July 2011: The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has released the July to September 2011 edition of it magazine “Rice Today,” which includes an article on IRRI’s contributions to the global seed vault.

The article “Mankind takes a giant leap – again” describes IRRI contributions of over 100,000 seeds of rice and wild relatives to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It notes that this contribution represents duplicates of the diversity within IRRI’s International Rice Genebank. The Global Seed Vault is an outgrowth of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR). It notes that scientists are searching for wild rice genes that provide more yield and tolerate drought, heat, flooding and saline soils.

Another article, “The White Plague – Bangladesh Fights its Salinity Problem,” describes efforts to improve on the original rice variety through a participatory varietal selection process, as well as farmer uptake of the tolerant rice variety. It notes IRRI’s increasing efforts to help rice tolerate salt stress and identify the genes that contribute to salinity tolerance.

IRRI is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [Publication: Rice Today, Vol. 10, No. 3]