IRRI Annual Report 2004-2005 | Annual Report of the Director General, 2004-05

As we have pointed out to audi- ences on every continent during the International Year of Rice just concluded, IRRI has a major role to play in achieving many of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (www.undp.org/mdg)—especially goal #1—the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. Rice is so central to the lives of most Asians that any solution to global poverty and hunger must include research that helps poor Asian farmers reduce their risks and earn a decent profit while growing rice that is still affordable to poor consumers