Masa Iwanaga
Member
Building Climate Resilience in Coastal Bangladesh through Scalable Rice-Based Innovations
June 4, 2025
IRRI Experts Highlight Climate-Smart Innovations for Food Security at Gobeshona Global Conference 2025
June 2, 2025
What We Do
Our Commitment
IRRI tackles the world’s most critical challenges to drive sustainable development and support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Solutions
Combining science and innovation to deliver a portfolio of demand-driven solutions at the nexus of climate, food, and nature.
Enhance Food Security
Strengthen rice-based food systems for efficiency, sustained productivity, and affordability.
Strengthen Nutritional Security
Integrate more nutritious rice and rice-based products into diets with products that consumers love.
Catalyze Climate Resilience
Increase rice-based food-systems’ resilience in the face of climate change and extreme weather events through climate adaptation and mitigation.
Expand Market-Driven Supply
Expand and adapt rice production to meet evolving consumer demands in export and value-driven markets.
Combat Diet-Related Non-Communicable Diseases
Develop and scale healthier, affordable ride products to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases.
Accelerate Tech Transfer
Establish global and South-South pathways to scale breakthrough innovation for rice-based food systems.
10/2024 - 12/2028
Promoting Climate-Resilient Livelihoods in Rice-Based Communities in the Tonle Sap Region in Cambodia
Cambodia’s rice-based agricultural communities, particularly those in the Tonle Sap region, face growing vulnerability to climate change. Forecast trends in the country predict intense wet and dry s
01/2025 - 07/2028
Advancing Climate-Smart Technologies to Strengthening Rice Farming in Thailand
Rice is Thailand’s most important food crop, accounting for roughly half of Thai agricultural land and employing 18 million smallholder farmers. Rice farmers are among the poorest occupational group
06/2024 - 05/2025
Accelerating scaling of Low-Emissions Rice in Southeast Asia (AcceLER)
Rice production is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly methane. Globally, approximately 10-11% of all methane emissions come from rice fields. In rice-producing coun
07/2023 - 03/2027
Fertilize Right Project
Fertilizers play a critical role in agriculture, particularly rice production. A 2023 survey by IRRI involving 10,000 farmers in the Mekong Delta found that fertilizer costs make up about 30% of the
02/2024 - 02/2027
Climate Smart Rice Value Chain in the Haor Region of Bangladesh (CS-RVC)
The Haor Region in northeastern Bangladesh is a unique wetland ecosystem characterized by bowl-shaped lowlands that flood during the monsoon season and become cultivable in the dry season. Home to o
03/2023 - 03/2026
Reducing Methane Emissions from Rice (REMET-Rice) Project
The REMET-Rice Project is a pioneering research initiative by IRRI and partners that aim to transform rice cultivation into sustainable and climate-friendly agri-food system. Rice production generat
12/2024 - 02/2028
Youth in Agriculture: Agripreneurship, Nutrition, and Food Security through Zinc- rich Rice in Mozambique
Rural youth are essential for ensuring future food security. However, around the world, few young people envision a future for themselves in agriculture or rural communities. High pressure on arable
09/2023 - 09/2027
Multiple-Harvest Rice for Africa
Taking multiple harvests, or ratooning, from a single rice planting is a traditional rice production practice in many parts of the world. It can significantly reduce the cost per ton of rice product
10/2022 - 09/2025
Rice Crop Manager: Scale and Dissemination of a Digital Tool Promoting Environmental Sustainability, Increased Incomes, and Yields through Nutrient Management in Indonesia
Rice farmers in Indonesia face multiple challenges, including low productivity, small farm size, low input use efficiency, low profitability, and increasing production costs. To address these challe
09/2022 - 10/2027
Developing salt and drought-tolerant rice cultivars for sub-Saharan Africa to cope with global climate change
Rice is becoming a key crop in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), significantly enhancing food and income security, particularly in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia. Despite efforts from governments and dev
02/2007 - 12/2025
Temperate Rice Research Consortium
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in partnership with the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) of Korea’s Rural Development Administration (RDA), established the Temperate Rice
01/2024 - 01/2027
Promoting Self-Help Group-Led Entrepreneurship through Rice Value Addition
Rice-based systems are essential for the livelihoods of many rural households, and there are significant opportunities to develop rice-based food products for income diversification. This project ai
04/2023 - 03/2026
ASEAN-CGIAR Innovate for Food Regional Program
The ASEAN region is diverse and rich in biodiversity, playing a crucial role in agri-food and fish systems. However, it faces significant challenges, including climate change, urbanization, and biod
04/2025 - 03/2030
Climate-resilient and eco-friendly rice for Africa
Rice is becoming a vital staple in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to rising consumption and urbanization. Current production struggles to meet this demand, and climate change increases extreme weather
10/2022 - 10/2027
Dry Direct Seeded Rice for the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India (PlantDirect)
Dry direct seeding (DDS) is an innovative method for establishing rice crops by sowing ungerminated seeds directly into dry soil. This approach offers significant advantages over traditional transpl
Alice Laborte
Senior Scientist II - Geospatial Scientist