OryzaNet: Enabling UK research into the world's most 'essential' crop

Rice is often termed the world’s most ‘essential’ crop because unlike wheat or maize it is largely eaten directly by people rather than used as animal feed or fuel. It is an important source of calories and protein for around half the world’s population. Rice is grown across a range of environments from flooded and water-inundated lowlands to harsh upland soils and is vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change in these regions. This means it carries particular importance for global food security and poverty. Rice remains an international concern. While the UK does not grow rice for commercial gain, we increasingly import and consume rice with the associated UK industry worth nearly £1 billion annually. We also deliver an impressive amount of rice research with influence across important areas including fundamental science, genetics, nutrition, and social science. Rice research provides additional benefits as it is an excellent model for understanding all cereal crops. However, the rice research base in the UK requires proper coordination. It is currently not operating to full potential and is capable of greater global reach. This project will build a network of scientists and social scientists to address the limitations to UK rice research and help our research community to meet opportunities and challenges head on. We will create a sustainable network for synergistic collaboration providing global visibility, accessibility and reach. Together we will build routes to ease bottlenecks that slow down research and train the next generation of leaders. By encouraging national and international collaboration, we will help to set the agenda for future rice science and rice production. Through a series of workshops in which will include key global players from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and other regions, the network will help to decide the actions needed to future proof the UK rice research landscape, strengthening and building our contributions to international research programmes, which impact the UK and global economy. Throughout our project we will address urgent issues of equality, diversity and the ethics of operating equitable and fair international collaborations. The ‘OryzaNet’ core team has extensive rice research experience and strong global connections. The network will provide a programme of bespoke, collaborative workshops, meetings, training, mentoring, and enabling the Early Career Researchers (ECRs) who will form the future leaders. We will encourage communication and give all rice researchers a voice in identifying problems and opportunities among the UK research environment and beyond. We will establish interactions with key overseas research groups and stakeholders within dedicated meetings and satellite workshops. Backed by experience from global institutes we will also offer training in strategic and missing techniques to help future-proof the community. These include genomics, phenomics and rice cultivation methods. We will set up a pilot funding scheme to engage ECR talent that will capture and nurture the ideas of our brightest researchers and help to build their future careers. This will sustainably benefit the UK research community through new global collaborative ventures, innovation in tools, methods and discovery.