Rice, being the second largest consumed cereal (after wheat), shapes the lives of millions of people; more than half of the world's population depends on rice for 80 percent of its food calorie requirements. The "revolutionary" feature of rice is its steady, long-term evolution with societal change. Certainly, rice has been a good partner to humankind, and adaptive ecological, economic, and technological changes around rice facilitated this "partnership between man and rice." For instance, in times of rapid population growth, soaring rice demands were met largely due to the Green Revolution. We must continue to nurture this partnership.

The rice environment today is more complex than ever before. For one, the policy environment for rice is changing. Particularly in Asia, where rice is the main staple, public policy has always been attracted to all production, distribution, and consumption aspects of rice, as well as its environmental implications. Traditionally, governments have sought to maintain stable prices for consumers in urban areas and to provide input subsidies to farmers. However, now that many Asians are diversifying their diets, a shift in public policy is noted; governments have been increasingly pulling out of managing rice, thus enabling more engagement from private enterprises. Additionally, new science in rice focusing on its diet quality aspects, gives rice a "health food" aspect, which is enabling rice to become an agent of change in terms of tackling the complex malnutrition issues across the developing world. The actors in rice research have also become more diversified; for decades, almost all rice research was done by the public sector through national and international agricultural research centers, but now, with advances in crop technology, the private sector, which in the past only played a minor role, is expected to engage more actively in rice research. The appropriate mix of incentive-oriented policies for private sector orientation and of public investment policies in support of agricultural research requires increased attention.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the emerging issues in the rice policy environment and recognize the risks and challenges ahead, with the objective of identifying opportunities for effective collaborations between the public and private actors at national and international levels. The paper outlines policy challenges and options to sustain and expand the rice [r]evolution, given the new demands for rice quantities and qualities and its ecological properties. It starts with the elaboration of a conceptual framework outlining the three key policy domains along the four main segments of the rice value chain. Then, using this framework, these main policy domains are reviewed. Subsequently, risks and opportunities and the need for international cooperation in science and trade policy for rice are highlighted. Finally, the conclusions delineate priorities for coherent rice policies. It is important to note that policy priorities will differ across developing regions and countries, given the diversity in the importance of rice in people's diets, and the diversity in the level of economic development achieved.

Full text: http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/speeches/20061009jvbrice.pdf