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English/Nat Scientists in the Philippines are developing a strain of rice which will yield a bigger, better and quicker harvest to meet the needs of an increasing population in the 21st Century. Biologists at International Rice Research Institute (I-R-R-I) say the plant they're producing will have more grains and sturdier roots, making it more resistant to disease. Scientists are predicting increases in poverty and malnutrition because of an expected rise in population in the first quarter of the next century. Rice is the staple diet for about 60 percent of people living in the Philippines. The population in the country is expected to increase over the next century, putting a strain of the region's rice resources. Scientists say in South Asia alone, the birth rate is expected to be in the region of 1.5 (b) billion. That is why scientists at the International Rice Research Institute are hard at work trying producing a new, more productive type of rice. The rice will produce more grains and can be harvested in 100 days - a shorter time than the usual 130 days needed for high yielding varieties of rice. It will be grow significantly faster than more traditional types of rice which require harvesting time as long as between 140 and 180 days. Fears of mass hunger in the Philippines 32 years ago led the institute to develop IR-8, which was called a "miracle rice." That development revolutionised rice production and saved Asia's burgeoning population from going hungry. Now scientists say they will accomplish the same again. The new plant they are working on is made from about two-thousand-five hundred crosses to produce over 50-thousand lines from which the rice can be picked. The research to create a new plant started in 1988 when scientists examined two thousand varieties of more than 90-thousand types of rice kept at the institutes seed bank. Scientist Gurdev Khush is leading the project. SOUNDBITE:( English ) "It is estimated that by 2020 we will have to produce 50 percent more rice than what we are producing now. So further, we need the rarities and technology so that we can get more rice from the same piece of land than what we are getting now, that's why this new plant type is important, because we hope it will give 20 to 25 percent more yield than the more high yielding varieties that the farmers are growing now." SUPER CAPTION: Gurdev Khush, I-R-R-I Chief rice breeder Farmers could also face another problem. It is expected that less land and water is likely to be available to house and feed rice crops, which some fear could lead to conditions rife for social and economic unrest. Robert Havener, Director General of the I-R-R-I, says the institute hopes its work will avoid any chaos in the next century and bring advanced technology to the Philippines. SOUNDBITE:( English ) "The cutting edge of technology that people talk about has not yet been released on farmers fields here. We have work going on in our greenhouses and our plant quarantine facilities. We have where you take an alien gene from something other than a rice plant and insert it into a rice plant to pick up an increase in disease resistance or increase in insect resistance. Those things are becoming possible and they are being done in other places around the world." SUPER CAPTION: Robert Havener, Director General of I-R-R-I Biologists say they are also working on developing strains of rice which will withstand severe weather conditions, such as drought and flooding. New ways of planting are also being developed so that farmers carry out the safest and cheapest methods of farming and development is underway to produce plants which will help reduce the need for fertilisers. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/d161785218d7f67c905af76648239720 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork