Rice Institute is giving 10,000 small packets of rice seed to Singapore students to help them learn about rice

Singapore students to learn how to grow rice

Tara Shyam
International Rice Research Institute
IRRI Fund Singapore
Oct. 15, 2010

Singapore students will soon have the chance to learn one of the most fundamental and important aspects of living in Asia – how to grow rice.

This activity is being organized by the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The aim is to teach young Singaporeans about rice and how it is grown, especially the environmental cost of producing a bowl of rice.

“Rice is the single most important, best known, and most loved food staple in Singapore and across Asia,” says Mr. Duncan Macintosh, executive director of the IRRI Fund Singapore.

“Just as importantly, rice production has the largest environmental footprint and impact of any human activity in the region. It covers the largest agricultural land area, uses by far the most water, and must be managed carefully so it doesn’t contribute to pesticide and fertilizer pollution.”

“Even though we eat it every day,” he added, “most Singapore students know little about rice and the challenge of growing it. We hope to change that by letting them grow their own rice. In the process, we also want them to learn – and get excited about – the biological sciences.”

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