On March 17, 2022, JIRCAS held a signing ceremony for a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint research with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Department of Agriculture, Republic of the Philippines.

A promotional video of the SATREPS “Project for Breakthrough in Nutrient Use Efficiency for Rice by Genetic Improvement and Fertility Sensing Techniques in Africa” is now available on the JICA Madagascar "Fy Vary Project" YouTube channel.

Dr. TAKADA Kanako, a research fellow in the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, received the 2022 Promotional Award for Achievement in Tropical Agriculture from the Japanese Society for Tropical Agriculture (JSTA) for her research on biological nitrogen fixation and symbiosis of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in tropical yams.

We are pleased to announce the renewal of the top page of the official website of JIRCAS as of March 22, 2022 (Tuesday).

The JIRCAS Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) held the international meeting with the theme “Balancing Agricultural Production and Environmental Conservation on Tropical Islands” on February 14, 2022. The representatives from the local government offices of Okinawa Prefecture and Ishigaki City participated onsite, and the representatives from the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines joined online.

Panasonic Corporation, a joint research member of the SATREPS Project “Sustainable replantation of oil palm by adding value to oil palm trunk through scientific and technological innovation”, has successfully developed palm trunk pellets using new technology and decided to use "PALM LOOP" as a common global name of this material in the furniture industry.

JIRCAS has released an animation video featuring the results of the “Multiple use of regional resources in semi-mountainous villages” project in Laos. The video is expected to be used for educating Lao farmers and for policy making by the Lao government and international development agencies.

On December 22, 2021, Dr. MATSUMOTO Yukio, Researcher in the Fisheries Division, received the best paper award for research on Sanriku coast by Iwate Prefecture for his research on “Fenton reaction as a possible stimulus to induce spawning in Ezo abalone Haliotis discus hannai during stormy weather”.

On December 23, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced the selection of the “Top 10 News on Agricultural Technology for 2021”. Among them, the JIRCAS research results on the “Development of biological nitrification inhibition (BNI)-enhanced wheat that shows high productivity even with less amount of nitrogen fertilizer” was selected as Topic 7.

On December 8, 2021, TAMASHIRO Satoshi, Director General of the Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural Research Center, together with IREI Shin, Director of Crop and Environmental Research Division, and WATANABE Tamaki, Head of Research Planning Group, Administration and Planning Division, visited the JIRCAS Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) located in Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture.

Auditor ISODA Hiroko (Part-time) received the 17th Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Award on December 9, 2021.   

JIRCAS, in collaboration with the FAO Liaison Office in Japan, organized the Symposium “Fruits and Vegetables - Research and Opportunities for Human and Planetary Health” online on December 6, 2021. This symposium was an official side event of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G), which took place on December 7 and 8, 2021.

The JIRCAS Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) held the 15th Open House for a week from November 8 (Mon) to 14 (Sun), 2021, to introduce the research activities of TARF to the citizens of Ishigaki City and the general public. As it was the first time for the event to be held online, we devised the contents of the exhibition and introduction so that everyone could enjoy it, and the entire event received a total of 2,765 accesses from Japan and overseas. Thank you very much for your participation.

From November 24 (Wed.) to 26 (Fri.), 2021, JIRCAS presented an exhibit of research activities and results on biomass energy at Agro Innovation 2021 (organized by Japan Management Association), which was held at the Aomi Exhibition Halls of Tokyo Big Sight. The event is a specialized exhibition that showcases cutting-edge technologies and products related to the entire value chain of Japan's agricultural business. In the exhibition hall, thorough countermeasures against the new coronavirus were taken, such as taking temperature, wearing masks, and disinfecting.

JIRCAS participated in the Agribusiness Creation Fair 2021 organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and held at the Tokyo Big Sight Aomi Exhibition Halls from November 24 (Wed)-26 (Fri), with an exhibition of various research, including wheat that shows high productivity with less nitrogen fertilizer.