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The monthly newsletter of the Rice Breeding Innovations Platform
of the International Rice Research Institute

JUNE 2024

From June 11–13, 2024, the Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T) Mega Program (MP) writing team gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for their first face-to-face meeting. This gathering aimed to strategize the program's scope and develop a comprehensive proposal. This proposal will shape CGIAR's investment focus on breeding from 2025 to 2030, providing a strategic guide for CGIAR and its stakeholders.

B4T aims to tackle food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty, and social inequalities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) exacerbated by demographic shifts, climate change, environmental degradation, market concentration, and rising inequalities. The program focuses on developing climate-resilient, market-preferred, healthy, and nutritious varieties and breeds to enhance the productivity and sustainability of food production systems.

B4T emphasizes gender-intentional systems approaches, aiming to foster market competition, innovation, productivity, and efficiency. It explicitly targets higher genetic gains in farmers' fields, focusing on genetic innovations that address CGIAR’s impact areas and megatrend challenges. In collaboration with public, private, and civil society partners, B4T deploys modern technologies to improve the quality of life for small-scale female and male farmers in LMICs.

The writing team comprises 16 members from 13 centers (AfricaRice, CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, ICARDA, ICRAF, ICRISAT, IFPRI, IITA, ILRI, IRRI, WorldFish, and WorldVeg), with strong support from OneCGIAR through Genetic Innovation, the Portfolio Coordination Team, and Monitoring and Evaluation. Dr. Hans Bhardwaj, IRRI’s Research Director of RBI, is co-convenor of B4T MP and Dr. John Derera of Genetic Innovation. 

Dhaka, Bangladesh (June 25, 2024) – IRRI, in collaboration with BRRI and funded by BMZ, has developed heat-tolerant rice varieties to address the severe impact of rising temperatures on rice production in Bangladesh. 

Climate change, characterized by rising temperatures and increased frequency of extreme weather events, significantly impacts rice production and yields. High night temperatures disrupt the grain-filling process in rice plants, leading to reduced yields and lower grain quality. In Bangladesh, this results in substantial annual losses in rice production, threatening food security and farmer livelihoods. As temperatures continue to rise, the need for heat-tolerant rice varieties becomes increasingly critical to sustain rice production and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

Read the full article. Check out other stories on the RBI website.

Cagayan de Oro City (4-6 June 2024) - OneRicePH and other partnership initiatives of IRRI with the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) were among the highlights of the recently held 2nd National Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Exhibition (NAFTE).

Read the full article. Check out other stories on the RBI website.

IRRI South Asia Hub, Hyderabad, India (25 May 2024)— More than 30 scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI )South Asia Hub and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR-IIRR) participated in a rigorous selection process of breeding lines for developing superior rice varieties.

Read the full article here.

A vibrant Temperate Rice Research Consortium (TRRC) was evident in the biennial business meeting held mid-year this 2024 as a side event of the International Temperate Rice Conference (ITRC 2024).  Scientific progress of TRRC in different temperate regions was among the highlights at the Conference, hosted by the Louisiana State University AgCenter and held in New Orleans, Louisiana, last June
5-8. 

TRRC co-chair Dr. Ki-Young Kim and director of the Crop Breeding Division of the National Institute of Crop Science of the Korean Rural Development Administration (NICS-RDA) shared his message to the group resounding a signal to TRRC to more efficiently achieve its goals of improving temperate japonica rice with high yield potential, low glycemic index, biotic stress (blast) resistance, and abiotic stress (cold) tolerance.  “There is a huge opportunity within TRRC to make an even greater impact on the rice community in temperate regions,” said Dr. Kim.

In the business meeting, TRRC scientists emphasized (a) advances in grain quality and low glycemic index in rice and (b) progress in biotic stress resistance (against blast disease) in temperate areas. The group also laid out plans for moving forward in these disciplines.

A discussion on pressing issues affecting temperate rice ensued, with a deeper focus on (a) germplasm exchange, which faces a challenging situation in the widely spread temperate areas, as well as (b) cold tolerance, as affected by climate change to a greater extent than ever.  

Outgoing Steering Committee Co-chair Dr. Russell Ford, director of Australia’s RLF Agro R&D Consulting, urged TRRC to develop strategies and opportunities to advance research on traits that address the relevant qualities in temperate rice.  The concrete action steps will look into these critical issues, with developments expected to commence within specific timelines soon.

