Green Super Rice varieties are boosting productivity and income with less inputs and more environmental sustainability

Integrated breeding and crop management solutions help smallholder farmers improve their income and livelihood while protecting the environment and themselves.

Green Super Rice (GSR) can produce high and stable yield with fewer inputs like water, fertilizers, and pesticides. These varieties have the tolerance to different abiotic stresses such as drought, floods, salinity, and other stresses.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations (BMGF) and the Chinese Government, IRRI through the GSR project released 55 varieties in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East and Southern Africa. At present, these varieties cover more than two million hectares in 11 countries. According to a study conducted in the Philippines, GSR farmers have an estimated income advantage of more than USD 231 per hectare. This advantage can reach up to USD 409 per hectare during the wet season.

IRRI, the Chinese Academy for Agricultural Sciences, and BMGF team up to develop rice varieties for a Greener Revolution

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), together with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), collaborate through funding and research efforts to develop Green Super Rice (GSR), a new set of rice varieties that perform well under the toughest conditions.

Former IRRI scholar receives AAEA fellowship award

Dr. Jikun Huang has been awarded an Agriculture and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of agricultural or applied economics.

Huang was a PhD scholar in agricultural economics at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) from 1987 to 1990 while studying at the nearby University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

Recognition as an AAEA Fellow is AAEA's most prestigious honor. Huang was recognized for his exceptional contributions through research, mentoring students, institution building, and impact on policy. His leadership in agricultural economics in China is unsurpassed and his research has made significant influence on China’s agricultural policies, according to the AAEA.

As a researcher, his work is widely known for being empirically based and rigorously analyzed.  Among his most significant contributions are his research on biotechnology impact assessment, food security and policy, and food supply/demand/trade simulation model.

Huang is the founder and director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is also vice presidents of Chinese Association of Agricultural Economics and Chinese Association of Agro-Technology Economics. 

In 2010, he received IRRI’s Outstanding Alumni Award. “Dr. Jikun Huang is one of the most well-known agricultural economists in the world,” said then IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler during the awarding ceremony. “His publications have been widely cited in international journals. His work has also influenced China’s agricultural policy and development, including China’s rice policy.”

Huang also received the UPLB Distinguished Alumni Award during UPLB’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2008.

Huang discusses the importance of training the next generation of rice scientists, beginning at 1:34 into an IRRI video on the subject. 

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