Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Training aims to boost capacity and supply of high quality seeds of pulses and oilseed in Myanmar



The Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI), in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), organized Training of Trainers on Early Generation Seed (EGS) production in pulses, oilseed crops including hybrid sunflower on 7-10 January 2020. The event trained 51 participants from the Department of Agriculture Seed Division, DAR Pulses and Oilseed Crops Section, and the private sector on the important methodologies of EGS production.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Former IRRI Executive Officer passed away

Faustino “Boy” Salacup poses for a portrait at his desk in IRRI.

Faustino "Boy" M. Salacup (b. 1932), former Executive Officer, Comptroller, Treasurer, and Director for Protocol and Liaison of the International Rice Research Research Institute (IRRI), passed away on December 22, 2019. He is regarded as one of the Institute's pioneers, having joined in January 1961.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Former IRRI weed ecologist passes away

Professor Andrew Martin Mortimer, 71, passed away peacefully after a short illness at his home in North Wales on Sunday, 22 December 2019, surrounded by his family. Martin was a weed ecologist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Agronomy, Plant Physiology, and Agroecology (APPA) Division from 1996 to 2003, also serving as APPA deputy head (1998-2000). He continued as an IRRI consultant afterwards.

Martin was an expert in plant ecology, agricultural botany, genetics, and environmental and evolutionary biology. He pointed out that, as a plant population biologist, he studied the development and application of agro-ecology in tropical and temperate agro-ecosystems.

In IRRI’s 1997-98 Annual Report, he explained that natural plants in a location—weeds to most people—present a particular challenge. "All non-rice plants in a field are not necessarily bad," he said. "If we can identify which weeds are good for natural enemies and bad for pests, we may recommend that farmers selectively weed their fields. But managing the vegetation around the field edges will probably have even greater benefit for beneficial insects."