The TRRC delegation at the Conference consisted of 13 steering committee members and 30 collaborative partners from key institutions on temperate rice research worldwide. IRRI delegates to the ITRC and TRRC annual meeting were Dr. Il-Ryong Choi, TRRC coordinator, Dr. Nese Sreenivasulu (grain quality and nutrition/low glycemic rice), Dr. Van Schepler Luu and Dr. Jeanie Yanoria (biotic and abiotic stress resistance), Dr. Shalabh Dixit and Ms. Maria Cristina Heredia (direct seeded rice and ratooning technology), Ms. Vina Alvarez, and Ms. Anjilyn Parducho (TRRC program management and coordination).

Can Tho, Vietnam (7 June 2024)—To boost Vietnam's rice production and quality, Vietnam Seed Corporation (Vinaseed), the country's leading seed corporation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

This collaboration aims to develop and commercialize high-yielding, high-quality rice varieties that are resistant to pests and adaptable to the changing climate. Click here for the full story.

Dhaka, Bangladesh (3 June 2024) – The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has launched a three-year project with HSBC Bank to transform the rice value chain in Bangladesh’s Haor Region. The project was launched in Dhaka, with IRRI and HSBC Bank co-organizing an inception workshop. The project seeks to develop efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable rice value chains in the Haor Region by adopting improved technologies and innovations, addressing critical challenges faced by the region’s rice farming communities. Click here for the full story.

Dr. Jauhar Ali, IRRI Principal Scientist and Research Unit Leader - Hybrid Rice Technology for Industry, Head of Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), and Project Leader and Coordinator for Asia & East South Asia to the Green Super Rice (GSR), gave the keynote message on Recent Advances in Hybrid Rice Technology during a special session organized by the IRRI Hybrid Rice team at the 2024 Global Rice Summit. The Summit's theme was "Recent Advances in Hybrid Rice Technology Towards Global Food Security" held last June 7 at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, India. 

The session also identified constraints and challenges hindering the wide-scale adoption of hybrid rice and developed strategies to accelerate the adoption of rice hybrids in the face of climate change. The speakers of this session also included M. Prabhakar Rao, CEO (Nuziveedu Seeds Limited), talking about “Food Security through Hybrid Rice Technology;” Paresh Verma, Director of Research (Bioseed Research India), presenting the Two-Line Hybrid Rice Technology; and Mahantesh Gangashetti, New Initiatives Lead, Seed Product Development (Corteva), who discussed on Promoting Hybrid Rice Technology.

Following the presentations, an elaborate panel discussion with the speakers and the audience was led by Dr. Ali as the Session Chair.

For more information about the hybrid rice technology and the Consortium's activities, please visit this site. 

In related news, the Inception Meeting of the project with the Government of Madhya Pradesh entitled, "Development of Climate-resilient, Bio-fortified HYV of Paddy for Madhya Pradesh in Collaboration with IRRI," jointly organized by IRRI and Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), will be held on July 24-26 at Hotel Kalchuri Residency in Jabalpur, India.

The project aims to introduce climate-resilient (multi-stress, heat, drought, and flood-tolerant cultivars), nutritious (high Iron and Zinc), and healthier (low and ultra-low GI) inbreds and hybrids to Madhya Pradesh and promote their widespread adoption by farmers to increase their productivity and income. 

In this unique project, IRRI will work closely with JNKVV scientists to execute the project primarily ensuring the successful delivery of outputs on the ground. The three-day event will draw a detailed work plan, laying out the roles and responsibilities of the participating stakeholders. 

In other news, Ms. Kim Diane Nocito won the Best Undergraduate Thesis in Weed Science under the guidance of Dr. Ali, on hybrid rice breeding (Genome-Wide Dissection of Novel QTLs and Genes Associated with Weed Competitiveness Traits Using a Population of Early-Backcross Selective Introgression Lines of Rice [Oryza sativa L.]), awarded by the Weed Science Society of the Philippines. Awarding rites highlighted the WSSP Concurrent Scientific Sessions of the 56th Pest Management Council of the Philippines Scientific Conference held on June 24-28 at La Carmela de Boracay Hotel in Boracay, Aklan. 

IRRI has been working on systematic breeding for weed competitiveness since 2014 under the Green Super Rice project and has bred several promising weed-competitive cultivars, especially for use in developing direct-seeded rice hybrids.
(Dr. Ali with Kim Diane Nocito at left photo)

Highlights on breeding for short-duration stress-tolerant rice varieties showcased in ITRC

Two major studies from RBI’s Early-Maturity Breeding unit garnered compliments during the International Temperate Rice Conference 2024 (ITRC), held in New Orleans, USA, from June 5 to 7, 2024. 

Dr. Shalabh Dixit, IRRI Senior Scientist, and RBI Early-Maturity/Direct-seeded Rice (DSR) Breeding unit lead, imparted the group’s latest research focus on “Breeding Resilience: Climate-Adaptive Rice Varieties for Mechanized Dry DSR.” He emphasized the program’s goal to develop high-yielding climate-adaptive rice varieties optimized for direct seeded systems suitable to market segments or intended markets. The research mainly promotes sustainable rice cultivation with reduced irrigation water, labor, and fuel requirements and is adaptable to various climate scenarios.

