Tapas Modak, Associate Fellow at the Foundation for Agrarian Studies presented an In House seminar on International Developments in Rice Research. The seminar was based on observations from his visit to Manila as a delegate to International Rice Congress, 2023.

During the In-House Seminar, he discussed about several themes that were discussed in the Congress which included – Opportunities and challenges in rice cultivation for Asia and Africa, Scaling Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), Development of high quality rice industry, the development of “Super Rice” which produces 30% higher yield, IRRI’s identification of the genes responsible for low and ultra-low glycemic index (GI) in rice, Transformation of Rice Value Chain for Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta, and Sustainable Rice Production.
The discussion in the seminar also shed light on Tapas’s experience during his to visit to some centres which included the International Rice Gene Bank, Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, Plant Growth Facility, and the Long term continuous cropping experiment (LTCCE).

The seminar was presented in a hybrid mode. Professor V.K. Ramachandran joined the seminar online whereas Arindam Das, Arumugham, Kunal Munjal, Professor Madhura Swaminathan, Rahul, Rakesh Mahato, Sai Chandan Kotu, Saniya Sood, Sandipan Baksi, Sethu C.A, Tapas Modak, and Utkarsh joined from the Foundation’s office.

The presentation was followed by an engaging discussion with the attendees. Professor V.K. Ramchandran and Madhura Swaminathan also shared their experience from their earlier visit to the IRRI headquarters, with the team.

Here are a few glimpses from the seminar…