The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research

What The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research does

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR-IIRR), headquartered in Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, is the Government of India's premier rice research institute and the coordinating node of what it describes as the world's largest rice research network. Operating under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), a statutory body of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the institute coordinates 45 funded research centres and approximately 100 voluntary centres across India, mobilizing more than 300 rice scientists working on irrigated-rice ecosystems. Founded in 1989 as the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) and renamed and elevated to IIRR in 2015, the institute's mandate spans crop improvement, crop production, crop protection, and transfer of technology, with the explicit strategic goal of supporting India's shift from subsistence agriculture to technology-driven intensive farming and sustaining food and livelihood security for more than two-thirds of the Indian population that depends on rice.

IIRR's product and technology surface includes a portfolio of released rice varieties (the DRR Dhan series 42, 45, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 64, 65, 70 plus Dhanrasi, RP BIO 226, Sampada, and Jaya), a suite of digital platforms for research coordination and farmer advisory (AICRIP MIS, Rice Expert System at ricexpert.in, IIRR Geoportal at iirr-geoportal.in, IIRR Seed Portal at iirr-seedportal.in, SARR, CRP, the Koha-based OPAC library system, and the IR@ICAR-IIRR institutional repository), a dedicated Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU) for digital dissemination, mobile applications, and an analytical services programme with revised user charges published in 2024. The institute is overseen by an Acting Director and is actively investing in training programs (e.g., 2026 computational genomics primer-design training) and stakeholder workshops such as the RAISE Project workshop in May 2026 and a CSR-funded research project on white-backed planthopper and false smut launched in July 2026.

The business model is government-funded rather than commercial: IIRR is wholly owned by the Government of India through ICAR, has no private investors or shareholders, and is financed by central-government grants rather than equity or product pricing. Where fee-based activity exists, it is limited to analytical services and nominal user charges published in a revised 2024 schedule. Technology transfer to rice farmers and to state agricultural universities and departments of agriculture is delivered through field demonstrations, an extension services arm, KVKs, the AKMU's digital channels, and partners, with the institute's measurable outcome reflected in India's record rice production of 118.87 million tonnes in 2019-20 and approximately 120 million tonnes projected for 2020-21 under pandemic conditions.

Name

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research

Legal name

ICAR - Indian Institute of Rice Research

Website

https://icar-iirr.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) is a Government of India rice research institute in Hyderabad that coordinates 45 funded and ~100 voluntary centres, developing rice varieties, cultivation technologies, and digital decision-support platforms for rice farmers nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Rice Farming (11116), Rice Farming (111160)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbon, Sustainability & Farm Certification Support (Agro-Environmental Advisory) (AFACABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data Integration, Interoperability & APIs (ETL, Data Standards, Connectivity Hubs) (AFABAMAL), Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ)

Keywords

• Rice research institute
• Crop improvement research
• Agricultural extension services
• Rice variety development
• Decision support systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Hyderabad

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ICAR-IIRR is India's premier national rice research institute that conducts basic, strategic and applied research on rice crop improvement, production, protection and transfer of technology. It develops high-yielding rice varieties (e.g., the DRR Dhan series), operates digital research coordination and decision-support platforms (AICRIP MIS, Rice Expert System, IIRR Geoportal, IIRR Seed Portal), provides analytical/laboratory services, and disseminates technologies to farmers and state agricultural universities through extension services and field demonstrations.

Product overview

ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) is India's premier rice research institute operating under ICAR. The institute coordinates the world's largest rice research network with 45 funded centers and ~100 voluntary centers involving over 300 rice scientists. IIRR offers a portfolio of digital platforms and decision support tools including AICRIP MIS for coordinating multi-center research trials, Rice Expert System for cultivation advisories, IIRR Geoportal for spatial/GIS analysis, IIRR Seed Portal for variety information, and CRP platform for research coordination. The institute also provides analytical services, maintains digital library systems (Koha OPAC, IR@ICAR-IIRR institutional repository, Knimbus portal), and develops rice varieties (DRR Dhan series, Dhanrasi, RP BIO 226, Sampada, Jaya). Research focus areas include crop improvement, crop production, crop protection, and transfer of technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DRR Dhan: Rice varieties developed by IIRR (e.g., DRR Dhan 42, 45, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 64, 65, 70)

Products and services

• AICRIP MIS Management Information System for the All India Coordinated Rice Research Project, coordinating multi-centre rice research trials and data across India's network of funded and voluntary centres. Used by IIRR, partner state agricultural universities and cooperating centres.
• Rice Expert System Web-based expert/decision support system providing advisory services on rice cultivation and management practices for farmers, extension workers and researchers.
• IIRR Geoportal Geographic Information System (GIS) portal providing spatial data, mapping and analytics services for rice research areas, supporting multi-centre rice research analysis.
• IIRR Seed Portal Digital platform for managing and disseminating information about rice seed varieties developed by IIRR, supporting seed certification, tracking and varietal information dissemination.
• DRR Dhan Rice Varieties

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced record 118.87 million tonnes of rice in 2019-20 despite pandemic conditions
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Corteva Agriscience: Global seed and agriscience company with a Pioneer rice hybrid program; comparable as a developer and distributor of improved rice varieties and traits, but operating commercially rather than as a public research institute.
• CGIAR: Global agricultural research partnership that oversees IRRI and AfricaRice; comparable as the umbrella coordinating rice research funding and programs that IIRR also participates in through ICAR.
• Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) - Rice Research: China's leading agricultural research body with a major rice research division; comparable in scale and rice breeding output but part of a much broader multi-crop R&D portfolio.

Regional players

• Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice): Philippines' national rice R&D agency with breeding, training, and extension programs; similar mandate to IIRR but operates primarily within the Philippines rather than competing directly in India.
• Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR): Indonesia's national rice research entity under IAARD; comparable as a government rice R&D body but focused on Indonesian agro-ecologies rather than the Indian market.

Direct peers

• Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice): Intergovernmental rice research center serving African member states; comparable as a multi-country coordinated rice R&D network with breeding, training, and technology transfer mandates.
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI): The global flagship rice research institute headquartered in the Philippines; directly comparable as a rice-focused R&D institution coordinating multi-country rice improvement networks and breeding programs.
• Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI): Bangladesh's national rice research institute conducting varietal development and crop management research; highly comparable scope to IIRR and serves a similar South Asian rice-producing base.
• ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI): Sister ICAR institute at Cuttack, Odisha, also dedicated to rice research and breeding; directly comparable mandate, governance under ICAR, and farmer outreach model.

Others

• Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture: Non-profit arm supporting smallholder rice and other crop research in Asia and Africa; comparable as an enabler of rice varietal and agronomic research with similar extension and farmer outreach objectives.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-icar-indian-institute-of-rice-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research