It is also anticipated that the genetic code for rice will have been fully deciphered by 2003, through the Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), the world's largest program for gene sequencing of a food crop. This, it is hoped, will prove useful in the effort to solve the increasingly pressing problem of food shortages in the coming decades.
此外，國際上第一個大規模糧食作物基因序列研究計畫──「水稻基因體序列分析國際合作計畫」，也預計將在二○○三年前破解水稻的基因密碼，希望從中找到解決未來糧食短缺的方法。