8896 19/12/95 Seto Gunde Dhan Surkhet Birendranagar-2, Tinkume 700 Lowland rice92 44 8897 19/12/95 Simtaro Dhan Surkhet Uttaganga-5, Phalate 720 Direct sowing93 45 8898 20/12/95 Paranpauli Surkhet Birendranagar-3, Kalagaun 700 Late variety, sweet

smell when cooked94 46 8899 20/12/95 Nibai Dhan Surkhet Birendranagar-2, Dhadekhali 700 Lowland rice95 47 8900 20/12/95 Gaure Dhan Surkhet Birendranagar-8, Khajura 700 Lowland rice96 48 8901 20/12/95 - Surkhet Birendranagar-8, Khajura 700 Lowland rice

Philippines

FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Teresita H. Borromeo and Sancho G. Bon

INTRODUCTION

In the Philippines, rice cultivation antedates historical records. Rice was believed to have beenintroduced into the country as upland rice some 3,46() years ago by emigrants from Indo-Chinaand the South China Coast (Beyer, as cited by Henson, 1960). The location of the Philippines asan island bridge between insular East Asia and insular Southeast Asia, the ecogeographicvariation among scores of islands where rice is grown, the different rice-based cropping systemsand ethnic groups growing rice have resulted in a great diversity of indigenous cultivated ricegermplasm. So, although rice is only an introduced species in the Philippines, considerablediversity evolved through the ages. From a few introduced lines, new genetic lines must haveevolved through a long process of natural and artificial selection and cultivation in a wide range ofenvironmental condition. Traders from our Asian neighbours must have also contributedadditional germplasm, as the Indonesians who introduced the javanica race in the Philippines(Chang, 1976). This pool of diversity largely resides in the traditional cultivars being cultivated byour farmers.

Initial attempts to conserve rice genetic resources in the country have started as early as the pre-war period. However, systematic collecting and conservation started only in the mid 80’s. Theresponsibility was formally transferred to PhilRice in 1997. PhilRice now leads in theconservation of the countrys' rice genetic resources. At present, PhilRice medium term storageroom holds 3052 accessions (Table 1).

Target areas

Priority areas for collecting in the Philippines represent areas where collecting has not beenconducted or where very few samples have been obtained. These are mostly the uplandenvironment (Figure. 1). Some provinces (Antique, Surigao and Lanao) are uncollected due tosome political limitations in the early 70's and 80's- Antique for instance, is one of the strongholdsof armed resistance movements in 3970-1980. But changes in the country's politicaladministration has greatly improved the socio-political conditions in those provinces. Likewisethere has been significant positive changes in the economic activities in such areas. Theseconditions favored changes in farming system from such as adoption of modern cultivars, shift orpreference to short season marketable crops. Many farmers also opted for alternative livelihoodsconsequently abandoning upland rice cultivation. These factors along with rapid industrializationand urbanization had contributed to the rapid loss of traditional varieties and their wild relatives.Hence, the need to collect and conserve the remaining traditional varieties in the field.

Target species

The project aims to collect the remaining uncollected traditional varieties in the target areas.Reports on the resurvey of wild rices in the country indicated extended distribution of the wildspecies. The project therefore equally aims to conduct an extensive exploration and collecting ofO. meyeriana in Palawan and O. minuta and O. officinalis in Lanao to ensure the collection andsubsequent conservation of the total species diversity.

Philippines

Field Collection

Upland rice in the country is a wet season crop with one cycle in a year. In most parts of thecountry, cropping season normally starts about late April to mid-May ending towards mid-September through mid-November. Maturity of traditional rices ranges from a little less than fourmonths to as late as six months. Collecting therefore is better conducted towards the end of theharvesting period until at least a month before planting.

Field collecting of the project was essentially started in 1996. The first 3 quarters (1995)of the project was largely devoted for project staff orientation and training into the various aspectsof plant genetic resources conservation and management. Two exploration and collecting tripswere conducted which also served as hands-on training for the staff along with the GRC-IRRI andNPGRL Staff. Starting 1996 until November 1997, 10 exploration and collecting missions havebeen conducted principally by the project staff. Below are the areas that have already beencovered since the project started in 1995.

Areas covered

Leyte

In 1963 and 1990, sympatric populations of O. mInuta and O. officinalis were found in BarrioBoaya, Tanauan, Leyte by Tateoka and Pancho (1963) and Vaughan et al (1990). A sterilepopulation which morphologically resemble O. minuta was also collected in 1990 in Hilongos,Leyte. Cytological examination revealed that the sterile population has 36 chromosomes. It wastherefore hypothesized that the sterile population could he a natural hybrid of the sympatricpopulations of O. officinalis and O. minuta. With more detailed morphological, cytological andbiochemical studies in mind, a resurvey of the area in Leyte was conducted. Unfortunately, thesympatric populations no longer exist. The re-survey was conducted jointly with the GRC-IRRIand the NPGRL in August, 1995.

Aurora

Aurora is formerly a sub-province of Quezon. It is located about 121°31’E longitude and 15°61’Nlatitude facing the Pacific ocean with coralline and fine-sand shoreline. The opposite side(western) is ruggedly mountainous forming part of the Cordillera mountains. Flat areas arelimited and scattered while a large portion of the province has been designated as a national park(Maria Aurora) with still comparatively well-forested area. A number of river system cuts from themountains through the coastline.

Aurora is still characteristically undeveloped and agricultural being a remote province.Major agricultural crops include banana, rice, coconut, root crops and citrus. Marine products arealso an important economic commodity. Traditional upland rice is mainly grown in highlandcommunities solely for family consumption. In areas where commercial rice is available or areaccessibly near to ific market centers, traditional Fices are rarely produced. llighland farming islargely marginal based on slash-and-burn system. A newly cleared field is first planted to rice bydirect seeding and without any other inputs. After rice, few cycles of rootcrops follow and theneventually planted with permanent crops such as banana and coconut. ]'he same field is rarelyre-used for another rice cropping. Rice cropping season in Aurora is from )ate April to mid-November. Though traditional rices were normally noted for their good eating characteristics andtolerant to biological stresses except vertebrate pests, their maintenance in the local uplandfarming system is rather mainly due to economic reason, That is, producing rice supply for thefamily is still rational for the remotely located communities. Traditional rices are generally latematuring and highly prone to typhoons which unfortunately is the cropping season. Thisexploration and collecting activity was the only one conducted in 1995 and served as the field

Philippines

exposure of the project staff. This activity was jointly conducted with the NPGPL group inSeptember, 1995.

Cagayan Valley

Cagayan belongs to the valley region of north eastern Luzon. It lies about 17°30' - 19°30’N and121°15'E. It is bounded in the east by Sierra Madre Mountains, in the west by the Cordilleracentral Mountains and the China Sea in the north. Cagayan is hilly and mountainous in the eastcoast, low flat in the north and flat and swampy in the south Apayao area. In between are valleysand run-off soils deposited from the surrounding bills and mountains. Hills and mountainscomprise 25% and about 9% is undulating to rolling. Most of the province has an approximatelyevenly distributed rainfall throughout the year, where most of the rains come during the typhoonseason. Rainfed lowland area is about 116,826 hectares while upland is 4,778 hectares. Rice isthe major agricultural crop of the province where modern varieties predominates the irrigated,level welt-drained areas. In the hilly and swampy areas such as Solana, lguig and similarlocalities, the predominant cultivars are the tall, flood-resistant traditional varieties particularly theWag-wag types. In some cases, a mixture of different varieties can be observed in the field ortraditional varieties are grown side by side with modern varieties. While water table in Cagayanmay be shallow and potential for irrigation is available, significant portion of the total land area isstill rainfed. This may remain as rainfed, however due to poor drainage. Accordingly traditionalrices are the adapted varieties in the flood-prone rice ecosystem in low-lying areas of Cagayan.The traditional late maturing variety "WAG WAG' predominates the rainfed lowland areas andintended mainly for marketing being classified as fancy. Other varieties usually glutinous are alsoplanted for home uses. Cagayan has been explored and collected in the previous years andavailable germplasm is now well represented in the collection. For this trip, it was mainly aimedat surveying sites for the On-Farm Conservation Project (Phase II) led by the GRC-IRRI group. Itwas conducted last January, 1996.

Abra

The province of Abra is situated between 120°-121'N longitude and 17°-18’E latitude belonging tothe Cordillera Administrative Region. It is landlocked in the north by llocos Norte, llocos Sur onthe South through the western portion towards the South China Sea, Mountain Province in thesouth east and Kalinga-Apayao on the north-northeast. Abra is mountainous and hilly as theCordillera Mountains traverse most of the province's area. Primary crops include rice, tobacco,vegetables, and mango. Rice is grown from lowlands to the high lands. Many of the lowland ricefields are still rainfed though spring water from the mountains is available for development. In thehighland areas where most of the Tinggiuans are located, terracing along the slopes of mountainsis traditionally practiced utilizing springs from the mountains as gravity irrigation system. In theirrigated areas, adoption of HYV' is still low and limited only in areas proximate to Bangued. Inthe highlands, though many are irrigated, traditional varieties are still preferred. Traditional ricesare grown mainly for family's rice supply. Though one glutinous variety "Waray or Walay" isnormally intended for marketing. Commercial inputs are not applied in the Tingguian terracedirrigated rice farming as primarily these are added costs. In the irrigated areas about twocroppings of traditional varieties is attained. Many farmers maintain at least two varietiesensuring therefore the higher diversity. Accordingly, each may have different ecologicaladaptation (rainfed, irrigated), or relative maturity or usage (ordinary, glutinous). Traditionalvarieties in addition to having good eating qualities are also noted to be resistant to pests andenvironmental stresses particularly drought. Also, straw or stalk is commonly used as animalroughage thus long-statured traditional varieties are favorable. For marketing purposes, HYV'sare already adopted particularly in the areas proximate to the centers.

Philippines

Exploration and collecting in Abra was jointly conducted with the NPGRL group inFebruary, 1996. It is further recommended the exploration of remotely distant municipalities asthey may contain to capture the widest range of diversity of Abra.

Polillio Islands, Quezon

Polillio is a groups of islands and several islets off the coast of Quezon province. It is composedof five small municipalities, three of which are located in the largest islands, Polillio. Polillio isgeographically situated about 14°42'N longitude and 121'E latitude along the typhoon path. Itstopography is generally rolling to slightly mountainous towards the central area with about 300mas the highest peak. Remaining forest cover is generally second growth. Some small riversystem runs from the central mountain towards the shore. These dries up during summermonths. Shoreline is mostly fine sand with few corraline and deep sections. Polillio as a smallisland towards the Pacific is generally undeveloped with very limited public facilities includingelectricity and treated piped water. It is mainly agricultural where root crops, banana and somecoconut are the mainstay commodities, as well as marine products. Patches of scattered flatareas are planted to HYV rice cultivars. Upland rice cultivation is solely for family's supply andnow limited to the more remote upland communities. Upland Farming system is largely marginaland based on the slash-and-burn methods. Rice cropping season normally fall from late Aprilthrough early November during the wet season which also coincide with the typhoon season.Field is normally located along the slopes at varying elevation and inclinations. Rice is directlyseeded. After which few cycle of root crops follows and eventually permanent crops such asbanana and coconut are planted. Farm then shifts locations further. Traditional rices are notedfor their good eating qualities, tolerance to biotic and environmental stresses and adaptability tomarginal farming but prone to vertebrate pests and discouragingly to typhoons. Thus with theincreasing availability of commercial rice from the mainland, cultivation of traditional ricesbecomes limited to more distant and remote areas where access to market centers is equallydifficult. Polillio essentially has no land routes and during monsoon months coastline isdangerously rough. Maintenance of more than one variety is common among farmers particularlythe Dumagats widening therefore the range of diversity.

Exploration and collecting in Polillio were conducted alone by the Project staff withassistance from some local persons in April, 1996.

San Remegio, Antique

San Remegio is !he only interior municipality of Antique, The rest are dotted along the coastline.It is about 20 kilometers north-east of San Jose (de Buenavista) Antique's capital similarlysituated at the foot of the Badjaas mountain range. It is thus characteristically sloping to highlymountainous. Forest cover, though said to be thickly forested before, is a thin remnants ofcommercial logging with scattered small trees remaining. Many spots are grasslands while somepoints appear to rock formations, with only thin shrubs and grasses covers. San Remegio has aslightly lower temperature condition compared to the lowland areas.

San Remegio is basically an upland-hillyland farming municipality. Farming in SanRemegio has shifted now from a kaingin shifting system into a more settled terraced farmingsystem or SALT, as locally known. Slashing and Burning of remaining scrub is prohibited. In thesloping system, rice is the main crop. Varieties planted are mainly rainfed HYV's being shortmaturing and high-yielding. Traditional upland rices are now grown by isolated upland farmfamilies for family consumption. Thus, the diversity of upland traditional rices is no longer as highas once previously thought. In the SALT areas, vegetables are sometimes planted right after therice crops. Some areas of San Remegio is actually being transformed into vegetable productiontaking advantage of the favorable temperature condition . But in most instances, fields are leftfallowed until the next cropping season. In kaingin farming, cropping season starts from clearingand burning during summer. Direct seeding by hill follows when sufficient rain comes usually late

Philippines

April to early June. As a marginal farming, no other commercial input is added. Harvestingnormally starts from mid-September through early November. After rice, corn or root cropsmaybe planted . The same field are rarely re-used until after few years. SALTing favored theadoption of FIYV'8 while traditional varieties are now limited to few remote communities that needto produce their own food requirement out of necessity.

Two exploration and collecting missions were done in Antique. First was in October,1996 together with another staff of the institute. This trip however was not able to include thetarget site of San Remegio due to bad prevailing weather in the area. Collecting and explorationhowever, were completed in the rest of the province. The completion and follow-up collectingwas conducted in May, 1997 alone by the project staff with assistance from one staff of provincialagriculture office.

Occidental Mindoro

Occidental Mindoro lies in the western half of Mindoro Island. it is located at about 12°34'Nlongitude and 120°56'E latitude facing the northern islands of Palawan. The length of the easternsection is occupied by the central mountains, Mt. Halcon having the highest peak. Towards thewestern section topography gradually shifts from mountainous to rolling to flat. Parts of thecoastline includes the country's largest reef formation, the Apo Reefs. Mountains vegetation islargely secondary growth forest. Lower sections mainly grasslands and crop fields. Some peaksare large rock formations. From the central mountains, several river system cuts across towardsthe shoreline. The climate is distinct wet and dry but pattern slightly vary between northern andsouthern ends. Occidental Mindoro is comparatively less developed than the oriental.Agriculture is the major sector. Rice is the primary crop and is the rice producer in SouthernTagalog Region. Othe important crops are rnaize, mungbean, squash planted after rice. Uplandcrops include cassava, sweet potato, peanut, gabi and banana. Limited area is planted tococonut. In the lowland areas, HYVS are planted. Traditional rices are limited to sloping and/ormountainous areas. Farming in these areas is contrastingly marginal with some degree ofsettlement. With the prohibition of further clearing remaining forest, cover highland communitiesseemed to adopt settled mode of farming. Rice is planted yearly during the wet season followedby short season crops such as squash or mungbean then left fallowed for the next rice cropping.Cultivation of traditional rices is both for family consumption and for marketing. Certain traditionalvarieties are classified as fancy such as Camoros and Risco. This resulted in the narrowing ofvarieties maintained in some areas. Remote areas still maintain wider diversity of traditional ricesparticularly among the Mangyan communities.

Collecting in Occidental Mindoro was conducted on October, 1996 together witli onecollecting companion from the institute. Explorations also yielded three populations of 0.olvicinalis found in different locations and about 60 km. of the first report from the province in1963. The geographical configuration of the province rendered the collecting schedule short forcompletely coverage. Thus the two south most and largely mountainous municipalities were notcovered. Cultivation of traditional rices in these areas is said to be very popular as there isessentially no flat area.

Libacao, Aklan

Libacao is the furthest interior municipality of Aklan about 30 km south of the capital, Kalibo. It issituated at the foot of MT. Nausang, part of the Badjaas mountain range, thus characteristicallymountainous. Libacao is characteristically undeveloped and agrarian in nature. Aklan river andseveral other small natural waterways passes through Libacao from the mountains towards theKalibo coastline. Forest cover is secondary remnants of commercial logging. Being agriculture-based municipality, upland or hillyland farming is dominant. Abaca is the primary crop followedby coconut. Other crops include root crops, such as sweet potato, cassava, taro and somelowland modern cultivar and upland traditional rices. Traditional rice however is solely for familyconsumption while other crops are at least partly intended for the market. Remotely located farm

Philippines

families usually opted to produce their own rice supply. Hillyland farming is essentially the Kainginsystem or shifting marginal slash-and-burn. Upland rice is planted as first crop directly seeded atthe start of the rainy season. After rice, few cycles of root crops then eventually planted topermanent crops. Field is normally used only once for rice. The shifting movement is said toclose in a cycle between 15-20 years. That is farmers go back to the same site. In general,farming to most is for family subsistence and only a portion is intended for the market, except forthe plantation crops abaca and coconut. Upland traditional rices are said to be of good eatingqualities, tolerant to drought and pests but prone to lodging, preferred by vertebrate pests andmatures late. Farmers normally maintain two or more varieties. It is not associated though tocultural beliefs except for a glutinous variety that is usually used for rice preparations comeoccasions. Collecting and exploration in Libacao, Aklan was conducted in May, 1997.

Surigao del Sur

Surigao del Sur is located 9°E latitude and 126°N longitude in the Pacific side with long irregularcorratine coastline. The capital is Tandag and in the south is Bislig municipality which oncehosted the largest paper mill in the country. The mill is now closed with commercial logging ban.In the southern section, several tribes of Manobo settle in the highlands.

Surigao del Sur is characteristically mountainous. On the western section- parts of Mt.Legaspi, in the North, Mt. Hilong-Hilong and in the central and a little South sections, Mt Diwata.The southern most region is largely flat and also towards the eastern side. Forest cover appearsto be still greener and denser though already classified secondary with medium to small- sizedtree remaining. In the lower peaks, sporadic cleared spots or idle grasslands appear. A numberof river system such as the Caracan, Cantilan and Tago rivers cut-across the province serving assource of irrigation. Climate is distinct dry and wet seasons, starting between March toSeptember and October to February, respectively.

Surigao del Sur is largely an agricultural province. Major crops include rice and coconut.Other traditional minor crops are abaca, corn, rootcrops and traditional rires in the highlands.Soybean is produced on a contract-farming scheme for the Nestle processing plant. Fruit cropssuch as lanzones, durian, and rambutan are still under initial development under the High ValueCrops Development Program. Lowland rices are grown twice a year in the irrigated areas andone in the rainfed, which comprises about 30% of the total rice area.

