News Overview

by Waseem Hussain, Mahender Anumalla, Margaret Catolos, Joie Ramos, Ma. Teresa Sta. Cruz, and Myrtel Valenzuela IRRI scientists are changing how rice is bred for stress-prone areas by shifting the focus from traits to environments. Their new approach, TTE, offers a faster, more reliable path to develop climate-resilient varieties. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are shifting the way rice is bred for

The Amazon Biodiversity Fund invested in Cacau Amazonia and created an innovative index to measure social-economic status of rural producers in Rondônia, Brazil. Cacau Amazônia + (CA+) aims to promote sustainable cacao cultivation by supplying high quality seedlings, technical support, infrastructure and training, while also facilitating carbon-credit sales and Payment for Environmental Services (PES). The project is implemented with the

By Rowena Castillo, Benedict Jardinero and Kazuki SaitoInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Indonesian farmer looking at the recommendation provided by Layanan Konsultasi Padi (Rice Crop Manager for Indonesia) through her mobile phone. (Photographed by Jo Anne Holly Torres-Ilagan) When smallholder rice farmers open a text message on their mobile phone and see a tailored fertilizer and crop management recommendation just

Behavioral science experts are exploring how farmers’ decisions globally impact sustainable farming, revealing that understanding human behavior – not just technology – is crucial to driving lasting change in agriculture. Behavioral science is the systematic study of human actions and decision-making processes. In agriculture, it seeks to understand how farmers’ decisions are influenced by a range of internal and

In a push to promote sustainable agriculture and combat groundwater depletion in Bangladesh’s drought-prone Barind region, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a pilot project to encourage the adoption of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation practices among local farmers. The Barind area, located in the country’s northwestern region, faces chronic water scarcity due to low rainfall and

As the world faces mounting challenges from climate change, food insecurity, and soil degradation, scientists and innovators gathered at the CGIAR Science Week from 7-11 April 2025 to spotlight an evolving solution: digital transformation in agriculture. Held on 11 April 2025 at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, the side event, Digital Innovations for Advancing Agri-Food Systems Research, showcased the

by Sharif Ahmed, Abdullah Miajy, Abdul Haque, and Humnath Bhandari In northern Bangladesh, the widespread adoption of mechanized Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) remains slow due to limited access to suitable seeding machines and lack of skilled operators. These constraints prevent farmers from fully benefiting from climate-smart technologies, especially as they face the increasing challenges from labor shortages, rising input costs,

By Alix Underwood, Eleanor Jones, Karl Pauw, Keith Wiebe, and Liangzhi You May 15, 2025