The major research and development activities of JIRCAS in the 5th Medium to Long-Term Plan which started in 2021, are grouped into the "Environment" and "Food" programs, with the aim of solving global-scale issues related to agriculture, forestry and fisheries. In addition, the "Information" program encompasses activities towards establishing a strategic information hub on the complex and diverse global environment and food system. We have created  three logos to serve as symbol for each research program, and we are pleased to release these logos to the public.

Dr. NISHIGAKI Tomohiro, Researcher in the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, received the award for excellence in poster presentation at the annual meeting 2021 of the Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition (JSSSPN) held online on September 14-16, 2021. The winning poster was titled “Cultivation of Stylosanthes guianensis can enhance phosphorus dynamics and following rice production in the central highlands of Madagascar”.

Dr. FUKUTA Yoshimichi, a former senior researcher in the Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division and the Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) and proponent of the international network research for the development of rice blast control technology at JIRCAS, received the 2020 Japanese Society of Breeding Award on March 20, 2021.

JIRCAS will co-organize the International Workshop of Southeast Asia Research-based Network on Climate Change Adaptation Science (SARNCCAS) with the Global and Local Environmental Co-Creation Institute (GLEC), Ibaraki University. The workshop will be held online on September 16 and 17, 2021.

JIRCAS is now accepting applications for the FY 2021 sessions of the Visiting Research Fellowship Program. This fellowship program will be followed six (6) research themes at the JIRCAS Headquarters in Tsukuba.

The FAO Liaison Office in Japan, in cooperation with JIRCAS, hosted a webinar-style event on July 14, 2021, to commemorate the publication of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030. More than 250 participants, not only from Japan but also from 15 other countries, including Germany and the United States, attended the webinar. The event is now available on the JIRCAS Youtube channel.

Dr. KAWAI Kiyosada of the Forestry Division was awarded the 25th Kira Award of the Japanese Society of Tropical Ecology. The award was given for his research on “Variations of leaf and stem traits in relation to altitudinal distributions of 12 Fagaceae species of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo”.

The International Symposium on Sustainable Land Management was held in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, West Africa, from May 17-20, 2021. The symposium was organized by the Soil Science Society of Burkina Faso, co-organized by the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Science of Burkina Faso and the Interstate Standing Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, and supported by JIRCAS and the Japanese Society for Tropical Agriculture.

Today, June 10, is the anniversary of the founding of JIRCAS. It has been 51 years since the predecessor of JIRCAS, the Tropical Agriculture Research Center, was established. We have started a Twitter account to coincide with today's anniversary.

https://twitter.com/jircas_direct

The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) is now accepting applications for fixed-term employment of young researchers.

Two proposals from JIRCAS have been provisionally selected1 for FY 2021 SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) project, which is a collaboration between the Japan Science Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supported by MEXT and MOFA.

The President of the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), Dr. NAKAYAMA Ichiro, visited JIRCAS on May 20, 2021 and exchanged opinions with JIRCAS President KOYAMA Osamu and other executive staff. The two presidents, who took office in April this year, introduced the new structure of their respective organizations in response to the newly launched 5th Medium to Long-term Plan.

BNI technology was featured in the “Green Food System Strategy” to achieve both productivity and sustainability of food, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industries through innovation.

The proceedings of the JIRCAS-FFTC International Rice Blast Workshop held on September 18, 2020 have been published and now available for downloaded from the FFTC website.

The Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office in Japan, Ms. HIBI Eriko, and Senior Advisor MITSUGI Hiroto visited JIRCAS on April 16, 2021 and exchanged opinions on strengthening cooperation with President KOYAMA Osamu and JIRCAS Special Advisor Dr. IWANAGA Masa.