IRRI Education Tag

CGIAR Excellence in Agriculture (EiA) Initiative for Sustainable Intensification and Climate Change launches the EiA Open Learning Portal to transform agricultural education through digital solutions. The learning portal was developed through the collaboration between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through its educational arm, IRRI Education. Through this, EiA aims to share agronomic solutions to help smallholder farmers make informed decisions and manage farm risks.

The EiA Open Learning Portal is part of Open Learning, one of the Initiative’s three main strategies for creating a Global Agronomy Village, along with the Comprehensive Agronomy Solutions Hub (CASH) and EiA Events.

The portal boasts an introductory set of 13 self-paced and standalone micro-courses, ranging from 30 to 45 minutes each. These courses cover CGIAR’s key thematic areas: climate change, gender equality, and food security. Key topics include climate change drivers, adaptation strategies, customized digital agronomy advice on crops like cassava, gender-focused content, and effective agronomic practices that highlight the importance of inclusivity in agricultural services.

“We aim to make agronomic education more accessible, interactive, and impactful.”, said Dr. Anilyn Maningas, Head of IRRI Education. “This portal enables learners to engage with content at their own pace through interactive, self-paced micro-courses available online for free. These courses offer actionable insights into critical topics like climate change adaptation and gender-responsive agronomy.”, she continued.

The EiA Open Learning Portal will serve as a space for collaboration for researchers, students, and instructors through its discussion forums. “In Vietnam, agriculture often takes a backseat for the younger generation, but I’m committed to changing that.”, shared Huu Diem Ha Nguyen, a Direct Seeded Rice Consortium (DSRC) – Vietnam Use Case Member. “The [Gender-responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation] GREAT course … emphasized the importance of gender equality in agriculture, a cause I’m passionate about. Women should have the opportunity to work in any field they choose, and this course has strengthened my resolve to advocate for equal opportunities in agriculture.”

Looking ahead, the EiA Open Learning Portal will continue to expand its roster of courses, with plans to integrate advanced features like an AI chatbot and grow its course offerings to address emerging needs and trends in agriculture, still aligned with the key impact areas of CGIAR.

“While this initial phase has demonstrated its proof of concept, there’s more to learn and improve. Our commitment to continuous engagement and improvement ensures that we will address these challenges and improve the portal to better meet the needs of our users. By staying responsive to feedback and advancing our technology, we aim to refine our approach and further enhance the portal’s impact,” said Gaurav Jaiswal, Team Lead and Educational Technology Specialist of IRRI Education.

Developed in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and with contributions from other CGIAR Centers, this education platform is set to revolutionize agricultural education. The CGIAR centers supporting the EiA represent a global force for agricultural transformation and include AfricaRice, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Potato Center (CIP), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Learn more about this training course and other programs offered by IRRI Education at education.irri.org

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), through its capacity-building arm, IRRI Education, held a three-day training workshop on the Introduction to the CGIAR Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) from September 18 to 20, 2024, at IRRI Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The CGIAR IPSR course aimed to improve the efficiency and impact of research for development programs by encouraging critical reflection on how ready innovations are for scaling.

Participants are trained to design, implement, and monitor scaling strategies for cross-CGIAR initiatives. Project performance is tracked using the principles and tools of Scaling Readiness, a framework developed by CGIAR and led by Wageningen University and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to support decision-making on the scaling of innovations. Through this, project members can identify bottlenecks, make informed decisions, and make strategic solutions thereby improving prospects for success at scale. Standardization of such processes allows initiatives to also track their contributions to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

IRRI Human Resource Partner for Learning and Development Angelica Valerie De Jesus, emphasized the need to put knowledge into action, urging participants to take the insights they gained back to their workplaces to share with others. She hoped this initiative would lead to meaningful change for IRRI, in partnership with CGIAR, in fulfilling its mission.

“Beyond developing innovations, we should also look into how these will benefit the institution’s main beneficiaries – the farmers.”, shared IRRI’s Project Development and Deployment Manager Rowena Castillo. She hoped this training would not be the last and that this initial encounter would lead to deeper learning opportunities in the future.

