Discover the fungus that helps rice grow fast

Researchers in Switzerland said yesterday they have just discovered a micro fungus capable of making rice grow five times faster.

Artwork: carto.net.

AFP said that scientists from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, discovered the effect of mycorrhiza mushroom after 4 years of experimenting on 20 different samples of its spores. The results showed that some spores cause rice to grow more slowly, but two of them spawn rice 5 times faster.

Caroline Angelard, a member of the research team, says mycorrhiza is more special than other fungi in that it produces completely different spores of the genetic structure. Therefore, spores increase or decrease the growth rate of rice depending on their genetic structure.

Currently, the team does not know why fungal spores can increase the growth rate of rice. 'We will have to study the symbiotic relationship between fungi and rice under certain conditions,' Angelard told AFP.

Because the size of mycorrhiza mushroom is very small, the human eye cannot see them. When symbiotic with rice, they transport nutrients and minerals, including phospate compounds, to the upper part of the rice plant. Thus farmers will not have to use chemical fertilizers containing phosphate. If farmers do not use chemical fertilizers containing phosphate, the environment around the paddy fields will become cleaner.

Mycorrhiza mushrooms can be grown on a large scale and appear in the market for 2 to 5 years.

Ian Sanders, the lead researcher, confirmed that stimulating the development of fungal rice is a completely natural means, which means no gene mutation.

'There are no new genes entering the rice. The method of using fungi does not alter the genetic structure of plants, ' he said.

Sanders' group is also conducting tests on many potato fields in Columbia. By 2011, they will test the effect of mycorrhiza on cassava.