India: 6th hybrid rice meet held in Hyderabad

IRRI DG Robert Zeigler, addressing
hybrid rice stakeholders
in Hyderabad, India.

The 6th International Hybrid Rice Symposium was held last week (10-12 September) in Hyderabad, India, gathering scientists and policymakers from around the world to discuss developments and issues on hybrid rice.

Addressing about 450 delegates from 32 countries were China's Yuan Longping, the "Father of Hybrid Rice;" Robert Zeigler, director general of IRRI; S. Ayyappan, director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and secretary for agricultural research and education; and Ashish Bahuguna, secretary for agriculture and cooperation.

The Symposium was opened by K. Laxminarayana, agriculture minister of Andhra Pradesh, who called upon the scientists, farmers, and political leaders present to "come forward to meet the challenges in rice production" and adopt the latest technologies to enhance productivity.

Prof. Yuan, who is also director general of the China National Hybrid Rice R&D Centre, talked about the significant role that hybrid rice has in sustaining food security in developing countries such as China and India.

Dr. Zeigler expressed concern regarding prevailing drought conditions in Asia and other parts of the world, and the need to develop new varieties of hybrid rice that require less water.

Mr. Bahuguna, said that there are still many issues to address related to India's food requirement inspite of the advantages of hybrid technology.

Dr. Ayyappan, said the symposium will be the "guiding force" in crafting plans for further development of hybrid rice technology. He also elaborated on capacity building programs and new initiatives.

The International Hybrid Rice Symposia are held once every four years in various parts of the rice-growing world to provide a venue for all stakeholders of hybrid rice to come together and discuss research, seed production, and development issues. 

This year's event was jointly organized by IRRI and ICAR and its constituent organization, the Directorate of Rice Research in Hyderabad.



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India: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University appoints Prof. K Ramasamy as Vice Chancellor

Prof. K Ramasamy has been appointed as the new vice chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore for the next 3 years.

Prof. Ramasamy holds a PhD in industrial microbiology and post doctoral training in gene cloning. He was a professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering in TNAU and also served as the director of the Centre for Molecular Biology. His credentials include working in various senior positions in private universities. He is currently the vice chancellor Karpagam University.


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India: IRRI South Asia rice breeding hub opens

Robert Zeigler (left) and William Dar (second from right), directors general of
IRRI and ICRISAT, respectively, inaugurate IRRI's new rice breeding hub
in India. Darshan Brar (in red turban), former head of plant breeding
at IRRI, also came to witness the event.

The IRRI South Asia Rice Breeding Hub at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India, was inaugurated on 9 July 2012 by Robert Zeigler and William Dar, directors general of IRRI and ICRISAT, respectively.

The opening of the breeding hub at ICRISAT is part of IRRI's strategy of targeted breeding efforts for South Asia, done in collaboration with national partners in various countries in the region, and is a step toward achieving the objectives of the CGIAR Research Program on Rice-Based Production Systems through the Global Rice Science Partnership or GRiSP.

Dr. Zeigler, who was in Hyderabad to also attend an international meet on designer rice, said the new facility would go a long way in IRRI’s endeavour for a strong regional presence in South Asia. He thanked ICRISAT for its support and for hosting the hub in the ICRISAT campus.

Dr. Dar, in turn, expressed gladness for IRRI coming to ICRISAT to carry out rice research for South Asia, and assured IRRI of continued support.

Speaking during the occasion, E.A. Siddiq, former deputy director general (crop science) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and former member of the IRRI board of trustees, said that he has "desired so long for IRRI to have a regional facility in South Asia" and expressed happiness on IRRI's decision to open a regional facility in India.

B.C. Viraktamath, head of the Directorate of Rice Research in Hyderabad, is confident that the presence of IRRI in India shall complement rice research that is being carried out by ICAR and agricultural universities in India.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by several representatives from ICRISAT (Hector Hernandez, Rajesh Agrawal, and M. Prabhakar Reddy) and IRRI (J.K. Ladha, M.S. Rao, Paul Quick, Ajay Kohli, Jauhar Ali, Michael Thomson, Arvind Kumar, and Murali Krishna Gumma), including former IRRI scientists Darshan Brar and Melissa Fitzgerald.

The IRRI South Asia Rice Breeding Hub office is located in Rooms 121-126 in Building 303 of ICRISAT and can be reached by phone at 0091-40-30713071, extension 2091 to 2093.

India: Research and delivery stakeholders meet in Odisha

More than 50 representatives from the government, private sector, universities, NGOs, and various other institutions gathered for the Odisha research and delivery hub expert consultation meeting at the Mayfair Convention Center in Bhubaneshwar, India, on 10 July 2012.

Samarendu Mohanty, program leader for policy and targeting and head of IRRI's Social Sciences Division, organized the meeting to finalize planned activities of the hub as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative in South Asia (CSISA) project.

As the project moves into its second phase, plans are in place to expand its activities in the eastern state of Odisha by setting up a research and delivery hub to enable public-private-civil society partnerships for participatory technology development that are relevant and responsive to local conditions and priorities. Inputs from various stakeholders are thus needed to help the CSISA team formulate its work plan in the state.

Represented in the meeting were the Central Rice Research Institute, Directorate of Research on Women in Agriculture, Directorate of Water Management, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, BISWA, AID/IRRI Programme, Digital Green, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, ICRISAT, ILRI, IFPRI , CIMMYT, CIP, IIT Guwahati, KIIT School of Rural Management, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Orissa State Seeds Corporation, Ltd., PALLISHREE, PRADAN, PRAGATI, VARRAT, and the IRRI-CSISA team from IRRI headquarters and the India office.