1571. IRRI: Supporting Rice Research Worldwide—Working with Japan to Address Rice Production under Climate Change

Rice, an essential part of the Japanese diet, is not immune to the effects of climate change. Rice production worldwide must simultaneously address multiple challenges, including high temperatures, water scarcity, pests and diseases, and the need to reduce environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions. One institution that has long tackled these issues internationally is the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), headquartered in the Philippines. Japan and IRRI have worked together for more than 60 years through rice research and exchanges among researchers.

In October 2026, IRRI, the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) will jointly hold the International Strategy Forum and Technical Workshop on Heat-Resilient Rice Production Systems in Tokyo. This article introduces IRRI’s role and the history of its cooperation with Japan, while considering the research partnerships that will be important for rice production under a changing climate.

IRRI and CGIAR

Founded in 1960, IRRI is an international research institute specializing in rice. Headquartered in Los Baños, Laguna, the Philippines, it conducts rice-related research, technology development, capacity building, and policy and extension activities in countries and regions, mainly across Asia and Africa. IRRI is one of the CGIAR research centers. CGIAR is a global agricultural research network that advances research and innovation to transform food, land, and water systems so that they become more sustainable and resilient. Working with national research institutes, universities, governments, international organizations, and private companies, IRRI seeks to improve the health and well-being of people who depend on rice, reduce poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, and enhance the environmental sustainability of rice production.

According to IRRI’s official website, the institute is engaged in research and partnerships in 17 countries across Asia and Africa and works with numerous institutional partners. Its research extends far beyond varietal improvement to encompass crop management, climate-change adaptation, greenhouse-gas mitigation, digital technologies, research support services, and capacity building.

The Green Revolution and Genetic Resources

No account of IRRI’s history would be complete without the Green Revolution of the 1960s. IR8, a semi-dwarf, high-yielding variety developed by IRRI, was released in 1966. Its short stems made it resistant to lodging, while its strong response to fertilizer helped increase rice production across Asia and beyond. IRRI regards IR8 as the prototype of modern semi-dwarf rice varieties and as the variety that helped trigger the Green Revolution in rice. Later known as “miracle rice,” IR8 remains one of the emblematic varieties of modern rice breeding. IR64, first released in the Philippines in 1985, combined high yield, early maturity, good eating quality, and resistance to pests and diseases. Within 20 years of its release, it was being grown on more than 10 million hectares worldwide and became known as a “mega-variety.”

IRRI’s role is not limited to developing varieties. The International Rice Genebank, managed by the T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Center in the Philippines, conserves one of the world’s largest collections of rice genetic resources, including cultivated rice, landraces, wild relatives, and genetic stocks. Researchers and breeders worldwide use the collection for research, breeding, and education. These genetic resources provide an indispensable foundation for identifying useful genes and traits with which to address climate change and emerging pests and diseases.
IRRI not only disseminates research findings through publications and technologies, but also works to connect them with local realities, institutions, extension systems, and capacity development in each country. Rice is a staple food for much of the world’s population, while growing environments and challenges vary by region. It is therefore essential to understand the diversity of rice-growing environments worldwide and combine technologies in ways that meet local needs.

Cooperation between Japan and IRRI

Cooperation between Japan and IRRI dates back to the institute’s founding. Japanese researchers have contributed to IRRI’s work in breeding, pathology, crop physiology, agronomy, and the social sciences through joint research and researcher exchanges. Many Japanese rice researchers spent time at IRRI early in their careers, gaining experience through collaboration with local researchers and building the foundations of their subsequent careers. Researchers trained at IRRI have brought international networks and knowledge back to rice research in Japan, while also helping apply findings from Japan to rice research worldwide.

It is important to understand this relationship not as one-way assistance, but as a complementary research partnership. Japan has accumulated expertise in crop physiology and environmental measurement, genetics, breeding, crop management, and climate-impact assessment. IRRI, meanwhile, offers access to diverse rice-growing environments, including tropical and subtropical regions; research resources such as the International Rice Genebank; and networks linking research and extension organizations in many countries. By bringing together their respective research foundations and strengths, Japan and IRRI can better address the interconnected challenges facing rice production under climate change.

