IRRI DG Zeigler meets with Indian agriculture minister

IRRI DG Bob Zeigler (right) meets with Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

During his recent visit to India, IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler had an audience with Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar, during which he apprised the minister of recent developments in rice research at IRRI and the support extended by IRRI to the Government of Assam during a recent flooding in the state.

Myanmar: Training held on participatory variety selection for the Lower Ayeyarwady Delta

A training course on participatory variety selection or PVS was conducted in the Labutta (13-15 September) and Bogale districts (18-20 September) in the Ayeyarwady Delta of Myanmar.

Vietnam: CLUES project holds workshop on assessment of new technologies

A workshop, Economic, social and environmental assessments of new technologies, was held on 19 September 2012 at Can Tho University (CTU) in Vietnam, attended by 25 technical staff of the CLUES Project from Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute and CTU.

Philippines: Postharvest Learning Alliance helps farmer groups develop business plans

Al Schmidley, IRRI business model specialist,
says that farmers can be very innovative when enabled.

The Sto. Niño Multipurpose Cooperative (SPMC) and the Taguibo Farmers’ Irrigators Association hosted working meetings in Agusan to develop business plans for postharvest enterprise activities, with support from the Postharvest Learning Alliance and Caraga State University.

Philippines: Cordillera farmers and extension workers learn to document activities

Twenty-four farmers and extension workers from the Cordillera Region in Northern Philippines were participants in a workshop on documentation of participatory activities, organized by the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE).

IRRI hosts get-together with barangay captains of Bay and Los Baños

IRRI DG Bob Zeigler (center) speaks with local barangay captains,
in a meeting arranged by DDG for Communications
and Partnerships V. Bruce J. Tolentino (standing, left).

IRRI invited barangay captains and local government officers of the municipalities of Bay and Los Baños over for merienda cena on 20 September 2012 to further strengthen relations with these local communities that host the IRRI headquarters.

Turkey: New strategic direction set for temperate rice

Temperate rice research will take on a new direction this year as the Temperate Rice Research Consortium (TRRC) revises research strategies during its steering committee meeting this week (17-19 September 2012) at the Trakya Agricultural Research Institute (Trakya Tarimsal Arastirma Enstitusu or TTAE) in Edirne, Turkey.