SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija - The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is marking its 20th anniversary for two days starting tomorrow at its central experiment station here.

The PhilRice celebration comes amid a backdrop of several milestones and achievements, including the development of 79 rice varieties for various ecosystems, its receipt of the ISO 14001 certification on environmental management systems, and its creation of the Intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO) to take charge of intellectual property rights.

Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, PhilRice executive director, said this year's anniversary rites, which carry the theme Bagong Kaalaman at Teknolohiya, Tungkulin Namin sa mga Magsasaka (New knowledge and technologies, our responsibility to the farmers), will be graced by Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban.

National scientist Dr. Gelia Castillo, a staunch rice advocate and a member of the PhilRice board of trustees, is the guest of honor.

The two-day affair will be highlighted by an art exhibit, a discussion of family and work balance, and launching of new publications, including a coffeetable book on Filipino rice recipes.

Dr. Emil Javier, chairman of the Asian Rice Foundation's board of trustees and former president of the University of the Philippines, will share his experiences in managing agricultural research as part of the Santiago Obien seminar named after Sebastian's predecessor, Dr. Santiago Obien.

Sebastian said the institute's 20 years of service to the Filipino farmer and agriculture sector through research and development and extension services is marked with strides in varietal improvement, crop management, training, and environmental protection and conservation.

PhilRice is the lead agency of the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture, a network of R&D and educational institutions that provide education, training, extension and communications in agriculture.

Sebastian said the institute is undertaking two projects with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) - the project-type technical cooperation on R&D of location-specific integrated rice technologies and a five-year support program on rice-based farming systems fro the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.