Overview

Rice is a key driver of Myanmar’s economic development, supporting the livelihoods of more than 5 million rural households. As one of the world’s top rice exporters, Myanmar accounted for around 5 percent of global milled rice exports in 2023 (USDA, 2023). In the same year, the country produced an estimated 25.6 million metric tons of paddy rice across 6.5 million hectares of farmland, with average yields of 4 metric tons per hectare (FAO, 2023).

Myanmar holds strong competitive advantages in the global rice market with its abundant land, water, and labor force. These resources present great potential to enhance rice productivity and broaden export opportunities in the country.

Since 1965, IRRI and Myanmar have collaborated on initiatives to strengthen the country’s rice systems through the development and adoption of improved crop varieties, better crop management practices, and agricultural technologies, aimed at achieving higher yields, more efficient resource use, and increased farmer incomes. In addition, efforts to integrate rice with other food systems, such as fish farming, have contributed to better nutrition and more diversified rural incomes.

IRRI also supported Myanmar in training and nurturing young rice scientists. In partnership with local and international organizations, it promoted climate-resilient practices and digital tools, helping farmers adapt to environmental challenges while safeguarding their yields and livelihoods.

While national issues have affected some activities, IRRI continues to maintain its presence in Myanmar and remains committed to supporting the country’s rice sector to ensure food security, sustainable production, and economic resilience for millions of its farming households.

Overview

IRRI and Nepal have maintained a partnership for nearly six decades. Since 1966, IRRI has provided improved rice germplasm and other innovations, trained rice researchers and stakeholders across the value chain, delivered technical assistance, and facilitated international collaboration in rice research and development. Over 70% of the improved rice varieties developed in Nepal have utilized IRRI's genetic materials. The establishment of the IRRI Nepal Office in 2005 further strengthened collaboration with national partners, enhancing research and development (R&D), capacity building, and innovation. This ongoing partnership has significantly improved rice production and food security in Nepal.

Rice is not only the staple food of Nepal but also the most important crop, deeply intertwined with the country's culture, livelihoods, and economy. Ensuring food security is synonymous with ensuring rice security. Rice is cultivated across altitudes ranging from 60 to 3,050 meters above sea level, the highest altitude for rice cultivation in the world. It covers 1.45 million hectares and produces 5.5 million tons of paddy rice annually, with an average yield of 3.8 tons per hectare. Despite its critical role, Nepal's rice sector faces several systemic challenges, including subsistence farming, low yields with large yield gaps, limited access to innovations, vulnerability to climate change, scarcity of inputs, low levels of mechanization, high post-harvest losses, inefficient value chains, high dependency on imports, and weak research and development capacity.

IRRI's response to these challenges in the rice sector is integrated into its long-term collaboration with the Government of Nepal through a joint 5-Year Workplan. IRRI's research-for-development priorities in rice-based agri-food systems include: 

• Breeding improved rice varieties
• Developing agronomic innovations
• Sustainable management of natural resources and the environment
• Establishing climate-resilient rice value chains
• Creating vibrant seed systems
• Implementing scale-appropriate mechanization and post-harvest innovations
• Enhancing market systems and rice value chains
• Conducting socioeconomic research, including gender and policy considerations
• Fostering capacity building 

By working together with key government, academic, private sector, farmer, and other partners, IRRI continues to promote a productive, efficient, resilient, sustainable, and inclusive rice-based agri-food system in Nepal. 

Overview

Rice is the staple food and the most important crop in Bangladesh, playing a crucial role in the country's culture, livelihood, and economy. Food security in Bangladesh is closely linked to rice security. With over 11 million hectares dedicated to rice cultivation, this crop provides 48% of rural employment and accounts for 70% of daily caloric intake. Paddy rice production in Bangladesh has nearly quadrupled since 1971, growing from 15 million tons to an estimated 55 million tons in 2024, making it the third-largest rice producer in the world.

However, despite these impressive achievements, the rice sector faces numerous challenges. Climate change effects, such as increased natural disasters—including floods, droughts, salinity, heat, and cyclones—pose significant threats to rice yields. With the population projected to increase by 15% by 2040, the urgency to boost productivity is heightened by the shrinking availability of arable land, water scarcity, and labor shortages. Other challenges include limited access to innovations, low profitability, and inefficient value chains.

In response to these challenges, IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) collaborates closely with the Government of Bangladesh through a joint 5-Year Workplan. IRRI's research and development priorities in rice-based agrifood systems include: 

• Breeding improved rice varieties
• Improve nutrition and health of rice value chain actors  
• Building climate-smart rice value chains
• Sustainable management of natural resources and environment  
• Sustainable intensification and diversification of rice-based systems  
• Strengthening seed systems
• Mechanization and postharvest innovation
• Digital agriculture  
• Socioeconomic research including policy and gender and  
• Capacity building 

IRRI’s work in Bangladesh is supported by CGIAR, the Gates Foundation, ADB, KGF Bangladesh, and HSBC. In collaboration with the government, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), both the public and private sectors, development partners, and farmers, IRRI is committed to developing productive, efficient, resilient, sustainable, and inclusive rice-based agrifood systems. This initiative leverages modern science, technology, and innovation in Bangladesh. 

