As drought ravages farms and stifles rice production across Asia, failing rains have shoved millions of people below the poverty line in eastern India alone. Read Rice Today, the magazine of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), to learn about the devastating impact of drought and what can be done about it.

Moving from India into Bangladesh, the magazine looks at an improved way to plant rice that is spreading across the country and helping farmers increase their income.

IRRI plant breeder Sant Singh Virmani is the man who put hybrid rice on the map in tropical Asia. His success has come via a long and bumpy road but he recently retired with the knowledge that his legacy lives on stronger than ever.

The September issue also carries stories on better rat traps in the stunningly scenic rice terraces of the northern Philippines and how scientists extract priceless pieces of genetic information from the 107,000 rice seed samples stored in IRRI’s International Rice Genebank.

Rice Facts asks whether rice research really helps reduce poverty in Asia while Grain of Truth emphasizes the need for policy support if farmers are to successfully adopt improved technologies.

All of this, plus a lot more — including news on the latest rice research milestones, the issue of genetically modified rice commercialization and the potential effect of climate change on rice production — is available in the September issue of Rice Today.

Magazines will be in the mail to subscribers in early September. To subscribe, contact Chris Quintana (c.quintana@cgiar.org) and copy your request to publisher Duncan Macintosh (d.macintosh@cgiar.org).

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with offices in 10 other Asian countries, it is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. Please visit the Web sites of the CGIAR (www.cgiar.org) or Future Harvest Foundation (www.futureharvest.org), a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and supports food and environmental research.