New research breakthrough develops rice varieties that can survive flood immersion, environmental risk

Bangladeshi farmer Gobindra Chandra Rai had planted new flood-resistant rice seedlings just before the 2007 fall monsoon floods arrived earlier than expected, submerging the rice fields waist high for eight days. This real-world test has convinced Gobindra’s neighbours, whose lost fields were part of a nation-wide $290 million loss that hurt rural communities and pushed up city food prices, to plant the new variety.

Swarna Sub-1 was developed in 2006 when researchers at the International Rice Research Institute and University of California implanted a submergence-resistant gene in a popular high-yielding Indian rice variety. The Sub 1 gene, which allows rice to survive up to two weeks’ flooding with minimal yield loss, was bred into several popular varieties and tested in India and Bangladesh in 2007.

The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute distributed the new seeds and seedlings to 114 farmers, including Gobindra, in nine districts, with support from the Swiss charity Inter Corp. The results excited the researchers as much as it did the farmers. Normal rice varieties cannot survive flood waters for more than three days. But "when the flood water receded from two farms in which Swarna Sub-1 was planted, we saw the rice paddy stand up again, 10 days after it was completely submerged by water," said BRRI senior researcher Abdul Mazid. "Next year, we will quadruple the number of testing farms. And hopefully, by 2009-2010, we can start commercial production of the flood-resistant rice."

Development of submergence-tolerant varieties for commercial production in Laos, Bangladesh and India is now well under way. IRRI says the dramatic research breakthrough could increase food security for the more than 3 billion people worldwide who depend on rice for food, as well as the farmers who make their living growing that rice. About 25% of the global rice crop is grown in rain-fed, lowland plots prone to unpredictable and destructive seasonal flooding; annual crop loss has been estimated at more than $1 billion.

Meeting a demand for rice that is expected to grow to 880 million tons in 2025 from 520 million tons today means increasing rice yields on such rainfed lands. New knowledge generated by the recent sequencing of the rice genome is allowing scientists to develop varieties of rice that can cope with the increasing environmental stresses like drought, flooding, salinity, poor soil, and higher CO2 levels, faced by poor farmers.

IRRI’s new 2007-2015 strategic plan, called Bringing Hope, Improving Lives, aims to bring the improved rice varieties to more than 18 million households, increasing yields by 50% over the next decade and lifting farmers out of poverty. IRRI will work with other agricultural research centers, and build the capacity of researchers and seed producers in poor rice-dependent countries. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently gave IRRI a three-year, US$19.9 million grant to place the improved rice varieties into the hands of 400,000 small farmers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa who rely totally on sufficient, timely rains to grow their crops on small, marginal plots of land.

"Our research team anticipates that these newly developed rice varieties will help ensure a more dependable food supply for poor farmers and their families,” says rice geneticist Pamela Ronald, who chairs UC Davis’ Plant Genomics Program. “And, in the long run, our findings may allow rice producers in the United States to reduce the amount of herbicides used to fight weeds."

"We're especially pleased that we have been able to use the latest advances in molecular biology to help improve the lives of the world's poor," says David Mackill, who heads IRRI’s Division of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology. "We're confident that even more important discoveries like this are in the pipeline."

This story was prepared from a variety of sources, including:

Sequencing The Rice Genome Could Help Mitigate Impact Of Climate Change On World's Poor, ScienceDaily, Mar. 28, 2006; Flood-tolerant California Rice Offering Relief To Poor Farmers Worldwide, ScienceDaily, Aug. 23, 2006; New Flood-tolerant Rice Offers Relief For World's Poorest Farmers, ScienceDaily, Aug. 10, 2006; Bangladesh says new flood-resistant rice offers hope to farmers, Sep 15, 2007; New rice strain 'survives floods', BBC News; Waterproof rice may help Asia cope with flooding, National Public Radio; Waterproof rice provides flood relief for poor farmers; and Rice research community seeks to reach 18 million households with improved rice varieties, increase yields by 50% within 10 years.

 


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