Dr. Vo-Tong Xuan, professor or agronomy and former rector of An Giang University in Vietnam, is the first recipient of the Dioscoro L. Umali Achievement Award in Agricultural Development. This regional award is aimed at promoting agriculture by recognizing exemplary individuals who have advanced agricultural development in Southeast Asia. Dr. Vo-Tong Xuan is widely recognized for his significant role in invigorating the rice industry in Vietnam and sharing his expertise in Africa. He received his award during the 42^nd anniversary celebration of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The award is named after the late Dr. Dioscoro Umali, a National Scientist of the Philippines, first director of SEARCA, and former Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, among others, “whose quest for scholarship and excellence in agriculture fueled his vision for a progressive Southeast Asia.”

Another rice expert, Bui Chi Buu, director general of the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam, based in Ho Chi Minh City and plant breeder won the Senadhira Rice Research Award for 2008. He was awarded for his outstanding contributions to the development of many popular rice varieties in Vietnam, notably those that emphasized grain-quality improvement, salt tolerance, and resistance to pests and diseases such as blast fungus, bacterial blight, and brown planthopper. The noted plant breeder received the award at a meeting on the Challenge Program for Water and Food, held at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) headquarters in Los Baños, Philippines. The award is named after Dharmawansa Senadhira, one of IRRI’s most successful rice breeders.

Obtain additional information about the Umali award from http://www.searca.org/web/announcements/dioscoro_umali_award/index.html or a.barclay@cgiar.org for the Senadhira award..