Vietnam agriculture ministry and CGIAR align development agenda

MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh and IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler,
during the opening of the 1st MARD-CGIAR Coordination Meeting in Hanoi (6 November 2015).

HANOI, Vietnam – Seeking stronger complementarity in their joint research for development programs, leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam and the 10 CGIAR centers operating in the country, as well as other national partners, sat together on 6 November 2015 for the 1st MARD-CGIAR Coordination Meeting.

The meeting, convened by MARD with the help of the IRRI Vietnam office, was headlined by MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Director General Robert Zeigler. Minister Phat and Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh co-chaired the afternoon and morning sessions, respectively, with Dr. Zeigler.

Regional cooperation and ‘correct’ pricing key to sustainable rice production

HANOI, Vietnam - Mainstreaming good practices, finding the ‘right price’ of rice, and working together as a region are crucial to making rice production sustainable.

These are key points resulting from the discussion of global experts and stakeholders convened as the rice working group during the recently concluded 2nd Responsible Business Forum for Food and Agriculture held in the Vietnamese capital.

Proactive regional cooperation in agriculture, especially for rice—the region’s most important crop staple—becomes even more crucial with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community.

U.P. and IRRI seek stronger ties in research, student training

Officials from the University of the Philippines, led by Danny Concepcion, dean of the U.P. College of Law, hosted by Bruce Tolentino, IRRI deputy director general for communication and partnerships, at the International Rice Genebank during a tour of IRRI's research facilities and farms in Los Baños, Laguna (6-7 May 2014).

The Philippines’ top state university and the world’s premier research center on rice are working together to strengthen collaboration in research and academic exchange. 

Senior officials from the University of the Philippines (U.P.) System, research administrators of U.P. Los Baños (UPLB), and U.P. Open University visited IRRI on May 6-7 2015, and received in-depth briefings on rice science, met with scientists and top managers of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and visited key laboratories and experimental fields over a busy two-day agenda.

The visit focused on the U.P. system team learning as much as possible about the research agenda and operations of IRRI.  Such learning then enables joint exploration of options for collaborative research in the service of global food security, while mutually strengthening each other's capacities through enhanced partnership toward shared goals.  The visit included briefings and visits to IRRI's lowland and upland farm areas, the new dedicated transgenic research facility, submergence plots, drought facilities, and the International Rice Genebank that holds in trust about 127,000 rice types from around the world.

Neighboring UPLB, the country’s leading university in the agricultural sciences, is an abundant source of well-trained agriculture and biotechnology professionals and researchers for IRRI. About a quarter of IRRI staff are UPLB alumni.

IRRI’s laboratories are an excellent and accessible resource for joint research among UPLB faculty and the institute's scientists as well as training ground for UPLB students. Many of IRRI’s scientists and members of senior management also serve as adjunct UPLB faculty and are often requested to give special lectures. 

While instances of collaboration between UPLB and IRRI have been plentiful since the institute’s founding in 1960, both partners see significant value in forming a more strategic and institutional partnership, especially in the areas of faculty research and student training.  

The visiting team from the UP System was led by Danilo Concepcion, dean of the U.P. College of Law, and included: Dr. Marish Madlangbayan, UPLB vice-chancellor for development; Domingo Angeles, dean of the UPLB College of Agriculture; Dr. Calixto Protacio, UPLB director, crop science cluster; Dr. Jose Hernandez and Dr. Danny Lalican of the UPLB College of Agriculture; Joselito Florendo, U.P. vice president for planning and finance; Elvira Zamora, vice-president for development; Rhodora Azanza, U.P. assistant vice-president for academic affairs and director for international linkages;  Hannibal Bobis, representing Hector Danny Uy, vice-president for legal affairs; Atty. Carlo Vistan, U.P. College of Law; Atty. Ryan Oliva, U.P, College of Law; and Atty. Rowena Disini, counsel for UPOU and representative of UPOU chancellor Grace Alfonso.

They were welcomed and briefed by the IRRI team led by V. Bruce J. Tolentino, IRRI’s deputy director general for communication and partnerships (DDG-CP);  James Quilty, head of the IRRI experiment station;  Bert Collard, plant breeding; Atty. Gingin Perez, sr. counsel; Pola de Guzman, International Rice Genebank; Mr. Ramon Oliveros of the office of the DDG-CP; Adam Sparks, plant pathologist; Alice Laborte, GIS specialist; Jauhar Ali, head of the Green Super Rice Project; Amelia Henry, drought research; and Ben Pamatmat, partnerships office. 

