Seasonal temperature variation is common throughout the world, and can cause severe food shortages. Such extreme temperatures throughout the rice season dramatically reduce yield, changing key yield components. Cooperative research into the effect of temperature on rice can contribute to food security worldwide. Vegetative development (emergence to panicle initiation), reproductive development (panicle initiation to heading) and the grain formation and ripening stages are important for grain yield potential (Boerema 1974). Although the dynamics of rice production in Australia and Laos are at different extremes of production and mechanisation, significant yield losses due to temperature variability has been experienced in both countries (Table 1). With the development of the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Rice Production (Rice CRC) in Australia, a multi-faceted approach to the research on low temperature has begun. Good progress has been made by a team of researchers in understanding the low temperature problems at the protein, cell, organ and plant level. The Rice CRC and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project (Increased crop production for lowland rice in south east Asia), have initiated collaborative research which will contribute to solving the problems relating to the impact of extreme temperatures on rice production in Australia and Laos.
