IRRI - International Rice Research Institute (Nepal)

Since 1966 IRRI has provided improved germplasms to Nepal contributing to nearly 70% of its high yielding inbred rice varieties developed and released for irrigated and rainfed environments. The partnership has benefitted Nepal in conserving resources with the IRRI Gene bank that is maintaining 3,000 rice accessions from Nepal. In addition to core research and development, IRRI has supported Nepal in building a robust cadre of scientists and agriculturists by training over 313 Nepalese scholars on varied disciplines of rice science and technology, thereby strengthening its in-country capacity.In 1985, the partnership was further enriched by the refinement of research focus and targeting rice production domains for deploying improved rice varieties in rainfed lowland and irrigated areas. Supporting intensive research on agronomy, soil science, plant pathology, entomology and farming system, this collaboration has been instrumental in building the capacity of Nepalese scientists while encouraging technology transfer. Country projects implemented with the technical support of IRRI with improved rice varieties and related technologies, have thus been instrumental in improving farmers’