Next-gen rice lines top check varieties at 7.5 t/ha in ESA

MOROGORO, Tanzania (8 October 2025) — Elite rice lines are outperforming the current popular varieties across Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), reaching up to 7.5 tons per hectare in trials, with next-generation lines poised to hit 9 tons.

These results were presented during the ESA 2025 Advancement Meeting held by OneIRRI- NARES Network for East and Southern Africa, where the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) partners reviewed and advanced top-performing breeding lines for further national performance trials (NPT) and eventually for national release.

“Research must lead to varieties that meet both farmers’ and market needs,” said Dr. Michael Gavin Quinn, Research Director of IRRI’s Rice Breeding Innovations (RBI). He explained the importance of Target Product Profiles (TPP), a key decision-making tool regularly updated with inputs from scientists, partners, farmers and the value chain actors to keep rice varieties relevant to market needs and impactful.