Dr. Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton receives Crop Trust Legacy Award

IRRI congratulates Dr. Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, head of the International Rice Genebank, for receiving the Crop Trust Legacy Award. Dr. Hamilton is one of the seven award recipients recognized as “global gatekeepers” for their efforts and outstanding contribution in the field of plant genetic resources conservation. In a video about the Legacy Awardees, Marie Haga, Executive Director of Crop Trust, said “[the awardees have] diligently prepared seeds for the world for years. They have done a tremendous job for human kind by safeguarding the foundation of our food”.

German envoy opens new seed processing lab at IRRI

The marker for the German-funded Genetic Resources Seed Processing Laboratory is unveiled by
(L-R) Matthew Morell, IRRI director general; H.E. Thomas Ossowski, ambassador of Germany to the Philippines;
and Jim Godfrey, OBE, chair of  IRRI's Board of Trustees during the inauguration of the new facility
on 13 April 2016 at IRRI. (Isagani Serrano/IRRI Images) 

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – A new seed laboratory has opened at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). It will increase the capacity and speed at which seeds are prepared for entry into the International Rice Genebank, where the germplasm of more than 127,000 rice varieties from around the world are kept for conservation, scientific research, and breeding purposes.

The Genetic Resources Seed Processing Laboratory (GRSPL) opened on 13 April 2016, with H.E. Thomas Ossowski, ambassador of Germany to the Philippines, cutting the ribbon and unveiling the marker with Jim Godfrey, OBE, chair of the IRRI Board of Trustees, and Matthew Morell, director general of IRRI.

Award-winning Bangladeshi journalist and activist explores collaboration with IRRI Communication

Shykh Seraj is a Bangladeshi journalist, media personality, and agricultural development activist who has been promoting agricultural development in Bangladesh through electronic and print media for over 30 years. Seraj is credited with revolutionizing the agricultural sector of Bangladesh through television. He is also the founder of the first-ever Bengali satellite television station in Bangladesh.  

Seraj has received numerous accolades for his work, including the prestigious A.H. Boerma award from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for his outstanding development journalism in the field of agriculture.

Seraj and other journalists from his network visited IRRI on 26 November to discuss possible collaborative media activities with the institute's communication unit.  

Seraj acknowledged what IRRI has done for the farmers of Bangladesh and offered to contribute to Rice Today magazine. 

Seraj also shared his strategy for popularizing developmental journalism in Bangladesh, including the use of social media. “Farmers are human beings so we make various programs for them that cover entertainment, health, culture, festivals, and others,” he said. 

During their visit, Seraj and his fellow journalists interviewed IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler, and Noel Magor, head of the Training Center, and Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, head of the T.T. Chang Genetics Resources Center and the International Rice Genebank.

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Head of IRRI genebank to serve at FAO genetic resources secretariat

Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, head of the International Rice Genebank, will soon be on loan with the secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to bolster the implementation of the International Treaty. He will spend part of his time in Los Baños and part in Rome.

An evolutionary biologist with four decades of experience in plant genetic resources, Dr. Sackville Hamilton will share his deep scientific expertise as head of the Genebank, maintained by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), to strengthen the global information system (GLIS) on plant genetic resources under the Treaty and its multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing, which covers—in addition to rice—34 crops and 29 forages.

“Ruaraidh’s expertise, which draws on and honors thousands of years of farmers’ knowledge, will be made available to help address a broader set of global food security challenges through the scientific and informatics work of the Treaty,” said Robert Zeigler, director general of IRRI.

Ruaraidh will further the development of GLIS, which will integrate and enhance existing systems that facilitate exchange of scientific, technical, and environment-related information related to plant genetic resources. The International Rice Informatics Consortium, established by IRRI, will provide the basis for the structure of the information system. He will be based at IRRI for much of the year and working at the FAO in Rome for significant stretches.

“Through GLIS, FAO will be a major provider of information exchange in the future knowledge economy around plant genetic resources for food and agriculture,” said Ren Wang, assistant director general of FAO’s Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, which hosts the Treaty. Dr. Wang was deputy director general for research at IRRI from 2000 to 2007.

The multilateral system seeks to facilitate access to plant genetic resources for conservation and use in research, breeding, and training, guided by global food security goals and to ensure that resulting benefits are shared equitably. Dr. Sackville Hamilton will help develop options for improving the instruments that enable the fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources.

“We welcome the contributions of Dr. Sackville Hamilton toward enhancing the global systems by integrating the exchange of genetic material and high value-added data about that material,” said Shakeel Bhatti, head of the Treaty Secretariat since 2007. “The Treaty mechanisms will thus provide increased value and services to its users—including farmers, plant scientists, researchers, and breeders— in the future.”

This arrangement recognizes the leading roles IRRI and the International Rice Genebank have played in global efforts toward genetic resource conservation as well as Dr. Sackville Hamilton’s standing in the field.

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