The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Education organized a capacity development program focused on breeding and phenotyping set-ups and the use of IRRI facilities to help local institutions integrate these new strategies and sustain their breeding modernization efforts, Conducted on 17-19 January 2023, the program was attended by 19 researchers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute, University of the Philippines Los Banos, and Benguet State University.
IRRI has modernized its rice breeding program by employing the latest innovations to develop more effective and efficient breeding strategies. Its breeding program has adopted an end-to-end product delivery pipeline from product creation to dissemination through the OneRicePH Project breeding strategy and framework.
The elite x elite population breeding approach with the rapid cycle, recurrent selection using predictive breeding is at the heart of this strategy. The integrative research support platform of IRRI, through its breeding process ownership, forms the backbone of this high throughput varietal delivery pipeline.
With this modern and unified breeding framework, the rice breeding programs of IRRI and its national research partners are striving to deliver significantly higher rates of genetic gains. IRRI aims to increase the genetic gain rate by transforming its breeding efforts into market-driven and product-oriented variety development pipelines.
The four-day face-to-face and hands-on training utilized a mixed-mode approach of delivery that included classroom discussions, demonstrations, and in-field/laboratory activities. The program topics covered include phenotyping, hybrid rice, research support operations, and transgenic.
Several IRRI experts in plant breeding, field phenotyping, plant physiology, molecular genetics, molecular biology, plant virology, digital agriculture, information systems, data management served as resource persons throughout the training.
The training was organized in collaboration with the OneRicePH Project, a joint initiative of IRRI and the Philippine Department of Agriculture, to unify the country’s rice breeding and dissemination strategy.