Release and Adoption of Improved Cultivars in South and Southeast Asia: Rice

The International Rice Research Institute, in collaboration with partner institutions, collected rice varietal release and adoption data for 11 countries in Asia: China, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. For China, data were collected for the top eight rice producing provinces (Anhui, Guangxi, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan). For India, five states with predominantly irrigated rice were included in this study (Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana). Adoption data in some countries were derived from existing farm surveys or seed sales. Fourteen expert elicitation meetings were conducted between 2014 and 2016 in areas where there are no data on varietal adoption. Overall, adoption rate of modern rice varieties was 92%. The average varietal age ranged from four to 40 years. Varietal turnover was fastest in China, where there are several breeding institutions that release many varieties annually, and slowest in Myanmar and Thailand due to popular rice varieties that are pureline selection and which were released before 1980