AgriNation News Network

Nellore | 04 March 2018

 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will set up its Regional Innovative Centre in the Nellore district.

Last year, the Union Cabinet had approved the establishment of IRRI, South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi. The one in Nellore will be its Regional Centre in South India.

The Regional Innovative Centre is a part of the MoU with the State government that was inked between the Andhra government and IRRI on Friday. The Director General of IRRI has in principle agreed to establish an IRRI Regional Innovation Centre in Andhra Pradesh.

Dr Matthew Morrell, Director General of IRRI, along with his team members, on Saturday, inspected the proposed site for the Centre. He was accompanied by V Damodar Naidu, Vice Chancellor of Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University and District Collector R Mutyala Raju. The team of scientists also visited Agriculture Research Station in Nellore and collected information about rice varieties developed by ARS scientists.

 In March 2017, IRRI had signed an agreement with the Agricultural University to train its scientists, economists and statisticians. It also agreed to establish a satellite-based rice monitoring system in one of the campuses of the agricultural universities.