Biotech Updates

Philippine Rice Research in the Spotlight as the Country's President Visits IRRI

February 27, 2013

The President of the Republic of the Philippines recently visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to celebrate the country's National Year of Rice and to get a personal update on progress of the agreement between IRRI and the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), which aims to support the delivery of research and extension services of the Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP). The President toured the International Rice Genebank that conserves more than 117,000 different types of rice, including nearly 10,000 from the Philippines.

A recent impact assessment study showed that Filipino farmers have gained an additional Php2,300 (US$52) per hectare from using improved IRRI-bred rice varieties. In total, 101 IRRI-bred varieties have been released in the Philippines suited to irrigated, rainfed, upland, low-temperature, and saline environments.

View IRRI's news release at http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=12480:rice-research-in-spotlight-as-philippine-president-visits-irri&lang=en.