Contents



Preface

Rice is the most important food crop in the world. It is a staple food for more than 40% of the world's population. It feeds more than two billion people in developing countries. It has a major share in the global agricultural economy; however, its production and yield are compromised due to various biotic, abiotic, and climatic factors. To meet the food security standards, modern and sophisticated technologies have been used for the improvement of rice production. Starting from the conventional breeding strategies to the modern technologies, there is a long history of rice research. In this book, the milestones of rice research are discussed with recent and innovative results. The book deals with rice biology, breeding, genomics, economics, etc. Different sections of the book discuss diverse aspects of "Recent Advances in Rice Research". This book contains five sections including an Introductory Chapter in the first section that deals with an overview of recent technologies for the

Section 2 describes the overview of the current status and innovations in hybrid rice research worldwide. Section 3 discusses the latest information regarding various metabolites produced and evaluated in rice using recent technologies. It contains information about phenolic compounds and flavonoids produced in rice. This section also discusses rice biology including marker-assisted breeding and pathogens transmitted through contaminated rice. Section 4 highlights the role of different stress conditions that limit crop production. This section also helps the readers to understand the mechanism of the root system and its role in abiotic stress tolerance. Section 5 describes very important aspects of rice including economics, value addition, and product development. This section contains information regarding the potential impacts of COVID-19 on rice yield and production, husk

The information available in this book will greatly help research students, scientists, academicians, and the general public as well as other stakeholders. In the end, I thank IntechOpen for giving me an opportunity to edit this book. I am also thankful to Ms. Sandra Maljavac, Author Service Manager, for her valuable help throughout the editing process. I must thank my students, Ms. Munazza Ijaz and Ms. Roshina Shahzadi for their assistance in the preparation of the "Introductory Chapter". I am especially thankful to all the authors for their valuable contributions in this book.

**Mahmood-ur-Rahman Ansari, PhD**

GC University – Faisalabad,

Pakistan

Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology,

value addition, formulation of the sheet mask, and its evaluation.

improvement of rice.
