The hybrid rice breeding team from Embrapa and French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad) met on November 13 - 17 at Embrapa Rice and Beans (Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO) to discuss research and business activities. Hybrid rice is deemed to be one of the main options to meet the growing demand for the cereal. In its original country, China, the technology has provided average gains of 30.8% in comparison with conventional cultivars; and cooperation between Embrapa and Cirad in the area has been going on for over 30 years, featuring the BRS Cirad 302, launched in 2010 and which added productivity and grain quality. On top of launching materials and improving parents through recurrent selection, Embrapa and Cirad's program has worked with licensing parental lineages to companies like RiceTec and Basf, as well as with integrating genes that grant the hybrids tolerance to herbicides, like the Clearfield system, by Basf. During the meeting, the Embrapa and Cirad hybrid rice breeding team discussed models to broaden alternatives in business segments, expansion into Latin America and Mercosur, and the establishment of partnerships in the United States. Participants on Cirad's side included Bouazaoui M'Barek (business); James Taillebois, Giles Trouche and Nourollah Ahmadi (research). From Embrapa: André Coutinho, Raul Rosinha and Vitor Mondo (business); Péricles Neves (hybrid rice research coordinator), Adriano Castro and Mábio Lacerda (research). Translation: Mariana Medeiros