Traditional rices are mainly grown in the upland as a kaingin crop. Few, older farmersstill maintain traditional lowland varieties mainly for home consumption with their very good eatingcharacteristics. In lowland cropping traditional variety in the First crop and HYV after. HYV is formarketing purposes being high-yielding and short maturing. Cropping normally starts Octoberand November with harvesting from March through April. After rice, fields may be planted to rootcrops - cassava, sweet potato, or fallowed until the next rice cropping. The same field is usedseveral times before it is eventually abandoned and planted to permanent crops such as coconutand banana or abaca. Crops under the marginal farming are completely dependent on what isnaturally available. Fields are usually located at varying slopes and height a couple of kilometersfrom the area of settlements. Field sizes vary according to ones capacity. Most upland farmersmaintain different varieties with no apparent reason except, ‘there is beauty in diversity' and"everybody else does it". Usually, one variety is glutinous reserved for special family andcommunity occasions. Each variety is planted separately. Major pests considered are rat andbirds and some rice bug, lodging is also a major problem. They store seeds in panicles for seedsViability of seeds/grains is reported to last as long as 2 years under ordinary conditions. Thediversity of traditional rices in Surigao del Sur is apparent at least in grain appearance rangingfrom black to straw lemmas and bold to slender grains shapes. In addition, about 65 distinctupland variety names were noted and seven for the lowland varieties. Maintenance of lowlandvarieties is surprising considering the extent of promotion and availability of facilities of modernsystem. Documentation in Surigao del Sur was conducted last October, 1997.

Philippines

Catanduanes

Catanduanes is one of the two island provinces of the Bicol region and is situated 13°51’Elatitude and 124°18’N longitude separated by the Maqueda bay from Sabang in Camarines Sur.Provincial capital is Virac located in the southern end. It is included in the "Club 20" or the 20poorest provincial economies. Except Virac, the rest of the province is characteristicallyundeveloped and agricultural. Agriculture is based on fishery and plantation crops. Main cropsare abaca and coconut. Banana and root crops such as cassava, sweet potato, and gabi arealso traditionally grown and at least partly intended for the market. Rice (HYV's) is limited incultivation owing to it's rolling to highly mountainous topography. North western municipalitiesalso produce tiger grass. Upland traditional rice is planted out of necessity solely for familyconsumption. Mountains in the east and west regions runs about parallel to each other extendingfrom south to north. Bases meet at the interior. Forest cover in the interior is secondary.Western and eastern exterior sides are dominated by grasslands and cultivated slopes withabaca, banana coconut or root crops planted. In the interior, a relatively large Bato river fed bysmaller tributaries from the watershed snakes from the central source to two opposite direction -southwards and northwards ending to the Pacific coastline. In the northern side, a large brackishnipa groove is formed surrounded by the mountains, forming an appearance of open-basin. Boththe coastal sides were observed to be generally dry while the interior is generally wet or humidand cooler. A number of smaller ways cascade from above through cliffs cutting through theroad. Catanduanes generally has two distinct climate, wet and dry. Rainy season normally startsMay through November.

Being mountainous, farming is upland system and still a shifting type. Crop cultivation isusually starts with cleaning the grasses during summer and subsequent burning near the onset ofrainy season. When rain comes sowing follows. Rice is the first crop along with maize and sweetpotato. Maize being first to mature, provides immediate source of food or income followed by ricecrop. After rice, the field then becomes eventually open for the sweet potato to complete itscycle. Multiple cropping is commonly practiced. A field is sectioned to different crops - rice,sweet potato, cassava, taro/gabi. A field maybe planted to 2-5 rice crop, i.e. 2-5 years dependingon performance. When field indicates low fertility permanent crops are then planted.

Upland farming in Catanduanes is purely marginal. Field sizes depends on one's ability.SALT is never practiced though have been demonstrated. Many of the slopes under cultivationappear to be ideal for salting - not too steep, not too high but mostly rolling. Traditional uplandrice cultivation in Catanduanes is limited to northern municipalities some highland remotecommunities. Where commercial rice and alternative crops and livelihood are available plantingand producing own rice from late maturing and low yielding variety appear not so logical alongwith typhoons. Hence, traditional rice cultivation becomes less and less popular consequentlyremaining materials are limited to few varieties. There is no apparent cultural association intraditional rices except as food. Thus communities appear to have similar set of varietiesdominated by the "Milagrosa" variety. Exploration and collecting in Catanduanes was done onNovember, 1997.

Philippines

Germplasm collection

In the 10 explorations and collecting missions a total of 458 cultivated materials were assembledand seven populations of the wild rice 0. officinalis. Of the cultivated collection nine (9) camefrom Aurora, nine (9) from Cagayan, sixty nine (69) from Abra, sixty (60) from Pollillio Island,Quezon, forty-four (44) from Antique including San Remegio, fifty seven (57) from OccidentalMindoro, eighteen (18) from Libacao, Aklan, one hundred thirty eight (138) from Surigao del Surand fifty four (54) from Catanduanes. In addition, eleven (11), twenty-four (24), and nine (9)collections from Caramoan, Carnarines Sur, Bohol and Cotabato, respectively, were channeledthrough the project by farmers and local agriculture officers. The seven populations of 0.officinalis were collected from Sablayan (1) and Calintaan (2) in Occidental Mindoro, Libacao,Aklan (2) and Kalibo, Aklan (2) and from Tago, Surigao del Sur (1). Finds from Aklan andSurigao del Sur were the first accounts of their occurrence in these provinces. The cultivatedmaterials on the other hand, are mostly upland. Of the total, only 11 are lowland and 69 varietiesare rainfed. Based on grain appearances, a significant level of diversity is apparent. Lemma andpalea color is represented by distinct straw, gold, purple and black including its variants. Seedcoat color includes opaque to shiny white, purple and its variants and black. Grain shape showsa continuous variation from short and bold to long and slender A number of samples alsoindicated some degree of scent. Most of the collection are awnless except the collections comingfrom highland parts of Abra.

In general, traditional rices are grown as a marginal upland crop largely for familyconsumption. Lowland (irrigated or rainfed) cultivation of traditional rices is essentially no longerpracticed except in the Tingguian communities in Abra and in very few instances by older farmerswho used to plant and traditionally consumed traditional rice. In the latter case however, part ofthe field or the second crop is HYV mainly for marketing. In the upland communities cultivationand maintenance of traditional varieties appear strongly influenced by economic factors. That is,nearness to markets and supply of Commercial rice, marketability and adaptability of alternativecash crops and/or HYV'S, or even alternative livelihood or employment. Hence, a generalgradient of cultivation and diversity of traditional rices parallels with the remoteness andgeographical condition of farming communities.

The staff hired under the project is the main person involved in collecting. The first twotrips were carried out with the staff of the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory and IRRI.The municipal agricultural officers through the provincial agricultural office had facilitated thecollecting activities. They served as guides and company collectors, as well.

Collected materials are being multiplied and characterized at PhilRice-Maligaya.Duplicate samples will be sent to GRC-IRRI as materials are successfully multiplied.

Conservation

Collection are first registered and temporarily stored under the PhilRice Medium Term Genebankor at ordinary room conditions in jars with silica gel until the regular cropping season. At first,multiplication of collection is being done in similarly upland condition. This, however proved to beslow as there is only one cropping a year (wet season) and prone to failures. Extended non-rainyperiods heavily affected flowering and seed set endangering therefore the materials.

During initial seed increase, primary characterization is also carried out. Field lay-out is asimple systematic plot arrangement.

For materials with sufficient yields, each collection is thoroughly cleaned and dried inactive silica gel inside glass jar at 1:1 ratio. Dried materials are packed in aluminum foil packets

Philippines

at 50g per packet and stored in the genebank. Most of the collection are still insufficient forstorage and may require further cycle of multiplication. Medium-term conservation is at PhilRice -Nueva Ecija. But last November, 1997 the germplasm storage at PhilRice - Los Baños has beenoperationalized with 4 horse-power new air-conditioning system provided by the SDC Project.The Los Baños germplasm storage will serve as backup to the national collection and will servethe clients in the region being located the center of academic and research area.

Documentation

The project has also structured a pc-based documentation system for PhilRice using IPGRI-developed Germplasm Management System (GMS) application software. The new PhilRicedocumentation system consisted of about 60 characterization-evaluation descriptors for rice andincludes six records.

Problems/Constraints

Collecting:

Devolution of the local agricultural offices created some difficulties in establishing linkagesespecially in remote areas. Assistance from the members of the rice network to penetrate targetareas is sought.

Wide variation in maturity of traditional varieties. This requires at least a secondcollecting of the area to collect the total diversity. The assistance of the MAO is often requested

Availability of vehicle, the need to understand the cost of collecting and the value ofgermplasm are common problems which requires serious attention by the management.

Typhoons and other calamities often hamper the conduct of collecting activities. Iftyphoons damage existing crops, collecting is delayed by about one cropping season or one year.

Plans

Initially, the SDC Project projected to complete collecting in most areas except the Lanaoprovinces. However, with the problems/constraints earlier cited collecting was not carried out asplanned. In particular typhoons delayed collecting in Catanduanes and Antique by at least ayear. This is to allow farmers to regenerate whatever materials were salvaged. Also, the attemptto shift from centralized to decentralized collecting through local agriculture offices due to costcutting measures, failed but consumed significant amount of time.

Hence, to complete collecting in the remaining target sites (4) and probably in theadditional sites suggested (4), collecting will be done on a centralized scheme at least one siteeach month starting January, 1998. This will include: Palawan, Surigao del Norte; Abra, Agusandel Sur, Capiz, and Quirino. Lanao provinces may be considered late in 1998 to early 1999depending on the local peace and order situation (Table 3).

Philippines

Training and Other Logistic Needs

To facilitate collecting activities in the remaining areas before the implementation of EO 247,training on collecting for the municipal agricultural officers is necessary.

PGR Staff Training - OJ'I'

Characterization

To fully evaluate and determine the magnitude of diversity of the conserved germplasm, trainingon biochemical and molecular characterization is important.

Documentation

Training on Windows-based and /or network environment data and information management

Further Equipment Needs

For the operationalization of the cold storage room at PhilRice-Los Baños, 2 (split type) airconditioning units and dehumidifiers are required in addition to the two (2) units (window-type)already requested. Drying cabinet and moisture tester had already been requested.

Philippines

Table 1. Number of accessions maintained at the PhilRice Medium-term Genebank.

Germplasm Materials No. of accessions

Traditional varieties 1,861Breeding lines 482Introductions 622PSB-Released varieties 65Wild rices 22

Total 3,052

Philippines

Table 2. Germplasm exploration and collecting, 1995-1997.

No. of materialsYear Site/area covered cultivated wild sp. Remarks

• 1995 Leyte 1 • O. minuta

• Resurvey of sympatricpopulations of O. minuta andO. officinalis

Aurora 9

1996 Cagayan, N. Vizcaya 9 • Pre-survey activity for siteselection of the On-FarmConservation Project (phase II)

Abra 69 • More distant areas notcompletely explored

• Follow-up collectingrecommended

Pollilio Island, Quezon 60Antique 32 • Collecting in San Remegio not

completed• Follow-up collecting

recommendedOccidental Mindoro 57 3 • O. officinalis found in new

locations• Two south most sites not

covered

1997 Libacao, Aklan 18 3 • O. officinalis; first account fromAklan

San Remegio, Antique 12Surigao del Sur 138 1 • Decentralized collectingCatanduanes 54

Philippines

Table 2.1 Number of germplasm collections, 1995-1997.

Type 1995 1996 1997 Total

CultivatedLowland 1 3 7 11Rainfed 69 69Upland 8 155 215 378

Total 9 227 222 458

WildO. officinalis 3 4 7O. minuta 1 1

Total 1 3 4 8

Table 3. Collecting plan, 1998.

Target site Tentative schedule Type of material

Palawan Early to mid-January cultivated/wildSurigao del Norte Mid-February to early March cultivatedAgusan del Sur* Mid-March cultivated/wildAbra* Late January to early February cultivatedQuirino* Late March to early April cultivatedCapiz* Mid-Aapril cultivated/wildLanao del Norte October cultivated/wildLanao del Sur December cultivated/wild

SADC

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATIONOF WILD RICE IN SADC

G. Y. Mkamanga and P. H. MnyenyembeSADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre

P/B CH6, Lusaka, Zambia

Introduction

Rice is one of the five main staple cereal crops in SADC. Although it is an important crop in theregion, it does not have as much diversity as the other introduced crops such as maize orcommon bean. In 1990, IBPGR now IPGRI collected 141 samples of cultivated rice in Malawiand only 10 distinct types were observed. However, various wild species of Oryza occurextensively in al the SADC countries except Lesotho. Though little is known about the geneticpool of wild rice in the region, it is recognized that this material may have sources of desiredtraits for improvement of the rice crop.

Before the project on “Safeguarding and Preservation of the Biodiversity of the Rice Genepool,”wild rice germplasm had not been systematically collected in the SADC region except to someextent in Zambia (Vaughan, 1993). Whereas cultivated rice has not been specifically targeted inpast collections, a few accessions have been collected in multicrop collection missions.

The target environment for Oryzeae in the region are in the open grasslands, rice fields, shallowseasonal ponds, swampy areas and forest margins.

The purpose for participating in the project on biodiversity is to ensure that the wild rice diversityof SADC is samples and the germplasm characterized, documented and conserved for use inrice improvement.

History of wild rice collecting in SADC

At least two collection missions have in the past specifically targeted wild rice species in Zambia.The first one was in 1978 by ORSTOM (Benzancon and Second, 1979). Some wild ricecollection missions have also been conducted in Botswana, Malawi and Tanzania (Miezan andSecond, 1979; and Katayama et al., 1980). These expeditions collected a total of 171accessions of wild rice which are shown in Table 1.

IITA has also collected 50 accessions of wild rice in Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, andZimbabwe. These are maintained at IITA (Table 2).

Wild rice accessions collected in 1996

In 1996, IRRI gave funds to Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia through SPGRC to collect wild rice.The mission in Zambia covered parts of southern and northern provinces. However, only eight(8) samples were collected as most of the plants had already shattered by the time of collection.In Malawi, a wild rice collecting expedition was undertaken in late July covering parts of centraland southern regions. No samples were collected because in all areas visited wild rice plantshad already shed their seed. In Tanzania, the wild rice collection mission was not undertakenbecause the funds were received late.

Wild rice accessions collected in 1997

SADC

In 1997, wild rice collecting missions were carried out in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,Swaziland, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Table 3 shows the countries and areaswhere wild rice and Leersia was collected, species and number of samples collected.

Plans for wild rice collecting in 1998

Eight countries plan to carry out wild rice collection in 1998. The countries and target areas areshown in Table 4.

Problems encountered when collecting wild rice

The main constraints to collecting wild rice were:

a) species identificationb) accessibility to target areas was difficultc) small quantities of seed foundd) ununiform ripeninge) head smut disease was common

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are extended to the staff of the Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,Swaziland, Tanzania (mainland), Zanzibar, Zambia and Zimbabwe for their valuable cooperationin carrying out the wild rice collecting activities and preparation of their country reports.

References

Benzancon, G. and G. Second. 1978. Prospecting of traditional varieties and wild rice inZambia. IRAT/ORSTOM.

Katayama, T. C., H. M. Chinganga, D. Ilaila, and H. Satoh. 1990. Distribution and grainmorphology of wild rice collected in Tanzania. Kagoshi University Center, Japan.

Miezan, K. and G. Second. 1979. Prospecting of traditional varieties and wild rice in Tanzania.IRAT/ORSTOM.

Vaughan, D. A. 1993. Wild rice (Oryza spp.) collection mission in Zambia and Botswana. IRRIReport.

SADC

Table 1. Accessions of wild rice collected between 1964 and 1993 in the SADC region.

Country Number of accessions

Botswana 9Malawi 4Tanzania 104Zambia 54

Total 171

Table 2. Accessions of wild rice stored at IITA from the SADC region.

Country Number of accessions

Botswana 11Malawi 15Tanzania 20Zambia 2Zimbabwe 2

Total 50

SADC

Table 3. Wild rice accessions collected in 1997 in the SADC region.

Country Area of collection Species collectedNo. of samples

collected

Malawi Lower Shire Valley,Medium and Lowaltitude areas

O. barthiiO. longistaminataO. punctata

32193

Mozambique Nampula & Zambeziaprovinces

O. longistaminataO. punctataL. hexandraO. sativa

14156

Namibia Okavango, Kwando,Chobe, Zambezi &Kunene rivers

O. longistaminataL. friessi

102

Swaziland Along Umbuluzi &Komati rivers

L. hexandra 8

Tanzania Ruaha river basin O. longistaminataO. barthiiO. punctataO. eichingeriLeersia sp.

4471

12

Zanzibar Pemba & Zznzibarislands

O. glaberrimaO. punctataO. longistaminataO. eichingeriL. hexandraOthers (unknown)

514818

10

Zambia Northern, Southern,Eastern, Western &Luapula provinces

O. longistaminataO. barthiiO. branchyanthaLeersia sp.

6363

Zimbabwe All provinces O. longistaminataO. barthiiO. punctataL. hexandra

12

Total 204

SADC

Table 4. Wild rice collecting plans for 1998.

Country Target areas for collecting

Malawi Chitipa, Karonga, and Nyika National Park

Mozambique Continuation in Zambezia province, Sofala, Maputo, Gaza andInhambane

Namibia Along Okavango, Kwando, Chobe, Zambezi and Kunene rivers

South Africa Flood plains of Nyle river

Swaziland Piggs Peak, Hlathikhulu, and along Umbuluzi and Komati rivers

Tanzania mainland Mtwara/Lindi areas, Kilombero river basin and coast north ofRufigi river

Zanzibar Islands not covered last year

Zambia Continuation from last year

Zimbabwe Zambezi and Sabi Valleys

Sri Lanka

PAST AND PRESENT STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY OF THE RICE GENEPOOLIN SRI LANKA

R.M.T. RajapakseSenior Breeder, Rice Research and Development Institute

Batalagoda, Ibbagamuwa, Sri Lanka

Introduction

Sri Lanka lies between longitudes 80° and 82° East and latitudes 6° and 10° North. The climateis characterized by wide variation in rainfall. The annual precipitation follows a distinctly bio-modal pattern and the country receives rain from two monsoons, the North - East fromNovember to January and South - West from May to September. The whole island benefits fromthe North - East monsoon but the mountains intercept the South-West monsoon and as a resultthe lowlands of the North and East benefit little from to South-West monsoon.

Climatically, Sri Lanka is broadly divided into three zones, Wet Zone, Intermediate zone, andDry zone (Figure 1). The Wet zone receives a fairly evenly distributed rainfall of about 1875 -5000 mm per year. The Dry zone receives about 1250-1900 mm of rain per year. TheIntermediate zone receives about 1900 - 2500 mm rain per year. The mean temperature in theLowland areas is around 27°C in the Wet region and 30° in the Dry zone. Temperaturedecreases with increase in altitude, it varies from 13°C to 16°C with night temperatureoccasionally dropping close to zero.

