Manila, The Philippines
July 18, 2008
Source:
Philippine
Daily Inquirer
via
SEAMEO SEARCA
by Izah
Morales
Rainy season is here again. The crops, trees, and plants would
gladly bathe under the showers of rain. However, when typhoons
strike and floods flow like a river, the trees would sway and
dance in a fast forward rhythm and plants may drown and die.
But among the plants, one variety of rice can survive flooding.
This rice variety is named sub1 or submergence1, according to
Dr. Dave Mackill, head of the plant breeding, genetics and
biotechnology division of the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Mackill and other researchers from IRRI and the University of
California in Riverside and in
Davis campuses have
discovered from an Indian rice variety FR13A a gene that can
withstand flooding of up to 17 days.
You can watch a time-lapse video of the rice variety from the
IRRI website.
When water does not drain in a couple of days, an ordinary rice
crop would be damaged, Mackill said, as he stressed that
producing the sub1 variety will be relevant and helpful to
farmers.
"Having this gene in the [rice] variety gives the plant a little
bit of protection against flooding and gives the farmers some
insurance policy," the IRRI scientists said
He said farmers need not worry about the number of rice yield.
Flooding is even beneficial to the sub1 variety of rice, which
produces five tons for each hectare submerged for 17 days.
An ordinary rice variety without the sub1 gene produces less
than one ton per hectare, he added.
However, there are slight differences in the physical property
of a sub1 rice variety, he said.
It is shorter, flowers later, and the whole color changes more
than ordinary varieties. The whole of a SWARNA sub1 rice variety
also becomes lighter compared to an ordinary SWARNA variety,
which is usually dark.
Mackill said there are no big differences in the taste of the
sub1 rice variety compared with other varieties.
"I've only tasted IR64 sub1. It tastes pretty good. But we
haven't made a detailed comparison of all the varieties," said
Mackill.
IRRI has been distributing the seeds to farmers for small scale
testing. The seeds may be officially released to some countries
next year, said Mackill.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, "climate
change is the most critical global challenges of our time," and
thus abrupt weather changes can affect agriculture, sea-level
rise, and species extinction. |
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