YEARS of government protection and a ban on imports had so far insulated Japanese rice farmers from foreign competition. Now, however, they face double trouble -- emergency imports of foreign rice by

SCIENTISTS at the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have developed a rice plant that can yield 25 per cent more than existing varieties. The new variety, evolved by

In a significant breakthrough, the Hyderabad-based Directorate of Rice Research has developed five commercially viable, hybrid rice varieties from indigenous species. Indian Council of Agricultural

FACED with the daunting task of making Australia's meat-and-potatoes consumers switch to meat-and-rice, growers are hoping to exploit the recent royal wedding in Japan. They have launched an

Promising initial tests of new rice strains with high potential for farmers have spurred biotechnologists to press ahead with the search for transgenic rice strains that are disease resistant

A RICE shortage is imminent by the turn of the century because of paucity of funds and a declining interest in projects to improve yields, says Gurdev Khush of the International Rice Research