Genetic Diversity of Traditional Rice Cultivations

Rice is the major staple food in Sri Lanka. Rice has a long history in Sri Lanka extending intopre-historic times. Many of the rice varieties known as traditional cultivars today may haveoriginated elsewhere in the Indian Sub-continent. Early attempts to display genetic diversity ofrice genepool in Sri Lanka date back to the early years of this century. In 1902, a set of 300named varieties collected throughout the Island was exhibited in an Agricultural and HorticulturalExhibition (Molagoda, 1924). Subsequently a collection of rice cultivars grown throughout thecountry was made for the British Empire Exhibition held in the 1920s. This collection of 150cultivars apparently consisted of may repetitions with slightly altered cultivar names fromdifferent places. Later, a list of 567 cultivars was published by Molagoda (1924).

De Soyza (1944) stated that around 600 traditional cultivars were grown in Sri Lanka and 10% ofthem were hill paddies. The term hill paddy is synonymous with the term upland rice. Local hillpaddy varieties were classed into Elwi types - normally grown on new clearings in hilly country,and Godawi types - generally cultivated in Low-lying areas as grasslands, unirrigeble paddyfields. De Soyza (1944) has listed 42 Local hill paddy varieties that were grown in Sri Lanka. The ages of these varieties were ranged between 3 month and 6 month.

Hill paddy rices were superior to Lowland paddy rice, nutritionally high protein (11.27%). Whencooking, they have a very agreeble odour. There were several varieties that were reputed fortheir medicinal value. There were drought tolerant types among these hill paddy varieties. Ofthe Godawi type, Polayal and Gonabaru were suited for sandy loams.

The present biodiversity of rice genepool conserved in Sri Lanka (ex Situ and in Situ) insummarized in annex 1. The traditional types are indicated as Land races (2106) but too manyrepitions and introductions from other countries are evident. Most of the traditional rice cultivars

Sri Lanka

listed by Molagoda 1924 and De Soyza 1944 have not gone to the rice germplasm conserved inSri Lanka.

In additions to Oryza sativa, there are wild species of Oryza in Sri Lanka. These are Oryzaruffipogon, a perennial growing in swamps in the Wet Lowlands. Oryza sativa is said to bederived from this species. Oryza nivara an annual in the Dry and Intermediate Lowlands. O.granulata, a perennial grown in forest shades in hilly areas in mid country. O. eichingeri, aperennial occurs is dry hilly places in the Dry and Intermediate lowlands. This is an Africanspecies, found outside East Africa only in Sri Lanka, if the identification by Plant GeneticResources Centre (PGRC) in correct (Dassanayake 1996).

Rice Varietal Improvement in Sri Lanka

Pureline Selection

The traditional germplasm, irrespective of its origin, had profound genetic variability as a resultof prolonged exposure to diverse Agro-ecological conditions in Sri Lanka. The earliest recordedattempts towards rice varietal improvement date back to the work of Dr. Lock in 1913.

Systematic exploitation of genetic diversity in varietal improvement was initiated in 1922 by Iliffe. The following statement of his indicates the potential variability associated with Local land racesfor genetic improvement.

The farmer gives a name to his paddy, and considers it a type. A very cursory botanical studywill invariably show that this so called type actually consists of a number of types, and if an earof each is then grown in beds, side by side, a variety of differences will be noticed among thegrowing plants, the result is a series of pureline cultures.

Iliffe (1922) in his preliminary experiments observed yields of some purelines selected fromtraditional cultivars ranging from 3.56 - 8.43 t/ha from yield nurseries of small plots. He himselfcautioned that these figures must not be taken as being possible of realization over a large area.

Prior to 1940s pureline selection was considered the most appropriate method of riceimprovement. The early attempts at pureline selection were mostly purification of land races. The list of recommended purelines in the year 1950 in given in Annex. 2.

In the year 1951/52, an area equivalent to a sixth of the annual paddy extent at that time wasplanted to purelines. Pureline selection drastically eliminated the variability that existed withintraditional cultivars. Spread of purelines further narrowed down the genetic diversity byrestricting the number of cultivars in the field to a few superior types. This could be thebeginning of so-called genetic erosion. Application of fertilizer (N) to increase yields in purelinesmade them succumb to blast disease and subsequent lodging. Then the most popular pureline,vellai illankalayan 28061, was found to be resistant to blast. High fertilizer response and blastresistance surfaced as major objectives in rice varietal improvement.

Old Improved Cultivars

Weeraratne (1954) combined together the desirable characteristics dispersed in different ricevarieties through hybridization and selection and developed a series of rice varieties (Annex 3).We refer to them as old improved cultivars (OIC). The OICs were resistant to blast and had abetter yield potential compared to purelines. They responded moderately to added fertilizer but

Sri Lanka

retained the basic features of traditional plant type. Within the decade of 1960s the OICsdominated paddy culture. In the late 60s a single variety, "H4" occupied nearly 50% of theannual cultivated extent of paddy.

New Improved Cultivars

The OICs had their own limitations in responding to added fertilizer owing to the inherentfeatures in their plant type. They tend to grow leafy causing mutual shading of leaves thusaffecting the net assimilation rate. The heavy canopy of OICs made them susceptible to lodging,occasionally even prior to heading, thus causing crop losses of varying degrees.

Development of Taichung Native 1 (TN 1) in Taiwan and IR 8 and IR 262 in the InternationalRice Research Institute paved the way by introducing the so called "improved plant type" to ourmodern cultivars. We identify them today as New Improved Cultivars (NIC). The NICsdeveloped and released by the Department of Agriculture for cultivation are given in Annex 4. Afew NICs(Bg 3-5, Bg 38, Bg 450) bear plant type characteristics of Engatek, an Indonesian cultivar.

The major attributes of NICs were improved photosynthetic efficiency, enhanced fertilizerresponse and resistance to lodging. Short-duration cultivars (3-3.5 months) turned economicallyproductive and gained prominence over medium duration (4-4.5 months) cultivars. Croppingintensity increased. The annual extent of rice lands under short duration cultivars increased(Annex. 5) . At present, 95% of the annual cultivation extent is under NICs; (Figure 2).

There were definite disadvantages associated with improved plant type. Spread of NICsincreased genetic vulnerability as a result of their narrow gene base. Many of the NICs had incommon the cytoplasmic genome of the cultivars Cina (Tjina) inherited through the maternalparent. Genetic diversity further decreased as the cultivars become more and morehomogeneous with little difference in their nuclear genome. Only a handful of traditionalgermplasm has contributed to the NICs (Annex. 6). Furthermore, the microclimatic changesbrought in by the improved plant type in the immediate surrounding of the paddy plant led tonew pest problems. The insect pest once considered unimportant assumed prominence. As aconsequence stability of cultivars was endangered. Furthermore, the NICs failed to outgrow theweeds in paddy lands the way the traditional cultivars did.

Stabilizing Yields

Stabilizing rice yields was attempted through breeding for resistance/tolerance to stress factorswhich are either biotic or abiotic.

Among the biotic factors Blast (BL), Bacterial blight (BB), Sheath blight (SB), Brown PlantHopper (BPH), Galmidge (GM) and Thrips (Th) are considered the major ones. Cultivarsresistant to BL, BB, BPH and GM were developed and introduced for cultivation (Annex. 4). Most of the germplasm used as donor sources were exotic types. In almost all the instances oneor two major genes were deployed in resistant cultivars. Breeding for resistance to Th wasunsuccessful due to poor combining ability of the only donor source of resistance (Dohanals2220). No known sources of resistance existed to SB. There are other important insect pestsand diseases that could be a potential threat to rice culture in the near future.

The major abiotic stress factors were edaphic and they are region-specific. Breeding fortolerance was successful for Fe toxicity and salinity. Among other edaphic stress factors, Acidsulphate toxicity, toxic soil reduction products, Al toxicity and Micro nutritional disorders need

Sri Lanka

attention in the future.

Resistance to biotic stresses governed by major genes is short lived. The GM immune cultivarsintroduced in the late 70s. failed to survive a decade. A new biotype virulent to resistant cultivarsemerged within eight years of their release making them more susceptible than susceptible ones. Emergence of virulent pathotypes is evident in BL and BB, from the varietal reactions reportedin different localities. Therefore, enhancing stability of cultivars would be a constant strugglewhich keeps the breeder vigilant so long as the process of evolution continues in nature. Manygenetic resources of diverse origin will have to be utilized in developing varietal resistance tocope with the evolutionary changes of the rice pest. Therefore, preservation of biodiversity ofthe rice genepool is one of our priorities.

Progress of Rice Production

Gradual replacement of existing cultivars with newly developed ones during the past fewdecades has made a significant increase in national rice production. Replacement of traditionaland pureline cultivars with OICs and subsequently all these by NICs is shown in Fig. 2. Indifferent decades different groups of cultivars predominated rice culture. Prior to the 1950s thetraditional cultivars (landraces) were the dominant group of cultivars in Sri Lanka. Since thedevelopment of purelines, paddy production in 1950s could be described as pureline dominated.The OICs ("H" varieties) produced subsequently occupied the decade 1960s. The next decade(1970s) is the decade of transition from OICs to NICs. In the 1980s more than 90% of the totalland extent was under NICs. Table 1 summarises the annual average cultivated land extent,total rice production and yield per hectare in different decades from 1940s to 1980s. During thelast five (5) decades, an approximately ten fold increase in rice production is evident. This canbe attributed to two fold increase in land extent and a five fold increase in the yield per hectarewhere a major role is played by the varietal improvement through manipulation of rice geneticresources available to the breeder. This process will have to be continued; exploring geneticdiversity.

Genetic conservation

Cultivation of rice under varying agro-ecological conditions in the country had led to thedevelopment of a wide range of cultivars adapted to different growing conditions. Part of thisnational heritage has been preserved in Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Gannoruwa. It hascollected and conserved nearly 2106 land races, 315 improved and 835 unknown germplasm(Annex. 1). In addition 7 wild rice species also conserved.

The seed materials were stored under 3 conditions.

1. Long term storage :- 1°C, Relative humidity not controlled (25-30 years)

2. Medium term Storage:- 5°C, Relative humidity not controlled (15 years)

3. Short term storage :- 18°C, and 20° relative humidity (3-5 years)

In addition to PGRC, Rice Research and Development Institute, Batalagoda also maintain a totalof 1242 accessions of which 688 are land races, 186 improved lines received from IRRI, 198breeding lines, 144 introduction and 17 wild rices. These materials are stored under:

1. Long term storage - Deepfreezer - at o°C (25 years)

Sri Lanka

2. Short term storage - at 10°C, (3-4 years)

Evaluation

Rice germplasm collection at PGRC and in RRDI, Batalagoda is being evaluated formorphological characteristics. Evaluation for pest and diseases and for abiotic stress will haveto be strengthened.

Utilization

As mentioned earlier, only a handful of traditional local germplasm have been utilized in varietalimprovement (Annex. 6). However IRRI has utilized more than a hundred of our traditionalcultivars for hybridization. Of them Suduheenati, Ratuheenati, Babamee were used asresistance sources for BPH, Pokkali was used as a tolerance source for salinity. Local cultivar,Moroberekan have been locally utilized in the varietal improvement programme to develop 3rdplant type (uniculm concept).

References

Iliffe, R.O. 1922. the improvement of Ceylon paddies. Trop. Agric. LVIII(2):67-70

Molagoda, W. 1924. Varieties of Ceylon paddy Trop. Agric. LXII (4):218-224

Soyza, D.J. de. 1944. Hill paddy cultivation in Ceylon Trop. Agric. C (4):211-218

Weeraratna, H. 1954. Hybridization techniques in rice. Trop. Agric. CX (2):94-97

Sri Lanka

Table 1. Impact of rice varietal improvement on production and yield during the last fivedecades in Sri Lanka.

Decade/Variety TypeAnnual harvested area

M.haAnnual production

m.mtAverage yield

mt/ha

1940 (Traditional) 0.379 0.262 0.65

1950 (Purelines) 0.393 0.687 1.73

1960 (OICS) 0.502 1.065 2.09

1970 (OICS & NICS) 0.623 1.564 2.48

1980 (NICS) 0.708 2.372 3.31

Sri Lanka

Annex 1. Biodiversity of Local Rice Genepool

Species No. of accession Genome Location

O. sativa

Land races

Improved

Unknown

O. glaberrima

O. nivara

O. rufipogon

O. eichingeri

O. rhizomatics

O. granulata

unknown

O. latifolia

2106

315

835

2

6

2

1

1

-

1

-

AA

AA

AA

AA

CC

CC

?

-

CCDD

Dry and Inter zones

wet zone

Inter zone

Yala National Park

Rathnapura hill area

-

Recorded in Uva and

Rathnapura

Sri Lanka

Annex 2. List of recommended purelines of rice, Rhind (1950).

Cultivar Pureline index No: Age in months

01. Podiwi

02. Molagusamba

03. Kohumawi

04. Kurulutudu wi

05. Dewaredderi

06. Vellai Illankalayan

07. Perillanel

08. Oddavalan

09. Madael

10. Suduheenati

11. Suduheenati

12. Kaluheenati

13. Sulai

14. Pachchaiperumal

15. Dhanala

16. Murunga

17. Vellaiperunel

18. POkkali

a - 8

9 - 18

B - 11

B - 13

26081

28061

26014

2449/20

39 MY 137

1 CPY 19

1 CPY 15

39 YM 3254

27614

2462/11

37 YM 2014

38 YM 137

28724

-

6

6

6

6

5-5.5

4

4

4

3.5-4

3.5-4

3.5

3.5

3

3

3

3

3

4

Sri Lanka

Annex 3. Old improved cultivars recommended for cultivation in the 1960s

Cultivar Year of release Age in month Attributes

H9

H4

H8

H105

H501

H7

H10

62-355

1968

1958

1966

1964

1964

19640

1968

1969

5

4.5

4.5

4.5

4.5

3.5

3

3

Photosensitivity

Blast resistanceRed pericarp

Short round grains

Blast resistance

Red pericarpEarly threshability

Blast resistance

Blast resistanceRed pericarp

Rainfed (upland)Red pericarp

Sri Lanka

Annex. 6

Local Traditional germplasm used in developing new improved cultivars.

Paduruwee

Podiwi 8

Pokkali

Murungakayan 302

Kahatawi

Pachchiperumal 2462/11

Vellai Illankalyan 28061

Honderawala 502

K 8 (M)

Thailand

PROGRESS REPORT ON RICE COLLECTION IN THAILAND

Songkran Chitrakon and Chawewan Vutiyano

Introduction

Thailand is situated between 5oN to 21oN latitude and 97oE to 106oE longitude. The country isdivided into 76 provinces. These provinces are grouped into four major regions based mainly ongeographical similarity which refers to as Central plain, Northern, Northeastern, and Southernregions.

Thailand is considered as one of the richest rice genetic resources. It contains a largediversity of wild species, cultivars and breeding elite lines. There are at least five wild ricespecies that have been found in Thailand. Out of these, two species are wild relatives tocultivated rice and they are commonly found throughout the country (Chitrakon, 1989). Ricecultivation has been practiced more than 7,000 years ago. Hence, local cultivated varieties canbe found in every part of the country. Most traditional varieties are lowland and non-glutinousrice. It was estimated that at least 3,500 local cultivars differed in names and characters (Perezand Chang, 1974). The genetic and species diversification are due to several factors such aslocal preferences, markets, cutivation methods, adaptation to edaphic and topographic conditionof the paddy fields.

The rice collection activities in Thailand began sometime in 1907 when the first ricecompetition was held at Thanya Buri (Chitrakon and Khambanonda, 1980). The collection wasresumed intensively in 1950. The main effort was to obtain as many indigeneous varieties aspossible for yield and grain evaluation (Love, 1955). After evaluation, several varieties werereleased to farmers as recommended varieties. Some of them are popular until now. Thenational rice collection was resumed in 1982. The objective was to collect all traditional varietiesas well as wild rice species. Although, wild rice collection was initated in 1981 (Chitrakon, 1989).More than 13,165 samples of cultivated rice and 671 wild rice seed samples had been collected.It was found out that approximately 70% was non-glutinous and 40% was lowland rice varieties.At present they are kept in the National Rice Seed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources,Pathum Thani Rice Research Center. Seeds were dried to certain moisture content and packedprior to keep in cold rooms. For short-term, 300 grams of seeds per sample are kept in a glassjar. Whereas 80 grams per sample is conserved in a vacum zinc can each for medium and long-term conservation (Chitrakon and Vutiyano, 1994).

Progress in field collection

Although a number of local rice varieties and wild rice species have been collected. It isbelieved that approximatly 90% of indigeneous germplasm have been collected. Thoseuncollected genetic resources (10%) mostly are in remote areas especially in upland field. It wasdecided to collect them during 1995-1998. For the first phase (1995-1996) it was planed tocollect rice germplasm from eastern, western, northern, northeastern and central plain regions.Several collection missions were carried out through the assistance of the Swiss DevelopmentCooperation Fund. The objective was to collect all traditional rice varieties and wild rice sampleswhich have not yet been collected. Collectors were mainly from researchers in different riceresearch centers and rice experiment stations. Some collectors involved also from non-government organization. All of them had been informed and trained on rice collectionprocedures. They were assigned for area responsibilities and also provided with a route maptogether with a list of rice varieties to be collected. The collection times mostly were carried outfrom October to January.

Thailand

The result of the collection is shown in Table 1. From the table it revealed that a total of541 and 544 cultivated seed samples were collected in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Most ofthem were non-glutinous type (76%) and lowland rice (66%). As a result, lowland rice fromirrigated and rainfed area contributed more samples than other types. Deep water rice varietieswere collected mostly from central plain whereas upland rice mainly collected from western andnorthern region. It indicated that lowland rice is commonly grown througout the country whiledeep water rice is grown in central plain. In addition, upland rice is grown in the north andwestern part. There were 45 wild rice samples had been collected. Half of them came fromnortheast region. It was observed that all samples seemed to be species related to cultivar. Thepassport data showed that most samples were randomly collected in panicle form and camefrom flat land field. However, some mixtures had been found. They were removed out beforethreashing. It was found that most seeds were dry (12% M.C.) and still viable with more than90% germination.

As soon as seed samples come to the National Rice Seed Storage Laboratory forGenetic Resources, they will be tested for moisture content and viability. Only viableunduplicated samples are assigned as new genetic stock numbers prior to conserve in cold roomstorage. Then a portion of seed samples from each number is sent to the International RiceResearch Institute for conservation. The remained seed samples are kept in the National RiceSeed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources, locates in Pathum Thani. Now they are kept incold room (15°C, 60% R.H.) for short-term seed storage. These samples will be rejuvenated andevaluated for morphological and physiological characters in the near future.

