Author: irrieducation

Nine graduate students and rice researchers from Pakistan, China, Philippines, South Korea, Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique,and  Tanzania were trained on phenotyping for abiotic stresses in rice during the comprehensive training program offered by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

The training, held on 18-22 September 2023, offered lectures and hands-on demonstrations of protocols for environmental monitoring, screening, and physiological measurements related to seedling stage, vegetative stage, and reproductive stage drought, seedling and reproductive stage salinity, heat, submergence, and stagnant flooding in rice. Field trips to stress-affected farmers’ fields in the Philippines were also organized where participants were able to interact and engage with local rice farmers and observe the real-life implications of abiotic stresses in rice. 

Dr. Amelia Henry, Senior Scientist II – Stress Physiology and Research Unit Leader – Traits for Challenged Environments, Rice Breeding Innovations, served as the main resource person for the training. She was joined by Dr. Waseem Hussain, Scientist I – Rice Breeding Innovations; Dr. Mahender Anumalla, Postdoctoral Fellow – Trait Development; Ms. Joie Ramos, Senior Associate Scientist I – Plant Breeding; Mr. James Egdane, Researcher – Plant Physiology; Mr. Mignon Natividad, Assistant Scientist – Drought Physiology; and Ms. Marjorie de Ocampo, Associate Scientist – Molecular Breeding.

“The course was delivered in a very interactive manner – full of practicals and hands-on activities, which made it very easy to understand and hard to forget. I highly recommend this to anyone who is dealing with abiotic stress experiments even on crops other than rice,” said Ms. Margareth Makauki, a researcher based in IRRI Regional Office – Africa.

Another participant, Mr. Joaquim Maquival, Assistant Scientist at IRRI Mozambique echoed the sentiment, saying “The training course for Phenotyping for Abiotic Stress was very useful as these are the main problems that affect the farmers’ fields all over the world. The combination of theoretical and practical sessions made the understanding of the topics for the course very effective.” 

In her concluding remarks, Dr. Henry encouraged the participants to keep the network with IRRI and each other intact. “Please feel free to contact us after this course, if you have any questions or ideas for collaborations because the only way that we will have impact for the farmers is by working through collaborations.”

The training is one of the courses offered by IRRI Education customized for scientists and researchers, farmers and extension, and leaders in the rice-based agri-food sector. To see the full suite of learning programs around Science, Technology Transfer, and Policy Leadership, visit https://education.irri.org/short-long-courses/

Selected IRRI researchers and staff attended IRRI Education’s (IE) Research Proposal Writing Online Course, a pilot program offered by IE’s Online Learning and Product Development Unit, last 18-22 September 2023.

The course was intended to equip participants with the essential knowledge and competencies required to create impactful and well-structured research proposals that will enable them to actively contribute to meaningful solutions and improve their ability to think critically and make informed decisions in the field of agriculture. At the end of the course, participants were able to develop and present their research proposal draft.

The online course has four modules which consist of online self-paced lessons and knowledge checkpoint activities to facilitate learning. Additionally, there were synchronous lectures conducted by experts, which served as refreshers to the self-paced lessons, providing learners with the opportunity to engage directly with subject matter experts and delve deeper into the module’s content.

During the course’s opening program on 18 September, Angelica Valerie De Jesus, HR Business Partner, Learning and Development, welcomed the participants and expressed her excitement for the pilot session of the course. “We are so glad that the pilot session is happening already because as you may know, for the past years and past records of the performance management in IRRI, there is really a clamor for this kind of training. And there is no better team to deliver this training than the IRRI Education team who know whom to tap as resource speakers”. 

Addressing the participants, she also gave some reminders about taking the course, “It is good that this course is a combination of synchronous and asynchronous, and when you take the asynchronous modules in the learning management system, we request you to not multitask because you really need to give attention to the learning so that you can get the most out of it Second, we encourage you to show up during the synchronous sessions. Apart from the experts that IRRI Education brought in, you will also learn a lot from your colleagues”. 

