Over the past 20 years, Egypt has also been an active participant in trials of the International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER), a network headquartered at IRRI. Several rice varieties tested through INGER have been released in Egypt, and 1,045 promising entries from the network were used as parents in breeding programs. Some 555 breeding lines were utilized for resistance to blast disease and the stemborer pest, and for tolerance to saline soils and low temperatures. At IRRI's main experimental station in Los Banos, Philippines, Egyptian rice breeding materials have been grown for the last 17 years, and crosses made from them.

IRRI's rice research collaboration with Egypt's scientific community began in the early 1970s. In 1980, IRRI collaborated with Egypt and the University of California in a six-year Rice Research and Training Project, financed by USAID.

As a result of the project, an integrated Rice Research and Training Center (RRTC) was established at Sakha in January 1987. This project involved research collaboration between IRRI and the National Agricultural Research Project of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

The project enhanced ongoing research programs to develop high-yielding disease-resistant varieties with desirable agronomic and grain characteristics for the Delta rice-growing areas. The project also introduced more water-efficient rice culture and improved the Egyptian rice seed industry to ensure quality seed for farmers. IRRI also assisted Egypt in developing a tissue culture laboratory, improving the seed storage system, developing computer databases for evaluating rice germplasm, and advancing knowledge of weed management. The collaborative research and training programs contributed to increasing Egyptian farmers' rice yields from 6 to 7.9 tons per hectare during the life of the project.

Salinity, too much salt, is the number one soil problem of the rice-growing areas of North Africa and West Asia, resulting in low yields from rice plants. Tolerance for salinity is rare in the types of rices grown in this region. Genes controlling salt tolerance have now been identified with the aid of biotechnology at IRRI. Transfer of salt-tolerant genes to rice cultivars in the region will help solve the soil salinity problem.

(IRRI)