A group of 40 first year senior high school students and 2 teachers from Saitama Prefectural Kumagaya High School visited JIRCAS on November 27, 2020 as part of the Super Science High School (SSH) out-of-school learning program. As a safety measure, the students were divided into two groups for introduction of JIRCAS research initiatives (indoor) and introduction of rice samples at the Hachimandai Experimental Field (outdoor).

The indoor lecture consisted of introductions to the integrated efforts of JIRCAS on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries research in collaboration with local research institutes in developing areas, the global issues on food, nutrition and environment, and the contributions to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The lecture was conducted interactively to draw out opinions from the students and to allow the students to grasp the current situation in the developing regions.

At the Hachimandai Experimental Field, Project Leader Dr. YANAGIHARA Seiji (Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division) talked about rice cultivation in the African region as well as root crops such as yam which is a regional crop in Sub-Saharan Africa. A demonstration of samples of African rice varieties and sensory evaluation of aromatic rice was also conducted.