These proceedings present the results of five years collaborative research involving scientists from Australia, Thailand and Lao PDR on the breeding of strategies for rainfed lowland rice in drought-prone environments.

Information available for other cereals and the limited or circumstantial evidence available for rice indicate that we can now breed varieties that have improved yield under drought and produce high yields in the good seasons. This manual aims to help plant breeders develop such varieties.

What is rainfed lowland rice? The rainfed lowland ecosystem; The cultivars; Agronomic traits; Growth duration; Drought resistance; Submergence tolerance; Cold tolerance; Adverse soils telerance; Disease and insect resistance; Grain quality; Selecting parents and making crosses; Managing segregating generations; Evaluating advanced breeding lines; Releasing varieties.

Rice drought-prone environments and coping strategies. Recent progress in breeding and genetics of drought resistance. Physiological and molecular mechanisms of drought resistance. Management of rainfed rice systems. Genes and genomics for drought-resistant rice. Conclusions and recommendations.

International networks; Varietal improvement; Soil, crop, and water management; Pest management; Technology transfer.

The success of the Green Revolution in closing the gap between world population and food production was principally achieved by increasing crop productivity in favorable areas. However, this success has been limited in the rainfed systems, which are prone to frequent droughts and other abiotic stresses. Worldwide, drought affects approximately 23 million hectares of rainfed rice. Varieties combining improved drought resistance with high yield under favorable conditions and quality characteristics preferred by farmers are the most promising and deliverable technologies for alleviating poverty in communities dependent on rainfed rice production.This book describes some of the recent advances in the genetics and physiology of drought resistant rice varieties and the integration of highly efficient breeding and genetic analysis techniques with functional genomics. Harnessing recent scientific breakthroughs, Drought Frontiers Project (seeds.irri.org/drought) is launched as a major assault on the problem of improving drought resistance in rice. Featuring contributions from leading international experts, case studies are discussed to present perspectives on the various multidisciplinary facets of drought resistance in rice, along with the involvement of natural resource management practices and the socioeconomic implications that entail. Readers will be better informed of this highly relevant and complex topic of improving rice drought resistance in a global environment characterized by increased water scarcity./a