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Research on C4 rice makes MIT Breakthroughs list for 2015

The pioneering work being done at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to transform rice, a C3 plant, into a C4 plant (like maize and sorghum) that uses sunshine more efficiently has made it to the MIT Technology Review’s prestigious 10 Breakthrough Technologies list for 2015.

The Breakthroughs list identifies 10 milestones from the past year “that solve difficult problems or create powerful new ways of using technology” and that will matter for a long time to come.

The C4 Rice Project is a consortium of research institutions, led by IRRI, that implements ‘frontier’ research that seeks to find a new way to radically increase rice yields, anticipating continued rise in global food needs decades into the future.

From the same amount of sunlight, plants that use C4 photosynthesis produce more food mass in its grains overall compared to C3 plants. If this trait can be bred into the rice plant, it could mean up to 50% more grain yield from current global levels. This is the big vision of the project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This is an important recognition of the work of the C4 Rice Consortium, and further inspires all the efforts being made to realize this vision,” said Paul Quick, IRRI scientist and leader of the C4 Rice Project.

The story on C4 rice research, titled “Supercharged Photosynthesis,” goes online and can be accessed here on February 18. The print version hits newsstands on March 3.

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IRRI joins rice-themed Asian book festival

By Leah B. Cruz

Tony Lambino, head of communication at IRRI, talks about the 'magic' that rice research has been for the work
to secure food for billions globally, before writers and illustrators during the AFCC 2014 in Singapore.

Asia’s food staple was the theme of the 5-day Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) held last week at the National Library of Singapore.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in support of the AFCC 2014 theme which is rice, launched two children’s books and an exhibit booth at the Library plaza. The two books are The Rice Books for Kids by Norma Chikiamco and Travels of Little Rice Grass by Anupa Roy.

Also launched during the AFCC was All About Rice, a bibliography of rice-themed books, published by the National Book Development Council of Singapore; the Rice Bowl Game, an interactive digital setup developed by VastPotato; and an “urban rice paddy,” an installation artwork by the Edible Art Movement.

A featured talk, Rice: Science, Art, and Magic, was given during the AFCC by Tony Lambino, head of communication at IRRI, who expounded on IRRI’s success stories to an audience composed primarily of producers or consumers of literature and other media formats for children. Analogies were drawn between magical moments in the research and creative process.

Through these activities, IRRI introduced its mission and work, particularly on research aimed at making rice a healthier part of the Asian diet and, for farmers, making rice more resilient against climate change.

Tony told the story of how some IRRI-developed rice varieties have saved whole countries from famine in the past, and how IRRI’s work evolves to address new challenges in securing the world’s food. IRRI continues to help regions overcome not only hunger and poverty but the onslaught of extreme climate events that leave poor rice farmers destitute and put them at severe risk of losing investments in any cropping season. Also, through its healthier rice portfolio, IRRI and its partners aim to address malnutrition or “hidden hunger,” which affects two billion people globally.

IRRI believes that exposing children very early to what it takes to produce rice, as well as to the crucial contributions of science to ensuring food security, is important not only for them to appreciate what it takes for a bowl of rice to get to the table but to hopefully make agriculture a future career option for the best and most creative minds.

Claire Chiang, chair of the board of advisors of the AFCC, said in the foreword for All About Rice: "Our thanks and appreciation to IRRI for enriching the project with an information booth full of interesting facts, stories and beautiful photos, a talk on Rice: Science, Art and Magic, introducing authors of rice-themed picture books, and inspiring the creation of a virtual reality rice-bowl challenge and an interactive art installation."

Though not a rice-growing country, Singapore is home to some of IRRI’s partners and supporters of its research. It is also a major market for special types of rice that are preferred by discriminating palates, common in cosmopolitan cultures. These special rice types are also more expensive, and represent an opportunity for some farmers to earn more per kilogram of produce. Part of IRRI’s work also seeks to help farmers earn more from rice farming and thus improve their livelihoods.

IRRI's participation at the AFCC was coordinated by Flaminia Lilli of IRRI Fund Singapore.

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