IRRI and ISABU join efforts in revolutionizing rice farming by availing good quality rice seeds

The Burundi office of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi (ISABU) are jointly working to achieve one of the Great Lakes Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative, Rapid Delivery Hub (AID-I GRL) projects’ goals, which is providing high-quality rice seeds to rice farmers and seed producers in Burundi. This partnership is taking significant steps towards promoting sustainable agriculture in Burundi.

Under the agreement between IRRI and ISABU, the latter has been tasked with producing early-generation seeds. The rice seeds produced by ISABU and supported by IRRI, have been made available to scaling partners the Association of Cooperation and Research for Development (ACORD) and the Confederation of Agricultural Producers’ Associations for Development (CAPAD) last 19 December 2023. They have been urged to inform registered seed producers about the availability of the seeds and where they can be obtained.

The partnership between IRRI and its implementing partners is essential in improving the lives of farmers. All operators working on the rice value chain have been brought together for the same objective, which is to improve the lives of farmers. “This partnership will enable the stakeholders in action to strengthen mutually and eradicate ground weaknesses of production and use of poor rice seeds” emphasized Dr. Samson Musonerimana, Research Support Director at ISABU.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Saïdi Bizoza expressed their appreciation of IRRI’s contribution, such as the innovations and technologies it provides to technicians from the scaling partners. In addition, IRRI provides technical supervision to the latter’s activities in disseminating their acquisition to project beneficiaries. IRRI’s implementing partners would “ensure that the innovations and technologies acquired from IRRI have been passed on to rice seed producers and ensure their sustainability,”…