Stamps of approval: IRRI commemorative stamps are issued in the Philippines

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; http://irri.org ) based in the Philippines, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PPC; http://philpost.gov.ph/web/category/news ) has issued a set of four stamps celebrating the Institute's important work in rice research for the world, much of it done in IRRI's host country.

The four stamps were officially released by Philippine Postmaster General Hector R. R. Villanueva in a special first-day issue ceremony at IRRI's headquarters in Los Baños on 14 April 2010, that date being IRRI's official birthday on which its Board of Trustees met for the first time in 1960.

According to Elenita D.L. San Diego, acting manager of the PPCs Postal and Philatelic Department, the PPC receives, on average, around 50 requests each year to produce commemorative stamps for various causes, subjects, events, and a variety of organization and celebrity anniversaries, but only around 30-35 can be produced annually. Some of the most recent Philippine stamps feature Philippine marine biodiversity, 90 years of Philippine Rotary Club activities, the 77th birth anniversary of the late former Philippine president Corazon C. Aquino, and of course IRRI's 50th anniversary.

We were only going to recommend one design to the PPC. However, our designer came up with so many great studies that we sent four different renderings, all of which were accepted by the PPC!, said Michael Jackson, IRRIs former Director for Program Planning and Communications.

The stamps designer, Juan V. Lazaro IV, is a self-taught artist who first joined IRRI in 1980 as a laborer in the Plant Pathology Division, working in the field, greenhouse, and laboratory. Now head of the Creative Services Section of IRRIs Communication and Publications Services (CPS) and art director of this magazine, Mr. Lazaro described the elements in the four stamps.

In the first stamp, I incorporated an illustration of women transplanting rice—depicted as an element in IRRIs original seal and logo introduced in 1961, he said. The second stamp incorporates a recent aerial photo of the 252-hectare facility located on the main campus of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, 60 kilometers south of Manila. The third stamp features a recent photo taken in the IRRI field plots and the fourth stamp depicts a representative verdant panicle of a high-yielding rice variety developed by IRRI scientists.

This is not the first time the PPC has recognized IRRI with commemorative stamps. A two-stamp set was issued on 27 May 1985 to coincide with IRRIs 25th anniversary.

Stamp collectors and hobbyists can order a souvenir folder, which features the four-stamp set and the official first-day cover on a special envelope with a cancellation postmark dated 14 April 2010, by contacting IRRIs Riceworld Bookstore at RiceworldBookstore@cgiar.org. Cost is US$15.00/set while supplies last.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• IRRI
• commemorative
• stamp
• 50th
• anniversary
• International
• Rice
• Research
• Institute

[beachyfeet15]

thumbs up if you got to this video from school?!

[beachyfeet15]

RICE!!!