C4 Rice Project
Using the sun to end hunger
The development of the C4 Rice Project at IRRI sprang from the need to optimize rice production in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for food. At present, in Asia every hectare devoted to rice produces just enough food for 27 people. By the year 2050, that same hectare will need to support at least 43 people. Then there's the problem with climate change in which rice production is affected by shifting climate patterns.
Given these conditions, our food sources will have to work that much harder in order to feed everyone. Hence, C4 rice.
IRRI is developing innovative ways for rice to use solar energy more efficiently in photosynthesis, hence, increasing rice yields while using scarce resources like land, water, and fertilizer. One such way is by converting the photosynthetic system in rice to the more efficient, supercharged C4 system used by maize.
A technological innovation of this magnitude is nothing short of a revolution, which is why it requires the skills and technologies of a global alliance of multidisciplinary partners from advanced institutions. In 2008, IRRI formed the International C4 Rice Consortium.