Dr. Lakshman First Workshop Experience

Dr. Lakshman Rodrigo has written on his experience attending the IRRDB joint workshop held in both Malaysia and Indonesia from August 28th to September 7th.


"After reading this article, one might think that priority of the workshop has gone to something else which is not highly relevant to the mandate of IRRDB. But the case was not such that; better understanding of culture and enthusiasm with hospitality undoubtedly facilitated the decision making, hence the overall output of workshop, particularly in favour of livelihood of smallholders who are the majority in rubber industry. Therefore, I have no hesitation to mention that it was very successful workshop in every aspect."


This is a part of Dr. Rodrigo's article. For further reading, go to Newsletter site.
updated - 9/22/2002


IRRDB Symposium and Annual Meetings October 22nd to 26th 2002 - New Venue



Dr Mustapha M. Nadoma, director of RRI Nigeria regrets that, due to unavoidable circumstances, Nigeria will not be able to host the Symposium and Annual Meetings scheduled for October 22nd to 26th 2002. The secretariat is pleased to announce that the IRRDB Chairman, Dr Soekirman, who is also the director of RRI Indonesia has agreed to host the symposium and meetings of the Chief Executives and Board in Indonesia. The dates of the symposium and meetings remain the same. The venue will either be in Medan or Palembang. Final decision on the venue will be made very soon.

Dr Soekirman will be sending out invitation letters to chief executives, directors and members of the board to facilitate visa applications. The secretariat is trying very hard to have this symposium together with the annual meetings. This is due to the fact that we have receive offers of papers to be presented at the IRRDB Symposium.

The Secretariat regrets the inconvenience caused, but looks forward to the support and cooperation of chief executives, directors and board members to ensure the success of our symposium and meetings in Indonesia.



IRRDB Joint Workshops on Plant Breeding, Agronomy and Socio-Economics
August 28 - September 7th 2002

The workshops which were held in both Malaysia and Indonesia were attended by forty scientists from IRRDB member institutes representing the different disciplines. There was a presentation of more than 30 papers in the RRI experiment station in Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, and the Rubber Research Institute, Sembawa, Indonesia. In addition to the presentation of papers, the participants visited experimental sites and small holdings in both Malaysia and Indonesia. The workshop participants started the Indonesian programme by visiting the Rubber Research Institute Sungai Putih, Medan. They saw the germplasm materials from the 1981 collection and planted in Indonesia in 1984 growing vigorously in Sungai Putih. The same can be said of the germplasm materials in the gene pool garden in the RRIES, Sungai Buloh, Malaysia.

There was active participation in all the specialist group meetings and their recommendations will be tabled for the consideration of the Directors at their meetings to be held in Indonesia in October 22nd to 26th. The proceedings of the workshop will be made available to the participants as soon as they are ready in about 2 months time.

The Secretariat would like to express its appreciation and hard felt thanks to the host Institutes, Malaysian Rubber Board and the Rubber Research Institute of Indonesia for their full cooperation in ensuring the success of the workshop. The participants appreciated the fact that the RRI Indonesia in Medan opened their doors on a Sunday to allow the participants to visit. The Director General of Malaysian Rubber Board hosted a dinner for the participants before they left for Indonesia and the Honourable Governor of Sumatera Selatan officiated at the opening of the workshop in RRI Sembawa and kindly hosted the dinner for the participants. The Secretariat would like to place on record our thanks to all of them.

The success of the workshop is also due to the untiring effort of the IRRDB LOs especially Dr Ramli Othman, Dr M Supriadi, Dr Gede Wibawa and their staff who have worked behind the scene to develop and implement a very successful programme. The encouragement and support of the Director General of MRB, Directors of the Indonesian Rubber Research Institutes at Sungai Putih, Sembawa and Bogor is highly appreciated.



The IRRDB Training Fellowships for Year 2002
The Secretariat has received 16 applications for the above and is in the process of processing the applications. The IRRDB Training Commitee, chaired by Dr Tillekeratne, the Director of RRI Sri Langka will consider the applications and make a recommendation to the directors during the October meetings. It is expected that the training programme will be implemented beginning November 2002.
updated - 9/17/2002
The IRRDB will be organising a joint workshop involving the Plant Breeders, Agronomists and Socio-economists. The event will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Medan and Palembang (Indonesia), it will involve presentation of papers on plant breeding, agronomy, farming systems and related disciplines. Visits to experimental areas will also be included.
For those who are interested to presented papers or participate in the workshop please contact the relevant Liaison Officers.

This event is expected to be held in the 1st week of September. Please contact Dr Ramli Othman for further information.
updated - 6/19/2002

IRRDB Training Fellowships for 2002
Applications are invited from IRRDB researchers for the IRRDB Training Fellowship. For information, please contact the CEOs or Directors or your organisations. Further information can also be obtained from the Liaison Officers of the Specialist Groups. The closing date for application will be 15 July 2002.

updated - 6/19/2002
Jan 7-10 2002 Meeting of IRRDB Liaison Officers, Venue: Rubber Research Institute Malaysia of the Malaysian Rubber Board
updated - 6/19/2002
Nov 5-9 2001 Future of Perennial Crops, Investment and Sustainability in the Humid Tropics, Primature/BNETD, Côte d'Ivoire, CIRAD, France, and ESI-VU, Pays-Bas.

Nov 19-22 2001 CFC Regional Round Table Meeting on Commodity Development in Asia and the Pacific Region, Hotel The Renaissance, Kochi, Kerala, India.

The meeting is organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and will address various aspects of commodity production, processing, diversification and trade for the main agricultural and mineral commodities of relevant in the the region. Rubber is included in one of the working groups.


updated - 6/19/2002