Farm-level impact of the International Rice Genebank (IRG) on improved rice varieties: evidence from Eastern India
2019
Villanueva, D.B. | Capilit, G.L.S. | Smale, M. | Jamora, N.V. | Sackville-Hamilton, R.
The International Rice Genebank (IRG) is an important source of rice germplasm for crop improvement and India is the top country recipient of plant genetic materials from IRG. This paper investigates the impact of rice genetic resources through varietal improvement on the rice productivity of farmers in Eastern India. Pedigree analyses are conducted to construct indicators of the genetic contribution of ancestors maintained by the International Rice Genebank (IRG) to cultivated rice varieties. The countries of origin of the IRG progenitors were examined and three of the most popular IRG progenitors were characterized. Results show that 45-77% of the genetic composition of improved rice varieties came from the genes of IRG accessions. Employing data collected from almost 9000 farmers is Eastern India, we empirically test the relationship of ancestry to productivity changes while controlling for the effects of other farm inputs and environmental factors. The preferred translog model indicates that a 10% increase in the genetic contribution of IRG accession on an improved rice variety increases the yield by an estimate of 27%. The Coefficient of Parentage (COP) was computed to determine the level of diversity among the 10 most adopted improved rice varieties. The average COP of all pairwise combinations of 10 most adopted varieties is 0.0973, which implies high diversity. High diversity among these varieties is likely a result of crossing germplasm received from 19 countries of origin. The latent diversity measured by the COP may also translate into multiple, functional trait combinations in a released variety. This study demonstrates the contribution of IRG's genetic resources in the development of improved rice varieties.
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