News Overview

By Abdul Haque, Sharif Ahmed, and Humnath Bhandari Photo 1: A youth local service provider (LSP) sows direct-seeded rice (DSR) using a two-wheel power tiller-operated seeder in Nilphamari, Bangladesh. Photo credit: Asad, IRRI Bangladesh’s economy heavily relies on agriculture, with a significant portion of the population directly and indirectly dependent on it for their livelihoods. Agriculture contributes approximately 11%

By Van Schepler-Luu & Myrtel Anne Valenzuela Rice diseases such as bacterial blight and blast are no strangers to farmers across Asia and Africa. Year after year, these fast-evolving threats reduce yields, undermine farmer livelihoods, and chip away at food security. However, scientists are staying one step ahead of these diseases through near-isogenic lines (NILs). Near-isogenic lines are highly specialized

IRRI scientists explored the perspective of Filipino consumers to see how they view and value healthier rice (brown, pigmented, and low-glycemic index rice), providing new insights on how it can find its place on their tables.  By Danica Louise C. Sembrano For many Filipinos, a meal without rice is simply incomplete. Rice has long been a staple in the Filipino

Last July 31, 2025, IRRI joined partner CGIAR Centers at a media visit hosted by the Global Development and Health Communication Center (GDHCC) with the Gates Foundation to explore the innovations and impact of CGIAR work in Africa. Read how IRRI Researcher Everlyne Nganga explains the changing dynamics of rice farming and malaria-causing mosquitoes in Africa. Rice fields in Africa

Connected Breeding, a new breeding strategy by IRRI, is set to revolutionize rice breeding by unlocking complex genetic diversity from gene banks and integrating it into elite breeding genotypes. This cutting-edge approach overcomes the limits of traditional methods, accelerating the development of climate-resilient, salt- and flood-tolerant rice for the world’s most vulnerable regions. By Waseem Hussain, Mahender Anumalla, Margaret Catolos, Joie Ramos, Ma Teresa Sta.

14 JULY 2025 (LAGUNA, Philippines) — “Bundling agricultural credit with crop insurance has the potential to expand rural financial markets for smallholder and marginalized farmers in Odisha,” stated Dr. Patrick Ward of the University of Florida during the SIRS Seminar on the “Impacts of an innovative credit + insurance bundle for marginalized farmers: Evidence from a cluster randomized trial in

LAGUNA, Philippines, 7 July 2025 — As digital agriculture tools continue to evolve, strengthening national partners’ scientific and technical capacities is crucial to ensuring their long-term effectiveness beyond the project’s lifespan. To support this goal, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) organized a Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) Masterclass from 7 to 11 July 2025 at its headquarters in Los Baños,

14 JULY 2025 (LAGUNA, Philippines) — “Bundling agricultural credit with crop insurance has the potential to expand rural financial markets for smallholder and marginalized farmers in Odisha,” stated Dr. Patrick Ward of the University of Florida during the SIRS Seminar on the “Impacts of an innovative credit + insurance bundle for marginalized farmers: Evidence from a cluster randomized trial in