Media Day promotes tasty and nutritious rice

Twenty-nine members of the media, representing more than 20 agencies, attended IRRI’s Media Day, or Kanin Get It, 16 July 2013, at IRRI Headquarters. The event focused on promoting IRRI’s research on high-nutrient rice and grain quality.

“Kanin” is the Filipino word for steamed rice and is also a contraction of the word for eating it.

V. Bruce J. Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and partnerships, welcomed the media correspondents present.

A rice-tasting activity ensued, facilitated by Rochie Cuevas of the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center at IRRI.

Maria Bernardita Flores, assistant secretary of health and executive director of the National Nutrition Council, in a message, cited the Philippine government’s policies and programs already in place to address hunger and malnutrition, including the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2011–16, the country’s framework for nutrition improvement and a guide for all who want to be involved in nutrition action. Dr. Flores also touched on rice as part of a healthy diet.

Presentations were also given by Inez Hortense Slamet-Loedin, IRRI senior scientist, on high-nutrient rice research at IRRI; and Sarah Beebout, on heavy metals and rice.

Participants were taken on a tour of IRRI facilities including the International Rice Genebank, the Golden Rice screenhouse, and the Postharvest Unit.

The IRRI Media Day is part of activities in celebration of the Philippine Nutrition Month that has the theme Gutom at malnutrisyon, sama-sama nating wakasan! (Together we can end hunger and malnutrition!).


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Third season-long rice farming training program held for extension agronomists

Participants attend a briefing on training
and field activities with Philippine farmers.

The 18-week Season-long Rice Farming Training for Extension Agronomists opened at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, on 17 June 2013.

The training program, now on its third year, has 21 participants from Cameroon, the Gambia, Liberia, Zambia, and the Philippines.

It seeks, through the participants, to contribute to a greater and sustainable harvest of quality rice in each country and will demonstrate that the application of up-to-date rice farming practices and farm mechanization will result in increased food security and improvement in the livelihoods of rice farmers, their families, and communities.

It includes a participatory technology demonstration (PTD) and a farmers field school (FFS), in partnership with Philippine farmers. As part of the program, IRRI, will hold follow-up meetings with participating organizations in Africa and with training participants with the intent to implement small projects by applying knowledge and skills acquired from the training in the participants’ respective countries.

The program will run until 18 October 2013, covering the 16-week rice production training at PhilRice and two-week mechanization training and planning workshop at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

It is managed by IRRI and is being jointly implemented with the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The course is led by Noel Magor, program leader and Training Center head, with Joseph Rickman, IRRI senior scientist; Eugenio Castro, Jr., project coordinator and facilitator; Takahiro Nakamura, JICA; David Shires, consultant; and Zakaria Kanyeka, training coordinator in Africa.

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IRRI urges staff to eat brown rice

Brown rice has more Vitamin B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), and B3 (niacin) than white (milled) rice, as 60–80% of these vitamins are removed during the milling process to attain white or polished white.

As part of Nutrition Month celebrations in the Philippines, IRRI is promoting the consumption of brown rice among its employees. IRRI’s larger brown rice campaign is part of its activities in keeping with the country’s National Year of Rice.

The  week-long promo started on 15 July 2013 and is being carried out in all three cafeterias at the IRRI Headquarters. Concessionaires are offering a free serving of brown rice during lunch time if an employee buys a vegetable dish.

The brown rice promo comes with a three-point pledge and commitment to the principles of Nutrition Month: to not waste food, to try eating brown rice, and to add fruits and vegetables to one’s meal.

IRRI staff  are also invited to join the Kanin Get It photo contest, open until 31 July 2013, in which they may share photos of one another eating nutritious food, especially brown rice. Interested parties can send photos as entries by email to bulletin@irri.org.

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Tamil Nadu Agricultural University signs research agreement with IRRI

As part of the 2013–16 IRRI-India Work Plan, the Institute and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) signed a memorandum of understanding on 28 June 2013 at TNAU to promote research, training, and exchange of information and technology on rice and its farming systems and value chains.

