In honor of the 50th anniversary of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; irri.org ) based in the Philippines, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PPC; http ) has issued a set of four stamps celebrating the Institute's important work in rice research for the world, much of it done in IRRI's host country. The four stamps were officially released by Philippine Postmaster General Hector RR Villanueva in a special first-day issue ceremony at IRRI's headquarters in Los Baños on 14 April 2010, that date being IRRI's official birthday on which its Board of Trustees met for the first time in 1960. According to Elenita DL San Diego, acting manager of the PPCs Postal and Philatelic Department, the PPC receives, on average, around 50 requests each year to produce commemorative stamps for various causes, subjects, events, and a variety of organization and celebrity anniversaries, but only around 30-35 can be produced annually. Some of the most recent Philippine stamps feature Philippine marine biodiversity, 90 years of Philippine Rotary Club activities, the 77th birth anniversary of the late former Philippine president Corazon C. Aquino, and of course IRRI's 50th anniversary. We were only going to recommend one design to the PPC. However, our designer came up with so many great studies that we sent four different renderings, all of which were accepted by the PPC!, said Michael Jackson, IRRIs former Director for Program Planning and Communications. The stamps designer, Juan <b>...</b>