Friday, December 11, 2009

The main goal of the collaboration is to strengthen rice productivity through improved utilization of rice genetic diversity for crop improvement, disease management in rice, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and capacity building for young rice scientists.

The agreement will allow both parties to extend their scientific collaboration, to the benefits of rice farmers in Asia and elsewhere. In April 2008 Bayer CropScience joined the Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), an IRRI-led partnership program between the public and private sector to develop and share hybrid rice technologies.

The SKEP agreement includes four joint activities. First, Bayer CropScience will join a wide international effort that seeks to capture the genetic diversity of rice by establishing a new in-depth dataset of rice genome information for more than 2,000 different rice varieties and wild species. Secondly, both parties will develop tools to rapidly and reliably detect the presence on rice seeds of bacterial blight – a major disease in many Asian rice-growing countries. Current tests are inadequate and sometimes produce false positive results. The new toolkit will be made widely available. Furthermore, the collaboration includes the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions in rice fields following a switch from transplanted rice to direct-seeded and water-saving irrigation. Fourth element of the agreement is the support a full PhD scholarship, provided by Bayer CropScience, for a promising young rice scientist.

“Rice is the most important food crop on our planet, and by our research for high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties we intend to make a contribution to securing the world´s food supply in the 21st century. Our collaboration with IRRI will contribute to strengthen and build the future research capacities needed“, said Professor Friedrich Berschauer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience.

“This agreement will build on IRRI’s capacity to deliver rice science solutions that help rice farmers increase their yields in an environmentally sustainable way and in so doing help lift farmers and consumers out of poverty”, said IRRI Deputy Director General for Research Dr. Achim Dobermann. “IRRI brings its strengths in conserving the world’s largest collection of rice, breeding new varieties of rice, and expertise on all aspects of environmentally sustainable rice production to the partnership. We are looking forward to combining our strengths with those of Bayer CropScience to increase the scope and impact of rice research,” he said.

The agreement between Bayer CropScience and IRRI will ensure IRRI can continue to widely deliver its research, including the seed of new rice varieties, to its many partners. There are no allowances for exclusive access to IRRI’s research or research outcomes.

About Bayer CropScience

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of more than 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

About IRRI

Established in the Philippines in 1960, IRRI is the oldest and largest international agricultural research institute in Asia. It is an autonomus, nonprofit rice research and training organization with about 1,300 staff and offices in 15 major rice-growing countries. IRRI's mission is to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure that rice production is environmentally sustainable. IRRI works closely with national agricultural research and extension systems as well as farming communities and a range of international, regional, and local organizations. Through these partnerships IRRI conducts research and provides training and education for those helping rice farmers by disseminating information and proven, sustainable technologies. For more information visit www.irri.org.

Contacts:
Bayer CropScience: Richard Breum, phone: +49 2173 38-3270
E-mail: richard.breum@bayercropscience.com

IRRI : Sophie Clayton, phone : +63 917 552 6082
E-Mail : s.clayton@cgiar.org


Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.