AgroPages-Corteva Agriscience™ and IRRI Ink Partnership to Develop Advanced Rice Technologies and Programs-Agricultural news

Officials of IRRI and Corteva sign an agreement for a 4-year collaboration on rice breeding research on the sidelines of the 5th International Rice Congress in Singapore, October 15, 2018.

Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced a multi-year framework agreement on collaborative rice research, deployment of new breeding technologies and development of breeding programs.

Rice is the world’s most important staple food, directly feeding more than any other crop. To meet the demand of a growing global population, rice production needs to dramatically increase by 25% over the next 25 years. Yet increased competition for dwindling resources such as land and water, unpredictable climates, farm labor shortages and lack of technical expertise are some of the issues threatening the future of rice.

“Our shared goal for this partnership is to help rice farmers to become more productive and sustainable,” said Peter Ford, Corteva Agriscience’s President, Asia Pacific.

“With Corteva’s market-leading rice portfolio and IRRI’s extensive crop knowledge, the possibilities are very exciting. Our collaboration will allow us to access IRRI’s vast germplasm genebank, technological capabilities and expertise so that we can continue to offer farmers high-performing products and effective science-based innovations that optimize yield and crop quality.”

The agreement provides both parties with access to advanced technologies, including IRRI’s germplasm, hybrid and inbred rice programs and Corteva Agriscience’s precision breeding technologies. The partnership seeks to improve the genetic outcomes of breeding programs, encourage sustainable rice cultivation, and develop new rice varieties which deliver higher yields and are more resilient against biotic and abiotic stresses.

Other areas of collaboration will include the development of holistic agronomic and crop protection programs to enhance the adoption of Direct Seeded Rice – a resource-efficient technology that overcomes limitations of traditional cultivation techniques – and improve the productivity and profitability of rice farming.

“This collaboration will significantly accelerate IRRI’s capacity to develop stress-tolerant and climate-smart rice varieties as well as improved agronomic practices for the benefit of rice farmers all over the world,” said Jacqueline Hughes, Deputy Director General for Research, IRRI.

“We also look forward to broadening the collaboration by tapping Corteva’s global expertise in genome editing technologies and hybrid breeding systems to augment IRRI’s R&D efforts for our hybrid and inbred programs,” she said.

The agreement was formalized at the 5th International Rice Congress (IRC) in Singapore, organized by IRRI. Corteva Agriscience is a platinum sponsor of the IRC.