On 9 December 2013, Dr. Bas Bouman, Director of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), visited JIRCAS headquarters in Tsukuba. On the same day, JIRCAS hosted an international seminar, titled "Situation of GRiSP and implication to Japan," where Dr. Bouman gave a lecture. Rice researchers from JIRCAS and other related institutes joined the seminar and discussed the activities of GRiSP.

GRiSP is one of 16 CGIAR Research Programs (CRP). Its missions are to 1) reduce poverty and hunger (food security), 2) improve human health and nutrition and 3) reduce the environmental footprint and enhance the ecosystem resilience of rice production systems. Its research themes include not only basic researches but also dissemination of research outputs (Last-mile delivery).

In this seminar, Dr. Bouman explained the organization and objectives of GRiSP and expressed his expectations for deeper involvement of all concerned in Japan. He stressed that wide utilization of Japanese advanced technologies such as "mechanized transplanting" would have great impacts on the rice sector in developing countries.

In order to facilitate collaborative interactions between GRiSP and Japan, JIRCAS, as a national center, has formed the GRiSP Coordinating Committee in Japan, bringing together major institutions involved in rice research.