Rice · Rice · Short entry
NERICA (New Rice for Africa)
A family of 82 rice varieties bred by AfricaRice from crosses between Asian rice and African rice (Oryza glaberrima), the first wide-scale success in crossing the two cultivated species. The first were released in Côte d'Ivoire in 2000.
Crossing two species
AfricaRice overcame the sterility barrier between Oryza sativa and O. glaberrima with anther culture and embryo rescue, backcrossing to the Asian parent. There are now 82 NERICA varieties: 18 upland, 60 rainfed lowland and 4 irrigated. Upland NERICAs generally yield as well as Asian varieties; lowland NERICA-L varieties have a yield potential of 6–7 t/ha against usually under 1.5 t/ha for traditional lowland varieties. Some NERICA varieties average 25% more protein than imported Asian rice. The upland work earned Monty Jones the World Food Prize in 2004.
CG 14, an O. glaberrima breeding line from Côte d'Ivoire held in the USDA collection, has red bran, a brown-rice kernel of 6.7 × 2.3 mm and 25% amylose. NERICA grain size varies by variety; the dimensions on this page are an estimate.
How it connects
Rice
- offspring of African rice (Oryza glaberrima)
- part of NERICA-L-39
