Program

Lowland rice fields without irrigation facility and thus relying on unpredictable rainfall for water are widely spread in Asia. Improving the productivity in such rainfed lowlands is the key to raise the rice production in Asia as a whole and in the Philippines in particular. Most studies have attributed their low productivity mainly to water deficit. Recent results, however, revealed that soil moisture fluctuations (transient drought and waterlogging and vice versa) are also equally important stress under rainfed lowland conditions. Under such water stress conditions, the root plasticity is a key trait for crop adaptation and maintaining productivity. In this seminar, the current progress and opportunities of the root related researches for the rainfed lowland rice of the Philippines will be discussed.