총 48페이지

Cover Story
ThebrightsideofTong-ilrice
Anepochaleventinthehistoryofricebreeding
The development of Tong-il rice was a milestone in the history of rice breeding. In 1960, the South Korean government was
intensivelyinvolvedinsolvingthechronicfoodshortage.Thiswasbecauseofficialsthoughtthatahighdegreeoffoodself-support
would be the beginning of the complete eradication of poverty. In response, the government dispatched a total of 15 researchers
totheInternationalRiceResearchInstitute(IRRI)locatedinthePhilippinesfrom1964to1968.DoctorHeuMun-hue,aformer
ProfessorattheCollegeofAgricultureandLifeSciencesofSeoulNationalUniversity,wasoneofthem.
Dr.HeuparticipatedinthestudyofIndicaanddevotedhimselftofindinganewricevarietywhichcouldimprovetheproblematic
foodsituationofKorea.However,itwasnotthateasy.ThericesuitableforKorea’scooltemperateclimatewaslowinproductivity,
and the rice with high productivity was not able to withstand the cold winter weather of Korea. Looking for a breakthrough,
professorHeudecidedtocrossbreedIndicawithJaponicatodevelopanewvariety.Thisbreedingmethod,whichiscalled“wide
cross,”wasnotusedinthosedaysbecauseofthetrickybreedingtechniqueandtheinherentsterilityoftheiroffsprings.
However, Dr. Heu continued his study by changing the cross combination, producing about 600 hybrids between Indica and
Japonica. Then he selected 21 varieties and inbred them for generations. As a result, he proved that hybrid sterility can be
surmountedthroughseveralgenerationsofregulatedbreeding.Healsofoundthat“three-waycross”canbeasolutiontoinfertile
hybrids.Althoughtherewerestillsomequestionsaboutwhichvarietyshouldbecrossedwiththehybrid,itwasclearevidencethat
thischallengewhichbreakstheboundsofacommonsensewasnotapointlessendeavor.Moreover,sinceDr.Heucouldtrustin
bridgecrossing,hestartedbucklingdowntodevelopahigh-yieldingvarietysuitableforKorea.
After considering some possible cross combinations, he decided to cross TN1, a Taiwanese Indica with a high level of cool-
weather resistance, and Korean Japonica. IR8, a highly productive Indica, was used as a mate of their offspring. However,
the offspring, unfortunately, inherited neither of its parent’s positive phenotypes, and its net yield fell short of expectations.
Accordingly, Heu replaced Korean Japonica with Yukara, a Japanese Japonica with better productivity, and succeeded in
developing Tong-il rice in 1966. To sum up, the development of Tong-il rice was not only the basis for solving Korea’s food
shortage,butalsoahistoriceventthatledtotheimprovementofricebreedingtechnology.
Thehighestcontributortoovercomingthefoodshortage
Tong-il rice, which inherited the characteristics of both Indica and Japonica, had short and wiry stems similar to Indica, while
thesizeofthericegrainswaslargelikeJaponica.Thus,evenifalargeamountoffertilizerwasspreadoverthefield,Tong-ilcould
flourishwithoutbeingcollapsedbyitsheavygrains.Inaddition,asithadgenetichomogeneitywithIndica,Tong-ilwasresistantto
thericeblastfungusendemicinKorea,whichweremainlytargetingJaponica.Althoughitwasnearlyimpossibletopredictwhat
unexpected damage would be done as Indica had been cultivated in environments different from the Korean Peninsula, officials
madeupforTong-il’suncertaintybyimplementingtestcultivationbeforedistributingit.
ThedevelopmentofTong-ilrice
Technology
Yukara
Science
(Japonica)
TN1
of
Yukara
Academy
(Hybrid)
Widecross
IR8/Yukara/TN1
Three-way
Korean
cross
(IR667:Tong-ilrice)
TN1
(Indica)
ⓒThe
IR8
(Indica)
▲Dr.HeuresearchingnewricevarietiesatIRRI
▲Dr.HeuMoon-hoehasgonebeyondconventionalwisdomthroughashiftofideas.
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