Asian Rice Bowls

Book excerpt: Introduction: the state of rice in post-green-revolution Asia; Rice productivity growth: the case against complacency; Sustaining farm profits through technical change; Intensification-induced degradation of the paddy resource base; Erosion, pollution and poison: externalities and rice; Asian rice market: demand and supply prospects; GATT and rice: impact on the rice market and implications for research priorities; Agricultural commercialization and farmer product choices: the case of diversification out of rice; Strategic look at factor markets and the organization of agricultural production beyond 2025; Post-green-revolution seed technology for intensive rice systems; Fertilizers and pesticides: higher levels versus improved efficiencies; Dealing with labor scarcity: mechanical technologies.