Future plans

Rice collection activities will be continued for the second phase (1997-1998). The budget forcollection activities has been approved by the Steering Committee since 1994. The area coverand collection times are shown in Table 2. It is expected that more collections will be gatheredfrom southern region because of a large diversity of landrace still exist.

The presence of diversity in rice genetic resources in Thailand may possess somevaluable genes to rice breeders. If they are found, they must be useful not only to Thai ricebreeders but also to other countries where rice is grown. Preliminary evaluation for grain qualityand adaptability is urgent needed.

Then evaluation for morphological and physiological characters will be carried out by riceresearch scientists annually. About 1,000 accessions of samples are expected to be evaluatedat least 50 descriptors for each accession every year. Another set of evaluation will beperformed by NGO workers. They will evaluate particularly on upland rice varieties for goodyield and good grain quality. Only selected varieties will be recommended to hill tribe farmers.It is hoped that by the year 2001 all rice germplasm will be evaluated. Then Thailand cancontribute to the world not only seed samples but also useful information on rice geneticresources. To carry this task approximatly US $ 10,000 is needed annually for 5 years.

References

Chitrakon, S. 1989. Wild rices in Thailand. Thai Agricultural Research Journal, Vol 7, No. 1-3,pp. 79-83 (English summary).

Chitrakon, S. and Chawewan Vutiyano. 1994. Rice Germplasm Systems in Thailand. Paperpresented at the 2nd meeting of the Rice Genetic Resources Working Group. Feb. 28-March 3, 1994. IRRI. Mimeo. 9 pp.

Thailand

Chitrakon, S. and P. Khambanonda. 1980. The role of Rice Division in rice germplasmcollection in Thailand. IBPGR Newsletter Vol. 4. No. 2, pp. 6-8.

Love, H. H. 1995. Report on rice investigations, 1950-1954. Ministry of Agriculture, BKK,Thailand.

Perez, A. T. and T. T. Chang. 1974. Conservation of Rice germplasm in South and SoutheastAsia. IRRI Saturday Seminar, Jan. 26, 1974.

Thailand

Table 1. Rice germplasm collection in 1995-1996.

No. of TypeYear Area covered samples NG G I R D U W

collected

1995 Eastern region 134 131 3 1 131 2 - -Western region 185 166 19 60 72 10 34 9Central plain 222 218 4 57 98 64 3 -

Total 541 515 26 118 301 76 37 9

1996 Northeast region 261 103 158 5 175 3 33 24Northern region 170 122 48 9 56 1 131 10Western region 53 36 17 - - - 53 -Central plain 60 52 8 - 47 1 9 2

Total 544 313 231 14 278 3 226 36

NG = Non-glutinousG = GlutinousI = Irrigated areaR = Rainfed areaD = Deep waterU = Upland riceW = Wild rice

Table 2. Collection activities, 1997-1998.

Year Time Area to be covered Type

1997 Jan-Feb Southern region C + WOct-Dec Central plain C + WOct-Dec North region C + W

1998 Jan-Feb Southern region C + WOct-Dec Northeast C + W

GENETIC EROSION OF WILD RICE IN THAILAND

Songkran Chitrakon, Chawewan Vutiyano and Pagawan PhusuwanThe National Rice Seed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources

Pathum Thani 12110, Thailand

Introduction

The process by which genetic resources are destroyed or irretrievably lost by the extinction ofspecies, populations, or loss of specific germplasm resources or by failure to maintain ex situconserved germplasm resources is defined as “ genetic erosion” by Oldfield (1989). Currentlyin Thailand, farmers, consumers, processors and government demand rice genetic uniformityamong the leading varieties. The rapid spread of improved varieties has intensified thereplacement of the traditional cultivars. Besides, wild rice species used to be commonly foundin wet or marshy lands such as the fringe of ponds, abandoned fields or in ditches along theroad throughout the country. They are disappearing from natural habitats due to many factorsmainly by human intervention such as urbanization or city expansion.

The abundance of wild rice in Thailand was first reported by Oka (1958). He could findwild rice species within a few kilometers north of Bangkok airport. Also he found many wild ricepopulations in Bangkok area. Some of these sites have become extinct mainly due to citydevelopment. Currently, many old sites and newly observed sites are being monitored by agroup of Japanese scientists from the National Institute of Genetics led by Prof. Morishima(Morishima et al. 1987). Their project is to study population dynamics and genetic changesoccurring in wild rice.

The extinction of an annual wild rice was reported by Oka (1984) using anexperimental population. He studied different types of populations planted at several sites inTaiwan and Okinawa and found that annual populations became extinct within a couple ofyears in all sites. In contrast, some perennial populations persisted although they declined ifsubjected to competition with Leersia hexandra (L.) SW. Through these processes, wild ricepopulations may change their structure. McCauley (1991) pointed out that population structurereflects not only gene flow as expected from mating system but also other factor such as thereproductive system and extinction/recolonization rates.

Since wild rices are considered as genetic reservoir for rice improvement, it isworthwhile to conserve them and to observe changes in genetic diversity. Finally, attemptsare made to find out factors causing genetic erosion in wild rice.

Materials and methods

A number of wild rice populations were observed between November to December in 1983.The observation sites were located on route no. 1 from Bangkok to Phitsanulok and route no.2from Bangkok to Nongkhai. Most observation sites were chosen along the main road. At eachsite the following records were taken; location, water condition, topography of land, populationsize and wild rice density, growth stage of wild rice and companion plant species. Thegeographical position of the sites were recorded from a map (1:500,000) by measuring thedistance from the nearest road junction.

In 1991 or 1992, the same sites observed in 1983 were revisited. At the time of thisvisit the location of the previous site found using the Global Positioning System (GPS,SONYIPS 360). This system presents the latitude and longitude within a few minutes by using

signals from satellites. At each site, records were taken using the same manner as in 1983. Atotal of 20 population sites were observed in 1983 and 1991/1992. Eight sites were locatedalong route no. 1. They were designated as CP-1, CP-4, CP-5, CP-9, CP-13, CP-20, NN-50and NN-52. CP stands for the central plain and NN stands for the north region. There were 12sites observed along route no. 2 which were designated as NE-1, NE-2, NE-3, NE-4, NE-6, NE-9, NE-14, NE-34, NE-35, NE-36-1, NE-85 and NE-88. NE stands for the northeast region. Theexact location and information are given in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Results and discussions

Results

Observations in 1983

Along route no. 1:

Site CP-1 (G.S.No.7885). Wild rice plants were semi-erect, short-statured and scattered inopen habitats along the roadside. The soil was moist to dry. Population size was about 150 m2

with 90% rice cover.

Site CP-4 (G.S.No.7886). Rice plant was semi-erect, and of short-stature type.Population occurred along roadside in an area about 10m2 with high density of wild rice.Habitat was open and dry.

Site CP-5 (G.S.No. 7887). Wild rice population was in deep water along the road,covering 80 m2 with 90% cover. Their plant type were decumbent with open panicle and highgrain shattering.

Site CP-9 (G.S.No.7888). Wild rice population was in shallow to deep water conditionin open habitat. They were decumbent plant type and scattered with high density along theroad near paddy field approximately 200 m2.

Site CP-13 (G.S.No.20551). Wild rice population occurred in a ditch with shallowwater. They were scattered over about 100m2 adjacent to lowland rice field.

Site CP-20 (G.S.No.6060). Wild rice population occupied a huge area approximately100 m2 with 50% cover. Water condition was shallow to deep. The rice plants were tall. Theyhad big panicles, big grain and high seed setting.

Site NN-50 (G.S.No.7881). The habitat was open, shallow to deep water condition.The wild rice plants occurred only in shallow water scattering within an area of 30 m2 along theroad.

Site NN-52 (G.S.No.7882). Population of wild rice occurred in ditch of shallow water.Wild rice plants were of semi-erect type with intermediate panicles. Plants scattered over 240m2 with 60% cover.

All sites of the wild rice populations observed along this route were below 100 meterselevation. The distance from Bangkok ranged from 69 to 595 kilometers.CP-20 is the nearestsite locating about 69 km from Bangkok (BKK). Most wild rice plants of these populations werein shallow water condition when visited. They occupied marshy land along roadside ditcheswith generally high plant densities. They were erect to semi-erect, short statured and hadintermediate to compact panicles. They coexisted with perennial weeds especially under dryconditions. Only in three sites (CP-5, CP-9 and CP-20) wild rice plants were observed in deep

water. These rice plants were semi-erect, tall-statured and had open panicle and high seedshattering. They had various plant densities accompanied by perennial plant species.

Along route no.2

Site NE-1 (G.S.No.7890). Wild rice occurred in about 250 m2 of shallow water land alongcanal. They were tall and semi-erect to decumbent plant type.

Site NE-2 (G.S.No.7891). Wild rice plants were semi-erect and intermediate tall.They were scattered in moist conditions covering 150 m2 with 10% density along a road.

Site NE-3 (G.S.No.7892). Wild rice occurred about 300 m2 in open to partial shade,moist to shallow water conditions. They were scattered approximately 30% density along theroadside and waste land.

Site NE-4 (G.S.No. 10535). Wild rice plants in shallow water conditions existed in anopen habitat. They were of semi-erect type. The population occupied about 390 m2 with highdensity.

Site NE-6 (G.S.No. 7894). Wild rice plants had floating habit scattering along theroadside ditch over 50 m2 with 40% cover.

Site NE-9 (G.S.No.7895-1). Wild rice with decumbent to prostrate plant type occurredin deep water, partly shaded along a road. Area covered about 60 m2 with a medium plantdensity.

Site NE-14 (G.S.No.7896). Wild rice were scattered in shallow water along a road.They occupied about 40 m2 with a high plant density.

Site NE-34 (G.S.No.18299). Wild rice population occurred together with perennialweeds in deep water and open habitat of waste land. They were decumbent plant type withopen panicles.

Site NE-35 (G.S.No.7906). Wild rice plants were similar to the plants of NE-34. Theywere scattered in shallow water to moist lands where perennial plant species alsoaccompanied.

Site NE-36-1 (G.S.No.7908). Wild rice population scattered in moist to dry areas ofwaste land. They covered about 400 m2 but their density was low. This site was located 615km from Bangkok.

Site NE-85 (G.S.No.7923). Rice plants occurred in deep water in partly shadedconditions. Plants were tall and decumbent to prostrate, or of floating habit.

Site NE-88 (G.S.No.10548). Wild rice population existed in deep water along a road.Rice plants were scattered in several spots. They were tall and decumbent. Perennial plantspecies were found nearby. Along route no.2, this site was the nearest site to Bangkok (91km).

A half of the populations observed along route no. 2 were in deep water ranging from0.5 to 1.5 meters. They were mainly in roadside ditches. The plants of these populations hadtall stature, weak straw, open-panicles and low to no seed set. The other half of thepopulations were found in shallow water. They had short to intermediate height, compact tointermediate panicles and low to medium seed set. Both ecotypes of wild rice wereaccompanied by perennial plant species.

Observation in 1991 or 1992

The reobservation records of 20 selected sites are presented in Table 2 and Figure 1.

CP-1 (G.S.No.7885). The road was expanded toward the east side in 1991 coveringthe observation site. Wild rice was covered by a new road. A few plants (0-2%) remained indeeper areas.

CP-4 (G.S.No.7886). Wild rice population declined remarkably. There was a sign ofdrought damage and heavy grazing by cattle. Perennial plant species had increased.

CP-5 (G.S.No.7887). Wild rice was found in the same conditions as observed in 1983.The plants were scattering along the ditch but with a relatively low density.

CP-9 (G.S.No.7888). Wild rice scattered in deep water along the same ditch more orless similar to 1983.

CP-13 (G.S.No.20551). Wild rice occupied the land adjacent to the paddy field. Sizeof population had decreased.

CP-20 (G.S.No.6060). Wild rice population expanded about three times, some wildrice plants were invading in paddy field. In deeper water area, wild rice was replaced by water-hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Solms)

NN-50 (G.S.No.7881). Population persisted along the road and ditch.

NN-52 (G.S.No.7882). Population scattered and its density seemed to be lowered.Leersia hexandra had increased.

NE-1 (G.S.No.7890). Machine-gun observatory building was constructed in 1990.Road was expanded in 1992, so wild rice site was covered. Perennial grasses such asEleocharis spiralis R.Br.Typha angustifolia Linn. and Eleocharis dulcis Henschel wereobserved.

NE-2 (G.S.No.7891). Wild rice plants declined and were almost completely replacedby perennial grasses (Leersia hexandra and Heteropogon contortus Roem & Schult. Droughtconditions were observed.

NE-3 (G.S.No.7892). Wild rice population along the roadside was covered by newlyexpanded road. Wild rice in waste land was scarcely growing, damaged by grazing anddrought.

NE-4 (G.S.No.10535). Much of the site was covered by soil for land reclamation,building and road constructions. Some wild rice was left in deep water areas. In 1992, a by-pass road was constructed. As a result, wild rice was covered by soil.

NE-6 (G.S.No.7894). A few plants were found in deep water condition.

NE-9 (G.S.No.7895-1). A few wild rice plants scattered in shallow water. Wild rice wasreplaced by perennial plant species.

NE-14 (G.S.No.7896). No wild rice was found. The road was expanded in 1987.

NE-34 (G.S.No.18299). Wild rice was largely replaced by Eleocharis dulcis. Few wildrice plants scattered on an abandoned land.

NE-35 (G.S.No.7906). Wild rice population decreased in size but the density becamehigher. Wild rice plants increased in shallow water conditions.

NE-36-1 (G.S.No.7908). Wild rice population declined in size and density. A few wildrice plants were found. The observation area was fully occupied by perennial weeds such asLeersia hexandra and Brachiaria mutica Stapf.

NE-85 (G.S.No.7923). The same population of wild rice remained as observed in1983.

NE-88 (G.S.No.10548). The road was expanded in 1992. Wild rice plants were almostcompletely covered by soil. A few plants were seen in some spots along the new ditch.

Discussions

The percentage of wild rice survival observed in 1991/1992 at each population was estimatedand given in Table 2. Table 3 shows comparison of those percentages between species andbetween different habitat conditions. For O. rufipogon, about half of the populations haddeclined in size greatly. Populations growing in shallow water or drier conditions haddisappeared more rapidly than those in deep water.

From observations of 20 sites in 1983 and 1991 or 1992, it was clearly demonstratedthat at least 10 wild rice populations (see Figure 1 had completely disappeared during the last10 year. They were 7 populations in shallow and 3 in deep water conditions. Thedisappearance was mainly due to the expansion of road (6 observed sites). The others weredue to additional factors such as changed micro climates of the habitat. Wild rice decreasedgradually and it was simultaneously replaced by some perennial weed species. This dependson the competitive ability of wild rice with perennial grass species, Leersia hexandra (Oka 1991and 1992 a). Factors affecting changes in population size and structure may included drought,heavy grazing and weed competition. Drought and heavy grazing might prevent the plantsfrom reaching their reproductive stage. As shown by Oka (1992b) under drought conditions,wild rice seeds do not germinate in the next season while mother plants died. As a result, wildrice population decreased. Perennial plant species such as Leersia hexandra, Eleocharisdulcis, E. spiralis Typha angustifolia Lim. and Eichhornia crassipes were frequently at theobservation, which seemed to have a higher competitive ability than wild rice. Once they areestablished, they would replace wild rice species easily. As a result, wild rice would graduallydecrease and finally become extinct. Among those populations that had disappeared, fivepopulations were located within 150 kilometers from Bangkok (NE-1, NE-2, NE-3, NE-4 andNE-88). These populations were mainly destroyed by road expansion. There was oneexceptional case (CP-20) where wild rice still persisted and seemed to expand its size. Somewild rice plants even invaded in the neighboring rice field in which farmers occasionallystopped growing rice. Then, wild rice absorbed some genes from cultivars producing plantswith non-shattering, big-grain, brown or straw hull color and awnless. They are considered asweedy form or spontanea forms of sativa existing adjacent to rice fields (Chang, 1976).However, the observation site is still in danger because the road has been expanded. Thereare many new buildings and factories being built along the road.

Eight wild rice sites remained without noticeable changes in size and density. Fivewere in deep water and three were in shallow water conditions. All of them were located alongroadside ditches and their habitats seemed not to be disturbed. The land would be moistalmost throughout the year. There had been little or no physical change in environment. So,wild rice still remained particularly in deep water which serves as a protection factor. Inaddition, companion weed competition may be less in deep water than in shallow waterconditions.

Wild rice populations vanished not only in the sites within 150 kilometers from Bangkokbut also in the remote areas. In the case of NE-36-1, the population farthest away fromBangkok, it was destroyed. This population was close to the city of Nongkhai. Wild rice mayvanish at any time and any place. Therefore, a measure to prevent further loss of geneticdiversity in wild rice is urgently needed. Extensive and intensive conservation of wild rice isdesirable. Currently, ex-situ conservation of either seeds or plants is carried out by theNational Rice Seed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources at the Pathum Thani riceResearch Center. An in situ conservation trial to conserve the whole natural habitat of wild riceis now under consideration.

Summary

Wild rice populations are commonly seen throughout Thailand. They usually occur in ponds,water reservoirs in canals along the roads. They exist in diverse water conditions ranging fromdry to deep water conditions. In spite of their commonness they are disappearing from theirnatural habitats. To examine the situation of disappearance of wild rice population,observations of the same populations were carried out in 1983 and 1991 or 1992. The aim wasto find some factors causing genetic erosion in the wild rice.

Twenty sites of wild rice population were observed along the road from Bangkok toPhitsanulok and from Bangkok to Nongkhai. They were observed with respect to spatial sizeand density in 1983 and 1991 or 1992. It was found that at least seven populations in shallowwater and three populations in deep water conditions had disappeared during the past tenyears.

The disappearance was mainly due to expansion of the roads (6 sites) and habitatchanges (4 sites). Wild rice plants decreased gradually and were replaced by perennial plantspecies. Wild rice has a low competitive ability compared to those perennial grasses. Droughtcondition and heavy grazing may also prevent the wild rice plants from reaching theirreproductive stage. It was pointed out that among those vanished populations at least fivepopulations were located within 150 kilometers from Bangkok.

Eight populations remained without any noticeable change in size and density. Fivewere in deep water and three in shallow water. There was little or no physical change inenvironments for those remained population sites. Wild rice populations remained more indeep water than in shallow water because deepwater may prevent disturbance of habitat byboth man and animals. In addition, weed competition was less in deep water areas.

The disappearance of wild rice populations also occurred in an area far away fromBangkok. This phenomenon can take place at any time and any place rapidly. Extensive andintensive conservation of wild rice need to be considered. Currently, ex-situ conservation ofwild rice is carried out by the National Rice Seed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resources atthe Pathum Thani Rice Research Center. A trial of in-situ conservation is now underconsideration

References

Chang, T.T. 1976. The origin, evolution, cultivation, dissemination and diversification ofAsian and African rices. Euphytica 25 : 42-441.