Overview

India, the world’s second-largest rice producer and consumer, cultivates nearly 45 million hectares of rice annually and supports over 100 million livelihoods. While rice remains central to India’s food security and rural economy, challenges such as climate-induced stress, groundwater depletion, yield gaps, labor shortages, and post-harvest losses threaten the sustainability of its rice value chain. Productivity in many rainfed and stress-prone ecologies, especially in eastern India, remains below 2.2 tons per hectare. Furthermore, nearly 15% of total production is lost post-harvest due to inadequate storage and processing infrastructure.

IRRI’s work in India is supported by a strong network of regional offices located in Delhi, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Odisha, and Bihar enabling close collaboration with national and state governments, research institutions, and development partners. Active across key rice-growing states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, IRRI promotes climate-resilient rice varieties, sustainable production practices like Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and strengthened seed systems. In collaboration with World Bank, IRRI made notable contributions through the APART project in Assam, enhancing varietal dissemination, post-harvest practices, and extension services.

In the last 10 years, IRRI supported the release of 141 rice varieties in India; 52 fully developed by IRRI and 89 derived from IRRI germplasm. In 2024 alone, 10 new varieties were released, improving resilience, yield, and nutrition. IRRI has shared over 12,000 breeding lines with 50+ NARES partners, including 180 advanced lines with multiple stress tolerance traits provided to IARI and IIRR for use in national breeding pipelines. Additionally, 2,200 high-value global germplasm accessions and 496 Indian accessions were shared with 7 partners after whole-genome sequencing of 370 accessions—enabling the discovery of novel genes and donors for future crop improvement. Through innovations like SpeedBreed , IRRI is accelerating varietal development by reducing breeding cycles, thus ensuring faster delivery of improved varieties to farmers.

Preserving India’s rich rice biodiversity is another key focus. IRRI collaborates with national partners to document, characterize, and utilize traditional rice landraces, many of which offer unique traits for nutrition, climate resilience, and cultural value. Value addition is also a growing area of IRRI’s work.

IRRI has also leveraged digital tools to boost productivity and decision-making in India’s rice sector. Over 0.31 million farmers have benefited from Rice Crop Manager (RCM) for site-specific nutrient advice, while Rice Doctor offers pest management support in local languages. Tools like SeedCast, RPMS (in Odisha), E-Sakhi, AgDay, and FarmLog support seed forecasting, rice-fallow tracking, AI-based advisories, and digital MRV. Platforms like the Rice Knowledge Bank and Digital Learning Platform expand access to best practices. IRRI also uses GIS, satellite imagery, and drones for crop monitoring, varietal mapping, and precision agriculture.

To ensure last-mile access, IRRI strengthens national and local seed systems through partnerships with public seed corporations, community-based seed producers, and emerging agri-tech startups. This includes support for quality seed production, digital seed tracking, and demand forecasting tools. Alongside this, capacity building remains central to IRRI’s efforts, empowering farmers, extension agents, and young researchers through targeted training, knowledge sharing, and technical support to scale innovations more effectively and equitably.

Through strategic partnerships with NARES partners, state governments, and private sector stakeholders, IRRI continues to contribute to a more resilient, efficient, and inclusive rice agri-food system in India.

Overview

Thailand’s rice sector is one of the most established in Southeast Asia, ranking as the world’s second-largest rice exporter in 2024. That year, the country produced approximately 30 million metric tons of paddy rice across over 10 million hectares, with an average yield of 3 metric tons per hectare. The rice sector supports millions of rural livelihoods and plays a vital role in national food security and global supply.

Despite its strength, Thailand’s rice production faces several complex challenges. Climate change has intensified droughts, floods, and temperature extremes, leading to declining yields, soil degradation, and reduced grain quality. Additionally, socio-economic shifts, such as rising labor costs and an aging rural population, contribute to labor shortages. While mechanization could help address these issues, most rice farmers are smallholders who have limited access to advanced technologies and markets.

As a major rice-producing country, Thailand also contributes to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Although national policies increasingly prioritize mitigation, translating plans into scalable action remains challenging.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) supports Thailand through strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Rice Department. Collaborations include the development of climate-smart national roadmaps, enhancing Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems, and establishing policy frameworks for low-emission practices and access to carbon markets. IRRI also supports research on Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), drone-based mechanization, and the valorization of rice straws.

Current initiatives focus on expanding farmer access to digital tools, scaling precision water management, and facilitating public-private investment in sustainable innovations. IRRI also works to engage youth, promote biodiversity, and integrate climate-smart agriculture data into national statistics.

Through these initiatives, IRRI aims to align policy, research, and grassroots adoption to build a more resilient and sustainable rice sector in Thailand.

