NBC, the U.S. television network, recently featured a series on the global food situation, Against the Grain. In the first story (lower left; 3:04), the work of IRRI and the challenges facing the Philippines are featured. In the second story (2:14), IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler talks more about the crisis in the Philippines and gives a behind-the-scenes tour of the flood-tolerance rice plots and the rice seed bank at IRRI. This is a stark reminder of the nature and magnitude of the challenges that face us.
Rice News Worldwide
Philippines: Rice Institute Seeks To Boost SAsia Crop YieldsTuesday, 06 January 2009 | Mysinchew.comMysinchew.com: International agriculture researchers and donors announced a plan Tuesday (6 Jan) to substantially boost crop yields in South Asia and help farmers increase their income to avoid a repeat of last year's food crisis.
The 10-year program, led by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute with support from the Bill... + Read more
Philippines: Azolla deserves a second lookMonday, 05 January 2009 | Sun-StarSun-Star: Instead of using commercial fertilizers and pesticides, farmers can lessen their expenses by using a tiny nitrogen-fixing fern, azolla.
In China, azolla has been used to bolster agricultural productivity for over a thousand years. When rice paddies are flooded in the spring, they can be inoculated with azolla, which then quickly... + Read more
Nigeria’s rice demand pushes up global priceMonday, 05 January 2009 | This DayThis Day: The price of broken rice has gone up by 13 per cent in the last one week because of demand from Nigeria, the Philippines News Agency reported yesterday.
The price per tonne is now $350, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Policy and Strategy Research Institute, Vietnam.
The institute attributed the... + Read more
Vietnam: Mekong Delta set to harvest bumper rice crop Monday, 05 January 2009 | Thaindian NewsThaindian News: With a good rice crop expected in the Mekong Delta and prices on the rise, farmers could be in for a windfall.
“I expect a bumper winter-spring crop, with more than 10 million tons harvested, due to the fact that the incidence of diseases has fallen sharply,” Dr. Le Van Banh, director of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research... + Read more
Intensifying Agriculture In Facing Economic SlowdownSunday, 04 January 2009 | Berita WilayahKUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- Agriculture activities will be intensified to offset the effects of the expected slowdown in the manufacturing and service sectors following the global economic crisis.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said the agriculture sector could help cushion the effects of the... + Read more
Philippines: Ifugao ready to implement FAO rice terraces project Friday, 02 January 2009 | Manila BulletinManila Bulletin: Lagawe, Ifugao — The provincial government of Ifugao has expressed readiness to implement the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) project sponsored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to conserve the Ifugao Rice Terraces and, at the same time, make it "economically viable."
Ifugao Gov.... + Read more
Vietnamese agricultural leader awarded prestigious rice research honorThursday, 04 December 20083 December 2008
Vietnamese agricultural leader awarded prestigious rice research honor
Los Baños, Philippines - A veteran Vietnamese plant breeder has won the
Senadhira Rice Research Award for 2008 for his outstanding
contributions to the development of many popular rice varieties in
Vietnam.
Bui
Chi Buu, director general of the Institute of Agricultural Science for
Southern Vietnam, based in Ho Chi Minh City, has enjoyed a long and
distinguished career in rice breeding during which... + Full Story
From genes to farmers' fields: Waterproof rice set to make waves in South AsiaThursday, 04 December 200821 November 2008
From genes to farmers' fields: Waterproof rice set to make waves in South Asia
Delhi, India - "Waterproof' versions of popular varieties
of rice, which can withstand 2 weeks of complete submergence, have
passed tests in farmers' fields with flying colors. Several of these
varieties are now close to official release by national and state seed
certification agencies in Bangladesh and India, where farmers suffer
major crop losses because of flooding of up to 4 million... + Full Story
