Los Baños, Laguna
29 January 2016

 

Their Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan paid a visit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna.

According to reports by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emperor Akihito takes a keen interest in natural life and its conservation. Following the example of his father, then Emperor Showa, His Majesty plants and harvests rice in the paddies of the Imperial Palace grounds.

Alongside a tour in IRRI’s facilities, the Imperial couple was also briefed on the different kinds of rice developed by the institute, which are adoptive to climate change such as drought-tolerant, submergence-tolerant and salt-tolerant rice.

IRRI is a premier research organization dedicated to reducing hunger and poverty through rice science. It is a non-profit and independent research institute founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations with the support of the Philippine government. Its headquarters is located in Los Baños, Laguna and has offices in 17 rice growing countries in Asia and Africa.

* * *