Overview

Vietnam's rice sector is a cornerstone of its economy and regional food security, producing over 42 million tons in 2022, with the Mekong River Delta contributing roughly 50%. Vietnam ranks third in rice exports globally, trailing only slightly behind Thailand in volume but trading at 36% lower value. While past intensification efforts have been successful, the focus is now shifting towards high-quality, low-emission production. The government's ambitious One Million Hectares of High Quality and Low-Emission Rice (1mHa) Program signifies this transition, aiming for a specialized, sustainable, and climate-resilient value chain.

Challenges in the rice value chain include the need for sustainable intensification, adaptation to climate change impacts like drought and salinity, high agronomic inputs due to low farming efficiency, high Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission due to the conventional practices of continuous flooding irrigation and rice straw management. To address these, IRRI, in collaboration with the Government and partners in Vietnam, developed the technical guidelines associated with high quality and low-emission rice production, which is well demonstrated through pilot models ìn 2024-2025. Furthermore, IRRI offers thematic solutions centered on:

• Breeding rice varieties for tolerance to drought, salinity, submergence, and improved quality.
• Developing and promoting innovations supporting high productivity and low-emission rice production, such as mechanized direct seeding combined fertilizer deep placement, alternate wetting and drying, and climate-smart mapping and adaptation planning, etc. to enhance soil health, land use and water productivity, conserve resources, rice farming productivity, and reduce emissions.
• Improving crop residue management and circular economy, including innovations for improved in-field rice straw decomposition and optimized off-field handling, processing, and recycling of organic fertilizer back to the field.
• Developing digital tools for monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of GHG emissions like the Rice Computation Engine for Greenhouse Gas Emissions (RiceGEM) and Rice Activity Monitoring and Reporting System (RiceMoRe).
• Enhancing capacity building efficiency through AI-based E-Extension and providing training on advanced rice management and new technologies.
• Improving rice value chains through EasyFarm app - matchmaking between farmers and other stakeholders along rice value chains.

Overview

Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) is a mountainous, landlocked Southeast Asian country, 85% of which lies in the Lower Mekong basin. The agriculture sector of the country contributes about 16% to the country’s GDP and employs around 58% of the working population.

About half of the country’s households are composed of smallholder, subsistence farmers in which rice is majorly cultivated. Most of their lowland rainfed and irrigated rice-growing areas can be found in Vientiane, Savannakhet, and Champasak Plains. Lao PDR is known for their glutinous or sticky rice which accounts for 90% of the production in the country. Khao niaw, as Laotians call their sticky rice, is a way of life. However, intense weather variabilities due to frequent drought and floods have threatened national rice production.

In 2025, FAO reported that the Government of Lao PDR aims to improve its agricultural sectors’ growth by 2.5%, aiming to improve nutritional outcomes, agricultural production, and securing market access regionally and internationally. Specifically, Lao PDR’s government is prioritizing the conservation of rice biodiversity for improved sustainability, developing high quality and productive rice varieties suited for local environments, improving seed systems, improving agronomy, plant protection, mechanization, and post-harvest processes for value addition, and improving irrigation systems to increase overall irrigated rice areas.

The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Lao PDR and IRRI was signed in 1987. Heightened collaborative work began when the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) supported the Lao PDR-IRRI Research and Training Project from 1990 to 2007. This project aimed to improve and strengthen rice research capacity within the country and included research support, development, and training. An offshoot of the project was the development of a national rice research network, which, by the end of 1995, included all provinces of the country.

On 12 January 2007, Dr. Sitaheng Rasphone, Lao PDR Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, and Dr. Robert Zeigler, IRRI director general, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a regional hub in Lao PDR and as a result, the IRRI-Greater Mekong Subregion office in Lao PDR was formally opened. The office has since become the IRRI-Lao PDR office.

Overview

Indonesia is a Southeast Asian country made up of more than 17,000 islands, making it the largest archipelagic nation in the world. Its unique geography and climate contribute to one of the biggest biodiversity on the planet. Agriculture plays a vital role in the country's economy, accounting for approximately 12% of Indonesia's GDP (World Bank, 2023). Additionally, rice holds significant cultural importance, celebrated through various rituals that remain strong among those who adhere to traditional beliefs.

Rice drives Indonesia’s agriculture sector and is a staple crop for about 90% of its population. In 2023, USDA-FAS recorded that the country produced about 33 million tons of rice making it one of the leading rice producers in the world. However, this is currently challenged by the rising number of imports which stood at 4 million tons the same year. About 90% of rice producers are from smallholder rice communities who own an average of less than a hectare of land for rice cultivation.

The Indonesian Government is focusing on increasing rice production by optimizing the use of swampy and rainfed areas, reducing imports, and harnessing mechanization. IRRI is committed to supporting these efforts to promote modern and sustainable agriculture in the country. IRRI is also contributing to the government’s goals to improve rural prosperity, food security, and environmental sustainability by helping farmers access integrated crop and nutrient management information through the Layanan Konsultasi Padi 2.0 (LKP) also known as Indonesia’s Rice Crop Manager.