IRRI Hosts National Meet to Accelerate Adoption of Next-Gen Rice Varieties

On May 1, 2025, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) hosted the Seed System Accelerator Meet 2025 at the ICRISAT campus in Hyderabad. The high-level gathering united India’s top seed system stakeholders—public and private—toward a shared mission: accelerating the adoption of climate-resilient, high-yielding rice varieties for sustainable and competitive agriculture.

Led by Dr. Swati Nayak, South Asia Lead for Seed Systems at IRRI, and Dr. Vikas Kumar Singh, Regional Breeding Lead, the event featured key players from state seed corporations, private companies, NARES partners, and farmer producer organizations. Together, they addressed India's critical challenge—low rice productivity due to the slow replacement of older, less adaptive varieties, despite the availability of superior alternatives.

Dr. Sankalp Bhosale from IRRI stressed the opportunity cost of delayed varietal turnover and emphasized the need to bridge the gap between research and field application. The Seed System Accelerator Network, he said, offers a scalable platform to align research pipelines with the rice seed value chain across India's diverse ecologies.

 

Dr. Nayak pointed out, “The gap is not in innovation, but in delivery. Our goal is to drive demand-responsive seed distribution through data, collaboration, and inclusive models.”

The event showcased IRRI’s One Rice Breeding and Seed System Strategy, combining market-aligned breeding, coordinated on-farm testing, and multi-stakeholder scaling. Presentations included three-year adaptive trial data from Dr. Sk Mosharaf Hossain, revealing promising varieties with high yield, superior grain quality, and resilience to pests, floods, and droughts.

Focused group discussions explored solutions for strengthening public-private partnerships, boosting breeder-seed-industry-extension linkages, and expanding access to early-generation seed (EGS). Dr. Linga Reddy Gutha also detailed IRRI’s germplasm sharing framework, encouraging seed enterprises to join the next wave of varietal innovation.

 

Closing the session, Dr. Nayak emphasized, “We are entering a new era in rice agritech—one driven by agility, alignment, and partnerships. Together, we can ensure that every farmer in India has access to the best rice seeds for today's climate and market challenges.”

The event set the tone for IRRI’s continued leadership in empowering India’s seed systems and advancing its agricultural transformation.