Adding to this, Gopesh Tewari, Head of IRRI Education, commented during his opening remarks, “I’m very happy that we are starting this particular [course] and there are many more such types of programs in the pipeline that we are going to roll out with the support of HR-OD over a period of time so that we can build the internal capacities of the IRRI colleagues as well”. He also shared his vision of the future offerings of the courses stating “Eventually, we plan to pull together content from different programs ranging from management, policies, leadership, to the technical and hard sciences, and create asynchronous learning contents which can be used as life-long learning modules by everyone.” 

In the learning management system, participants expressed their remarks about the course. Vijayakumar Shanmuagam commented, “The valuable lesson I acquired through this research proposal writing course includes the understanding of the difference between a research proposal and a project proposal and having a clear idea of the overall structure of both. I have also learned what things I must include in my proposal. I will prepare my research proposal following the same structure given in this lesson”.

Meanwhile, Ruvicyn Bayot shared “It is always important to go back to the fundamentals of research project development. I appreciate the opportunity to review basic concepts and terminologies”.

The course concluded on Friday, 22 September, with a face-to-face session at the IRRI Education Training Room 1, where participants presented their research proposals and received final critiquing of their outputs.

During his message to the participants during the closing program, Neheden Amiel Sarne, the main resource person for the training, encouraged them to keep practicing writing their proposals and to not be disheartened when they get rejections. 

After the delivery of the pilot course, IE’s Online Learning Unit will conduct a  thorough evaluation to gauge the success of the implementation and make necessary updates and improvements to the course. 

With six other online courses ready for pilot delivery and a few more in the pipeline, IRRI Education looks forward to expanding its online educational offerings in the future.

For more information about the pilot online course and updates on IRRI Education’s online course offerings, please visit education.irri.org or email us at openlearning@irri.org.

Researchers and staff from different agricultural institutions across the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Tanzania, Benin, and Ethiopia successfully completed the online training on Good Practices on Managing Research Data and Basic Data Analysis from August 28 – September 8, 2023.

The first part of the training, aims to provide participants with basic good practices for managing data, which covers organizing raw data in spreadsheets, data cleaning, checking, and validation. Participants were be given basic knowledge and several hands-on exercises promoting good practices in managing research data.

Participants share their experiences during the course and how it is relevant to their current work. “From day 1 to day 3, all the materials the resource person delivered helped support my daily work as an assistant scientist. Before, I just did minimum management of my research data, like doing simple spreadsheets with no metadata and using Google Drive to share and store my research data. However, after this training, I know that research data management is more complex than that,” said Ms. Devanda Putri.

Another participant, Mr. Guy Marius Assogba, shares “The course on Good Practices in Managing Research Data is an opportunity for me as junior scientist to be aware about the fraud in research and to have a good knowledge about how to collect my data in good way.”

On the second week, the training focused more on data analysis, acquainting the participants with the principles of experimental design, basic experimental designs used in crop research, analysis of variance, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. It introduced the Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR), a user-friendly software that uses GUI created in Java and functions developed in R to assist crop scientists in the design and analysis of data.

Participants expressed their satisfaction with the training on the STAR software. Mr. Rajan Chaudhary said, “As far as online courses go, this is among the best I’ve taken. There is no coding knowledge required for STAR, which is great for those who fear intense coding languages for data analysis. Overall, the resource persons did their best to make things clear to the participants. Thanks for giving us exercises and home assignments to boost our confidence“.

The training used a blend of synchronous and asynchronous sessions with lectures, group discussions, and practical hands-on exercises.

IRRI Education offers a variety of learning engagement for all stakeholders in the rice-based agri-food systems.

For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.

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.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in partnership with the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund and Hasanuddin University (UNHAS) is currently conducting training on digital knowledge and tools for precision agriculture for select academic staff of UNHAS,  different agricultural universities across Indonesia, and researchers and extension workers from national agencies, from 31 July to 3 August 2023 in Makassar, Indonesia.

The four-day training is being participated by 41 faculty, administrators, lecturers, researchers, and extension workers from UNHAS, West Sulawesi University, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Christian University of Indonesia Toraja, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sinjai, Andi Djemma University, Bosowa University, and Pangkep State Polytechnic of Agriculture. It aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of the participants on digital knowledge and tools for precision farming as it relates to the rice value chain and its advantages and potential in maximizing benefits for researchers, rice farmers, producers, and consumers. 

In his welcome message, Prof. Dr. Ir. Salengke, M.Sc., the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Hasanuddin University, underlined the significance of this training for the university’s faculty members. He revealed that the university will be introducing two cutting-edge courses on data science and smart farming to their curriculum this year. Moreover, the content covered in the two new courses essentially aligns with what will be taught in the training, making participation in the training all the more significant to their faculty members. Prof. Salengke expressed confidence that the newfound knowledge and insights gained from the training would play a critical role in successfully implementing the innovative curriculum. 

For the duration of the training, participants will be immersed and acquainted with different technologies and platforms such as WeRise, ORYZA, Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP), RiceDoctor, and Rice Knowledge Bank. By familiarizing themselves with these tools, the attendees are expected to harness their potential for sustainable and efficient farming practices.

For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.

The International Rice Research Institute-South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) conducted a 2-day Capacity Development & Training of the Trainers Program on Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) for farmers of Uttar Pradesh from 7th-8th June 2023.

The training was conducted in collaboration with UP-PRAGATI Accelerator Program and IRRI Education.

The two-day program, through in-class sessions, field demonstrations, and hands-on training, covered aspects pertinent to DSR. These include the DSR Crop establishment method, its economic and environmental benefits, land preparation, and water, nutrient and pest management. Other aspects of training include Business models in DSR, Suitable rice varieties in Uttar Pradesh, and farm machinery components & their operations. The program was positive in creating a platform for these farmers to get their queries addressed by IRRI Experts.

The program concluded on 8th June with the closing ceremony graced by the presence of Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, Joint Director-Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Uma Shankar Singh, Asia and Africa Advisor for Research And Partnership, IRRI, Ms. Anjali Suneel Parasnis, Technical Coordinator 2030 WRG, Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, Director-IRRI- South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) and Mr. Gopesh Tewari Head – IRRI Education.

For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.

The Centre of Education, Innovation & Research for Development (CEIRD) at IRRI South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) organized a three-day capacity development training program for BAU scientists, researchers, and officials. The training was organized as a part of the ongoing collaboration between IRRI & Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) under the Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) Program.

Through the 3-Day program, the participant’s both built and enhanced their understanding of different aspects of Climate-Smart Agriculture & Mechanization such as climate-smart, agriculture and policy context, climate-resilient rice varieties, digital tools and machinery for climate-smart agriculture, smart techniques of water management, direct seeded rice techniques and its regional learnings, measurement approaches, sampling for GHG emissions and carbon farming, and more.

The program proved fruitful in creating a platform for the exchange of thoughts between the trainees & the experts about the on-ground implementation of various techniques and the difficulty farmers encounter.

For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.

IRRI Education concluded the 15th offering of its flagship course, Rice: Research to Production (RR2P) with 20 successful participants from different parts of the world last June 16, 2023.

The RR2P is an intensive and immersive training program, typically spanning three weeks, designed to provide participants with comprehensive knowledge about the rice industry. It covers various aspects ranging from production to market, research topics related to IRRI and its partners, advancements in rice breeding, and effective collaboration within the international research community.

Throughout the course of the program, participants engaged in lectures and discussions with IRRI’s world-class scientists who are experts in their respective fields. Aside from lectures and classroom discussions, participants also conducted practical and hands-on field activities.

Integrated into the program are visits to various agricultural institutions in the Philippines, such as Corteva, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMec). These visits exposed the participants to some challenges to global food resources and how different agricultural companies and institutions based in the Philippines address these challenges. Additionally, they had the opportunity to visit the Ifugao Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where they had the opportunity to learn about the rice culture in Ifugao and met with the local farmers.

At the end of the training, participants were tasked to develop a video pitch on their chosen topic centered around what they have learned in the past three weeks.

IRRI Education has been organizing RR2P training annually with the overall aim of creating a new generation of plant scientists well-versed with the knowledge and skills to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time.

For inquiries, you may email education@irri.org.