Juergen Voegele & Yvonne Pinto “Have you had your rice today?” In Viet Nam, this everyday greeting reflects just how central rice is to life—so essential that the day doesn’t truly begin until people have eaten a few mouthfuls. Half of humanity eats rice. But behind the ubiquitous staple lies a mounting crisis. The global rice industry is experiencing
The Philippines launched a pilot program combining satellite-based crop insurance and weather-informed agro-advisories to enhance climate resilience and risk management for Filipino rice farmers, with plans for nationwide scaling. Los Baños, Philippines (9 June 2025) – The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice), Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the International Rice Research
LOS BAÑOS, Philippines (2 June 2025) – Faster and smarter crop breeding depends on better digital tools, and making sure these tools can work together is critical. To support this, developers, data scientists, and breeders from the BrAPI Community gathered at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for a weeklong hackathon focused on improving digital systems used in breeding programs.
On 29 May 2025, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Thailand held a follow-up meeting with representatives from Thailand’s Rice Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on the next phase of the country’s work plan that was jointly elaborated previously in February 2025. Led by Mr. Sommai Lertna, Acting Rice Production Technology Specialist, and Dr. Orathai Jaituy, Director
LAGUNA, Philippines (20 June 2025) —Regional cooperation and country-focused policy solutions for global rice market challenges were at the center of discussion in the plenary session of IRRI’s 65th celebrations on “Navigating Uncertainty: Global Rice Markets amid Trade Policy Shifts and Changing Climate” on June 10, 2025. “Climate change and trade policy shocks are amplifying the volatility of global rice
Bold investments, strategic partnerships, and scalable solutions were at the forefront of the discussions at the “Future of Global Food Systems Forum,” co-hosted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to accelerate global food systems transformation, particularly for rice. While rice feeds over four billion people and supports 150 million smallholder farmers globally, its
by Sharif Ahmed, Manik Debnath, and Humnath Bhandari Coastal Bangladesh, which accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s agricultural land, faces significant challenges that limit its cropping intensity. Soil and water salinity, waterlogging, erratic rainfall, and prolonged cultivation of long-duration aman rice leave 30-50% of farmland fallow during the dry season. This underutilization represents a missed opportunity to enhance
By Pramod Gorakhanath Kabade, Uma Maheshwar Singh, Pallavi Sinha, Vikas Kumar Singh, et al. Building on the success of pioneering protocols such as SpeedFlower, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) recently introduced Speed Breeding 3.0, a more comprehensive, inclusive, and adaptable framework designed for all crops, regardless of their growth cycle. This advanced strategy represents a critical initiative in