Nominations Open for 2024 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (Japan Award)

The prestigious Japan Award is now accepting nominations for candidates under the following criteria:

• Those who have shown outstanding performance in research and development in developing regions.
• Those who have made outstanding research achievements with potential for future technological innovation.

Recipients will receive a certificate of recognition and an incentive award of US$5,000.

We invite you to nominate your colleagues who you believe exemplify these criteria.

For more information, please click here.

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■ Latest Topics
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• Cross-talk on the Future of Space and Food Research at the Friday Night Science Café
  On February 2, 2024, Project Leader FUJITA Yasunari and Senior Researcher NAGATOSHI Yukari engaged in a cross-talk session at the Friday Night Science Café with Dr. YAMADA Koji and Dr. IZUMA Dylan Shun from the Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agenct (JAXA), discussing the future of space and food research.

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■ New Technologies and Research Outputs
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JIRCAS has food programs in its three research programs.

The following is a list of four results related to rice from last year’s research results of the Food Program.

• Novel genetic loci that elongate rice roots under different nitrogen conditions

  A key strategy for enhancing nitrogen fertilizer utilization in rice involves the elongation of roots and expansion of the root system. This study delved into the genetic loci responsible for root elongation in rice under varying nitrogen conditions. Our findings revealed specific loci that promote root elongation in response to low nitrate, high nitrogen, and both low and high nitrogen environments.

• Enlargement of grain size improves nitrogen utilization efficiency in rice

  The introduction of a gene responsible for enlarging rice grain size into Notohikari cultivar resulted in a significant increase in nitrogen use efficiency. This gene holds promise for enhancing rice’s nitrogen utilization efficiency and reducing the overall nitrogen fertilizer requirement.
  

• Nitrate uptake positively correlates with phosphorus use efficiency in rice

  In low phosphorus fertilizer conditions, the simultaneous application of nitrate as a nitrogen fertilizer has been shown to boost phosphorus use efficiency in rice. Enhancing the availability of nitrate or applying more nitrate as fertilizer holds potential for improving phosphorus utilization efficiency in the field.

• Selection of a promising donor for developing zinc-biofortified rice based on genomic prediction model
  

  Approximately 17% of the world’s population lacks adequate zinc intake, with the sub-Saharan African region facing the most acute deficiency. To address this, a genomic prediction model was applied to 3,024 rice lines from the International Rice Research Institute’s genebank to identify those with elevated zinc levels. These selected lines have consistently high zinc levels across different production areas in Madagascar, offering promising prospects for the development of zinc-enriched rice through breeding programs.

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■ Awards
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• PI Sarr and Colleagues Receive Best Presentation Award for Applied Research at SAT Technology Showcase 2024

  Dr. Sarr Papa Saliou, Senior Researcher of the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, and his colleagues were awarded the Best Presentation Award for Applied Research for their outstanding research results presented at the SAT Technology Showcase 2024 hosted by the Science Academy of Tsukuba (SAT) on January 25, 2024.

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■ Call for Submissions
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We welcome submission of articles on events overseas, timely local information, etc.
To submit an article, please include your affiliation, name (anonymous is OK), and the title of the article to koho-jircas@ml.affrc.go.jp

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【Edited and Published by】
Information and Public Relations Office
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)
1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan