A delegation from the Asian Development Bank, headed by Mr. Takahiro Yasui, ADB Executive Director for Japan, visited the International Rice Research Institute Headquarters, Philippines last 28 July 2023.
The team was met by Dr. Ajay Kohli, Interim Director General for IRRI, who gave a brief overview of the Institute and discussed the current research activities. Afterward, they were given a brief tour of IRRI including the Long Term Continuous Cropping Experiment, the world’s longest-running rice research project; the Direct Seeded Rice field; the Plant Growth Facility; and the International Rice Genebank, which holds more than 132,000 available accessions, including modern and traditional varieties as well as wild relatives of rice.
The delegation also met with the IRRI Education team, led by Ms. Anilyn Maningas, Manager for Short Course Operations and Scholars and Youth Engagement and with the current IRRI ADB-Japan Scholarship Program (JSP) scholars and alumni. IRRI Education’s Head, Mr. Gopesh Tewari, joined the discussion virtually. Ms. Maningas briefly presented the five portfolios of IRRI Education – Short Courses, Scholars and Youth Engagement, Online Learning and Product Development, Knowledge Management, and Advisory around Capacity Development.
ADB, through the ADB-JSP, has been collaborating with IRRI through IRRI Education in providing graduate scholarships to citizens of developing member countries of ADB. Successful candidates for the scholarship are enrolled at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and conduct their research at IRRI. The IRRI ADB-JSP Scholarship Program was first implemented in 1988 and since then, has successfully produced 80 alumni.
At present, there are three on-board scholars under the ADB-JSP, and IRRI Education is currently in the process of filling up another three slots for this scholarship program.
For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.