Myanmar partners get help on producing quality rice seed

Forty-five representatives from IRRI’s partners in Myanmar underwent a hands-on training on quality rice seed production held recently at Yezin. Production of good-quality rice seed will help increase the overall rice productivity of Myanmar.

Philippine IT group donates more computers for Cybervillage Project

ITAPhil BOT members hand over more laptop units
for the CyberVillage Project.  

In continuing support of IRRI’s CyberVillage Project, the IT Association of the Philippines (ITAPhil) donated four laptop computers on 10 October 2013. The donation comes on top of one made in September 2013 of three laptop units from Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

India: National Advisory Council Chair Gandhi notes IRRI’s work in stress-prone areas

Sonia Gandhi, chair of the National Advisory Council of India, expressed a keen interest in IRRI-developed salt-tolerant rice varieties after distributing salt-tolerant wheat varieties to farmers for planting in the rabi season. Mrs. Gandhi is a member of parliament representing Raebareli District and is current president of the Indian National Congress Party.

India: Public and private stakeholders discuss rice sector’s future

“How do we create a better life and a better future for rice? How can we do much more, with less?”  were some of the questions posed by Tobias Marchand, Bayer Cropscience head for the Asia-Pacific, to 200 rice experts and policymakers that present during the two-day Rice Future Forum on 8-9 October 2013 in New Delhi, India.

IRRI donates vehicles and computers to local towns

Research and academic institutions and the municipalities of Los Baños and Bay were the recipients of several vehicles from IRRI, which made the donation to support projects that will help improve the welfare of local residents and to further strengthen its partnership with these local partners.

Three Toyota Revo units were turned over to Los Baños mayor Caesar Perez on 7 October 2013 during the Monday flag-raising ceremony that was attended by municipal employees, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, and representatives from IRRI’s Office of the Deputy Director General for Communication and Partnerships (DDG-CP) and Transport Services Unit. Photos  

Plant anaerobiosis group meets this week at IRRI

The International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis (ISPA) has chosen IRRI to be the venue of its eleventh international conference, happening this week (7-11 October 2013).  Photos 

The conference draws 130 members and other scientists from around the world, all of whom are involved in research on plant responses to impeded aeration. This year’s theme, Translational Science, brings the focus on solutions to major global challenges, including food security and environmental safety.

JIRCAS hosts blast research network workshop

The direction of research on rice blast in Asia, Africa, and Japan was taken up during the eighth workshop of the Blast Research Network for stable rice production, held at the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in Tsukuba.