IRRI Annual Report 2009

In the face of unrelenting pressure on rice production in Asia and other parts of the world and as we prepare for our second half century of innovation and achievement, 2009 was a year of rapid and unprecedented growth at IRRI. For a long period during the year, we were hiring 14 new persons every month and a new member of the Institute staff was joining every 0.65 working day. This sudden growth spurt took place, in part, to sustain our efforts with such exciting projects as Stress-Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA), the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), and using the sun to end hunger (C4). However, to keep these and other projects on course, we need to chart our future very carefully. That is why, in late Novem- ber, we launched a US$300millionfund-raisingcampaignatourIRRIFundSingaporeofficetosupportourcriticalriceresearchmandate.Organizedtomarkour50thanniversaryin2010,the5-yearcampaignhasalreadyraised$59 million, with just over 20 million for international rice breeding efforts. An additional $5 million was earmarked for extension training of African rice specialists. So, all in all, I am quite optimistic about the current funding trend for the Institute.