“ISARC is dedicated to transforming and strengthening the rice-based agri-food system in the South Asia region by developing and disseminating climate-resilient, stress-tolerant, biofortified, and nutritious rice varieties for farmers and consumers,” said Kohli.

Members of the ISARC Coordination Committee with IRRI interim director general Ajay Kohli at ISARC, Varanasi (HT Photo)

The interim director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Dr Ajay Kohli on Thursday said that the focus of the IRRI-South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) for this year is to develop rice varieties with low methane emissions and enhance the productivity of premium quality nutritious rice. To achieve these goals, ISARC is promoting the adoption of best agronomic and management practices such as Dry Seeded Rice (DSR) and Alternate Wet and Drying (AWD).

Dr Kohli was chairing the 7th ISARC Coordination Committee (ICC) meeting held at ISARC Varanasi. The meeting was attended by top officials from the agriculture departments of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The ICC meeting serves as an annual governance session for ISARC to review the previous year’s work and plan for the upcoming year.

“ISARC is dedicated to transforming and strengthening the rice-based agri-food system in the South Asia region by developing and disseminating climate-resilient, stress-tolerant, biofortified, and nutritious rice varieties for farmers and consumers,” said Kohli.

“Our focus this year is on developing rice varieties with low methane emissions and increasing the productivity of premium quality nutritious rice. To achieve these goals, we are also promoting the adoption of best agronomic and management practices such as Dry Seeded Rice (DSR) and Alternate Wet and Drying (AWD),” Kohli added.

Kohli highlighted that DSR is a flagship research program of IRRI. This technique enables faster planting and maturing, conserves scarce resources like water and labor, is more conducive to mechanization, and reduces emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change compared to the conventional puddled transplanted rice technique.

Published Date: March 28, 2024