McCauley, D.E. 1991. Genetic consequences of local population extinction andrecolonization. Trends Ecol. Evol. 6(1) : 5-8.

Morishima, H.Y. Shimamoto, Y. Sano and Y.I. Sato 1987. Trip to Indonesia and Thailand forthe ecological genetic study in rice. Report of study-tour in 1985/86. Report Nat. Inst.Genet. Japan. 75 pp.

Oka, H.I. 1958. Distribution and habitat of wild Oryza species in Thailand. Report of study-tour to Thailand for investigation of rice. Mimeo. Report Nat. Inst. Genet. Japan. 34pp.

Oka, H.I. 1984. Secondary succession of weed communities in lowland habitats of Taiwan inrelation to the introduction of wild rice (Oryza perennis) populations. Vegetation 56:177-187.

Oka, H.I. 1991. Ecology of wild rice planted in Taiwan. I. Sequential distribution of speciesand their interactions in weed communities. Bot. Bull. Academia Sinica 32:287-293.

Oka, H.I. 1992a. Ecology of wild rice planted in Taiwan. II. Comparison of two populationswith different genotypes. Bot. Bull. Academia Sinica 33:75-84.

Oka, H.I. 1992b. Ecology of wild rice planted in Taiwan. III. Differences in regenerationstrategies among genetic stocks. Bot. Bull. Academia Sinica 33:133-140

Oldfield, M.L. 1989. The value of conserving genetic resources. Sunderland Mass. SinauerAssociates. P 232.

Table 1. Location of observation site.

Location Elevation Distance fromSite No. G.S. No Latitude Longitude (m) BKK

(km)

CP-1 7885 15°55’N 100°12’E 30 220CP-4 7886 15°51’N 100°12’E 15 215CP-5 7887 15°46’N 100°13’E 30 209CP-9 7888 15°29’N 100°18’E 30 169CP-13 20551 14°86’N 100°44’E 10 115CP-20 6060 14°195’N 100°97E 10 69NN-50 7881 17°59’N 100°12’E 80 595NN-52 7882 16°95’N 100°35’E 70 500NE-1 7890 14°51’N 100°91’E 10 98NE-2 7891 14°44’N 100°95’E 25 114NE-3 7892 14°56’N 100°98’E 20 118NE-4 10535 14°57’N 100°99’E 20 119NE-6 7894 15°25’N 102°40’E 180 306NE-9 7895-1 15°23’N 102°50’E 160 336NE-14 7896 15°66’N 102°57’E 200 356NE-34 18299 17°46’N 102°79’E 200 567NE-35 7906 17°46’N 102°79’E 200 567NE-36-1 7908 17°85’N 102°99’E 170 615NE-85 7923 14°73’N 102°19’E 150 290NE-88 10548 14°44’N 100°99’E 10 91

CP = Central plainNN = Northern regionNE = Northeast region

Table 2. Observation records of wild rice in 1983 and 1991 or 1992.

1983 1991-1992Site No. Size Den* Description Size Den* Description %

(m2) (%) (m2) (%) survival

CP-1 150 90 Short stature,scattered alongthe roadside,moist, openshading, compactpanicle

0 0 Road expansion,few plantsremained

0-2

CP-4 10 70 Short stature, drysoil, heavygrazing, few seed,short panicle

0 0 Populationdeclined drought,heavy grazing +perennial grasses

0-2

CP-5 80 90 Wild rice in deepwater along theroad, open habitat

100 80 Same as observedin 1983

100

CP-9 200 90 Wild rice inshallow-deepwater along theditch

150 50 Scattered alongthe ditch, lessdensity in deepwater

80

CP-13 100 30 In the ditch, alongthe roadside,open, shallowwater

50 30 Same as in 1983 100

CP-20 1000 90 Open habitat,deep water

300 100 Same as in 1983 100

NN-50 30 50 Semi-erect planttype, open,shallow to deepwater populationthe ditch nearcultivated rice

30 50 Open, shallow,moist conditionsemi-erect wildrice exist alongthe road

100

NN-52 240 60 Semi-erect, openhabitat, shallowmoist condition

100 20 Open, dryconditionscattered and lessdensity

20

NE-1 250 30 Semi-erect,shallow wateralong the canalaccompanied byperennial weeds

0 0 Covered by soildue to roadexpansion, dryand someEleocharis spiralis

0-2

NE-2 150 10 Open habitat, pop.along roadsidemoist-drycondition,perennial weeds

0 0 Populationdecreased rapidly,few plantsremained

0-2

NE-3 300 80 Open-partialshade, moist-shallow water,grazing, perennialweeds

50 30 Road expansion,scattered inabandoned land

20

Table 2. Cont.

1983 1991-1992Site No. Size Den* Description Size Den* Description %

(m2) (%) (m2) (%) survival

NE-4 390 90 Semi-erect,shallow water,open habitat

80 20 Population wascovered by soil forbuildingconstruction

0-2

NE-6 50 40 Floating habit,plants scatteredalong the ditch

10 20 Floating habitalong the ditchpopulationdecreased

0-2

NE-9 50 40 Sterile plants,partial shade,deep water,decumbent growthhabit perennialweeds

10 40 Shallow water,mostly replacedby perennialweeds

30

NE-14 40 70 Open, shallowwater, disturbedby fisherman

0 0 No wild rice 0

NE-34 40 50 Semi-erect wasteland, scattered indeep water,Eleocharis dulcis

0 0 Replaced byEleocharis dulcis

0-2

NE-35 100 50 Open, shallowwater, highsterility,Eleocharis dulcis

100 50 Same as in 1983 100

NE36-1 400 15 Open, moist todry, semi-erect,scattered onwaste land

30 10 Replaced byperennial weedssuch as Leersiahexandra

0-5

NE-85 20 50 Open, scatteredalong the canal,floating habit

20 65 Population moredensity

100

NE-88 40 20 Partial shade,cluster in deepwater along theditch, weedScirpus grossus

5 50 Road expansionfew plants leftalong the ditch

0-2

*Area covered by wild rice plants

Table 3. Comparison of plant survival in the revisited 20 populations between species (a) andbetween different water conditions of their habitats (b).

(a)

% Plant survival Total no. ofSpecies 0 20 40 60 80 100 population

O. rufipogon 3 0 1 0 1 5 10

O. nivara 7 2 0 0 0 1 10

(b)

% Plant survival Total no. ofWater condition 0 20 40 60 80 100 population

Deep 3 0 0 0 1 4 8

Shallow 7 2 0 0 0 3 12

IN SITU CONSERVATION OF WILD RICE IN THAILAND

Songkran ChitrakonCurator of the National Rice Seed Storage Laboratory for Genetic Resourcess,

Pathum Thani Rice Research Center

The extinction of rice genetic resources in Thailand is increasing rapidly especially in wild ricepopulations. Although at present the genetic resources of many wild rice populations are beingsuccessfully conserved (ex situ conservation) in the National Rice seed Storage Laboratory forGenetic Resources. Many populations can not be conserved in seed genebank because of seedsterility. Besides ex situ conservation is essentially a static form of genetic conservation. Sincediversity of living thing is the basic of the future well-being of plants. So preservation of thebiodiversity of wild rice species espectially those related to culivar is essential to permit riceevolution and rice improvement for the future and sustainable use.

Thailand launched into a project on in-situ conservation of wild rice in 1994. There areat least 8 population sites which have been considered. Six population sites are in central plainand all are species related to cultivar. The others locate in the north and central plain. The nothsite conserves Oryza granulata while the central plain conserve O. officinalis.

Conservation of wild rice in Prachin Buri was initiated in 1994 through Her RoyalHighness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s recommendation. The project was set up based onthe agreement between the Department of Agriculture and the Shizuoka University, Japan. Theobjectives are to accumulate the basic data for population flux, to survey the micro-climate andnatural enemies of wild rice in its original place, and to search for useful genes from wild rice.

The conservation site occupies an area of two hectares. The land is separated into twoequal sub-plots. One plot is surrounded by a fence in order to protect animals and man invasion.Another sub-plot is left without any protection. The contrast between these plots may representthe difference in the level of disturbance. Area of observation are as follows:

- Morphology and physiology aspect - Diversity in wild rice population and companion weeds - Predator and natural enemies found in wild rice - Diversity of microorganism - Pests and diseases present in wild rice - Life history traits in wild rice

Preliminary Observation (1995-1996)

January No water, moist soil, most mother plants died, many tillerscame from nodes (178 tillers/m2) and about 20 cm height.

February-March Plant height was about 40 cm (350 tillers/m2), many seedswere found, most seeds were eaten by rodents, 40 good seedsper square meter and 45% survive from previous year.

April-May Plant height about 60 cm with 400 plants/m2, organic matter,P2O5, K and Na found in conservation site more than outside.

June-July Plant height about 125 cm, decrease in population density(347/m2), Panicum aurea, Hymenachne pseudointerrupta andIpomoea aquatica were found. Leafhopper, long horn cricketand rice bug had been found. Damaged leaves were notserious (7%). Natural enemies or predators (93%) were found.Mostly, they were Ropalidia sp. and spiders (Oxyopes sp. andTetragnatha sp.). Other diseases were brown spot(Helminthosporium oryzae) and blast (Pyricularia grisea).

August Land flooded, water level was about 1-1.5 meter Eusyrtusconcinus (79%) infested wild rice leaves damaging 30% otherpests were leafhoppers. Brown spot and blast were found inboth wild rice and weed species. Some predators were spider(80%), Agriocnemis femina famina, Telenomus sp. andPolytoxus sp.

September Flowering stage, plant still standding. Water level increasedrapidly.

October Full flowering stage and some maturing seeds. Most maturedseeds dropped. Water level rather maintained or littleincreased.

November Water level was almost 3 meters depth (max.) then rapidlydecreased, some wild rice still flowering, most matured seeddropped. Plants still standing.

December Land dry up, wild rice lodged, plant height about 4 meters, 17nodes, internode averaged length about 50 cm and 122-208plants/m2. Very few (5%) still flowered. Companion weedswere Panicum aurea, Sesbanea roxburhii, Echinocloa stagninaand Ipomea aquatica. Some tillers were found from nodes ofmother plants.

Uganda

PROGRESS REPORT ON FIELD COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION IN UGANDA*

Dan Kiambi and John Wasswa

Introduction

Uganda’s location along the equator, the varied altitude ranging from 600m to 5100m asl, andthe numerous water bodies (rivers and lakes) have resulted into different agro-ecologies. Thismakes Uganda richly endowed with diverse plant genetic resources among which is wild rice. Aneco-geographical survey carried out at Makerere University and Kawanda Agricultural ResearchInstitute herbaria, reveals that several wild rice species have been documented to occur inUganda. Oryza eichingeri is recorded to occur in the districts of Moyo, Hoima, Mukono, Masaka,Kasese Bundibugyo and Mpigi. O. longistaminata is recorded to occur mainly around theswampy lake Kyoga basin across the districts of Soroti, Masindi, Luwero and Mukono. O.punctata occurs in the districts of Soroti, Kasese, Bundibugyo and Kotido. Records of Leersiadrepanothrix are not available in the two herbaria used but Sigrid et. al. 1996, mentions itsoccurrence in Soroti district. Leersia hexandra is the most widely documented species withrecords of occurrence in the districts of Kampala, Kabale, Kumi, Kasese, Pallisa, Masaka,Kalangala, Mbarara, Soroti, Gulu, Mbale, Mpigi, Hoima and Mubende.

Apart from the few accessions of O. eichingeri held at IRRI, no systematic collection has beendone in Uganda. At the same time, population pressure and socio-economic activities aredisrupting the natural ecosystem where wild rice naturally occurs. There is need therefore, tocollect this germplasm before it is lost. This will also go a long way in filling up the taxonomicand eco-geographical gaps that presently occur in the international germplasm collections.

Progress and future plans

Studies of herbarium specimens have been carried out at the University of Makerere Herbarium.The 69 Herbarium specimens studied comprise the following:

O. eichingeri - 9O. longistaminata - 5O. punctata - 4Leersia hexandra - 51

The first collecting mission was held from 1-20 and it covered the Lake Victoria Basin, part ofLake Kyoga Basin, Lake Albert Basin and the Central region. The Western part of the countrywhere O. punctata is known to occur could not be covered due to security problems. The resultsof the collecting mission are shown in Table 1. No samples of Leersia drepanothrix have beencollected so far although it is known to occur in some of the areas already covered. Future plansinclude collecting of material particularly O. longistaminata and O. punctata in the target areaswhich could not be covered in the current year. Table 2 gives a summary of the tentative planfor collecting activities in 1998 and the status of the budget is provided in Table 3.

*Participating agencies: National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), International Plant

Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), and Makerere University, BotanyDepartment, Herbarium Section

Uganda

Training and equipment needs

The scientific staff may require short term training in handling of wild rice species. One or twoweeks in IRRI would be sufficient. The curator intends to participate in the IRRI course inSeptember 1998. The national programme at the moment does not have adequate conservationand documentation facilities. Support for procurement of one 600 litre deep chest freezer andcomputer hardware and software would be recommended. In response to this need, IRRI is in theprocess of providing the National Programme with the necessary financial resources to purchasea chest deep freezer, a computer and a printer.

Arrangements for seed multiplication and long term conservation

The National Programme intends to send duplicates for long term conservation and accessionswith small sample size to IRRI for multiplication. However, details and logistical arrangementswill have to be discussed further with IRRI.

Constraints experienced

1. Many habitats and localities where wild rice has been recorded to occur, according to theherbarium specimens, have been destroyed to pave way for framing activities. A lot ofswamps have been drained leading to severe genetic erosion of the rice wild species.

2. Poor seed setting, sterility and small population sizes, leading to procurement of insufficientseeds and small sample sizes.

3. Insecurity in the Western parts of the country led to cancellation of planned collectingmissions.

Table 1. Results of collecting mission

Mission Dates Areas covered Species collected No. of seedsamples

No. ofvegetativesamples

Total No.of samples

Mission 1 1-20 October 1997 Lake Victoria Basin, part of LakeKioga Basin, Lake Albert Basinand Central region

Leersia hexandra

O. eichingeri

O. longistaminata

8

3

0

0

1

3

8

4

3

TOTAL NO. OF SAMPLES PER SPECIES L. hexandra

O. eichingeri

O. longistaminata

8

3

0

0

1

3

8

4

3

TOTAL NO. OF SAMPLES 11 4 15

Table 2: Summary of proposed collecting activities for 1998

Year Dates Areas to be covered Type of material

1998 Feb/March Lake Kyoga, Queen ElizabethNational Park

Wild species

1998 September/October

Western Uganda, Kampala area,Budongo and Bugoma forest,Ruwenzori, Kabale, Mbarare andLake Mburo National Park

Wild species

Table 3. Status of the budget

ActivityExpenditure US$

1. Transport costs (fuel and vehicle maintenance) 1440

2. Allowances 3885

3. Materials and services 1360

4. Labour 100

Total 6785

Total spent in 1997

Balance to be spent in 1998

33853400

Vietnam

REPORT ON PERFORMANCE OF THE PROJECT" SAFEGUARDING AND PRESERVATION OF THE BIODIVERSITY OF THE RICE

GENEPOOL" IN VIETNAM IN THREE YEARS 1995, 1996, AND 1997

Luu Ngoc TrinhHead, Plant Genetic Resources Center (PGRC)

Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, Van Dien, Thanhtri, Hanoi, Vietnam

Introduction

Vietnam participated in the SDC-Funded Project "Safeguarding and Preservation of theBiodiversity of the Rice Genepool,” which was implemented and coordinated by the NationalPGRFA Program and the collected rice germplasm are conserved in the National CropGenebank.

Part I. Germplasm collection.

1. From January to September 1995.

From January to September 1995, ten collection trips were realized in different areas ofthe country. The first three trips possess surveying characters, germplasm collecting activitieswere combined with the work of assessing the existence of rice germplasm in visited places.Regarding the other seven trips, a method of collecting as thorough as possible rice landraces ineach district was realized.

Following are the collection trips done in 1995:

1. January 1995. Collection in Gia lai and Kong tum provinces in Central Plateau at theSouth Vietnam, 55 cultivars were collected.

2. February 1995. Collection in Tay ninh and Song be provinces in eastern part ofMekong River Delta at the South Vietnam, 47 cultivars were collected.

3. March 1995. Collection in An giang and Kien giang provinces in western part ofMekong River Delta at the South Vietnam, 61 cultivars were collected.

4. April 1995. Collection in Coastal areas of Quang ngai and Binh dinh provinces at theCentral Vietnam, 63 cultivars were collected.

5. April 1995. Collection in Yen bai province at the North Vietnam, 62 cultivars werecollected.

6. May 1995. Collection in Coastal areas of Quang nam - Da nang province at theCentral Vietnam, 55 cultivars were collected.

7. May 1995. Collection in Trang dinh district, Lang son province at the North Vietnam.This was a short trip, in which the collecting activity was combined with the work of surveyingupland rice cultivation. 10 cultivars were collected. Car of the VN-IRRI Liaison Office was used.

8. Collection of aromatic rice in Nghia hung district of Nam ha province at the NorthVietnam, 13 cultivars were collected. Collection of rice germplasm was done by a genebankresearchers mission on seed regeneration. National genebank budget was used.

Vietnam

9. July 1995. Collection in lowland areas of some districts of Ninh binh and Thanh hoaprovinces at the North Vietnam, 15 cultivars were collected.

10. September 1995. Collection in some areas of Quang tri province at the CentralVietnam, 18 cultivars were collected. Rice germplasm was collected by a taro germplasmcollection team. National genebank budget was used.

2. From October to December 1995.

Although fund from IRRI was not received on time, and since collection or rice germplsmwas needed in areas where high rate of genetic erosion is occurring from the fourth quarter of1995, as the National Coordinator of PGRFA Program, Dr. Luu Ngoc Trinh mobilized Nationalgenebank budget to perform activities on germplasm collection and seed processing.

In the fourth quarter of 1995, two collection trips were performed:

1. November 1995. Collection in Lai chau and Tuyen quang provinces in Northwestzone of Vietnam, 50 cultivars were collected.

2. December 1995. Collection in areas of north part of Central Vietnam, 45 cultivarswere collected.

3. In the First Quarter of 1996.

Two collection trips of rice germplasm were performed:

1. January 1996. Collection in Soc trang and Can tho provinces at the South Vietnam,47 cultivars were collected.

2. March 1996. Collection in Lao cai province at the North Vietnam., 52 cultivars werecollected.

4. In the Second Quarter of 1996.

In the Second Quarter of 1996, three collection trips were carried out:

1. April 1996. Collection in Dac lac province at the Central Vietnam, 52 cultivars werecollected.

2. May 1996. Collection in Lang son province at the North Vietnam, 47 cultivars werecollected.

3. June 1996. Collection in Hoa binh province at the North Vietnam, 40 cultivars werecollected.

Due to a very heavy rainy season in July of 1996 and not having an available fund, thecollecting work could not be performed.

