Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Inadditiontopure-linecultivars, IRGAis investing inhybridrice,whose
main challenges are to achieve the same standard of grain quality and at
leasta20%grainyieldadvantagecomparedwithIRGA424.Finally,hybrid
seed production is another challenge especially under direct seeded
systems and theminimumlevel should be
2.0 t ha
1
inproduction
>
elds.
C. Breeding for Upland Conditions in Brazil
1. The Importance of Upland Rice in Brazil.
Upland rice is grownunder
different levels of technology in Brazil, from low-input small farming to
high-input mechanized systems. The upland rice crop played a very
important role in the expansion of the agricultural frontier in central
Brazil, especially in the 1970s and until the 1990s, with a peak of almost
5million hectares in 1987. The natural tolerance of rice of acid soils made
it the crop of choice for the
first and second year after clearing the
vegetation of the Cerrado, which is in central Brazil and is characterized
by latosols,
flat topography, and sparse trees. Subsequently, most of the
areas were turned into pastures for extensive cattle raising or into other
s perspec-
tive, providing funds, subsidies, and insurance coverage for upland rice
production represented a policy of incentives aiming to incorporate
field crops such as soybean and maize. From the government
'
|
more
'
land in the country
s production base and encourage the settlement of
inner areas, until then deemed useless for food production.
Althoughupland rice laid the foundation for the booming grain and beef
production in the
Cerrado
, it does not
figure as a major component of
the current system. Crop pro
tability declined drastically due to (1) the
interruption of government incentives for deforestation, as the agricul-
tural frontier reached the limit of the Amazon forest; (2) the growing
supply of high-quality rice from the irrigated system, in southern states
and neighboring countries within the MERCOSUR trade agreement; and
(3) the reduction and diversi
cation in the consumption of staple foods
as a consequence of increasing income. Low pro
t margins plus the
sensitivity of upland rice yield and quality to rainfall distribution reduced
the attractiveness of the crop. Additionally, the logistics of agriculture in
central Brazil are oriented toward bulk grain production. Classifying and
handling rice lots separately, based on the various quality parameters
considered in the market, pose practical dif
culties within the pipelines
designed for the soybean
maize commodity chain.
The decline in area planted with upland rice would have been even
sharper if not for the achievements of rice breeding through releasing
successively improved cultivars (Pinheiro et al. 2006). The conversion of
the kernel shape of upland cultivars to the long-slender market standard
-
