A group of private companies and international organizations are spearheading an initiative that aims to ensure improved but environment-friendly and socially responsible production of one of the world’s major food crops.
The Sustainable Rice Platform is a joint initiative of the U.N Environment Program, the International Rice Research Institute, Louis Dreyfus Commodities and Kellogg Co. It held its inaugural meeting at IRRI’s headquarters in the Philippines last week, which involved government representatives from Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as global and Asia-based firms and non-governmental organizations.
The initiative will urge agricultural ministries to explore and test management practices to make them relevant, promote them to rice farmers and seek to identify incentive mechanisms for farmers to grow rice sustainably. Meanwhile, NGOs and companies will help develop sustainability criteria to protect or boost environmental health.
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