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A gene bank thought to house the world's largest collection of rice genetic
samples - a safeguard against the destruction of a crop that 3 billion
people depend upon - will receive $600,000 in new yearly funding, March
2007 by Teresa Cerojano .

The Genetic Resources Center at the International Rice Research Institute
will receive a yearly $200,000 grant from the Rome-based Global Crop
Diversity Trust and an additional $400,000 in yearly funding from the IRRI,
a joint statement from the IRRI and the trust said.

The center houses more than 80,000 samples of distinct rice varieties and
serves as a last-stop safeguard against the destruction of rice varieties by
natural or man-made disasters.

"The rice gene bank is not just a scientific exercise in seed genetics but a
major hedge against disaster that ensures farmers throughout the world will
always have the rice varieties they need to maintain food security," said
Dr. Robert Zeigler, the IRRI's director general.

After the 2004 tsunami, for example, IRRI was able to provide farmers in
areas inundated by sea water with samples of rice varieties able to grow in
salty soils. Last year, the institute introduced a new rice variety that can
survive completely submerged in water.

Several countries including Cambodia, East Timor, India, Nepal and the
Philippines have turned to the gene bank to restore native varieties of rice
that have disappeared from domestic production for a variety of reasons.

"With almost half the world's population depending on rice, we wanted to
make sure IRRI's gene bank was insulated from the whims of fluctuating
funding," said Cary Fowler, the trust's executive secretary.

The IRRI's rice gene bank is housed in an earthquake-proof and fireproof
facility at the foothills of Mount Makiling, south of Manila.

IRRI is the world's leading rice research and training center, while the
Global Crop Diversity Trust is an independent international organization
established to ensure availability of crop diversity for food security
worldwide.

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