Resilient rice project aims to expand to China and India

KUALA LUMPUR: Representatives of a pilot project that promotes socially and environmentally responsible rice growing said they aim to expand into India and China, the world’s largest rice producers.

The United Nations Environment Programme and the Philippinesbased International Rice Research Institute worked with more than 80 partners to create the world’s first “global rice sustainability standard”.

The standard provides a framework to drive government policy, as well as a working definition to be used by the private sector to monitor their own sustainability goals.

The sustainability standard has been tested over the past two years in nine countries, mostly in South-East and South Asia.

“This is a fledgling project still. Our next task will be to upscale,” said Wyn Ellis, coordinator for the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP).

The SRP is a coalition of over 80 representatives from non-governmental organisations and the private and public sectors, which launched the standard in 2015.

“We will need to move into China and into India quite soon. Those are our priorities in future,” he said.

The standard promotes improvements in rice farming using over 40 requirements and “performance indicators”, which authorities and companies such as traders and supermarkets can use as best practice guidance. These include measures against abuses such as child labour.

It also aims to make rice growing more environmentally friendly by, for example, restricting pesticide use.

SRP members hope the standard will also be used in a certification scheme to help consumers choose ethical rice.

Governments may also use it to promote sustainable rice farming and meet emissions targets.