Engaging global partners for sustainable rice straw management

Visit at a farmer's foeld in Tien Giang with
rice straw silage used for cattle feed

Working with advanced research institutes and national partners, IRRI aims to develop, adopt, and translate technologies to deliver environmentally sustainable benefits.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the German government, the Sustainable Rice Straw Management project conducted a workshop and demonstration of sustainable rice straw management practices and technologies in Tien Giang Province, Vietnam.

According to Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander, IRRI representative in Vietnam, the most important aspect of this project is the close collaboration between diverse partners from different countries. “To see the impact of adopting new technologies and to work in different countries is one of the interesting aspects of the project,” he added.

Myanmar’s DAR recognizes IRRI contributions during 65th anniversary celebration

27 January 2019, Yezin, Myanmar - Dr. Jacqueline Hughes, the Deputy Director General for Research of the International Rice Research institute (IRRI), was a special guest at the 65th anniversary celebration of Myanmar’s Department of Agricultural Research (DAR), and received on behalf of the institute a plaque of recognition for IRRI’s valued partnership and contributions to research for the country.   

CORIGAP-PRO surpasses goal of half a million farmers in Asian rice granaries

According to Dr. Grant Singleton, Principal Scientist and CORIGAP project leader,
the NARES partners are instrumental to the success of the CORIGAP project
“We have surpassed our original target, that is, to reach 500,000 farmers,” he said.

A year ahead of schedule, IRRI, through the  “Closing Rice Yield Gaps in Asia with Reduced Environmental Footprint project (CORIGAP-PRO)” and its partners from China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam has already reached its goal in reaching smallholder farmers, improving yield and income through innovations towards sustainable rice-based systems.

According to Grant Singleton, project leader of CORIGAP –PRO, “Our efforts on promoting best management practices in rice have reached more than 600,000 farmers with best practices for lowland intensive rice production across six Asian countries. About 118,000 farmers have adopted best practices and increased their rice yield by 11-20%, and profit by 15-25%,” he said.

Former IRRI Principal Scientist received the 1st Global Agricultural Technology Cooperation Award

Great people, great purpose.

Former IRRI Principal Scientist, Dr. Kshirod K. Jena, received an award from the Rural Development Administration (RDA) under the Ministry of Agriculture, South Korea. The award-giving body recognized his commitment and contribution to the global goal of achieving food security through his work as a Rice Breeder in IRRI. During his time in the institute, Dr. Jena was part of a team that developed high yielding, pest-resistant rice varieties for many countries in Asia, especially in South Korea, Turkey, the Philippines and India. His groundbreaking research and innovations were recognized as a critical contribution to rice research and warranted the Global Agricultural Technology Cooperation Award.

IRRI receives accreditation from the Excellence Through Stewardship Organization

IRRI delivers through research excellence.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is now recognized by the Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS) Organization after its successful completion of the audit cycle under the ETS Global Audit Process.

In a concerted effort to achieve global standards in stewardship for its biotech research, IRRI started the process of accreditation by becoming a member of ETS in November 2016. Under the leadership of Dr. Gururaj Kulkarni, Senior Scientist, Head of IRRI’s Research and Regulatory Compliance, supported by Eduardo Fernandez, Manager of Stewardship and Quality Management, the audit team worked with the institute’s Biosafety Function and Seed Health Unit to prepare all materials that are required by the ETS. Tony Agostino, stewardship consultant, and Shah Thankappan, stewardship technical expert from Bayer, also supported as advisors for the process.

Cambodia scales up rice straw management

In Cambodia, about 10 million tons of rice straw is generated after harvesting and 3 million tons are burned. This practice is exacerbated by the increasing use of combine harvesters, which are machines used to ease the harvesting process and address the labor shortage in rice production.

From 2016 to 2018, the BMZ- funded IRRI project “Scalable straw management options for improved livelihoods, sustainability, and low environmental footprint in rice-based production systems” facilitated cross-country learning of best rice straw management practices among Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. “Based on empirical evidences gathered through fieldwork combined with life cycle assessments, we came up with a decision-making framework that we hope each country will find useful for their straw management efforts. This is still work in progress that we hope that each country, like Cambodia, will find useful, and we are looking forward to feedback from our partners” said Martin Gummert, head of IRRI’s Mechanization and Postharvest Cluster.

Evidence Hubs in Odisha help farmers select the best seed varieties

To reduce the adverse impact of climate change, it is important to develop good quality seeds and make it easily available at every farmer’s doorsteps. In addition, there is also a need to bring newly developed stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) into the seed value chain.

Through “Evidence Hubs”, IRRI showcases high-impact innovations and technologies to solve our complex problems and serve our beneficiaries in rice-growing countries and beyond. Together with Odisha’s Department of Agriculture, an Evidence Hub event was recently organized to strengthen seed systems of STRVs and to be able to produce and to drive widespread adoption of high-quality seeds.