He added developing finished products that can go into the market and help farmers take up the DSR system as a mode of crop establishment and rice cultivation could be better alternatives to transplanting rice, which ITRC participants, who are mainly members of the Temperate Rice Research Consortium (TRRC), gather for it’s the most common practice. 

 

Transplanting rice is becoming increasingly difficult in many areas due to lack of water and labor and adverse influences from climate change. On the other hand, DSR (see field photo) has emerged as a promising alternative, lauded for its efficiency in water utilization, labor, and time to maturity, thus garnering significant farmer interest owing to favorable net returns.

Another promising study presented by Ms. Maria Cristina Heredia, an assistant scientist from the same group, was on Ratoon Rice: Optimizing Sustainable Rice Production. The optimization of DSR hinges upon the synergistic integration of suitable varieties with efficient crop management methodologies, particularly those harnessing high yields under the given seasonal and geographical context with the least expense on input requirements. 

The ratooning rice system capitalizes on the plant's innate ability to germinate dormant buds and generate tillers post-primary harvest, culminating in a secondary harvest. This approach epitomizes resource efficiency, manifesting in diminished input requisites for labor, fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, and water, thereby augmenting farmers' economic gains.

The study allowed scientists to standardize a ratooning protocol for the direct-seeded rice system (above photo) and identify breeding lines with stable yields across harvests in the dry and wet seasons. Selected lines currently receive a re-evaluation for further shortlisting before proceeding to the target environment of multi-location testing. These studies have given new perspectives to the ITRC participants. 

Dr. Dixit with the Early-Maturity/DSR Breeding Unit team members below, from
l-r: Ms. Kimberly Ponce, Ms. Jonah Micah del Mundo-Avanzado, Ms. May Argayoso, and Ms. Maria Cristina Heredia. 

2. KOICA-UPLB-IRRI Basic Bioinformatics Course

Start Date: June 13, 2024

Current Status: Four Weeks of Training

An intensive training program in collaboration with KOICA, UPLB, and IRRI. Key components of the course include:

Linux Training: Comprehensive sessions on Linux fundamentals tailored for bioinformatics applications.

NGS Analysis: Hands-on training in Next Generation Sequencing analysis.

GWAS and Post-GWAS: Detailed studies and practical exercises in Genome-Wide Association Studies and Post-GWAS analysis.

2-Week Project: Participants engaged in a project phase, applying their newly acquired skills to real-world scenarios.

Click on this link to view more photos.

3. KOICA-UPLB-IRRI Internship with UPLB Computer Science Students

Start Date: July 8, 2024

In partnership with UPLB, the team welcomed talented Computer Science students as interns. They will be focusing on:

Digital Tools Development: Enhancing and developing signature tools, such as SNP-Seek and CropGalaxy, as well as, producing new tools that will optimize analysis pipelines and widen possibilities for new analyses.

4. Upcoming Events

The next major event will be the 3rd KOICA-UPLB-IRRI International Conference (KUIIC 2024) entitled "Application of Genomics and Bioinformatics to Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Natural Resources" on August 13-14, 2024 at IRRI Headquarters. For more information, please go to the site https://kuiic2024.irri.org/.

The next training on Basic Digital Phenotyping is set for September 2024.

Our Team

June featured two RBI special seminars from non-RBI and non-IRRI Scientists. The first was a special seminar on 18 June jointly sponsored by RBI and SIRS, which focused on Seaweed research.  Dr. Michael Y. Roleda, a seaweed specialist from the Marine Science Institute (MSI) at the University of the Philippines Diliman, is also a professor at the UPMSI. His passion for tropical seaweed started in the early 1990s cataloging biodiversity. He worked on the biology and biochemistry of an agarophyte at the UPMSI where he earned his MSc in Marine Science. Further graduate studies and postdoctoral fellowships in Germany, Sweden, and Scotland enabled him to work on cold-temperate and polar seaweeds and microalgae, focusing on their physiological responses to global climate change stressors (e.g., UVR, ocean warming, and acidification). In the North Atlantic in Norway, he started working on food and feed applications of seaweeds. After more than 17 years abroad, in 2018, he returned to the Philippines as a DOST Balik Scientist Program Fellow and UP Balik PhD Program recruit working on the biodiversity of carrageenan-producing eucheumatoids (e.g., Kappaphycus spp., Eucheuma denticulatum, and Betaphycus gelatinus, among others), led and improved the in vitro and hatchery gene banks with more than 200 unique strains undergoing genotypic and phenotypic characterizations, understanding their ecological breath and susceptibility to pest and diseases, and innovating mitigating measures. Dr. Roleda's presentation, ”Just like rice?: Status and Safeguarding Eucheumatoid Biodiversity for Sustainable Crop Production to Support the Global Carrageenan Industry”  can be viewed here.

