The Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Dr. Matthew K. Morell, visited JIRCAS on August 29, 2019, with Mr. Oliver B. Frith, Head of IRRI Business Development Office. They were in Japan for the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held in Yokohama City on August 28-30, 2019.

During their visit, a discussion meeting was held with JIRCAS executive staff including JIRCAS Vice-President Dr. Osamu Koyama and researchers involved in rice research. From the JIRCAS side, Program Director Dr. Nakashima talked about JIRCAS research activities on rice breeding and involvement in the RICE CGIAR Research Program (RICE CRP). From the IRRI side, Dr. Morell and Mr. Frith introduced the IRRI initiative on “Rice Genetic Solutions for Climate Resilience and Value Addition in ASEAN” with partners from China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN+3), as well as the current status of the RICE CRP. There were also discussions and exchange of opinions with JIRCAS researchers on the possibility of joint collaborations in breeding, agronomy and post-harvest research.