Over the course of three days, 13 IRRI employees involved in various CGIAR Initiatives engaged in sessions that focused on key topics such as the fundamentals of scaling innovation, innovation profiling, and scaling readiness. They participated in hands-on activities to assess innovation readiness and develop scaling strategies. Notable sessions included a presentation and panel discussion on the strategies and lessons from PhilRice’s scaling efforts, led by Dr. Jaime Manalo IV, Scientist II and Head of Socio-economic Division, along with workshops facilitated by Dr. Murat Sartas, Innovation, Scaling, and Impact Management Scientist for CGIAR and Wageningen University. The training culminated in group presentations, allowing participants to apply what they had learned and share their insights with one another.

Ms. Elizabeth Alcachupas, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, described the training as “an incredibly transformative experience.” She highlighted, “The training was not only well-structured but also deeply insightful, helping me develop skills in using the tools available on the CGIAR website. The trainers were knowledgeable and approachable, ensuring that complex concepts of scaling and innovation were easy to grasp through practical examples. I highly recommend IPSR training to anyone.”

Ms. Krystle Ambayec-Dino, Partnership and Capacity Building Coordinator, also expressed her satisfaction with the course, stating, “This course provided me with the knowledge and skills to better identify innovations, profile their readiness, and effectively package them for scaling up to the end users, thereby enhancing our efforts in research for development at IRRI.”
Following the success of the program and positive feedback from participants, the training team is exploring the possibility of offering the course again next year.

Learn more about this training course and other programs offered by IRRI Education at education.irri.org

Earlier this year, IRRI Education opened applications for the Fundamentals of Genomic Predictions and Data-Driven Crop Breeding training course. On 5 August 2024, 20 researchers and plant breeders from India, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Senegal, and Nepal convened at IRRI headquarters in the Philippines to participate in the training.

The five-day training was designed to provide participants with knowledge and understanding of genomic selection and other data-driven strategies in crop breeding, including a comprehensive understanding of quantitative genetics and statistical genomics. By the end of the program, participants are expected to apply these tools for genomic selection in their own breeding programs effectively.

The training was officially inaugurated by Dr. Yvonne Pinto, IRRI’s new Director General. She remarked, “I know this is a very intensive 5-day course, I hope that this will be an opportunity for you to learn from each others’ experiences as well as to see what we have here at IRRI and the progress we’re making in multiple capacities. For IRRI, in terms of the next 10 years, this field, combined with novel technologies in the form of AI and environmental interactions including omics – that is really where I see the future going. If you talk to Hans [Bhardwaj] about some of the work that his team is doing, they have been accelerating breeding opportunities at the same time, and we are in the process of building a SpeedBreeding facility here. So I think there are plenty of different angles that you can look at in order to advance your understanding. I hope that you take the opportunity, make use of the team, and enjoy your stay here and I look forward to hearing about your experiences following the course”.

Dr. Hans Bhardwaj, Research Director and Head of IRRI’s Rice Breeding Innovations platform, was also present during the opening ceremony. He discussed the recent changes in plant breeding as a science, emphasizing the need for breeders to maintain a product pipeline in their programs to ensure more precise, targeted, faster, cost-effective, and impactful varieties. He assured the participants that they would be learning from IRRI scientists actively working in the field and hoped they find the topics interesting, educational, and informative.

Over the next five days, the participants will be engaged in synchronous and asynchronous discussions involving theoretical concepts, practical and hands-on exercises, and self-paced e-learning activities.

Dr. Waseem Hussain, Senior Scientist I – Plant Breeding; Dr. Eduardo (Giovanny) Covarrubias-Pazaran Senior Scientist II – Quantitative Genetics and Biometrics; Dr. Mahender Anumalla, Scientist I – Breeding Long Duration Rice; Dr. Parthiban Thathapalli Prakash, Scientist I – Breeding Optimization; Ms. Leilani Nora, Specialist – Statistics; and Ms. Alaine Gulles, Lead Specialist – Biometrics and Breeding Analytics are the resource persons for the Course

The course will conclude on 9 August 2024 with participants expected to have gained an enhanced understanding of quantitative genetics, statistical models used in performing genomic predictions, and how to perform genomic selection in breeding programs.

Learn more about IRRI Education and its programs at education.irri.org or email us at education@irri.org