Julian Lapitan, the Partnership manager of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has been selected to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award for International Service and Extension by the UPLB College of Agriculture Alumni Association. The award will be given during the Alumni Fellowship and Awarding Ceremony on 9 October 2014.
Mr. Lapitan’s extensive work, which spans 27 years, is instrumental in developing and maintaining an excellent and productive relationship between IRRI and its partners in various national agricultural research and extension systems including those in Asia and Africa.
Mr. Lapitan has received several awards from various countries for his contribution to rural and agricultural development. Among his many achievements in international services and cooperation include an ADB funded-action research project that improved postharvest crop management, rice biomass utilization, and rice farming systems diversification at the village level. This led to enhanced income and employment in the Asian rice-based farming communities.
Moreover, Mr. Lapitan managed several IRRI projects that provided relevant human capacity building in research and development systems in Bhutan, North Korea, and the Republic of South Korea. He also served as IRRI representative to Technical Management Committee of the Regional Rice Research Center in Iran and was involved in various project development and management in different capacities.