The ability of the African rice to grow under low input conditions makes it an especially useful genetic resource for developing stress-tolerant rice varieties for rainfed ecosystems in Africa. In 1992, a team led by Dr Monty Jones, a senior rice breeder of AfricaRice, decided to work on interspecific hybridization to develop varieties that might combine the high yield potential of Asian rice with the local adaptation of African rice.
The African rice varieties show strong adaptability to harsh environments, strong ability to compete with weeds, resist local diseases and pests, and withstand drought, flood, infertile soils, and iron toxicity.
Several attempts to exploit the African rice genome through interspecific crossing had failed due to incompatibility barriers.AfricaRice circumvented the sterility barrier between the two species by using anther culture and embryo rescue techniques, coupled with back-crossings to the Asian rice parent. Several hundred interspecific progenies with promising agronomic performance were generated, increasing the biodiversity of rice.
The interspecific lines were evaluated across Africa by farmers through participatory varietal selection (PVS), which is an innovative approach that allows farmers to select their preferred varieties that match their needs and growing conditions, and that generates valuable feedback on farmers’ preference criteria for rice breeders.
The most successful lines, based on their performance and popularity among upland rice farmers, were named the NERICA varieties. The first NERICA varieties were released in Côte d’Ivoire in 2000. The development of the upland NERICA earned AfricaRice several international awards including the World Food Prize in 2004 to Monty Jones.
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