Passing away of Dr. Md. Murshedul Alam,

The IRRI family is deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and untimely demise of Dr. Muhammad Murshedul Alam who was one of our dearest colleagues at IRRI Bangladesh Office. He passed away in the afternoon of 23 November 2021 at his residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dr. Alam was working as the Senior Associate Scientist (Agronomy) until his last breath. On behalf of IRRI, Dr. Humnath Bhandari, IRRI Representative for Bangladesh, attended Dr. Alam’s funeral held at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and conveyed deepest sympathy and condolences to Dr. Alam’s family members, relatives and colleagues.

Farmers trained on direct-seeded rice technology to help tackle increasing water and labor shortage

More than 30 farmers from different villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh participated in an interactive training program on direct-seeded rice (DSR) to help them face the many challenges to sustainable rice production such as diminishing water resources and shortage of agriculture labor. 

IRRI to provide technical support to new projects for strengthening rice value chain and enhancing farmers’ income in eastern Uttar Pradesh

VARANASI, India, 08 July 2021—The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will provide the technical support in two upcoming projects that aim to strengthen the rice value chain and enhance farmers’ income in Uttar Pradesh, according to Gopesh Tewari, head of IRRI Education.

IRRI Announcement: Rice Breeding Innovations Platform Organizational Changes

Continuing improvements for efficiency is the cornerstone of any working unit from individuals to organizations. To ensure that the Rice Breeding Innovations (RBI) platform of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) delivers on its mandates on a timely manner and reaches higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness in resource mobilization and research quality—especially for a strong position as we transition into One CGIAR—the following organizational changes are being made with immediate effect:

IRRI and Philippine Agriculture Department mark successful completion of collaborative laser land leveling project

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (DA-BAFE) will mark the successful completion of their collaborative project “Laser land leveling (LLL) for land use efficiency in the Philippines” during the 8th anniversary celebration of DA-BAFE.

IRRI supports Uttar Pradesh, India in popularizing Kalanamak rice variety

Kalanamak rice variety has been chosen by the Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India for the “One District One Product (ODOP)” scheme under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan campaign. This is in line with the government-level action plan aimed at improving rice productivity and better aroma retention. The rice variety also has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Siddharthnagar district and 10 more districts around Siddharthnagar with similar agro-climatic conditionsーGorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Santkabirnagar, Basti, Bahraich, Balrampur, Gonda, and Shravasti.

IRRI research partners present sustainability plans for WeRise in the Philippines

National agricultural research and extension system (NARES) in the Philippines presented their sustainability plans for the Weather-Rice-Nutrient Integrated decision support system (WeRise).  The plans were presented during a virtual and on-site Handover Ceremony and Sustainability Workshop on 09 March 2021.

WeRise is a digital tool for rainfed rice farmers adapted for the Philippines by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) with funding from Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). The project is implemented by IRRI, Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and JIRCAS. WeRise provides advisories on the best time to plant and apply fertilizer using suitable varieties based on weather conditions, crop growth, selected farm characteristics, and management practices. The advisories are web-based and can be accessed through a computer or smartphone three months before the cropping season. This gives farmers sufficient time to allocate limited resources such as capital, labor, and inputs and plan for upcoming cropping seasons. 

The participants presented activities related to scaling up use of the tool, further validation in additional locations, increasing awareness of the tool, and institutionalizing WeRise through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund and Smarter Rice Program Package of Technologies for rainfed rice areas. PhilRice Deputy Executive Director for Research, Eduardo Jimmy Quilang also suggested the “Popularize, Sustain and Scale through Partnerships” approach, which served as the framework of the sustainability plans used by some DA regional and municipal offices. 

Philippine rice farmers receive 46k bags of two IRRI-developed inbreds from government program

The Philippine Department of Agriculture and PhilRice recently distributed a total of 46,800 bags of high-yielding and stress-tolerant IRRI-developed rice seeds to farmers in the agricultural hubs of Central Visayas. This was done as part of the government-backed Seed Program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), an initiative that seeks to help local farmers perform better in the international rice market.

Dr. Fritsche-Neto joins IRRI as Head of Breeding Analytics and Data Management

Dr. Hans Bhardwaj, Rice Breeding Innovation Platform Leader of the International Rice Research Institute, announces the joining of Dr. Roberto Fritsche-Neto as the new head of Breeding Analytics and Data Management.