BIOGRAPHY: Zamboanga City; Admitted to the Bar on May 18, 1949.
A third world war may be out of sight, but still the citizens of the world are still knuckling up for another fight. This time, against famine.
At the forefront of this battle is Rodolfo Aquino, 57, one of the Philippines' foremost rice breeders. With his battlefield set at the rice paddies of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), he spends half of his day working for the modernization of rice production for more than 700 million people -- true to what IRRI director Klaus Lampe envisioned.
Aquino's passion for fieldwork didn't blossom overnight, though. Since childhood, Aquino had used the ricefields as his playground. Here, he learned to plant, nurture and harvest crops, eventually making him realize that this was to be his goal in life, his life-long job. Thus, in 1962, 25 year old "Rudy" Aquino joined IRRI as part of the 10-member team tasked with pollinating IR8, the 1966 strain that was the first of several "miracle rice" varieties that were the seeds of Asia's Green Revolution.
This IR8, as Aquino recalls, was produced through the combination of an improved Taiwan short-stem plant and a vigorous, fast-growing Philippine variety, which had, in turn, originated from an Indonesian strain. IR8 provided the blueprint for the creation of different advanced rice strains -- IR36, IR64, and RC20. These new strains were effective in improving the taste of rice and making crops less dependent on fertilizers and other chemicals. Furthermore, these helped in providing farmers with low-cost improved varieties that would boost harvests in Asia -- the world's most populous region.
Sad to say, though, the battle is still not completely won. With the world's population forecast to jump from today's 5.3 billion to 8.3 billion by 2025 and with the impending terror of the El Nino Phenomenon, Aquino stresses the need for some kind of "Super Rice" that could resist insects with little pesticides and could hopefully raise rice yields by as much as 25%. He and other researchers are crossing their fingers with hope...for the Filipino people...and for others, as well.
SOURCE: 1995, July. Twenty Great Asians: Rodolfo Aquino Asiaweek [print]