India"s rice revolution, a beginning

The focus of research of several disciplines on the crop problems related to increasing production -- breeding, agronomy, pathology and entomology -- has enabled simultaneous improvement of a number of aspects affecting production. Research concentrated on the introduction and breeding of new rice varieties having the new plant type which has provided the basis for substantial increases in potential production with varieties which were non-lodging, fertilizer-responsive, with good tillering potential, and erect dark green leaves. Involving all the major centers of the country in varietal evaluation enabled the rapid accumulation of station-years of data which proved invaluable in determining varieties to be released to farmers; for management practices to be used with the new varieties, and evaluation of selections and varieties for their reaction to insects and diseases. During the eight years of its existence, the project has released 16 varieties through the Central Variety Release Committee and a greater number of varieties have been released by different states where these varieties appeared to have better local adaptation than the more widely adapted varieties released by the central government. Utilization of these varieties by farmers has moved at a moderate but steadily increasing rate from 1966 to the present time when between 20-25% of the entire rice area is planted to new varieties.