GRiSP in Motion

The year 2012 was the second year of implementation of the CGIAR Research Program for Rice, known as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP). Since its launch in December 2010, we have considerably strengthened our partnership foundation for mobilizing science to increase food security, alleviate poverty, and increase the sustainability of rice production. Both the collaboration among GRiSP’s six coordinating institutes and that between those institutes and more than 900 other partners from the public and private sector worldwide have intensified considerably. GRiSP aims to develop science-based solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s agricultural development problems. It mobilizes partners that operate on the cutting edge of science at one end of the globe and connects them with grass-roots partners at other ends. In this report, we present a snapshot of such activities that illustrates the tremendous gains that well-chosen partnerships can deliver. You’ll read about partnerships that discover new genes and deploy those genes to produce new rice varieties that increase tolerance of phosphorus deficiency, confer resistance to insect pests and virus diseases, or will lead to a completely new type of rice, called C4 rice, which could potentially increase yields by up to 50%. But, you’ll also read how GRiSP partners team up with indigenous people and local farmer groups in remote areas to preserve and improve age-old rice varieties and make sure they are retained for generations to come. GRiSP partners from Latin America, Africa, and Asia discuss the workings of each other’s rice sectors and policies and cross-fertilize each other with new ideas. New concepts for forging local partnerships are piloted in South Asia and across Africa in an attempt to fast-track the development and delivery of locally adapted technologies. And, finally, GRiSP invests in capacity building of the next generation of rice scientists and helps them prepare to become leaders in their own right when it’s their turn to take over from the current generation.