The fertilizer application technology “P-dipping,” developed by JIRCAS, was featured at a hands-on event organized in collaboration between JIRCAS and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tsukuba during the Rice Planting Festival held at JICA Tsukuba in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, on May 16, 2026. This initiative aimed to provide an opportunity for the general public to experience the technology through actual practice while raising domestic awareness. Approximately 150 people attended the event.

On May 18, 2026, seven members of a SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) project in Indonesia visited JIRCAS. During their visit, they paid a courtesy call on JIRCAS Vice-President YANAGIHARA Seiji and engaged in discussions aimed at further strengthening future collaboration.

On May 18, 2026 (Monday), a total of 21 participants, including 12 trainees, 2 accompanying staff members from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tsukuba, and 7 staff members from JICA Headquarters, visited JIRCAS as part of the FY2026 thematic training course titled “Prospective Agricultural Technologies as Solutions to Climate Change.” This course aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to utilize agricultural technologies that contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

In the 2026 Spring Conferment of Decorations, Dr. IWANAGA Masa, former President of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, in recognition of his long-standing contributions to solving agricultural and food issues in Japan and the international community, as well as to the advancement of international agricultural research.

The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) has added Japanese and English subtitles to the archive videos of the 2025 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (Japan Award) and the JIRCAS International Symposium 2025, and has released them on YouTube via the “JIRCAS Channel.”

From April 9 to 10, 2026, the “First ASEAN Consultation Workshop and Capacity Building: Development of Regenerative and Resilient Agriculture Systems Implementation Plan and Biochar Guidelines,” an event co-hosted by the ASEAN Secretariat and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) participated in the workshop at the invitation of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Dr. HASADA Katsumi, Senior Researcher in the Rural Development Division, has compiled the results of his research on food security conducted in Laos and published them as a book series on March 31, 2026.

In conjunction with Science and Technology Week (April 13–19, 2026), the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) will host a special online event, “JIRCAS Science Online 2026: Bringing Research Results to Future Society.”

In April 2026, JIRCAS released an introductory video and an infographic poster that clearly explain “P-dipping,” a fertilization technique developed as a research outcome of the “Africa rice farming system” project.

Dr. HASEGAWA Toshihiro, the new President of JIRCAS, shares his inaugural message as the Center begins its Sixth Medium- to Long-Term Plan.