A delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and Seeds of Life (SoL) visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos Laguna Philippines from 5 to 9 February to establish a long-term collaboration between the two organizations in various aspects of agricultural research and training relevant to improving food security in Timor-Leste.

The delegation included the National Director for Research and Special Services, National Director for Agriculture and Horticulture, SoL 3 Australian Team Leader (ATL), SoL 3 Research Advisor, Irrigated Rice Research Manager, Training Coordinator and Short-term Training Advisor.

IRRI welcomes MAF-SoL staff

The MAF-SoL delegation had the chance to interact with IRRI scientists and learn about new developments in rice research. The group was also given a tour of the whole IRRI experimental station as well as the Rice Genebank and other laboratories.

Dr. Roland Buresh explaining the long-term continuous cropping experiment

On the last day, IRRI arranged for the MAF-SoL delegation to visit a community of farmers in Infanta Quezon engaged in seed production. The group had the chance to hear the stories of the farmer group as well as share the rice production practices in Timor Leste.

Interaction with community seed production group in Infanta Quezon Philippines