For almost half a century, we’ve proven that it can.
Yale University economists say that, without rice research,
Rice prices for consumers would have been 40 percent higher.
Thousands of hectares of forests and other fragile ecosystems would have been lost.
Millions more children in developing countries would have been malnourished.
Rice science for a better world
In the 1960s, widespread famine threatened Asia. The region’s food production was struggling to keep up with a rising population, while stalled economic growth and instability were trapping millions in poverty and uncertainty.
In response, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations worked with the Philippine government to create the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a committed collection of scientists and researchers from around the world with the common goal of averting hunger by producing more rice through science. IRRI’s first breakthrough – high-yielding, fertilizer-responsive, short-stemmed rice varieties – is estimated to have saved millions in Asia from famine and provided a foundation for the region’s subsequent economic growth, lifting more people out of poverty than at any other time in recorded history.
Since then, IRRI’s work has led to a steady increase in rice production, lowering the price of rice, improving the lives of millions of rice farmers and consumers, and promoting economic stability, peace, cooperation, and employment throughout Asia.
Rice science for a better world
In the 1960s, widespread famine threatened Asia. The region’s food production was struggling to keep up with a rising population, while stalled economic growth and instability were trapping millions in poverty and uncertainty.
In response, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations worked with the Philippine government to create the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a committed collection of scientists and researchers from around the world with the common goal of averting hunger by producing more rice through science. IRRI’s first breakthrough – high-yielding, fertilizer-responsive, short-stemmed rice varieties – is estimated to have saved millions in Asia from famine and provided a foundation for the region’s subsequent economic growth, lifting more people out of poverty than at any other time in recorded history.
Since then, IRRI’s work has led to a steady increase in rice production, lowering the price of rice, improving the lives of millions of rice farmers and consumers, and promoting economic stability, peace, cooperation, and employment throughout Asia.
