The project “Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Participatory evaluation of Crop Wild Relative introgressed genetic resources in rice in the Mekong Delta”, Vietnam will be implemented by Can Tho University (CTU) and the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI) in collaboration with local partners (local seed centre, seed cooperatives and seed clubs). The project will take place between 2018 and 2020.
The main objectives of this project are: to evaluate the value of introgression lines from wild rice (Oryza rufipogon L.) for rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, to strengthen capacity of local institutions and farmers in agricultural research for rice breeding, and to select promising lines from IRRI’s segregating materials for breeding. The project “An International Project Advisory Team” with members from IRRI, Cornell Univ, NMBU and the Crop Trust is available for technical backstopping and scientific advise. The research will be done through on-farm trials by applying pedigree and bulk methods in selection. The potential stable lines from selection will be tested for environmental stress tolerances and adaptation. The project’s results will be important genetic resources for breeding research at the Can Tho University, and for farmer’s groups in the future production system in the Mekong Delta.
The crop wild relative taxa that will be utilized in this project is Oryza rufipogon – derived materials.
