What's on IRRI's table?

A photo essay by GRAIN, either in video or slideshow format: http://www.grain.org/pe/?id=232

GRAIN staff visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines in March 2009, one of the 15 international agricultural research centres that come under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

IRRI was set up in 1960 in the Philippines with funds from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundation. Turning 50 in 2010 it is still very much alive though its beginning to show shades of grey. After a mid-life funding crisis, it has set about doing its 'make-over' with much closer ties to the private sector.

IRRI runs and maintains an International Rice Genebank that holds over 109,000 collections of rice varieties of which 80% are traditional varieties that have been collected from farmers' fields from around the world. IRRI also does rice research and development. And herein lies a problem. When IRRI was doing purely "public" research, the issue was less urgent. But now, with IRRI partnering with the private sector and setting up its own private programmes (involving the licensing of rights to its breeding lines), the situation has changed. IRRI has to determine on what terms and conditions it will rent out its breeding lines to corporations. IRRI's intellectual property rights policy dates back to 1993 and has yet to be revised.

To view the video or slideshow visit:
http://www.grain.org/pe/?id=232

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Philippines
• Los Banos
• Laguna province