Year-End Report

to IRRI Staff

Robert S. Zeigler
Director General

25 November 2010
 IRRI’s Financial Health

• Budget deficits from 2005–09

– Planned and strategic
• 2010 nearing highest budget since early
1990s
• Major infrastructure grant (>USD15M)
• 2010 projected to be a balanced budget year,
as will successive years
– Depends on maintaining productivity and donor
confidence
 IRRI has continued to grow in 2010
Total number of IRRI employees

31 October 2008 31 October 2009 31 October 2010

Category 929 1,013 1,105

NRS 825 901 977
HQ-based NRS 769 HQ-based NRS 823 HQ-based NRS 864
CO-based NRS 56 CO-based NRS 78 CO-based NRS 113
IRS 76 84 90
HQ-based IRS 66 HQ-based IRS 71 HQ-based IRS 76
CO-based IRS 10 CO-based IRS 13 CO-based IRS 14
PDF 28 28 38
HQ-based PDF 25 HQ-based PDF 24 HQ-based PDF 31
CO-based PDF 3 CO-based PDF 4 CO-based PDF 7
Scholars 222 179 198

In 2010, we hired 16 new people every month and a new member of the
IRRI staff joined every 0.76 working days.

In addition, we hired 358 people on short-term appointments.

As of 2 November 2010, we are actively recruiting to fill 84 vacancies

across the Institute (78 NRS, 4 IRS, and 2 PDF).
 The 2009/2010 Staff Satisfaction survey
highlighted some of our workplace strengths:

• 92.5% of respondents are satisfied that IRRI is meeting its mission.

• 85.4% of respondents are satisfied with the way leadership at IRRI
is setting the research agenda.
• 85.3% of respondents are satisfied that they have what they need to
do their job.
• 84.4% of respondents would recommend IRRI as a good place to
work.
• 81.5% of respondents believe that they are treated with respect and
fairness as an IRRI employee.

Two areas in which employees were least satisfied were:

• Career development,
• Compensation and benefits.

A series of improvement initiatives have been undertaken in response to

this feedback.
 Support for career development
continues to strengthen
• The creation of formal, consistent, and transparent career paths:
– New IRS science career path to be implemented in January 2011
– Guidelines for PDFs and NRS are currently in development.

• Support for internal advancements for staff who consistently achieve

at a high level. Between Jan and Sept 2010:
– 68 NRS or almost 7% of the total NRS workforce were promoted, as
a result of either position reclassification or a successful application
for an internal vacancy.
– 3 PDFs or 8% of PDFs were promoted to IRS following a rigorous
evaluation-for-promotion process.

• Providing capacity building opportunities:

– Orientation, Mentoring, Supervisory Training (STP), Management
Development Training (MDTP), Project Management Training,
Pathways to Performance Excellence.

• The Young Researchers Lunch series

 Compensation and benefits initiatives focus
on both HQ and Country Office locations

• Compensation and benefit activities at Headquarters (HQ)

• Benchmarking survey undertaken to assess the competitiveness of IRRI’s
HQ-based total remuneration package for NRS
• Enhanced benefits were provided to HQ-based NRS in 2010 through the
Intellicare plan
• Mutually Agreed Voluntary Early Retirement Program (ERP) reduction in the
required years of service from 30 years to 20 years.
• Updates to the policy for IRS on the Housing Policy and the Medical
Evacuation Policy
• Pilot ”Working from Home” approach
• Review of IRRI’s current approach to on-site Medical Care for HQ-based
employees

• Compensation and benefit activities at Country Offices (CO)

• New standard medical insurance plan from 1st January 2011 for all CO-
based NRS
• Review of CO-based NRS compensation and benefits
 The IRRI workplace continues to be
positive, harmonious, and
productive

• Thanks to IFEA’s strong contributions and effective

collaboration.

• Thanks to the IRRI SportsFest activities and HRS wellness

seminars that have been well attended.

