LOS BAÑOS, Philippines (05 May 2025) — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), through IRRI Education, successfully concluded its Recent Advances in Hybrid Rice Breeding Training Course, which was held from 24 April to 5 May 2025 at IRRI’s headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The 12-day course gathered researchers from across the globe to enhance their skills in hybrid rice breeding and contribute to the broader global food security goals.
Dr. Anilyn Maningas, Head of IRRI Education, underscored the urgency of the institute’s mission on tackling food security by transforming rice-based agri-food systems, “We need to increase rice production by 25 percent. With you coming over and learning about these essential topics with us for the next 12 days, we are very much honored to have you.” To meet this growing demand of the similarly growing population, rice production must be intensified and use less resources such as land, water, and labor.
The participants were introduced to the One IRRI Rice Breeding Strategy and its role in global rice breeding. Compared to traditional, fragmented breeding efforts, this strategy aims to unify efforts by setting standards and efficient resource management among local and international partners. Basically, this will speed up the breeding process of nutritious and market-preferred rice varieties which are also climate-resilient. This crop breeding strategy can also be replicated in similar crops. Dr. Jauhar Ali, Principal Scientist and Hybrid Rice Breeder at IRRI, served as one of the lead instructors. “How do we produce more from less? This is the challenge we face,” he said. “We need to increase production while reducing inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.” Dr. Ali emphasized the potential of hybrid rice to improve resource use efficiency and equip researchers to address global food security challenges more sustainably. Hybrid rice is a type of rice which is produced from two genetically different parents which commonly result in higher yielding varieties.
Facilitated by IRRI Education in collaboration with the Rice Breeding Innovation Department, the training was designed to provide an in-depth, hands-on experience. The first month focused on hybrid rice breeding, including floral biology, hybridization techniques, and field visits. Sessions on seed production practices such as transplanting of A, B, and R lines, GA₃ application, and pollination methods, followed this. From October to December 2024, the researchers concentrated on hybrid rice cultivation and were exposed to performance trials, socio-economic impacts, and improved cultivation strategies.
