CGIAR Germplasm Health Units commit delivery of good quality germplasm

The International Rice Research Institute hosted this year’s technical working group meeting of CGIAR’s Germplasm Health Units (GHU). The meeting focused on finding innovative solutions to achieve a disease-free, viable and well-documented germplasm and developing delivery strategies to make it available and accessible to farmers and the market.

Enhancing seed quality in Sri Lanka through improved drying and storage

Workshop participants are introduced to setting up a Solar Bubble Dryer,
a technology on paddy drying which has the potential to increase
labor productivity and to maintain the quality of seed.

IRRI and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations through the Closing Rice Yield Gaps with Reduced Environmental Footprints (CORIGAP-PRO) and the European Union Support to District Development Programme increases the national capacity of Sri Lanka on postharvest technology for rice by conducting a workshop on drying and storage technologies.

Through a two-day workshop, extension agents, researchers, and farm technicians were introduced to the importance and basic principles of paddy drying and proper storage in ensuring the quality of rice. Trainees were also introduced to operating and troubleshooting available paddy drying systems like the Solar Bubble Dryer (SBD) and storage options like the hermetic GrainSafe(™) through different hands-on activities. These technologies would eventually help in improving grain quality and marketability and thus giving smallholder farmers an opportunity to earn more from what they have produced.

Sowing the seeds of rice self-sufficiency in Africa through capacity building

Workshop participants discuss constraints in the production and delivery of quality rice seed in Uganda.

IRRI works closely with national research and extension systems (NARES) in making scientific knowledge and expertise on rice science more widely accessible. Together with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), IRRI aims to improve the quality of rice seed production, which contributes to food and livelihood security of smallholder farmers in member countries of the Coalition of African Rice Development (CARD).

Since 2016, IRRI-JICA-PhilRice has developed and facilitated two training programs in the Philippines: the three-week Quality Breeder and Foundation Seed Course conducted at IRRI Headquarters and the eight-week Specialized Course on Rice Seed Production and Extension held at PhilRice Central Experiment Station. To date, 83 individuals have been trained from 18 out of 23 CARD member countries.

Water for Food: PhilRice and IRRI jointly organized field day to create awareness on sustainable water management

Sustainable water management is at the heart of producing more food with less resources in an increasingly complex environment due to climate change. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is working together in creating impacts at scale that is beneficial for the people and the planet.

After the field demonstration, the participants were shown other water-saving technologies. Engr. Lea Caguiat, Science Research Analyst from PhilRice, demonstrates how a mechanical transplanter works to a group of farmers in Nueva Ecija during World Water Day 2018.

IRRI and PhilRice joined the international community in celebrating World Water Day through a field day to generate awareness on sustainable water use as part of their ongoing collaboration “Water-efficient and Risk Mitigation Technologies for Enhancing Rice Production in Irrigated and Rainfed Environments” (WateRice). With the theme “Nature for Water”, the field day was organized at Turnout 8, Purok Curva, Bantug, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija on 22 March 2018.

IRRI and Philippine Science and Technology Department partner to advance scientific and technological collaboration

26 March 2018, Los Baños, Philippines – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) strengthened their partnership by signing a new agreement expanding their scientific and technological collaboration today.

Through this partnership, DOST and IRRI will share their expertise in high performance computing, data storage and cloud resources as well as bioinformatics, genomics, computational/systems biology, and other areas relevant to rice science.

“Our goal at DOST is to make science and technology of real service to the people. This collaboration will advance our research and development agenda and expand the services we are able to offer,” said Secretary Fortunato de la Peña. 

Golden Rice gains health and safety nod from Health Canada

Health Canada has notified the International Rice Research Institute that it has no objection to the food use of Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E (Golden Rice). The Department conducted a comprehensive assessment of this rice event according to its Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Novel Foods, which are based upon internationally accepted principles for establishing the safety of foods with novel traits.

Paving the way for sustainable rice production in Asian countries

Farmers from Chainat Province share their experiences about using Laser Leveling. “Before, we experience lodging. After using Laser Leveling, I noticed an improvement in my crops and there was less lodging,” said Mr. Chaleaw Noiseang

IRRI, in strong collaboration with national partners, is implementing innovative pathways to alleviate poverty and promote gender equity by optimizing productivity and environmental sustainability of irrigated rice production systems. The Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprint (CORIGAP-PRO) project, which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), brought together national partners from eight countries during its annual meeting to discuss key outcomes for 2017 and to plan activities for the next year.

“In 2017, the best management practices promoted by CORIGAP have currently reached more than 375,000 farmers across the six target countries (China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam), with yield increase ranging from 14 to 30%,” according to Grant Singleton, IRRI Principal Scientist and CORIGAP project coordinator. “With this exciting outcome, we will hear how each country has progressed and their plans for future initiatives to take us closer to our target in 2020 of reaching 500,000 farmers,” he added.