Thus, in the first two years of project implementation, 17 collection trips were performedand 732 cultivars of rice germplasm were collected. If it includes 112 cultivars collected by threepractical trips of the in-country training course organized in June 1995, a total of 844 cultivarswere collected. It can be considered that the collecting activities were already completed incoastal areas of Quang ngai, Binh dinh and Quang nam - Da nang provinces in Central Vietnam;in Yen bai, Lao cai, Lang son and Nam dinh provinces in North Vietnam; in Soc trang and Can

Vietnam

tho provinces in South Vietnam and in several districts of the remained provinces all over thecountry.

5. In 1997

The budget for germplasm collection was transferred from IRRI in July 1997. Thisbudget has been used to perform two kinds of activities, the collection of new germplasm and thepost-collecting characterization and seed processing of germplasm collected before.

Two collection trips were carried out:

- In August 1997. Collection in Ha giang province and some areas of Tuyen quangprovince. 49 cultivars were collected.

- October 1997. Collection of winter rice in areas of Red River Delta. 35 cultivars werecollected.

In total up to now 19 collection trips were performed and 928 cultivars were collected.

6. Post-collecting characterization and seed processing.

In 1996, the post-collecting characterization and seed processing were already carriedout for a part of germplasm material collected in 1995. In 1997, after receiving fund from IRRI,this work is continued and had completed for 599 cultivars collected in 1995. The clearance offormalities for sending those cultivars collected in 1995 to IRRI for long-term conservation isfinishing.

Plan of collection for 1998.

As it was planned by the meeting of the National PGRFA network institutions held atVASI in October 1997, the collection of rice germplasm for 1998 will be activated and promotedthrough two ways of approaches:

- By reinforcing the activities of the professional germplasm collection teams of theNational PGRFA Program.

- By contracts on collecting activities signed with the research and training institutions ofthe PGRFA Network.

PART II. TRAINING AND MEETING

Training activities in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997

The SDC-Project funded to Vietnam to organize an In-Country Training Course on Methods andTechniques of Rice Germplasm Collection, 20 - 29 June 1995. 15 participants, who are youngcollectors attended the course.

The SDC-Project also provided full financial assistance to two Vietnam trainees, Mr.Nguyen Thanh Can to attend the Documentation Training Course, 22 August - 9 September1994 in Malaysia and Mr. Le Tran Tung to attend the Seed Genebank Management TrainingCourse, 8 - 22 December 1996 in India.

The preparation for a second In-Country Training Course on Germplasm collectionfocusing an wild rice relative is completed. This course is scheduled to be held in March 1998.

Vietnam

The SDC project agreed to fund to our National Crop Genebank an on-job training forthree months on using biochemical and molecular techniques to evaluate the genetic diversity ofrice germplasm. This training will be carried out from January 1998

In October 1997 the National PGRFA Program convened a meeting with the participantfrom the National PGR Network institution to plan and organize the collecting activities for theFourth Quarter of 1997 and 1998.

Training needs in 1998

Our National PGRFA Program requests the following training supports:

• An on-the-job training on data management documentation, two weeks at GRC, IRRI.

• An on-the-job training at IRRI, three week, on studying management and repairing of coldstorage facilities.

• An in-country training course on characterization of cultivated and wild rice.

During the Third Meeting of Steering Committee held in India on 30 November 1996, Dr.Luu Ngoc Trinh and Ms. G. C. Loresto kept a discussion on this training issue of Vietnam. Aproposal for training needs of Vietnam in 1997 was submitted to Ms. Loresto.

PART III. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

Equipment and supplies already received.

The SDC Project already provide to our National Genebank the following equipment andsupplies:

- Two altimeters- 5000 aluminum foil bags- One GPS- Two computers with printers- Fund for a dehumidifier seed drying cabinet

As it is difficult to purchase this facility both in Vietnam and abroad, we are using thefund provided by the Project to buy machine details and build a new dehumidifier seed dryingcabinet.

Equipment and supplies requested.

If the budget of the SDC Project is available, we would request an additional grant of thefollowing equipment and supplies:

- The fund of 500 USD for purchasing an electronic balance was already received.However, due to an error in budget estimation, that fund is not enough for the expected facility.We would request a electronic balance with sensibility 10-4 g to be used for testing andcontrolling the seed moisture. It’s current price is around 2500 USD.

- 50 kg silica gel to be used to dry seeds.

- 5000 aluminum foil bags.

Vietnam

- One aluminum foil bags sealer.

- One tester of seed moisture content.

- Two air airconditioners to be used in the seed bank.

PART IV. FINANCIAL STATUS

It was charged 22 693 USD to the eight of ten collection trips and to the other activities closelylinked with the rice germplasm collection which were realized from January to September 1995.This expense was already liquidated and corresponds to the amount of 22,600 USD provided bythe VN-IRRI Liaison Office in 1995.

It was submitted to the VN-IRRI Liaison Office the receipt of two kinds of expenses:

Receipts of 16,694.822 USD corresponding to the germplasm collection.

It has been charging to the collecting activities the remain of the received funding3,305.178, its receipt is being gathered.

Receipt of 5850 USD corresponding to the NARS strengthening budget item. The remain5150 USD in this item is being utilized to build the dehumidifier seed drying cabinet.

If it is included 20,744 USD mobilized from the National Genebank budget to performthe collecting activities in 1995 and 1996, an amount of 63,344 USD was used to perform thethis amount corresponds to 53.8 % of the total budget allocated for germplasm collection.

IPGRI

PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES, ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING RECENTCHANGES AND PRESENT STATUS*

K. W. RileyRegional Director, Asia, the Pacific and Oceania Region

Serdang, Malaysia

Continued exchange is essential for the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) both toensure continued evolution and adaptation of plants to changing environments as well as for thedevelopment of improved varieties, necessary for food, fiber, shelter and economic development.Widespread application of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) , for the purpose of creatingincentives for technological innovations, processes and products, required as part of tradeagreements, has created challenges for the continued exchange of PGR. As plant breedingbecomes privatised, Plant Breeders' Rights and Plant Patent legislation has been enacted orconsidered by many countries to provide recognition and recompense for the contribution madeby plant breeders in developing new varieties. Suitable protection of Trade Related IntellectualProperty (TRIPS) including sui generis systems which include plant varieties, is required ofcountries joining the World Trade Organization. While legislation for such forms of IPR havebeen well specified in acts such as UPOV or plant patents, recognition for the contribution madeby farmers and local communities in maintaining and improving genetic resources has not beenas clearly defined. The resulting uncertainty in defining appropriate legislation, benefits andrecognition, has resulted in significant reduction in international exchange of germplasm in recentyears.

Several recent international conventions and agreements have dealt in some way with accessand benefit sharing from the use of plant genetic resources. The Conservation on BiologicalDivers" which became law in 1993, committed countries to conserve and sustainability usegenetic resources and to share benefits arising from their use. However implementationmechanisms to achieve these objectives are still being developed. Similarly, the Global Plan ofAction approved in June 1996, calls for stronger collaboration among countries for improving theconservation and use of PGR for Food and Agriculture, while the International Undertaking onPlant Genetic Resources is to establish terms to recognize Farmers' Rights and access andbenefit sharing under FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources. Traditional resource rights arebeing considered under a number of agreements such as WIPO/UNESCO's Draft Declaration onIndigenous Rights.

Countries need to adopt consistent and well-informed positions in order to help resolve theseissues at the global, regional, national and local levels. IPGRI has supported several studies (1-5) which identify options for access and benefit sharing, including a suggestion for a network-based multilateral system. Such a system could include specific crops and member countrieswho share PGR under commonly agreed rules. Another study (5) explores options that countriesmight consider as sui generis legislation. Such sui generis legislation might include protection oflandraces and traditional varieties. Sui generis systems might also be used as a trigger to sharebenefits equitably. IPGRI, as a member of the Consultative Group on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR), has been involved in the development of a series of agreements signed in1994 and 1995, which place the germplasm collections held by the CGIAR Centers in trust for theinternational community under the auspices of the FAO. IPR are not to be taken out by theCenters on these germplasm accessions; those that receive the germplasm are bound by thesame conditions.

Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) and Germplasm Acquisition Agreements (GAA) have beendeveloped which can stipulate the conditions under which germplasm can be exchanged. A

*Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of IPGRI.

IPGRI

variety of MTAs and GAAs can be developed to suit the particular circumstances. For example,when used in exchanging germplasm between CCIAR genebanks and national programmes,these documents encourage access to germplasm and stipulate that IPR will not be taken out onthe germplasm accessions.

A recently revised draft, Guiding Principles for CGIAR Centers on Intellectual Property andGenetic Resources, maintains the principle of no IPR on germplasm which is held in trust butrecognizes that some form of IPR may be required if the products from the germplasm are to beeffectively used. Patents can only be granted after consultations and agreement on sharing ofbenefits with the country of origin of the germplasm.

An agreed International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer has bepublished by FAO and is available to workers (6).

References

1 . Barton, J.H and Seibeck, W.E. 1994. Material transfer agreements in genetic resourcesexchange - the case of the International Agricultural Research Centres. Issues in GeneticResources No. 1, May 1994. IPGRI, Rome, Italy.

2. Cooper, D.;. Engels, J. and Frison, E. 1994. A multilateral system for plant geneticresources: imperatives, achievements and challenges. Issues in plant genetic resourcesNo. 2, May 1994. IPGRI, Rome, Italy.

3. Hawtin, G. 1995. Approaches to facilitate access to plant genetic resources and promotingthe equitable sharing of benefits arising form their commercial exploitation, within the contextof the CCIAR, Presented to the Commission on Plant genetic Resources, FAO, Rome. June1995.

4. IPGRI. 1996. Access to Plant Genetic Resources and the equitable sharing of benefit: acontribution to the debate on systems for exchange of germplasm. Issues in Plant GeneticResources No. 4, June 1996. IPGRI, Rome, Italy.

5. Leskien, Dan and Flitner, Michael. 1997. Intellectual Property Rights and Plant GeneticResources: Options for a System. Issues in Genetic Resources No. 6 June, 1997.International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy.

6. FAO. 1994. International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer.Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy.

GENETIC RESOURCE ACTIVITIES ON RICE AT IGAU, RAIPUR, INDIA WITHSPECIAL REFERENCE TO ON-FARM CONSERVATION

S. S. Baghel and N. K. MotiramaniDirector of Research & Rice Breeder

Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, M.P. 492 012, India

The collection, preservation, evaluation and use of crop genetic resources, collectivelycalled germplasm, is a vital activity in our quest to produce food and other necessities derivedfrom plants for an ever growing human population. Over a period of time the progenitors of ourpresent day crop plants have evolved a large number of genetic variants as a response tochanging natural environments. Modern plant breeding has developed techniques and strategiesfor utilizing these genetic variants to produce cultivars of crop plants that are high yielding,resistant/tolerant against various biotic/abiotic stresses and better in nutrition and other economictraits.

The human population is largely dependent on plants for its requirement of food, shelter,fibre and raw materials for the industry. Most of the cultivated crop plants have originated fromwild species by undergoing domestication, selection, dispersal, mutation, hybridization anddifferentiation–selection cycles. Introgression has played an important role in the evolutionarypath-way and enriched their gene pool.

The development of dwarf high yielding fertilizer responsive rice varieties coupled withimproved crop growing husbandry has resulted in a marked rise in the production andproductivity in favourable areas. Concerted efforts were made to popularise these varieties.Suitable policy initiatives were taken to support the adoption of improved cultivars by makingarrangements for quality seed supply, fertilizers, irrigation, agro-chemicals and credit with clearextension message, “the high yielding varieties are pure and off-types are impurities”. Farmerswere and are still being advised to rogue off-types, if part of the produce is to be saved as seedfor next season and to replace seed at regular intervals to maintain varietal purity.

The rapid spread of improved varieties has intensified the displacement of traditionalunimproved cultivars (land races) and accelerated their extinction. The trend towards greateruniformity has increased the potential genetic vulnerability of the crop to epidemics of pests anddiseases. Moreover, broad genetic base required for further genetic improvement continues toshrink. The loss in genetic variability is the by product of successful plant breeding.

However, the improved rice varieties and management practices, which had atremendous impact in relatively homogenous irrigated ecosystem, failed to adequately meet theneeds and requirements of marginal farmers. In many poor environments the improved varietiesdid not express their superiority, mainly because the breeding efforts were directed at evolvingcultivars capable of responding to and making efficient use of applied inputs under favourablecrop growing environments. Majority of the modern cultivars were selected for high harvestindex, raising grain yield, but ignoring other traits, like straw, which are essential for the survivalof farm house holds that cultivate them. Selections were mostly made on research stationsunder near optimum conditions. These conditions are very much different from those prevailingon fields of small farmers.

Thus, the net impact of “Green Revolution” technology has been asymmetricaldevelopment, creating wide disparities among different regions and among farmers of differentresource groups within a region.

India (Raipur)

Ex situ conservation of genetic resources

The need to conserve the diversity found in crop land races has been recognised sincelong. The ex situ conservation i.e., the storage of seed of collected land races in gene-banks,has been the principal strategy for the preservation of crop genetic resources, including rice.Seed storage is a safe and efficient way of conserving rice genetic resources and these can berapidly made available to researchers for use in their breeding programmes.

The active collection of local land races from different rice growing regions of MadhyaPradesh was initiated by (late) Dr. R.H. Richharia in 1971. Between 1971 to 1976, a total of19,095 accessions were collected. These were maintained by (late) Dr. R.H. Richharia and hisgroup until 1979 under the aegis of M. P. Rice Research Institute (MPRRI), Raipur. The entirematerial was transferred to Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur in 1979 when theMPRRI was merged with this University. With the establishment of Indira Gandhi AgriculturalUniversity, Raipur on 20 January, 1987 the material stood transferred to this University.

Besides maintaining the material transferred by (late) Dr. R.H. Richharia, wild rice(Oryza nivara) found in abundance in Chhattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh, was collected inan IGAU-NBPGR-IRRI joint exploration.

Currently, the University is maintaining 20,678 accessions, which is one of the largestcollections of local land races. The details are as under:

S.No. Maturity Group Duration(days) Number of accessions

A. Indigenous Lines

1. Extra early Up to 95 4802. Very early 96-110 11973. Early 111-125 34254. Medium 126-140 49465. Late Above 140 7912

Total 17960

B. Exotic Breeding Lines 709C. Wild Rice 204D. Miscellaneous (Upland, BD lines etc.) 1805

Grand Total: 20678

Evaluation:

All the 20,678 lines have been evaluated for important qualitative and quantitativecharacters both in the field and in the laboratory. The characters recorded are:

A. Characters recorded in the field:

1. Basal leaf sheath colour2. Leaf blade colour3. Collar colour4. Ligule colour5. Auricle colour6. Leaf angle7. Culm internode colour

India (Raipur)

8. Apiculus colour9. Stigma colour10. Flowering days11. Plant height (cm)12. Panicle length (cm)13. Culm number14. BLB resistance15. Gall midge resistance

B. Characters recorded in the laboratory:

1. Grain length (mm)2. Grain width (mm)3. Grain yield/plant (g)4. 100 grain weight (g)5. Number of grains/panicle6. Fertile grains/panicle

Evaluation of germplasm against biotic stresses:

Under a network project these accessions are being evaluated for resistance againstvarious biotic stresses, particularly against bacterial leaf blight (BLB), gall midge, blast andbrown plant hopper (BPH) in several locations in the country.

Variation in quantitative characters:

A very wide range of variability exists among various accessions. The range of variationfor important quantitative characters is given in Table 1.

Storage:

Since its transfer to the University, entire germplasm is grown each year for the want ofsuitable storage facility. Recently, ICAR has provided a module for medium term storage. Thiswill greatly reduce the expensive and time consuming necessity of growing germplasm eachyear. The resources, thus saved, will be used for intensive evaluation and cataloguing.

Part of the germplasm (9988 accessions) has been transferred to National Bureau ofPlant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) for long term storage in the gene bank. The remainingmaterial is in the process of being transferred.

Utilization:

Very limited use of the collected material has been made. An improved strain BD-200was released through pure line selection. It is quite popular among farmers. A scented highyielding variety Madhuri was released and notified by using a popular local scented variety,Dubraj as one of the parents.

The accessions found possessing resistance against gall midge and BPH have beenused as parents in the crossing programme. The materials are in various segregatinggenerations.

India (Raipur)

On-farm conservation

The ex situ conservation is static conservation, which aims to retain as for as possiblethe structure of the original population. The ex situ conservation, at the most, samples thegenetic diversity present in a crop at a given point of time. However, numerous varieties of ricewith an impressive range of variability in various attributes have evolved as a result of selectionby farmers for their various needs and as a response to biotic/abiotic stresses. The ex situconservation halts this process. On the other hand, on-farm conservation is dynamic, becausethe varieties selected and grown by farmers continue to evolve in response to natural and humanselection. Thus, new variability is created, which is likely to be better adapted and provide acontinuing source of germplasm for ex situ conservation. Therefore, on-farm and ex situconservation should be viewed as complementary to each other.

As discussed earlier, the modern varieties and associated technology fail to meet therequirement of less favourable and heterogeneous environments. The adoption of modernvarieties in such environments has been rather poor (Table -2 ).

In the jurisdiction of IGAU, rice is grown nearly in 4 million hectares and only 24 per centof the area is under modern varieties. About 72 per cent area is still under local varieties andabout 4 per cent under improved varieties derived by selection from land races. There is a widevariation among different regions in the adoption of modern varieties. Bastar, which has 3 percent irrigated area; has poor roads, marketing and other infrastructural, facilities, low literacy anda very large proportion of tribal population, still has 92.8 per cent of its rice area under traditionalvarieties (land races). In Raipur, where irrigation, marketing and other infrastructural facilitiesare better developed, the coverage under HYV is reasonably high (42.2%).

Farmers criteria of varietal selection

It is known that farmers exercise selection in choosing the varieties, however, thereasons for the selection of varieties by farmers are not well understood and documented. Someof these are:

1) Soil: The rice is grown in a variety of soils and the moisture availability period varies amongdifferent categories of soils. The traditional varieties grown by farmers, by and large, match withthis period.

There are four categories of soils :

S.No. Soil type Duration of varieties based on moistureavailability (days)

1. Bhata (Entisols) 80-90

2. Matasi (Inceptisols) 90-110

3. Dorsa (Alfisols, Vertic alfisols) 110-130

4. Kanhar (Vertisols) 130-140

The Bhata soils occur on the top of the topo-sequence and are coarse textured with verypoor water holding capacity. The Matasi, Dorsa and Kanhar are found in the topo-sequence inthis order with gradual increase in water holding capacity. The Kanhar soils are in the bottom ofthe topo-sequence and have the problem of drainage due to perched high water table.

