Research Focuses

MDI is responsible to both education and research; however, research is an essential and remarkable task due to the long-term implementation. The institute is formed from three particular departments in relation to crop resources, agricultural systems and socio-economic and policy studies; therefore, the interdisciplinary research project is one of its sharpened strengths. Besides, institute’s departments are also focused on their particular research topics. The supplementations of intensified and interdisciplinary research projects have enabled to build up vertical and horizontal research strategies.

Major current research focuses of the institute are:

(1) Food security:  

• Plant genetic resource and biodiversity management (rice and root crops);
• Rice seeding selection (high quality and tolerance to salinity and droughts);
• Sustainable farming techniques (technical packages and farming systems).
• Food and nutrition;

(2) Agricultural resources management:

• Multi-functioned agriculture, urban agriculture;
• Ecosystem services, natural resource and environmental economics;
• Agricultural systems management and planning (soils, water, nutrition, adaptation and sustainability of production systems);

(3) Rural development:

• Economics, markets and value chains of major agricultural products;
• Poverty, labour transition, gender, culture and minority groups;
• Human resource management and development;

 (4) Urban development:  

• Urbanization and its impacts;
• Urban environment and society;

(5) Climate change adaptation:

• Use of renewable and low emission energy;
• Vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning;
• Green growth;

 (6) Policies and governance in agricultural and rural aspects:

• Policy assessment and analysis;
• Governance and institutional analysis (e.g. Public and Private Partnership, resource use and allocation, participation and organization of civil social bodies, policy adjustments)

Remarkable research results are acknowledged in various aspects. In rice-related research, major achievements are gene banks of many kinds of rice and root crops, regional and national rice seeds, rice seed supply systems at community level, integrated rice-based farming systems, low carbon rice cultivation,… In socio-economic research, various topics of publications, including human resource, agricultural and natural resource economics, rural grouping, rural development, agricultural value chains, vulnerability and adaptations to climate variability and socio-economic changes, rural livelihood assessment, rural/ethnic culture and regional linkage policies, are released in the national and international publishers.