• Thanks to the highly successful events organized by SINOP,

AFSTRI, and others that have contributed to our enjoyment
of being a part of IRRI.
 Managing IRRI’s growth
• Will adopt a new corporate management
system (One Corporate System)
• Will begin to roll out in 2011
• Expect to be operational in third or fourth
quarter of 2011
• Will require patience, communication, and
commitment
Significant events
 50th anniversary—Nov.-Dec. 2009

Thai princess visit to RG6 & IRRI Magsaysay Center Party

RG6 participants visit IRRI IRRI Fiesta

50th anniversary—April 2010

Talent show
PhilRice book launch

Boodle lunch IRRI Pioneers

Commemorative stamps

Historical markers BOT Dinner Softball game

50th anniversary—July 2010
Bangladesh: Prime minister inaugurates IRRI 50th
anniversary celebrations
 50th anniversary—Sept. 2010

Timmer in New York

Macintosh in San Francisco

Release of Asia Society-IRRI Task Force Report in New York & San Francisco:
Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia
 50th anniversary—Oct.-Nov. 2010

IRRI at World Food Prize events

International Rice Congress 2010

 IRRI in the News
 More than 18 media visited IRRI including the popular local TV
network ABS-CBN (where IRRI appeared four times this year).

 Foreign correspondents and visitors reporting across Asia and

the world from outlets such as The Straits Times (Singapore),
AFP, and the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

 We have more than 900 facebook friends since the time we

published the page in late May 2010:
http://www.facebook.com/IRRI ricenews

 We surpassed a quarter of million video views on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/irrivideo
IRRI and Philippine Department of
Agriculture sign collaboration on
nutrient management
 From March 2010, we have
recorded 223 media hits
The Wall Street Journal – Asia
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704760704575515750905898286.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101110/full/news.2010.595.html
Science: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/05/genetic-discovery-promises-to-bo.html

New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727776.600-supercrops-fixing-the-flaws-in-
photosynthesis.html?full=true

And coverage across national media such as:

The Philippine Star
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=568487&publicationSubCategoryId=200%2021%20Apr%202010

The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=24764

Voice of Vietnam
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Vietnam-maybe-worlds-top-rice-exporter-before-2015/20106/117066.vov
 IRRI in the News
We've also had coverage thanks to the wires
networks including:
Reuters:
http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/52132/2010/02/31-125605-1.htm
Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-12/wheat-stocks-sugar-cane-rice-crops-ruined-by-
pakistan-s-worst-flooding.html
AFP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h300BivTZ-FPHTbgfGhVQ-L2amug
 IRRI in the News
If The Food Runs Out:

Friday 26 November 9:00 PM HK/SIN/MAL 8:00 PM Thai/WIB

Saturday 27 November 3:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 2:00 AM Thai/WIB
Saturday 27 November 7:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 6:00 AM Thai/WIB
Saturday 27 November 3:00 PM HK/SIN/MAL 2:00 PM Thai/WIB
Monday 29 November 7:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 6:00 AM Thai/WIB

And later in December:

Friday 17 December 12:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 11:00 AM Thai/WIB
Friday 17 December 6:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 5:00 AM Thai/WIB
Saturday 18 December 9:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 8:00 AM Thai/WIB
Thursday 23 December 2:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 1:00 AM
Thai/WIB
Combating vitamin A deficiency among the poor:
Golden Rice

GR1 – 2004 GR2 - 2005

 Golden Rice nearing release
• A major opportunity for IRRI to meet
nutritional needs of the poorest of the poor
• Because it is a transgenic trait, some are
ideologically opposed to it
• IRRI follows all Philippine regulatory and
biosafety requirements
• Can expect increasing frequency of
attacks on IRRI
– Refer all inquiries to Sophie Clayton
 CGIAR Change Process
• 15 Centers have joined a CGIAR
Consortium
– All (including IRRI) retain their own legal
independence, boards, and management
• Consortium has a Board of Trustees
– Chair is Carlos Perez del Castillo
• Consortium has an office (Montpellier,
France)
– CEO is Lloyd Lepage
• Funds will flow in much the same way
as before
 CGIAR Change Process

• Major change is creation of CGIAR

Research Programs (CRP – aka Mega
Programs)
– There was massive confusion over what these
things were to look like and do
• IRRI and AfricaRice made decision in
November 2009 to seriously begin
development of a rice CRP that came to be
called Global Rice Science Partnership
(GRiSP)
 Global Rice Science Partnership
(GRiSP)

Irrigated
Each dot represents
Rainfed lowland
5,000 ha of rice
Rainfed upland

An evolving alliance of IRRI, AfricaRice & CIAT

with Cirad, IRD, JIRCAS, and hundreds of research and
development partners worldwide
 Outcome-driven innovation through interdisciplinary,
product-oriented R&D in GRiSP