India (Raipur)

The varieties grown by farmers vary in maturity, the earliest being grown in Bhata/Matasisoils and the varieties of longest duration in Kanhar. The land races adopted for different soiltypes and which are mixture of several genotypes, have the constituents of almost sameduration:

2) Dietary habits and mode of consumption: The rice is consumed in many ways and overa period of time, the farmers have selected varieties best suited for a specific use. Some of theland races have been reported to be being used for even medicinal purposes. However, theirmedicinal value needs to be established.

3) Taste/aroma: Taste is an important determinant in the choice of varieties. There arecolour, texture, aroma and cooking quality preferences.

4) Agronomic factors: Suitability to traditional cropping systems, adaptation to particularmicro environment, and resistance against important biotic/abiotic stresses, particularly, theinsurance against aberrant weather conditions are the other important considerations, whichconsciously or unconsciously influence the farmers’ choice of varieties.

5) Religious/Social: In several parts of India, there is a festival, called “Halchhath”, falling inlater part of August or early September. Women on this day do not consume any thing which iscultivated. The wild rice (O. nivara) growing in wastelands and near stagnant water, ponds etc. iscollected by women and it is the only rice which is consumed on this day. The price of wild riceis many times higher than the cultivated rice on this day. This encourages the continuation ofwild rice.

Other factors that promote the on farm conservation by farming communities arefragmentation of land holdings, marginal growing conditions, economic isolation (away from theconsumption centres), difficult terrain (inaccessibility), lack of awareness and easy availability ofquality seed of modern varieties.

There is practically no information on the indigenous seed supply at the communitylevel. The lack of transport and communication network forces farmers to exchange seed in anarrow area and thus, there are differences among varieties even in shorter distances.However, as these areas become increasingly assimilated into the main stream of industrialsociety, the traditional markets or indigenous germplasm exchanges are likely to loose theirsignificance, resulting into loss of genetic diversity.

Wild rice

O. nivara is the predominant variety of wild rice found all over Chhattisgarh. It isreported to possess ’AA’ genome; crosses very easily with cultivated rice and produces fertilegrains. There seems to be a free exchange of genetic material both ways between O. nivara andO. sativa. At IGAU, 204 accessions of O. nivara collected from Chhattisgarh region are beingmaintained and these show differences in height, maturity, awn, panicle, grain and othercharacteristics.

As mentioned earlier, the rice varieties of different duration matching the moistureavailability period in different soils have been selected by farmers. A similar range of maturity inO. nivara is also observed in different soils. It is very common to see wild rice growing mixedwith cultivated rice. Since it is difficult to distinguish between cultivated rice and O. nivara beforepanicle emergence it is a serious problem limiting the rice production. To overcome the problemof wild rice, University has to develop a purple coloured variety of rice, popularly known as

India (Raipur)

Shyamala. The purple colour enables early detection of wild rice, so that it can be weeded outbefore seed set to avoid its recurrences in subsequent years.

O. nivara seems to have made substantial contribution to the range of genetic variabilityobserved in the region. However, it has not been scientifically studied and documented.

IRRI-IGAU-NBPGR Collaborative Research Project on On-farm Conservation

Since the On-farm conservation of traditional rice varieties is some thing that farmerschose to do individually, it will require different strategy than the one adopted for ex situconservation. This collaborative research project has been initiated from May 1997 with anobjective, “to identify methods / strategies for the management of rice diversity by farmers, andthe genetic implications of farmer-managed systems in the conservation of rice geneticresources”.

The detailed work plan has been finalised. The project has two components:

• Socio-economic component and• Genetic component

Methodology:

The project is being implemented in two district viz (i) Bastar, the least developed withvery little adoption of modern varieties and technology, and (ii) Raipur, relatively betterdeveloped in terms of irrigation, road and marketing facilities, better availability of inputs, highliteracy and relatively high adoption of modern varieties and technology.

In Bastar district, four blocks have been selected which represent a gradient ofdevelopment: Jagdalpur–developed, Lohandiguda–developing, Darbha–under developed andBastanar–backward block. Two villages have been selected in each block.

In Raipur district, three villages have been selected. These are: Tarpongi–rainfed,Amdi–fully irrigated and Chherikhedi–canal irrigated (protective irrigation). The selected villagesare:

District Block Village1. Bastar 1. Jagdalpur a) Lamni

(Developed) b) Markel

2. Lohandiguda a) Madhar(Developing) b) Kumhli

3. Darbha a) Chhindawara(Under Developed) b) Chingpal

4. Bastanar a) Turangur(Backward) b) Tangiajhodi

India (Raipur)

2. Raipur 1. Tilda Tarpongi(Rainfed)

2. Abhanpur Amdi(Fully Irrigated)

3. Dharsiwa Chherikhedi(Canal irrigated)

In each village 14 farmers have been selected. Four farmers each representing small (<2 ha), medium (2-5 ha) and large (>5 ha) farm holdings and 2 village leaders.

Socio-economic studies

For socio-economic studies the questionnaire has been finalized in consultation withIRRI scientists, both for house hold socio-economic survey and for assessing the farmersmanagement of rice diversity. The collection of data has just begun.

Genetic studies

Samples of grown varieties in selected villages are being collected in two trips. The firstseed collection trip was organised from 17 – 23 October, 1997. In this trip Dr. J.L. Pham (IRRI),Dr. N.K. Motiramani (IGAU) and Dr. N. Dixit (NBPGR) participated. Bastar district experienceda very severe drought this year and there was relatively less variation in early varieties. In all112 samples of early varieties were collected from Bastar and Raipur.

The second seed collection trip is under way. Dr. N.K. Motiramani (IGAU) and Dr. N.Dixit ( NBPGR ) visited Bastar from 29 November to 3 December, 1997 and collected 408samples of medium and late duration varieties. The seed samples of medium and late varietiesfrom 3 selected villages of Raipur district will be collected from 5–7 December, 1997.

Three packets of each collected sample are being made. One will be retained at IGAU;one is being handed over to NBPGR and the third sample will be used for evaluating the overalldiversity and within population diversity at molecular and morphological level. The details forgenetic analysis will be finalized soon. For morphological evaluation, the collected varieties willbe grown at Raipur during 1998 monsoon season.

In summary, it can be said that the research work related to understanding of farmers’criteria of on–farm varietal selection and conservation of land races is in the initial stages.Bastar district selected for this study, is ideally suitable, since the area is almost unaffected bythe developments in modern agriculture with more than 92 per cent area under traditionalvarieties. The N,P,K fertilizer consumption in some parts of the district is less than 2 kg/ha andoverall it is only 8 kg/ha. The region is believed to be the secondary centre of origin and theabundant diversity is still present. The cultivated and wild rice co–exist. The results areexpected to lead to better understanding of farmers’ management of genetic diversity and thepossible role of O. nivara in the creation of genetic diversity in the region.

India (Raipur)

Table 1. Range in variation in some quantitative characters.

S. No. CharacterMinimum Value (Accession)

Maximum Value (Accession)

1 Days to flowering 45.0 (Sathia) 136.0 (Korma)2 Plant height (cm) 48.0 (Satha Shah) 189.0 (Gangabali)3 Panicle length (cm) 12.6 (Banda) 35.0 (Dongargondi)4 Tiller No./Plant 3.0 (Sathia) 13.0 (B421)5 Grain length (mm) 4.2 (Sathia) 13.7 (Dokri Dokra)6 Grain width (mm) 1.8 (Barik) 3.8 (Dumarla)7 1000 grain wt. (g) 5.7 (Badshahbhog) 51.4 (Hathipanjaka)8 Plant yield (g) 1.5 (Sathka) 31.8 (Aolesar)

The catalogue of the germplasm is under final stages of preparation.

Table 2. Area under local, improved and high yielding varieties of rice.

Rice area in ‘000 ha (1995-96)

S. No. District Local Var. Improved Var. HYV Total

1. Raipur 408.7 (45.0) 116.8 (12.8) 382.9 (42.2) 908.4

2. Durg 293.3 (69.1) 0.0 (0.0) 131.3 (30.9) 424.6

3. Rajnandgaon 279.9 (93.5) 5.3 (1.8) 14.0 (4.7) 299.2

Raipur Division 981.9 (60.1) 122.1 (7.5) 528.2 (32.4) 1632.2

4. Bastar 574.6 (92.8) 0.0 (0.0) 44.3 (7.2) 618.9

Bastar Division 574.6 (92.8) 0.0 (0.0) 44.3 (7.2) 618.9

5. Bilaspur 621.5 (89.9) 0.0 (0.0) 70.2 (10.1) 691.7

6. Surguja 294.9 (81.5) 0.0 (0.0) 67.1 (18.5) 362.0

7. Raigarh 268.8 (64.4) 0.0 (0.0) 148.4 (35.6) 417.2

Bilaspur Division 1185.2 (80.6) 0.0 (0.0) 285.7 (19.4) 1470.9

8. Balaghat 116.4 (47.8) 32.6 (13.4) 94.4 (38.8) 243.4

TOTAL 2858.1 (72.1) 154.7 (3.9) 952.6 (24.0) 3965.4

Figures in parenthesis indicate percentage of total rice area

PROGRESS REPORT ON ON-FARM CONSERVATION RESEARCH IN THEPHILIPPINES

Coordinators: Leocadio Sebastian1 and Jean-Louis Pham2

Participating agencies: Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and IRRI

Research team members: PhilRice: Sergio R. Francisco, Girlie Nora A. Abrigo,Paul Sanchez (until 07/97), Jane Garcia, LornaHipolito

IRRI: Mauricio Bellon3 (until 03/97), StephenMorin (from 02/97), Marlon Calibo,Dennis Erasga and Sheila Quilloy

1 Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Maligaya, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, 3119Philippines - genetics@mozcom.com

2 Genetic Resources Center, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), P.O. Box 933,1099 Manila, Philippines -j.pham@cgnet.com

3 Present address: CIMMYT, Apdo Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico DF, Mexico –m.bellon@cgnet.com

4 Seconded to IRRI by ORSTOM (Institut français de recherche scientique pour ledevelopement en coopération), 213 rue Lafayette, 75480 Paris Cedex 10,France

Introduction

On-farm conservation is the continued cultivation and management of a diverse set of croppopulations by farmers in the agroecosystems where the crops evolved (Bellon, Pham andJackson, 1997). Contrary to the conservation in genebanks, on-farm conservation is dynamic interms of evolution because under certain conditions, the varieties that farmers manage continueto evolve in response to selection pressures. On-farm conservation emphasizes the role offarmers for two reasons: (1) crop population are results of natural selection and human selectionand management; and (2) farmers' decisions define whether these populations are maintained.On-farm conservation depends on the active participation of farmers, and therefore it should bebased on the farmers’ reasons and incentives to maintain diversity. Clearly, the viability of on-farm conservation relies on understanding farmers’ perceptions and rationale in maintaining,incorporating, and discarding varieties, i.e., variety selection.

Like other crops, the adoption of modern varieties, farmers' increased integration into themarket, land clearing, urbanization and cultural change have contributed to the overall loss ofgenetic diversity in farmers’ fields (Chang, 1994; Jackson, 1995). To avert this loss, traditionalvarieties have been collected and stored ex situ — the storage of seeds in genebanks— formany years. The germplasm collection conserved in the International Rice Genebank (IRG) atIRRI comprises more than 80,000 accessions of cultivated rice and wild species (Jackson,Loresto, Appa Rao, Jones, Guimaraes and Ng, 1997).

Philippines

This paper presents a comparative study of the patterns of adoption, loss andmaintenance of modern and traditional rice varieties1 among three rice ecosystems: upland,rainfed lowland, and irrigated, in the Philippines. It aims:

1. to study farmers’ management of diversity under different socioeconomic, cultural, andagro-ecological conditions;

2. to determine the genetic changes occurring among popular modern and traditional ricevarieties under cultivation for the past 10 years; and

3. to test new strategies for on-farm conservation particularly the re-introduction oftraditional varieties in farmers’ fields and the use of composite populations.

Materials and Methods

Three municipalities of Cagayan province in northeastern Philippines were selected asrepresentative of the three rice ecosystems studied: Baggao for the upland, Iguig for the rainfedlowland, and Gattaran for the irrigated ecosystem. Local Municipal Agricultural Officer wascontacted in each of the municipalities, and with their help, four communities or “barangays”were chosen. The communities were selected based on the variation present in the ecosystemin terms of agro-ecological environment, infrastructure, and socioeconomic and ethnicconditions.

Socio-economic Survey. Four respondents were selected in each community. Therespondents were identified through a group interview with key informants who were identifiedwith the help of the village “barangay kapitan”. The respondents included both males andfemales.

Two types of questionnaires were used in each of the barangays. First, a Village LevelQuestionnaire, was applied to a group of key informants (the same ones who identified therespondents) to characterize the community. This questionnaire elicited information onpopulation, population growth rates, land use, crops and animals, sources of income, marketingfacilities, roads, health and education facilities, etc. Second, a Variety ManagementQuestionnaire was applied to each of the respondents. This questionnaire elicited information onthe following: rice varieties grown, sources and exchanges of seed for each variety, traits likedand disliked for each variety, seed selection methods used; rice varieties discarded and reasonsto do so, interest on growing them again, and factors hampering access to them; gender divisionof labor in rice production; and a ranking of the set of varieties held by the farmer for each of 25traits identified as important in the literature (e.g., Lando and Mak, 1994; Lambert, 1985;Rerkasem and Rerkasem, 1984). Socio-demographic information were also collected, such asage, education, farming experience, place of birth and time of residence in the barangay (asindicator of migration) and languages spoken (as an indicator of ethnicity). The 1995-1996 wetseason was used as reference season.

Seed Collection. Samples of all varieties grown by each respondents were collected.Further, at least one sample grown in the community but not by the respondents was collected toget a good representation of the genetic diversity in the community/ecosystem. For practicalreasons, the first round of seed collection was done several months after harvest. During thiscollection trips, many varieties that the farmers claimed to have planted were no longer

1 “Modern varieties” refers to the varieties developed and released by the formal plant breedingsystem after 1960. Modern varieties are usually short-stemmed, photoperiod insensitive andhave a good response to fertilizer. Traditional varieties refers to indigenous and introducedvarieties that have not been produced by the formal plant breeding after 1960. Traditional ricevarieties are usually tall and many are photoperiod sensitive.

Philippines

available. Some samples also did not have good germination. Samples of some of the missingseeds were collected during the following harvest season.

Molecular Analysis. Molecular marker analysis was done using both isozyme andmicrosatellite. Isozyme analysis was done using the methods described by Glazmann (1987).Eight enzymes were analyzed: catalase (CAT), aminopeptidase (AMP), esterase (EST),shikimate dehydrogenase (SDH), alcohol dehyrogenase (ADH), isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD),glutamate oxalo-acetate transaminase (GOT), and phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI). Twentymicrosatellite markers were used to amplify short sequences repeats (SSRs) of genomic DNAfrom the total samples (Wu and Tanksley, 1993, Panaud et. al., 1996; Yang et. al. 1994). DNAamplification was done using polymerase chain reactions (PCR). After amplification, PCRproducts were ran on polyacrylamide denaturing gel. DNA fingerprints were detected using non-radioactive method, silver staining (Promega).

Isozyme bands were scored based on previous allele designation made by Glazmann(1987). On the other hand, microsatellite amplicons were sequentially designated as a, b, c, andso on. Genetic diversity index was determined using the formula (Shannon Index):

nH = - Σ pi ln2 pi

I=1

Group genetic distance, genetic identity estimates (Nei 1972, 1978), and Shannon Iindexwere computed using Popgene 1.2 (F. Yeh, 1997).

Pairwise comparison of the genotypes was used to generate genetic similarity coefficient(Dice coefficient) of individual varieties. Sahn clustering and UPGMA were used to construct adendrogram by using computer program Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate Analysis System,Version 1.60 (Rohlf, 1990).

Correspondence analysis (CA) was used on the binary data set with each allele codedas 1 or 0 for presence or absence. CA was done using the SAS for Windows statistical package(PROC CORRESP).

Results and Discussion

A. Broad comparison of the rice genetic diversity and its management by farmers inthree different ecosystems

Progress

• Four villages were studied in each of these ecosystems. This was done between April andDecember 1996.

• In each of these villages, four farmers were interviewed regarding how they manage their ricevarieties. Seeds were collected from all the varieties cultivated by these farmers, as well assamples from other varieties found in these villages.

• Answers to questionnaires were encoded and partially analyzed.

• A total of 668 samples were collected but many have the same name. Only 152 names wereunique (Table 1).

• Two hundred six samples were analyzed at IRRI for isozyme polymorphism. Thirty onealleles were observed in 17 loci.

Philippines

• One hundred eighty four samples were studied at PhilRice for polymorphism usingmicrosatellite markers. A total of 142 alleles were observed in 22 loci of 114 samples and121 alleles for the 18 loci of 70 samples.

• There was more polymorphism detected using microsatellite markers.

• A field trial was conducted at IRRI to compare the agromorphological diversity in the 3ecosystems.

Main results

Socioeconomic Component

• Traditional varieties were maintained and coexisted with modern varieties in the upland andrainfed ecosystems. Traditional varieties have disappeared in the irrigated lowlandecosystem.

• In the upland ecosystem, the grain quality was a major factor for the continued cultivation oftraditional varieties by farmers, while yield and short duration were the key-traits for modernvarieties’ cultivation in the irrigated ecosystem. Cultivation of traditional varieties with goodconsumption traits in the rainfed-lowland ecosystem will depend on the genetic improvementof these varieties for cycle duration, in order to make a second crop possible.

• This is particularly relevant to a group of varieties called WagWag. These popular varietiesin the rainfed-lowland ecosystem are under threat because of their long duration, but wereseen to bring a specific genetic diversity to the pool of rainfed-lowland varieties.

• In the upland ecosystem, all the discarded varieties were traditional, where at least 50% ofthe discarded varieties were available.

• In the irrigated lowland ecosystem, the opportunity cost of maintaining traditional varieties ishigh because of their low yield and the long growth duration.

• In the irrigated lowland ecosystem, more modern varieties have been discarded thantraditional varieties. Almost half of the discarded varieties were no longer available.

• In the rainfed lowland ecosystem, traditional and modern varieties have been discarded withmore from the traditional varieties. Most of the discarded varieties were still available.

• Many of the varieties discarded were still being planted by other farmers making it possiblefor the recovery/replanting of the discarded variety.

• Susceptibility to pests and diseases and availability of new varieties were important reasonsto discard modern varieties both in the rainfed and irrigated ecosystems.

