Japan and IRRI Launch CoolRice to Breed Heat-Tolerant, Lower-Emission Rice

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has launched a new one-year initiative with Japanese agricultural partners aimed at breeding heat-tolerant rice varieties while cutting methane emissions from paddy farming.

Named CoolRice, the project was launched on July 8, 2026 at IRRI's headquarters in the Philippines. It brings together IRRI with Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, and Gifu University.

The collaboration will combine plant breeding, crop management research, climate analytics, and researcher training to address two pressures facing rice farmers across Asia at once: rising heat stress that threatens yields, and the need to lower the methane emissions associated with flooded rice cultivation. Planned work includes heat-risk mapping, geospatial analytics and remote sensing, building on IRRI's earlier discovery of a gene linked to early-morning flowering in rice, a trait associated with better heat tolerance.

IRRI Director General Dr. Yvonne Pinto described the project as reflecting a shared commitment by IRRI and Japan to develop integrated solutions that help farmers remain productive while contributing to climate goals.

If successful, CoolRice's breeding lines and cultivation practices are intended to give rice farmers across Asia's warming growing regions a path to sustaining yields without increasing the crop's climate footprint.