Hiroshi Kato

In 1978 I started my rice breeder’s career at the Heterosis Breeding Laboratory of the Agriculture Research Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, which was under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery. Besides Ibaraki, I have also conducted rice breeding in Akita and Miyazaki Prefectures in Japan, at MARDI in Malaysia and at IRRI in the Philippines. I have bred 54 registered rice varieties, including high yield varieties like “Onari”, whole crop silage use varieties like “Leaf Star”, new-trait-rice varieties like “Milky Summer” and”, rice varieties for regular home consumption like “Akidawara. In my last position at the Mutation Breeding Institute, I have developed a new mutation breeding method with which I successfully selected several highest yield rice mutants. In my present position as Director of Genetic Resources Center, my work centers on the introduction of vegetable genetic resources from Asian countries through the cooperation with those countries.