What Japan Can Learn from the Global Front Line—and What It Can Contribute
Rice research today must address a wide range of interrelated challenges, including heat, drought, salinity, pests and diseases, greenhouse-gas emissions, labor shortages, and changing nutritional and market needs. In addition to varietal improvement, IRRI has set out a vision for transforming “rice-based agri-food systems” by integrating cultivation technologies, climate-change adaptation, environmental sustainability, digital technologies, education, and capacity building.
Japan, too, must respond to heat-related impacts on yield and quality, shortages of agricultural labor, water-management challenges, and the need to reduce environmental burdens. There is considerable value in connecting the knowledge accumulated by IRRI and its partners in tropical and subtropical environments with

Japan’s own research base.

Japan’s accumulated research expertise is expected to contribute to solving international challenges. Rather than treating varieties and cultivation technologies separately, an integrated perspective is needed—one that combines climate projections, crop models, environmental monitoring, geospatial analysis, data analytics, and technologies for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Such integrated approaches are expected to support the design of locally appropriate measures that anticipate future climate risks. Sustaining this work will require international research networks through which knowledge, research resources, data, and people can be shared continuously.

Toward a Partnership in Which Knowledge and People Circulate

To turn international joint research into sustained results, it is not enough to share knowledge once; partnerships must continue to evolve through researcher exchanges and capacity building. Researchers learn about one another’s field realities, early-career researchers take part in international research, and the experience they gain leads to the next collaboration. This continuing cycle of knowledge, networks, and human-capital development strengthens our ability to respond to rapidly evolving challenges such as climate change.

As climate change makes the challenges surrounding rice production increasingly complex, the question is how to connect Japan’s research achievements and IRRI’s international research platform to the next generation of research priorities. Which challenges should take precedence, and what data, technologies, talent, and research networks should be put in place? Reading global trends and defining a research agenda that Japan and its international partners can pursue together will become ever more important.

The International Strategy Forum and Technical Workshop on Heat-Resilient Rice Production Systems will be held in Tokyo on Tuesday, October 13, and Wednesday, October 14, 2026. IRRI Director General Yvonne Pinto and IRRI researchers and specialists in breeding, agronomy, climate-change response, digital technologies, and related fields will participate in person. The forum will provide a valuable opportunity for researchers working on heat-tolerant rice in Japan and others involved in rice production and research to gather and exchange views directly. It will also serve as a venue for sharing these questions and considering a future research roadmap and directions for international collaboration. We warmly encourage anyone interested in how to safeguard rice production under climate change—and how to connect that effort to future research and partnerships—to take part.

For event details and registration, please visit the JIRCAS event page below.
https://www.jircas.go.jp/ja/event/2026/e20261013

References
International Rice Research Institute. IRRI official website.
https://www.irri.org/

CGIAR. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
https://www.cgiar.org/research/center/irri/

International Rice Research Institute. “Changing the world with seeds: The breeding history of IR8.”
https://ricetoday.irri.org/changing-the-world-with-seeds-the-breeding-h…

CGIAR. “IR64: the world’s ‘mega’ rice.”
https://www.cgiar.org/innovations/ir64-the-worlds-mega-rice/

CGIAR Genebanks. IRRI Genebank.
https://genebanks.cgiar.org/genebanks/irri/

International Rice Research Institute. IRRI 2025–2030 Strategy.
http://books.irri.org/irri-2025-2030-strategy.pdf

Kato, Y. and Hayashi, K. (2021). “Japan and IRRI: Contributions to International Rice Research for Sustainable Development, Lessons Learned and Ways Forward.” JARQ, 55 (Special), 483–487.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jarq/55/Special/55_483/_article

JIRCAS. “International Strategy Forum and Technical Workshop on Heat-Resilient Rice Production Systems.”
https://www.jircas.go.jp/ja/event/2026/e20261013

Contributors: Keiichi Hayashi, Environment and Natural Resources Program; Keisuke Omori, Information Program; and Miyuki Iiyama, Strategic Coordination Office