The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the country’s lead agency in rice research and development, will celebrate its 31st anniversary on November 5-8.
With the theme Rice science and innovation for inclusive growth, the Institute’s anniversary will kick-off the celebration with the official opening of the National Rice Awareness Month (#BROWN4good Challenge Accepted: We do four goodness by eating brown rice) followed by the Santiago R. Obien seminar series on research management and institution on November 7.
PhilRice will also honor more than 100 of its staff members during the employees’ recognition or Dangal ng PhilRice on November 8. Key officials of the Institute and Dr. V. Bruce J. Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and partnerships of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), will award plaques and certificates to the recipients of external, scientific productivity, scholastic, loyalty, and outstanding employee awards.
As a research Institution, PhilRice advances various frontiers of rice science by producing scientific publications written by its researchers and scientists. These were published in some of the most reputable journals in the world such as the Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment, International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, Philippine Journal of Crop Science, and the Philippine Agricultural Scientist.
Since 1985, the Institute with its Central Experiment Station in the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija, has developed more than 70 rice varieties. It radiates its impacts through its branch stations located in Batac City, Ilocos Norte; San Mateo, Isabela; Los Baños, Laguna; Ligao City, Albay; Murcia, Negros Occidental; RTRomualdez, Agusan del Norte; Central Mindanao State University, Bukidnon; and Midsayap, North Cotabato.