Agri research alliance launches first sustainable rice standard

MANILA, Philippines – The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP), a global alliance of agricultural research institutions and agri-food businesses, launched the world’s first standard for sustainable rice.

In a statement, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said the SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation uses environmental and socio-economic benchmarks to maintain yields for rice smallholders, reduce the environmental footprint of rice cultivation and meet consumer needs for food safety and quality.

The development of the standard was led by SRP members, UTZ Certified, Aid environment and IRRI, and draws on global experience in other sustainable commodity initiatives such as sugarcane, cotton, coffee and palm oil. It is made up of 46 requirements ranging from productivity, food safety, worker health, labor rights and biodiversity.

The standard is supplemented by a set of quantitative performance indicators to enable farmers and market supply chain actors to gauge the sustainability of a rice system, and to monitor and reward progress.

Rice plays a critical role in global food security and provides livelihood for over 140 million smallholders in developing countries.

However, this comes at a price to the environment. Rice cultivation uses 30 to 40 per cent of the world’s freshwater and contributes five to 10 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

Inefficient use of farm inputs such as agrochemicals presents additional challenges to long-term sustainability.

“For most of Asia Pacific, rice is a staple. It is part of the social fabric and influences many aspects of our lives – economic, social and religious. The SRP Standard and Indicators will help ensure that the cultivation of this vital commodity becomes more sustainable and benefits people, communities and the planet,” said Kaveh Zahedi, UNEP regional representative and regional director of the UNEP Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific.

IRRI director general Robert Zeigler, said “The SRP Standard represents the world’s first initiative that will set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards. Our key challenge now is to incentivize and scale up adoption, especially among resource-poor small farmers.”

The SRP Standard and Indicators will be field-tested and validated by national government agencies, research institutes and private companies in a multi-location farm trial to be coordinated by the SRP and IRRI.

Ultimately, the Standard and Indicators are intended both as a basis for certification of value-added rice products and also as a benchmark for policymakers.