Rice in China; Global rice production; Physiological aspects; Pest management; Nutrient management; Water management; Farming systems; Innovative breeding; Grain quality; Machinery and postharvest; International collaboration.

Fragile lives in fragile ecosystems: Feeding the world's poor from neglected rice ecosystems was the theme of the 1995 International Rice Research Conference. During the February meeting, participants assessed progress in rice research and identified new research approaches for reducing constraints and improving productivity and sustainability of less favored and fragile rice producing areas - these are the upland, rainfed lowland, and flood-prone ecosystems.

Characterization and classification of upland rice growing environments;integrated upland rice farming systems;biological stresses with special emphasis on blast;preproduction testing and production programs.

In order to achieve economic efficiency, research organizations have established rigorous, quantitative methods for priority setting. One such organization, the Rockefeller Foundation, has drawn on this report to help determine the research goals it should emphasize in its funding. A review of the problem of priority setting is presented followed by a discussion of approaches that have been used previously. Several chapters demonstrate how a number of areas of plant science research have contributed to gains in rice productivity and also assess the current challenges of genetic improvement and pest control. The economic framework for priority setting and previous methods are reviewed, followed by a series of country case studies which provide more practical applications.

The world has made enormous progress in the past 50 years toward eliminating hunger and malnutrition. While, in 1960, roughly 30 percent of the world's population suffered from hunger and malnutrition, today less than 20 percent doessome five billion people now have enough food to live healthy, productive lives. Agricultural development has contributed significantly to these gains by increasing food supplies, reducing food prices, and creating new income and employment opportunities for some of the world's poorest people.This book examines where, why, and how past interventions in agricultural development have succeeded. It carefully reviews the policies, programs, and investments in agricultural development that have reduced hunger and poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America over the past half century. The 19 successes included here are described in in-depth case studies that synthesize the evidence on the intervention's impact on agricultural productivity and food security, evaluate the rigor with which the evidence was collected, and assess the tradeoffs inherent in each success. Together, these chapters provide evidence of "what works" in agricultural development.