The second RBI special seminar, held on 20 June, was by Dr. Georgia Eizenga, a research geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service for over 40 years. She received her Ph.D. From the University of Missouri, Columbia, working on wheat cyclogenetics. She then spent 14 years working on a forage grass, tall fescue, in Kentucky before transferring to Stuttgart, Arkansas. Starting her work on rice, she met Dr. Gurdev Khush and Dr. Michael Jackson, scientists in IRRI then, in an international symposium on rice germplasm evaluation to celebrate the opening of the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center built in Arkansas. Dr. Eizenga has spent her career exploring underutilized genetic resources to demonstrate their crop improvement value. She is a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America and the 2024 recipient of the Frank Mire Medal for plant genetic resources. Her seminar dealt with Mining Oryza Diversity for Rice Improvement (Please click here to view the seminar video).

In the coming months, our RBI colleagues will be participating in the following events and webinars:

 

TRAINING/WORKSHOP | Training on Sampling of Seed Lots and Consignments

July 4-5, 2024 |  IRRI Headquarters, Philippines

 

TRAINING | KOICA-UPLB-IRRI Internship with UPLB Computer Science                                      Students
July 8, 2024 (start date) | IRRI Headquarters, Philippines

 

MEETING/WORKSHOP | Stakeholder Engagement on Enhancing Smallholder                                                   Rice Production and Strengthening Seed Systems for                                                 Food Security and Climate Resiliency in Lao PDR

July 11, 2024 |  Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane, Lao-PDR

 

INCEPTION MEETING | Project with the Government of Madhya Pradesh                                                       entitled, "Development of Climate-resilient, Bio-fortified                                           HYV of Paddy for Madhya Pradesh in Collaboration with                                           IRRI"
July 24-26, 2024  |  Hotel Kalchuri Residency, Jabalpur, India

 

SEED CONGRESS | The 2nd Rwanda National Seed Congress 2024

July 29-30, 2024 |  Kigali, Rwanda

During each Science Seminar, RBI features and presents a published paper by RBI staff. Check the link to read more about these noteworthy papers. 

Theoretical and Applied Genetics 137, 37 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04545-9
Genetic gains in IRRI’s rice salinity breeding and elite panel development as a future breeding resource
Apurva Khanna, Mahender Anumalla, Joie Ramos, Ma Teresa Sta. Cruz, Margaret Catolos, Andres Godwin Sajise, Glenn Gregorio, Shalabh Dixit, Jauhar Ali, Md. Rafiqul Islam, Vikas Kumar Singh, Md. Akhlasur Rahman, Hasina Khatun, Daniel Joseph Pisano, Sankalp Bhosale and Waseem Hussain

Journal of Plant Interactions Volume 19, 2024 - Issue 1. Published online: 26 May 2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/17429145.2024.2349623
Genotypic screening for salinity tolerance of rice genotypes from Eastern and Southern Africa at seedling stage
Kefrine Kennedy Lutambi, Amelia Henry, Marjorie De Ocampo, Dmytro Chebotarov, Ole Pedersen, Susan Nchimbi-Msolla, and Newton L. Kilasi

Announcing New Dates for CGIAR Science Week

As early as now, announcing new dates for the CGIAR Science Week. The event will now take place from April 7-12, 2025. As originally planned, the event will be co-hosted by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and will take place at the UN Campus in Nairobi, Kenya. This will also be an occasion to explore and engage with the 2025-30 Research Portfolio. 

Visits to GTL Lab and other biosafety facilities

Reminder to all that requests for a visit to the Genetic Transformation Laboratory (GTL) and other biosafety facilities shall be approved by and coordinated through Ms. Rizza Eve Mendoza, RBI’s Biosafety Officer.

For any requests on this matter, please contact Ms. Mendoza at rizza.mendoza@irri.org and copy Ms. Ludy Nicar (l.nicar@irri.org) and Dr. Inez (I.Slamet-Loedin@irri.org).

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

June Celebrants

CCO, SHU and ZES tools and forms

Summary

IRRI Service Laboratories

Social Media Scheduler 
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For information, submissions, and inquiries, email Ms. Rowie Baltazar at r.baltazar@irri.org.

The RBI Newsletter goes out every month. For information, suggestions, and inquiries, email Ms. Rowie Baltazar (r.baltazar@irri.org).

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