The World Rice Market: Structure, Conduct, and Performance

Because rice is the staple food of the majority of the world’s population, particularly of the poorer people of developing countries, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was founded to generate new technology to rapidly expand the supply of rice. IRRI has achieved extraordinary success, not only through the development of specific varieties of rice such as IR8, but by demonstrating approaches to rice cultivation that have had profound influence on human welfare and on the environment within rice research and production take place. The international Food Policy Research (IFPRI), as the policy-oriented center in the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) system, has maintained a long-term collaborative research relationship with IRRI on rice policy in Southeast Asia. As some of the countries in that region expand their rice production, their behavior in the world rice marker becomes more important. IFPRI itself has had a long-standing interest in food security issues and the role of international trade in helping countries attain food security. IFPRI Research Report 4, Food security: An Insurance Approach, by Panos Konandreas et al., examined how international markets can be used to stabilize national supplies. Developed- Country Agricultural Policies and Developing-Country Supplies: The cast of Wheat, Research Report 14, by Timothy Josling, Economics of the International Stockholding of Wheat, Research Report 18, by Daniel Morrow, and Estimates Of Soviet Grain Imports in 1980-85: Alternatives Approaches, Research Report 22, by Padma Desai, look at various aspects of the workings of the world wheat market. In collaboration with the international Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), IFPRI held a conference in Mexico, the proceedings of which were published in Food Security for Developing Countries, edited by Alberto Valdes (Boulder, Colo. Westview Press, 1981). IFPRI building on this research is proceeding with in-depth studies or irrigation economics, also in collaboration with IRRI and Asia Development Bank. These studies will emphasize investment needs and their relation to technology and overall rice supply-demand balances.