Improving farmers’ livelihoods through better rice varieties

Agri-EPI Centre is working together with LGC, international leader in the extended life sciences sector, Bangor University and partners in Nepal (Anamolbiu and NARC) and Pakistan (NIBGE) on the improvement of food security and livelihoods for international development focused on rice productivity.

Rice varieties

For about half a billion people in Asia, most of them poor, rice provides over 50% of the caloric supply so the size and stability of the rice harvest is crucial. The simplest way to increase yields is by the breeding of new rice varieties with greater resistance to diseases and pests and improved tolerance to stresses.

The project is developing LGC’s proprietary molecular technologies (KASP) to improve the livelihoods of farmers in the developing world through better rice varieties. As a single improved rice variety can increase harvest value by millions of pounds a year, this has the potential to have a great impact in Asian countries where rice is the basis of their diet. The project started in August last year and is due to finish January 2021.

For more information, please contact our Project Team at enquiries@agri-epicentre.com or visit the UKRI website.

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