Monthly Archives: January 2009

Soil quality in rainfed lowland rice

Map 2. Distribution of rainfed lowland rice soil quality area in Asia. Each dot is colored to represent the assumed dominant soil class. (Photo: IRRI) Rainfed...

Rice on the cutting edge

A farmer group discusses the rice-cutting method. (Photo: Yothin Konboon) If performed correctly, the practice of planting rice by broadcasting rice...

Food security and fertilizer

Food security is back on the global agenda. With the recent food crisis, public attention has returned to issues of availability and affordability, particularly for the urban and rural poor. Responses to the accelerating changes in food stocks and prices in recent months ranged from interventions at the policy level to calls for longer term strategies, including greater...

World Rice Commerce 2008: price volatility set to continue

Lien Dai of the Vietnam Food Association (left) with V. Subramanian. (Photo: The Rice Trader) Sustained price volatility” was the conclusion at the...

How much water does rice use?

Many people ask the question, “How much water does it take to produce 1 kg of rice?” The answer to this question lies in the definition of “water...

More than meets your rice

The author (center) with two symposium staff clad in kimonos. (Photo: Furya Takashi) Maybe I was hallucinating but I thought I saw a pair of socks among...

Rice and the global financial crisis

In the October–December 2008 issue of Rice Today, I wrote an article (Rice crisis:, pages 40-41) the aftermath highlighting the 2008-09 supply and demand...

Dedicated scientists—a child’s inspiration

Happy days at IRRI circa 1970: Usha Palaniswamy (with white headband and glasses) enjoys snacks with her father Kodiveri (to her left), mother Indrani...

Sowing the seeds of art

Mysterious crop circles of incredible complexity that appear overnight, or a baseball park as in the 1989 film Field of dreams—who knows what you might...

Rice in the dragon shadow: China 1976

The first person-to-person contact between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and China occurred in 1974. On that occasion, IRRI Director...

About us

Rice Today is published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on behalf of CGIAR’s Research Program on Rice. IRRI is the world’s leading international rice research and training center.

Contribute to us

Rice Today is an international magazine dedicated to the world of rice. We encourage the submission of articles that highlight the impact and importance of rice research in tackling poverty, global food security, and environmental issues.

Contact us