New Rice for Africa the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-IV) in 2008. The new rice varieties, which are suited to drylands, were distributed and sown on more than 200,000 hectares during the last five years in several African countries, notably Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Uganda, according to the Africa Rice Center. Though this represents a major advance, it is still projected to fall short of meeting the growing demand for rice as a food staple. African rice "Oryza glaberrima" has been cultivated for 3,500 years and is well adapted to the African environment. African rice has profuse vegetative
Scirpophaga nivella orange anal tuft, sometimes brownish in the female. The larvae are off white with a reddish dorsal line. Major feeding plant is sugarcane, besides "Oryza sativa", "Scirpus", "Cyperus", "Eleocharis" (including "Eleocharis dulcis") and "Calidum articulatum" are also susceptible as feeding plants of the moth. Caterpillars bore into midrib, by leaving red markings and small holes on the leaves. Then it bore in the upper portion of stem, causing "dead heart" symptoms. Gradually, side branches start growing from a lower node, giving a characteristic "bunchy top" appearance to the plant. Most effective method is using biological predators and parasitoids. It is