December 13, 2010
Early last week, South Korea released Anmi – a new pest- and disease-resistant japonica rice with high palatability and the latest output from a collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to help Korean farmers boost rice production.
Anmi, meaning “safe and delicious rice” in Korean, has high resistance to a destructive rice pest, the brown planthopper (BPH), as well as to a range of diseases such as blast, bacterial blight, and rice stripe virus that can devastate rice crops.
Anmi is a “japonica” rice, a high-quality medium grain typically grown in temperate climates such as those found in Korea, Japan, and northeastern China. Other countries such as Australia, the United States, and some countries in Europe and Central Asia have also shown preference for japonica rice.
“We have been working on improving the resistance of japonica rice to brown planthoppers to help Korean farmers since 2002,” said IRRI plant breeder Dr. Kshirod Jena. “In 2004, we had a significant breakthrough when we were able to locate the gene Bph18 for BPH resistance.
“We were then able to add this gene to a BPH-susceptible elite japonica rice variety successfully employing the modern rice-breeding technique called ‘marker-assisted breeding’ for the first time ever in japonica rice,” he added.
The resultant Anmi has multiple resistance to pests and diseases, including BPH, and has an average milled rice yield potential of more than 5.8 tons per hectare, which is 11% more than the best japonica check variety, Hwaseongbyeo, currently grown in Korea.
In 2009, RDA reported swarms of BPH in 10 counties along the western coast of the Korean peninsula. Farmers who grow Anmi will likely experience less damage to their rice crops from such BPH pest outbreaks while reducing their pesticide use.
Korea’s Variety Development Committee of the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Rural Development Administration (RDA), released Anmi on 6 December 2010. It is the result of a collaborative research project between IRRI and RDA.
The collaboration between IRRI and RDA, spanning more than 45 years, spawned the high-yielding Tong-il variety that facilitated South Korea’s self-sufficiency in rice.
More Information:
- New BPH-resistant japonica variety, Anmi, released in Korea
- IRRI and South Korea’s research collaboration
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