GRiSP R&D
Themes

15-20% 25-30% 20-30% 5-10% 5-10% 10%

1 Genetic 2 New 3 Production 4 New Products 5 Targeting 6 Regional

Resources Varieties Systems & Value Chains & Policy Delivery
Regional/National

d
2.1. Informatics and MET

an
Pro Initiatives
du

em
ct - System solutions
2.2. Improved traits de

td
ma
- Public & private

uc
nd

od
2.3. Stress-tol. rice partners

Pr
Global and 2.4. HY irrigated rice
Regional R&D Milestones for target
Product Lines 2.5. Hybrid rice Activities Products regions Outcomes
2.6. Healthier rice ( Regional)
Partners

Impact
GRiSP has over 900 R&D partners worldwide
 GRiSP vision of success (by 2035)
• Food security and reducing poverty
– Rice prices paid by the urban and rural poor will be at least 15%
lower in 2035 than without investing in GRiSP R&D.
– Expenditures on rice by the poor would decline by $11 billion
annually, lifting 150 million people above the poverty line.
• Hunger reduction and improved nutrition
– 60 million undernourished people In Asia reach caloric sufficiency,
reducing hunger by more than 20% in target regions.
– Nutritional enhancement will save millions of disability-adjusted life
years.
• Sustainability and resource efficiency
– Rice-based cropping systems will be more sustainable and operate
with greater farming efficiency and resilience to climatic extremes.
– Water, nitrogen, and labor efficiencies in rice systems will be
improved by at least 30%.
– Reduced GHG emissions from rice systems: 1 billion tons CO2.
 GRiSP structure
Annual Reports Consortium Board
Fund & CEO
Performance

Window1-3 Funds
contracts

DG & Board Chair

IRRI (Lead Center)
Oversight
Committee

Program Director PPMT

& PMU
Other International
AfricaRice IRRI CIAT Organizations
(DDG, Africa Lead) (DDG, Asia Lead) (RAD, LAC Lead) (JIRCAS, Cirad, IRD,..)

Global Theme
Other CGIAR
Theme x Leader
Research Programs
+ 2 Regional
(CRP)
Theme Leaders
Product Line x.1 Regional Networks &
Steering/Advisory
Bilateral Grants & Product A Product
Committees
Co-investments ….. Development
by Partners Product Z Leader A

Research Team A
(With Partners)
 Global Rice Science Partnership
(GRiSP)

• 1 November – GRiSP was formally, unconditionally, and

enthusiastically endorsed at the growth level by the
Fund Council

• 11 November – Launching
of GRiSP during the
IRC2010 in Hanoi
 GRiSP next steps

• Nov – Dec: First results of strategic assessment;

Annual budget for 2011

• Jan. 2011: Effective start of GRiSP workplan;

Catalyze new partnerships

• Sept. 2011: Annual review & prioritization;

Revised GRiSP workplan & budget
Regardless of approval of GRiSP…

We will still ultimately be

responsible for our own fate and
generating our own resources
• Official launching of the IRRI Fund HK on 29
November at a special event in HK

• No office. No full time staff (Duncan Macintosh is

Executive Director; Norm MacDonald is Director of
Finance)

• Same status as IRRI Fund Singapore (i.e.,

separate legal entity to IRRI with its own Board)

• Gives tax deductions to anyone in HK who gives

money to IRRI
Panelists:
• Rita Bhatia, Senior Programme Advisor, Asia, World Food Programme
• Frank Ning, Chairman, COFCO Corporation (China)
• Xianbin Yao, Director-General, Regional and Sustainable
Development, ADB
• Dr. Robert Zeigler, Director-General, IRRI
 Awards to IRRI and IRRI scientists

IRRI won two of seven awards conferred by the

Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR) at the Global Conference on
Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) in
Montpellier, France, in March

• Award for Outstanding Scientific Article

Roland Buresh,and three colleagues
(Mirasol Pampolino and Eufrocino Lauareles of IRRI and
Hermenegildo Gines of PhilRice

• Outstanding Scientific Support Team

Parminder Virk, and the Irrigated Rice Breeding Team
(Antonio Evangelista, Mario Garcia, Alvaro Pamplona, Danny
Balagtas, Nestor Ramos, Arseniao Morales, Benito Romena,
Macario Perez, Vitaliano Lopena, Virgilio Angeles, Elma
Nicolas, and Nelie Delos Reyes)
 Awards from Vietnam to IRRI
and IRRI Scientists
 First Class Friendship Order signed by the
President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
was awarded to IRRI during the IRC2010 in Hanoi

 Merit Medal ”For the cause of Science and Technology

development of Vietnam” signed by the Minister of Science
and Technology awarded to nine IRRI scientists

 Merit Medal ”For the cause of agriculture and rural

development of Vietnam” signed by the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development awarded to six IRRI
scientists
Thank You!