International Cooperation Project: Green Super Rice (GSR) for Resource-Limited Areas in Africa and Asia

This project is China’s largest international agricultural science-and-technology poverty alleviation initiative jointly funded by the Chinese Government and the Gates Foundation (formerly the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Launched in 2008, the project is led by ICS-CAAS and implemented with more than 20 rice research institutions in China and abroad. By leveraging advanced breeding technologies, it has developed a portfolio of high-yielding, high-quality, and multi-resistant Green Super Rice (GSR) varieties, which have been trialed, officially released/approved, and promoted in target countries and regions across Africa and Asia.

Across the target countries in Asia and Africa, the GSR project has secured official release/approval for 74 varieties, including 48 inbred varieties and 26 hybrid varieties. The cumulative planting area of GSR varieties in 11 target countries in Asia and Africa is estimated to have reached 2.35 million hectares. With the growing number of released varieties and the continuous strengthening of extension systems, the adoption and planted area of GSR varieties in these target countries are expected to keep expanding. The project has helped 1.6 million farming households from 18 Asian and African countries increase their incomes, substantially boosting local agricultural production revenue and generating significant socioeconomic benefits—making an important contribution to poverty reduction and sustainable agricultural development in the target countries. In addition, the project has supported the training of 58 graduate students for 15 target countries, provided advanced training in GSR breeding technologies to nearly 943 science and technology professionals, and organized multiple short-term technical trainings on new-variety seed production and cultivation/field management, reaching over 3,051 person-times. Through these diverse capacity-building approaches, the project has strengthened agricultural research capacity and production performance in the target countries.