Varanasi to have an international center for research on rice varieties
Cabinet gives nod for IRRI’s regional centre in Varanasi
The agriculture ministry will provide physical space for the laboratories, offices, training classes with associated infrastructure and land at NSRTC. The proposed centre will operate under the IRRI Board of Trustees, who will appoint the Director.

Unlimited rice
Potential agreement set to expand regional rice seed-sharing in Southeast Asia
FAO and IRRI Combine Forces to Combat Rice Insecurity

A new agreement to promote sustainable agriculture in developing countries was signed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The organizations will share scientific and technical knowledge, promote capacity building activities, and assist in government strategizing, with an emphasis on benefiting small-scale farmers and women.
“With over 3 billion people across the globe eating rice every day, rice is critical to global food security,” said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General. “Ensuring sustainable rice production is a key contribution to the global goal of ending hunger. By teaming up with IRRI, already a long-standing partner, we will be able to scale up, complement and amplify our work towards reaching this goal.”
The stated goals of the FAO are to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, eliminate poverty while promoting economic and social progress for all, and sustainably manage and use natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. Currently, two major rice-related FAO efforts are underway. First is the Asia and Pacific’s Regional Rice Initiative, and second, the Partnership for Sustainable Rice Systems Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are sharing technology, agricultural and pest management practices, and strategies to increase rice resilience and production efficiency.
“The world faces very significant changes over the next few decades to produce the volume and quality of nutritious food to feed a global population heading for 10 billion people,” said Matthew K. Morell, IRRI Director-General. “Addressing these issues relies on global partnerships, and today, IRRI is delighted to be reaffirming through this Memorandum of Agreement our commitment to work with FAO to enhance sustainable rice-based production and food systems through awareness raising, capacity development, knowledge exchange, and evidence-based analyses for policy support.”
IRRI is a nonprofit research and educational institute founded by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations and the Philippine government in 1960. Its goals are to reduce poverty and hunger through rice science, improve rice farmer and consumer health and welfare, and ensure the environmental sustainability of rice production. Today, IRRI has offices in 17 countries and collaborates with a variety of research partners including the food security research partnership CGIAR. Working with the United Nations Environment, IRRI developed the Sustainable Rice Platform to promote resource efficiency, sustainability, and affordability through policy development and voluntary market transformation initiatives.
By working together, the FAO and IRRI seek to increase availability and use of improved and adapted rice variety seeds. To increase nutrition and improve the income of small-scale farmers, they will develop and commercialize rice by-products. Through farmer field schools and other forms of outreach, they will better educate farmers in best-practices, including pest management. They will also work to improve working conditions for rice farmers and improve women participation and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Network formed to create climate resilient rice in Mekong Delta
SUSTAINABLE RICE PLATFORM PLANS INTEGRATED TRAINING STRATEGY
SUSTAINABLE RICE PLATFORM PLANS INTEGRATED TRAINING STRATEGY TO SUPPORT ROLLOUT OF RICE ASSURANCE PROGRAM
A rice farmer’s life
In celebration of IR8's 50th year, IRRI has called on photographers to submit their own interpretation and depiction of a rice farmer's life.
All submissions are under the Creative Commons license. Submissions are owned by the photographer and he/she has given IRRI permission to publish his/her photo at the IRRI website and on any other medium for the duration of the contest The names, locations, or any identifying elements of the entrants were not shown during the blind judging process.The panel of judges is composed of selected IRRI staff members and external reviewers from the advertising and photography industries.1st | Nimai Chandra Ghosh
A thirsty rice farmer in the field quenches his thirst with water brought by his son.2nd | Rama Venkatraman
Drying is an art and a skill: Parboiling, a task largely done by women in parts of Africa, involves partially boiling rice in the husk and drying it well before it is milled.3rd | Md Hafizul Islam
Preparing seedlingsInteract with us
Laos village eyes sustainable rice production with quality and resilient seeds
Millions of Odisha rice farmers to receive customized fertilizer recommendation at their doorsteps

IRRI and FAO step up joint efforts to globally bolster sustainable rice production

The world faces very significant changes over the next few decades to produce the volume and quality of nutritious food to feed a global population heading for 10 billion people.“With over three billion people across the globe eating rice every day, rice is critical to global food security,” said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources. “Ensuring sustainable rice production is a key contribution to the global goal of ending hunger. By teaming up with IRRI, already a long-standing partner, we will be able to scale up, complement and amplify our work towards reaching this goal.”Matthew K. Morell, director-general, International Rice Research Institute
Making the rice value chain more sustainable
In many countries around the world rice is a staple crop for food security and consumption trends are growing. At the same time rice production is vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. Both FAO and IRRI are actively promoting more sustainable rice practices throughout the value chain - production, marketing and consumption - to optimise its nutritional properties and as a means of improving livelihoods and tackling poverty, particularly in rural areas. In Africa and in Latin America the UN agency is engaged in scientific and technical cooperation including the sharing of technologies and best practices to increase production and productivity, including reduction of post-harvest losses and improved grain quality. IRRI is engaged in strengthening capacities of all rice sector actors through its capacity development activities, including IRRI Education and the Sustainable Rice Platform. The Sustainable Rice Platform is a global alliance to promote resource efficiency and sustainability in trade flows, production and consumption operations, and supply chains in the global rice sector. The Sustainable Rice Platform recently established the world’s first standard for sustainable rice. Through the Sustainable Rice Platform, IRRI aims to use environmental and socio-economic benchmarks to maintain yields for rice smallholders, reduce the environmental footprint of rice cultivation and meet consumer needs for food safety and quality. At the same time, IRRI Education works to build capacity through-out IRRI’s extensive partnership network.Improving varieties, transferring knowledge
FAO and IRRI will together assist rice producing countries to adopt improved and adapted rice varieties, enhance availability of certified seeds and also the transfer of knowledge - including on pest management - through participatory approaches such as farmer fields schools. The two organisations will also seek to strengthen partnerships for post-harvest handling, and help farmers and other rice producers add value by developing and marketing rice by-products rich in proteins and micronutrients, and explore the appropriate use of rice by-products to generate energy, animal feed and other agricultural products. In addition, FAO and IRRI will work together to ensure that women farmers can participate in viable, safe and dignified entrepreneurial opportunities in the rice value chain, and that there is an improvement in work conditions in the rice sector.Welcome to Rice News Today!
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