IRRI and Philippine Agriculture Department mark successful completion of collaborative laser land leveling project

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (DA-BAFE) will mark the successful completion of their collaborative project “Laser land leveling (LLL) for land use efficiency in the Philippines” during the 8th anniversary celebration of DA-BAFE.

IRRI supports Uttar Pradesh, India in popularizing Kalanamak rice variety

Kalanamak rice variety has been chosen by the Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India for the “One District One Product (ODOP)” scheme under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan campaign. This is in line with the government-level action plan aimed at improving rice productivity and better aroma retention. The rice variety also has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Siddharthnagar district and 10 more districts around Siddharthnagar with similar agro-climatic conditionsーGorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Santkabirnagar, Basti, Bahraich, Balrampur, Gonda, and Shravasti.

IRRI research partners present sustainability plans for WeRise in the Philippines

National agricultural research and extension system (NARES) in the Philippines presented their sustainability plans for the Weather-Rice-Nutrient Integrated decision support system (WeRise).  The plans were presented during a virtual and on-site Handover Ceremony and Sustainability Workshop on 09 March 2021.

WeRise is a digital tool for rainfed rice farmers adapted for the Philippines by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) with funding from Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). The project is implemented by IRRI, Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and JIRCAS. WeRise provides advisories on the best time to plant and apply fertilizer using suitable varieties based on weather conditions, crop growth, selected farm characteristics, and management practices. The advisories are web-based and can be accessed through a computer or smartphone three months before the cropping season. This gives farmers sufficient time to allocate limited resources such as capital, labor, and inputs and plan for upcoming cropping seasons. 

The participants presented activities related to scaling up use of the tool, further validation in additional locations, increasing awareness of the tool, and institutionalizing WeRise through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund and Smarter Rice Program Package of Technologies for rainfed rice areas. PhilRice Deputy Executive Director for Research, Eduardo Jimmy Quilang also suggested the “Popularize, Sustain and Scale through Partnerships” approach, which served as the framework of the sustainability plans used by some DA regional and municipal offices. 

Philippine rice farmers receive 46k bags of two IRRI-developed inbreds from government program

The Philippine Department of Agriculture and PhilRice recently distributed a total of 46,800 bags of high-yielding and stress-tolerant IRRI-developed rice seeds to farmers in the agricultural hubs of Central Visayas. This was done as part of the government-backed Seed Program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), an initiative that seeks to help local farmers perform better in the international rice market.

Dr. Fritsche-Neto joins IRRI as Head of Breeding Analytics and Data Management

Dr. Hans Bhardwaj, Rice Breeding Innovation Platform Leader of the International Rice Research Institute, announces the joining of Dr. Roberto Fritsche-Neto as the new head of Breeding Analytics and Data Management.

Green Super Rice variety surpasses 4.4 ton max yield, nets 8.3 tons/hectare in PhilRice field day

In a Facebook post dated 03 October 2020 by the official FB account of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) of the Philippine Department of Agriculture, a variety of Green Super Rice called NSIC Rc 480 was able to almost double its maximum yield per hectare, from 4.4 tons to 8.3 tons, during the Palaysikatan Field Day of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Sto. Tomas, Davao Del Norte.

PRIME partners strengthen coordination and information sharing as project scales up

To ensure efficient rice crop health monitoring in the Philippines, the Pest Risk Identification and Management (PRIME) project conducted the National PRIME Annual Assessment (NPAA) Workshop on the 9th, 11th, and 25th of November 2020. The NPAA is an annual event that was conducted online this year and attended by representatives from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and agencies of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), mainly the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI), and Regional Field Offices (RFOs).