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| Biography |
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Dr khush was born in India.After receiving early education in India he studuied at University of California Davis(UCD)and received Ph.D. in Genetics in 1960.After serving on the faculty of UCD for seven years he joined International Rice Research Institue,Philippines as Plant Breeder in 1967and was promoted as Head of Plant Breeding Department in 1972.He led the institute's rice breeding Program for 35 years.High yielding, disease and insect resistant varieties developed under his leadership and their progenies are now grown on 60% of world riceland and world rice production has doubled in a 30 year period.For his contributions to world food security Dr Khush received JapanPrize in 1987,World Food Prize in 1996,and Wolf Prize in 2000.Dr Khush was elected to some of the world's most prestigious academys such as Indian National Science Academy,The Third world Academy of Sciences,U.S.National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society.
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| Abstract |
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Rice for feeding half the world population |
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Rice is the most important food crop and primary source of food for more than half the world's population.More than 90% of world's rice is grown and consumed in Asia where 60% of the earth's people live. It accounts for 35-75% of the calories consumed by more than 3 billion Asians. Rice consumption is increasing in most African and Latin American countries. Between 1966 and 2000, the population of densely populated low income countries grew by 90% but rice production increased by 130% from 257 million in 1966 to 600 million in 2000. In 2000 average per capita food availability was 18% higher than in 1966. The technological advance that led to the dramatic achievements in the world food production during the last 40 years wa the development of high yielding, disease and insect resistant varieties of rice. However, demand for rice is increasing at the rate of 1.5% and according to various estimates , we will have to produce 40% more rice by 2030. To meet this challenge we need rice varieties with higher yield potential and greater yield stability. Various conventional and biotechnological techniques are being employed to achieve this objective. |
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