IR8
{{Short description|Variety of grasses}}
IR8 is a high-yielding semi-dwarf rice variety developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the early 1960s. It was developed by an [https://ricetoday.irri.org/the-brains-and-brawn-behind-ir8/ IRRI team] consisting of Peter Jennings, Henry Beachell, Akira Tanaka, Te-Tzu Chang, Surajit Kumar De Datta, and Robert F. Chandler.
Research
IR8 was the eighth of 38 crossbred rice varieties in a 1962 experiment by IRRI.{{cite web |date=November 2016 |title=IR8: Rice that Changed the World |url=http://irri.org/ir8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019220439/http://irri.org/ir8 |archive-date=October 19, 2017 |access-date=October 19, 2017 |website=IRRI.org |publisher=International Rice Research Institute}} It was a cross of Peta, a high yield rice variety from Indonesia, and Dee-geo-woo-gen (DGWG), a dwarf variety from Taiwan.{{cite web|url=http://books.irri.org/RT_Supplement-IR8.pdf|title=RT_Supplement-IR8.pdf}}{{Cite news |last=Rowlatt |first=Justin |date=2016-12-01 |title=IR8: The miracle rice which saved millions of lives |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38156350 |access-date=2017-01-02 |newspaper=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The semidwarf-1 gene (sd-1 or Os01g0883800), which encodes an enzyme in the production of the hormone gibberellin, which affects plant height; this improved its yield.{{cite web |url=http://ricewiki.big.ac.cn/index.php/Os01g0883800 |title=Os01g0883800 |website=RiceWiki |language=en |access-date=October 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020084027/http://ricewiki.big.ac.cn/index.php/Os01g0883800 |archive-date=October 20, 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Nagano H, Onishi K, Ogasawara M, Horiuchi Y, Sano Y |date=October 2005 |title=Genealogy of the 'Green Revolution' gene in rice |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ggs/80/5/80_5_351/_article |journal=Genes & Genetic Systems |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=351–356|doi=10.1266/ggs.80.351 |pmid=16394586 |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |series=Proceedings of the 20th Session of the International Rice Commission |title=Genetic Diversity in Rice |publisher=Agriculture and Consumer Protection |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Corporate Document Repository |date=23–26 July 2002 |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y4751e/y4751e0b.htm}} IR8 was well suited to the places it was first introduced. However, it “did not fit most rice-growing situations,” which involve heavy monsoons or deep flooding.{{cite book |title=Beyond IR8: IRRI's second decade |date=April 1980 |publisher=International Rice Research Institute}}{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=B. H. |title=Green Revolution? Technology and Change in Rice-growing Areas of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka |date=1977 |publisher=Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado |isbn=0-89158-709-8 |pages=1–6 |chapter=1. Technology and Change in Rice-growing Areas}}
Cultivation
In November 1966, IR8 was introduced in the Philippines and India. Promoters such as the IRRI and farmer benefactors of IR8 have called it 'miracle rice', and celebrate it for fighting famine.{{Cite web |last=Ganzel |first=Bill |date=2007 |title=The Development of "Miracle Rice" Varieties |url=http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_17.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605030808/http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_17.html |archive-date=2017-06-05 |access-date=2017-09-19 |website=www.livinghistoryfarm.org |language=en}} IR8 dramatically increased the yields of Asian rice from 1 or 2 ton per hectare to 4 or 5 tons per hectare.[https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/19871999_laureates/1996_beachell_and_khush/ World Food Prize Foundation 1996 Laureate: Beachell and Khush] worldfoodprize.org It played a significant part in the Green Revolution.