• The study indicates the significance of eliciting farmers’ knowledge and understanding theirselection process for on-farm conservation is the identification of: 1) promising varieties orgroups of varieties based both on desirable traits and their potential contribution to thegenetic diversity of an ecosystem; 2) opportunity costs that has led to the elimination ofthese varieties; and 3) ways to decrease the costs of maintaining genetic diversity on-farm.

Genetic Component

• The three ecosystems differed in the amount of cultivated diversity, importance of traditionalvarieties and criteria of farmers’ choice.

• Based on isozyme and microsatellite marker data, the genetic diversity of samples collectedfrom the 3 sites had a decreasing diversity as follows: Baggao > Iguig > Gattaran. Thenumber of samples analyzed were 58, 50, and 71 for Baggao, Iguig, and Gattaran,

Philippines

respectively. The number of microsatellite alleles observed were 113, 106, and 103 forBaggao, Iguig, and Gattaran, respectively.

• One hundred twelve samples were considered as modern varieties and 65 as traditionalvarieties. Genetic diversity was much higher in the traditional varieties than in the modernvarieties. Eighty eight and 119 alleles were observed in the traditional and modern varieties,respectively.

• Based on ecosystem classification, where the varieties were expected to be grown, 81samples were considered as irrigated lowland rice, 43 rainfed lowland rice, and 22 uplandrice varieties. Genetic diversity of samples was: rainfed lowland rice > upland rice >irrigated lowland rice. The number of alleles observed were 107, 94, and 102 for the rainfedlowland, upland, and irrigated lowland rice, respectively.

• The varieties with the most number of samples were IR66 and Biniding(IR68). Molecularmarker analyses indicated that many of the samples with the same variety name like theBiniding (IR68) and IR66 samples had different microsatellite allelic compositions.

• Some samples with different variety names had similar microsatellite allelic compositions.Very few of the samples collected in the farmers’ field with the same name had very similarallelic composition. Clustering of samples from a particular town was noted indicatinggenetic relatedness of materials collected.

• Comparison of the farmers varieties with those derived from breeder seeds indicated a bigdivergence between the two samples. The results indicated a high degree of out-crossing offarmers varieties and/or the misnaming of several varieties.

• The farmers’ varieties collected from the three sites represented a genetically diverse setof materials.

Future plans

• To complete the description of the genetic diversity at the morphological level

• To complete the analysis of data about farmers’ management of diversity

2. Detailed study of the rice genetic diversity and its management by farmers in therainfed-lowland ecosystem

Progress

• Villages were chosen to represent all the combinations of three factors with potentialinfluence of the level of cultivated diversity: market status (integrated vs. non-integrated),ethnic composition (majority vs. minority) and agro-ecological conditions (homogenous vs.heterogeneous environment).

• Studied villages and households were chosen from a census conducted in December 1996.

• In each of the villages, 12 farmers will be interviewed. A socioeconomic questionnaire will beused at the household level. A questionnaire about diversity management will be given bothto the male and female of each of the households.

• Encoding of data was completed in November 1997.

• Seeds were collected in February and October 1997 from all the varieties cultivated by thesefarmers, as well as seeds from other varieties found in these villages.

Philippines

Future plans

• To describe the genetic polymorphism of collected samples at the molecular andmorphological levels

• To analyze the data.

3. Assessment of genetic changes occurring among popular modern and traditionalrice varieties

Progress

• Collection of samples from the same traditional variety name nationwide was difficult toimplement, because no variety seems to be grown on the entire country. For modernvarieties, the difficulty is in identifying sites where these varieties are maintained in atraditional way (i.e., seeds are not renewed every year). Two exploratory trips were organizedin Central Luzon and Mindanao (August 1997). Mindanao could offer the best opportunity tocarry out the study, if the study is limited to a comparison between Cagayan Valley andMindanao. The results obtained in Cagayan Valley regarding within-name diversity suggestthat the study is less simple than initially expected.

Future plans

-Will be based on a careful analysis of the results from Cagayan Valley.

4. Test of new strategies for on-farm conservation

Progress

None. May be initiated in 1998.

5. Training

Sheila Quilloy, IRRI Laboratory Assistant, spent 7 weeks (April-May-June 1997) at PhilRice,Muñoz, for microsatellite analysis training.

Acknowledgments

The researchers are thankful to the municipal authorities and agricultural officers who supportedtheir activities in Cagayan Valley. They also thank the farmers for answering the questionnairesand for providing the seed samples.

Literature Cited

Bellon, M. R., J. L. Pham and M. T. Jackson. 1997. Genetic conservation: A role for ricefarmers. Pages 263-289 in N. Maxted, B.V. Ford-Lloyd and J.G. Hawkes, eds., PlantConservation: the In Situ Approach. Chapman and Hall, London.

Philippines

Chang, T. T. 1994. The biodiversity crisis in Asia crop production and remedial measures.Pages 25-41 in: C. I. Peng and C. H. Chou, eds., Biodiversity and terrestrial ecosystems.Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica Monograph Series No. 14. Academia Sinica,Taipei.

Glaszmann, J.C. 1987. Isozymes and classification of Asian rice varieties. Theoretical andApplied Genetics 74:21-30.

Jackson, M. T. 1995. Protecting the heritage of rice biodiversity. GeoJournal 35: 267-274.

Lambert, D. H. 1985. Swamp Rice Farming: The Indigenous Pahang Malay AgriculturalSystem. Westview Press, Boulder and London.

Lando, R. P. and Mak, S. 1994. Cambodian farmers decision making in the choice of traditionalrainfed lowland rice varieties. IRRI Research Paper Series 154.

Nei, M. 1972. Genetic distance between populations. Am. Nat. 106:283-292.

Nei, M. 1978. Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from small number ofindividuals. Genetics 89:583-590.

Panaud, O., X. Chen, and S. R. Mc Couch. 1996. Development of microsatellite markers andcharacterization of simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP)in rice (Oryza sativaL.). Mol. Gen. Genet. 252:597-607.

Rohlf, F. L. 1990. NTSYS-pc. Numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis system.NewYork: Applied Biostatistics Inc.

Rerkasem, B. and Rerkasem, K.. 1984. The agro-ecological niche and farmer selection of ricevarieties in the Chiang Mai Valley, Thailand. Pages 303-311 in: A. T. Rambo and P. E.Sajise, eds., An introduction to human ecology research on agricultural systems inSoutheast Asia. University of The Philippines, Laguna, Philippines.

SAS Institute Inc., 1996. SAS/STAT® Software: Changes and enhancements through Release6.11, Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. 1104 pp.

Tripp, R. 1996. Biodiversity and modern crop varieties: sharpening the debate. Agriculture andHuman Values 13: 48-63.

Wu, K. and S.D. Tanksley. 1993. Abundance, polymorphism and genetic mapping ofmicrosatellites in rice. Mol. Gen. Genet. 241:225-235.

Yang, G.P., M.A. Saghai Maroof, C.G. Xu Qifa Zhang and R.M. Biyashev. 1994. Comparativeanalysis of microsatellite DNA polymorphism in landraces and cultivars of rice.Molecular Genetics. vol. 245: 187-194.

Yeh, F. C., R. C. Yang, T. B.J. Boyle, Z.H. Ye, and J.X. Mao. 1997. POPGENE, the user-friendly shareware for population genetic analysis. Molecular Biology and BiotechnologyCentre, University of Alberta, Canada.

Philippines

Table 1. Facts about the seed collection in Cagayan Valley (Philippines): number of collectedsamples and number of different names found among these samples. This includesboth the broad and the detailed study.

Number of samples Number of name

Ecosystem in all traditionalvarieties

modernvarieties

in all traditionalvarieties

modernvarieties

Upland 133 94 39 58 42 16

RainfedLowland

420 241 179 68 39 29

Irrigated 114 9 105 26 5 21

Others

(collected ina market)

1 1 0 4 unknown 3 unknown 1unknown

Total 668 345 323 156 92 67

Progress Report in On-Farm Conservation Research inHue University, Vietnam

Tran Van Minh, Jean-Louis Pham

Participating agencies: Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry - IRRI

Research team: Hue Univ.: Truong Van Tuyen, Le Dinh Huong, Le Thieu Ky,Le Tien Dung, Nguyen Thi Cach

IRRI: Mauricio Bellon (1995-1997), Stephen Morin (1997 todate), Jean Louis Pham, Marlon Calibo, Dennis Erasga,and Sheila Quilloy

Introduction

The importance of the rainfed-lowland rice ecosystem in the region of Hue was the main reasonwhy it was identified as a study region by the IRRI team, who visited Hue University ofAgriculture and Forestry for the first time in December 1995. Hue University clearly showed itsinterest in building with IRRI a collaborative research project for on-farm conservation. Aworkplan was developed by both teams, that was adapted from the general workplan developedby the IRRI team and agreed by the Steering Committee of the SDC project. The specificworkplan for Vietnam was agreed in July 1996 by Hue University and IRRI management.

The workplan specifies tilat a representative sample of each of the traditional varieties collectedduring the project will be left to VASI (Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute). As in India and inthe Philippines, this is a research project, not an implementation project, using bothsocioeconomic and genetic approaches It aims:

1. To study farmers' management of rice diversity under several socioeconomic, cultural, andagroecological conditions

2. To study its genetic consequences for the in-situ preservation of rice diversity

3. To identify the opportunities to involve farmers' management systems in the broad strategiesfor the conservation of rice genetic resources.

I. Brief description of the region and the study

Background information on the research site

The Central Region of Vietnam is the narrowest and longest along the Coast. It consists of 12provinces of the central part of Vietnam. This region is walled with mountain chains in the westalong the Lao border and flushed with sandy areas on the eastern coast line. The area can bedivided into 3 sub-regions: hills and mountains, plains, and the sandy coast plain.

The first sub-region, also the biggest, occupying three-fourths of the total natural area ischaracterized by slopping lands and plenty of abandoned, heavily erosive, areas, uncultivatedhills, poor and self-sufficient farming, poor infrastructure and low living standards. Animalhusbandry, mainly cattle, is important due to large grazing areas and available feed resources.There is a diversity of crops including industrial crops (tea, coffee, tobacco, groundnut), foodcrops (cassava, sweet potato, upland rice), vegetables and beans.

The narrow coastal plains are the main food supply area of the whole region. Most of land areused for rice fields under irrigation. The main farming activity is the growing of one or two ricecrops per year. Some dryland plant crops and vegetables are found as alternative crops.

The coastal sandy ridges occupies a rather large area and plays an important role in agriculturalproduction and ecosystem conservation. Due to its rainfed condition and infertile soils with poorwater holding capacity the yield of rice and other crops is low. There is an abundance of cropssuch as rice, sweet potato, groundnut sesame, cucumber, chili, beans being grown wheresuitable sites can be found.

Tables 1 and 2 give general figures about the climate and the land use in Hue region.

Table 1. General figures on climate in Thua Thien-Hue.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecTotal year or

monthly average

Temperature(°C)

19.9 20.5 23.0 26.0 29.3 29.5 29.6 29.0 27.2 25.0 23.0 21.0 25.2

Rainfall (mm) 15 76 50 50 93 136 108 101 430 740 559 271 2,740

Sunnyhours/day

112 108 140 176 229 238 225 205 162 139 101 98 1,933

Humidity (%) 90 90 78 84 79 75 76 76 84 88 89 90 84

Source: Statistical data, 1995.

Table 2. Total land area, land for agriculture, and sown area of rice by crop season (in 1000ha) in Vietnam, Hue provice and surroundingprovinces.

Total naturalland

Agriculturalland

Total ricearea

Rice area inWinter/Spring

Rice area inSummer

Rice area inthird crop

Nation 32,835 6,342 6,528 2,381 1,576.9 2,640

Quang Binh 781 44 46 25 13 7

Quang Tri 458 37 42 20 15 6

Thua Thien - Hue 454 41 49 26 21 1

Quang Nam - Da Nang 1,162 97 120 48 20 52

Source: Statistical Data, 1995

Relevancy of the research for on-farm conservation

On-farm conservation is a complementary approach, with certain advantages, to the ex-situconservation of the rice diversity. Rice producers such as Vietnarn can benefit from havingaccess to a high diversity of the rice varieties. Study on rice diversity is relevant to thegovernment policy on diversification in agriculture in general and in rice production in particular.

On-farm conservation research falls within the interests of the University, the only nationalscientific and training institution responsible for agriculture in Central Vietnam. It is the poorestregion and relatively ignored by cooperation agencies. Farmers (about 80% total population)rely mainly upon vice production for their livelihood. However, the growing conditions for riceare even more adverse than those in the north and the south of the country. The middle andhigh lands and coastal areas are mostly not suited to high yielding rice varieties. Water isgenerally short. But again, policy encourages self sufficiency. Because monoculture cannoteasily improve farmer’s income, agricultural diversification is an irnponant research agenda inthis region.

There are high possibilities to identify opportunities for on-farm conservation in Central Vietnam.This alternative may be suitable and feasible for the rice producing locations in developingcountries like Central Vietnam. Because of many problems on growing conditions, the naturalenvironment is very diverse. In order to deal with that conditions, the farmers have maintained ahigh diversity of varieties. This is the case in the sandy coastal rainfed area, where the lack ofwater at later season and many other problems such as salinity, submergence in early season,sunfit soil... are common. Since it is very expensive to build irrigation systems in sandy areas,maintaining high diversity of rice varieties is a long-term alternative to sustain rice production inthis environment.

Cooperation and collaborations with other institutions, especially international agencies, also arepriorities for Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. Collaborations on on-farm conservationof rice diversity benefits the university not only from using the research results, but also fromimproving capability of its staff.

II. Progress

Detailed study of the rice genetic diversity and its management by farmers in the rainfed-lowland ecosystem

Objective

To compare the rice genetic diversity and its management by farmers in contrastedagroecological and socio-economic conditions.

Experimental design

Villages were chosen to represent all the combinations of two factors with potential influence ofthe level of cultivated diversity: market status and agroecological conditions. The 16 villagesare located in a combination of situations that reflect two types of agroecological environments:

• coastal and inland

⇒ the coastal environment is mainly characterized with sandy land, rainfed-lowland,salinity and submergence problems.

⇒ the inland rainfed area is a transition between the middle land and the plains. It shows

clay-loam soil and drought conditions.

• two degrees of market integration

⇒ isolated (far from a main town or road, few roads available, and of poor quality)

⇒ well integrated (close to a main town or road, many roads available, and of goodquality).

The matrix for experimental, design is as follows:

Agroecological Degree of Market Integration

Environment Isolated Integrated

Coastal 4 villages 4 villages

Inland 4 villages 4 villages

Progress

• The seed collection was conducted to sample all the varieties grown by 10 farmers of eachof the 16 villages, at the end of the winter-spring season 1995-1996, and of the summerseason 1996. In all, 681 accessions collected (370 samples representing 41 variety namesfor the winter season collection, 311 samples and 38 varieties for the summer collection).

• The socio-economic surveys were completed by the end of 1996

◊ Data collection at village level. Background information on 16 villages was collectedby applying an interview of a group of village key informants.

◊ Data collection at the household level. Two types of questionnaires have beenapplied for 14 households in each of the 16 villages.

∗ A diversity management questionnaire was used to interview separately themake and female householders. (see Figure 1 for more details)

∗ A socio-economic questionnaire was applied to interview the male and femalehousehold heads at the same time. The households selected were the some asfor applying the diversity management questionnaire. (see Figure 2 for thetheoretical framework of development of the questionnaire)

• Agromorphological characterization of rice varieties collected

A field trial to characterize the varieties collected from the summer season (dry crop) wasconducted in Hue from June-November 1997. Data have been collected. They have to beencoded before analysis. Another trial has been implemented at IRRI in November 1997. Afield trial to study the winter varieties (wet crop) was set up in Hue in November 1997.

• Isozyme diversity

The genetic diversity of 191 accessions from the specific study was studied with isozymeelectrophoresis, including 45 which were studied by Mr. Le Dinh Huong during his training atIRRI.

• Characterization of the biotic environment.

The biotic survey aimed at describing the environment in terms of biotic selection pressures.The methodology was derived from the protocol developed by Dr. Serge Savary at IRRI. Thesurvey is being conducted in representative fields of 2 villages in each of the 4 regions. Eightfields in each village were selected to record environmental characteristics. This biotic surveystarted at the end of February 1997. The survey took place at 4 main developmental stages:

- Tillering (20-30 days after transplanting -Booting- Early dough- Maturity

Mr. Huong was provided in December 1997 with the statistical software STAT-ITCF to allow himto analyze the data. A preliminary analysis showed a highest diversity of pests in the inland thanin the coastal environments:

- Coastal: rice blast (especially neck blast, sheath blight, stem borers, gall midge, weeds

- Inland: rice blast (neck blast), sheath blight, brown spot, narrow worm leaf spot, sheathrot, stripe, stem borers, rice whorl maggot, cut worms, army worms, leaffolders, thrips,skipper butterflies, gall midge, green leafhoppers, thrips, skipper butterflies, gall midge,green leafhoppers, zigzag leafhoppers, brown planthoppers, slender rice, bugs, stinksbugs.

Main results

Distribution of the diversity

Tables 3 and 4 present the number of different varieties (defined by their name) grown in each ofthe four study regions, and the average number of varieties used per rice farming household andper village.

The tables show an overall effect of the environment on the number of varieties maintained bythe farmers. In terms of number of varieties maintained at the village level, there are differencesbetween the coastal and the inland villages, whether for the winter or the summer crop season.This difference is in different direction depending on the season. For the wet season, oneobserves that the coastal villages maintain more traditional varieties than the inland villages.

The impact of market integration seems limited to the number of modern varieties which areused. For the summer season, more varieties are found in the market isolated regions than inthe integrated regions. This could be explained by the fact that farmers in isolated regions havethe same access to modern varieties as the farmers in integrated regions, but are moreconservationists than these ones. However, this is not confirmed by the Table 3, which showsthat the coastal integrated region is the region with the most modern varieties.

Table 3. Types of varieties and number of varieties grown in each region, total and perhousehold (hh): Wet season (Winter-Spring crop).

Traditionalvarieties

Modernvarieties

Total no. ofvarieties

Average no.of var/hh

Average no.of

var/village

Coastal - isolated 7 8 15 3.1 9.3

Coastal - Market integrated

9 14 23 2.3 8.8

Inland - isolated 4 10 14 1.8 5.8

Inland - Market integrated

3 10 13 2.9 6.8

Source: Survey Data, 1996 and Seed collection, 1996

Table 4. Types of varieties and number of varieties grown in each region, total and perhousehold: Dry season (Summer crop).

Traditionalvarieties

Modernvarieties

Total no. ofvarieties

Average no.of var/hh

Average no.of

var/village

Coastal - isolated 4 14 18 2.5 5.0

Coastal - Market integrated

5 10 15 1.5 4.5

Inland - isolated 5 23 28 2.7 8.8

Inland - Market integrated

4 10 14 2.5 4.5

Source: Survey Data, 1996