section_path: Ecotypes and cultivars
section_name: Ecotypes and cultivars
paragraph_text: Ecotypes and cultivars
  
  The International Rice Research Institute maintains the International Rice Genebank, which holds over 100,000 rice varieties. Much of southeast Asia grows sticky or glutinous rice varieties. High-yield cultivars of rice suitable for cultivation in Africa, called the New Rice for Africa (NERICA), have been developed to improve food security and alleviate poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  The complete genome of rice was sequenced in 2005, making it the first crop plant to reach this status. Since then, the genomes of hundreds of types of rice, both wild and cultivated, and including both Asian and African rice species, have been sequenced.