IRRI & ICAR Signed a 5-year Plan in Varanasi to Develop Better Rice

The ICAR and IRRI have renewed their ties and signed a 5-year plan (2023-2028) on Wednesday in Varanasi. The plan was signed by Dr Himanshu Pathak (ICAR chief) and Dr Jean Balié (IRRI director general) energizing the non-profit’s 60-year-old alliance with India. On Wednesday, the signing event was held in the setting of the G20 MACS conference.

The Philippines-headquartered IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) and ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) will work collaboratively to establish a framework in order to develop market-oriented rice varieties, develop climate-resilient rice system, and will also work in terms of bettering nutrition and rice health.

Dr Jean Balié stated that India’s collaboration with IRRI has evolved over the past several years, and so have the environment, expectations, and needs of doing business concerning what is happening in India and overseas. IRRI has always supported the research and development that assists in determining the agri-food system challenges.

Most of the Delegates Condemn the Ukraine War

One of the senior officials informed that the representatives who attended the G20 MACS on Wednesday held in Varanasi says that most of the delegates have condemned and opposed the Russian aggression on Ukraine.

On the G20 MACS occasion, the chair’s summary and outcome document read “Many delegates appeared here have condemned the war in Ukraine strongly and strained that it is triggering gigantic human suffering and intensifying existing fragilities in the global economy confining growth, disrupting supply chains, increasing inflation, food insecurity, heightening energy, and uplifting financial stability risks. There were certainly different assessments and views of the sanctions and situation.”

It also adds that “Paragraphs 3rd and 4th of this document, as taken from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration (15-16 November 2022), were approved to by all member countries except China and Russia”.