Under the MoU, scientists of TNAU and IRRI will exchange improved plant materials, publish and disseminate research findings, and develop technologies that will improve the productivity and sustainability of rice farming systems. This includes developing and disseminating resource conservation technologies such as improved crop establishment methods, tillage practices, and water and fertilizer management practices.

TNAU Vice Chancellor K. Ramasamy thanked IRRI for strengthening collaboration between the two institutions and offered working space for IRRI staff at TNAU. He also invited IRRI to establish a hub in any of the TNAU campuses.

TNAU's new research director is M. Maheswaran, who is an IRRI alumnus, and will be the key contact under the MoU together with J.K. Ladha, IRRI representative for India and Nepal.


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IRRI promotes eating brown rice among its staff

In support of the ongoing celebration of Nutrition Month  and the National Year of Rice in the Philippines, IRRI is promoting the consumption of brown rice as part of Nutrition Month ‘pledges’ that include:

• To not waste food, especially rice 
• To try brown rice, and 
• To add fruits and vegetables to the meal 

A week-long promo will be implemented in IRRI next week (15–19 July 2013) to encourage all staff members to buy a vegetable dish and get a free serving of brown rice from either the Filipino or the international food counters.

Brown rice, also known as unpolished rice, is now served as an option in all IRRI cafeterias every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

As part of the brown rice promo, IRRI has also launched the Kanin Get It photo contest, in which IRRI staff may share photos of one another eating nutritious food, especially brown rice. Photos can be posted as entries at the International Rice Research Institute Google+ page until 31 July 2013. Winners will be notified through email.

To read more about the health benefits of brown rice, listen to the latest podcast, Rice and Nutrition by Michael Joyce on IRRI Radio or read Nourishing a nation by Alaric Francis Santiaguel  from the latest issue of Rice Today.


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Online rice statistics tool updated

The Social Sciences Division (SSD) has recently updated World Rice Statistics (WRS), an online query facility, which may be accessed hereon at http://ricestat.irri.org:8080/wrs2.


WRS is a compilation of national and subnational data on rice production and yield, import and export prices, supply and demand, and others. Data may be viewed according to user-set parameters and downloaded as an Excel or CSV file.

The SSD Research Data and Management team that collects and maintains WRS welcomes comments and feedback to further improve the online facility. WRS is continuously updated and includes the latest data from SSD's resources, including its own collection.

Please send questions and suggestions to Josephine Narciso (j.narciso@irri.org).



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IRRI joins the Philippines in celebrating Nutrition Month

IRRI joins the 39th celebration of the National Nutrition Month in the Philippines, with the theme “Gutom at malnutrisyon, sama-sama nating wakasan! (Together we can end poverty and malnutrition!)”

Nutrition Month was launched in Manila today, 2 July 2013, an event that brings focus on the country’s need for active stakeholder participation in addressing the basic causes of hunger. The annual campaign, held for the month of July every year, aims to create greater awareness about nutrition among Filipinos and is coordinated by the National Nutrition Council and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

To support this campaign, IRRI activities have been lined up that include an IRRI media day titled Kanin Get It  to be held on 16 July 2013; Nutri űp! Health Options and Choices on 25-26 July, organized by the Human Resources Services; and a feeding program, called “nutrition rehabilitation,” among marginalized families particularly women and children in Los Baños and Bay. This third activity will be coordinated by the the Provincial Nutrition Action Council of Laguna, the Host Country and Community Relations Office, and SUHAY, a charity group composed of IRRI spouses.

IRRI with its concessionaires will promote brown rice by serving it as an option at the IRRI cafeteria for the month of July 2013. Special promos on brown rice and a variety of other healthy dishes will also be offered in the cafeteria on certain weeks.

Currently, about one sack, or 50 kilograms, of polished (white) rice is consumed at the IRRI cafeteria in Harrar Hall in a day.


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