BIOTECHNOLOGY has been occasionally caught giving itself a pat on the back and parrying questions of ethics by flaunting its effects on crop production, rice included. The information contained in this book is a first-hand account of the various directions in which rice biotechnology has grown, an overview of the progress so far and its future trajectory.

Rice is Asia's staple cereal: the continent produces over 90 per cent of the world's rice and consumes 95 per cent of it. Technology introduced in the mid-'60s to produce improved varieties of rice enabled several Asian countries to attain self-sufficieny and some to even have a little surplus for export. Nevertheless, the pace at which population is growing, by the turn of the century, rice consumers will perhaps double and the demand for rice will exceed its production.

With shrinking land resources, there isn't much scope for further increase in production through expansion of area under rice. Scientific endeavour, however, holds the promise of actually enhancing rice production by using innovations in various aspects of rice culture, most importantly in the area of varietal improvement.

One such area is the application of biotechnology tools. The awareness that biotechnology can significantly strengthen the rice varietal development programme to achieve increased productivity more efficiently -- a goal not feasible through hitherto available methods -- has led to the development of a global research programme sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, on rice biotechnology. As a result, in less than a decade, a wealth of useful information has been generated and a knowledge base necessary for technological applications created.

As one peruses the contents of the book, the unequivocal impression is that the future of rice biotechnology is extremely promising. With more inputs from cell and molecular biologists, the knowledge base continues to advance, fortifying a technology expected to benefit millions of rice farmers and consumers. Viewed in this context, the book is a welcome addition to researchers and senior level students in the field, providing an authoritative account of rice biotechnology capability.