It is expected that by 2021, humanity will have the first saline tolerant rice bowl

We are no strangers to the profession of rice cultivation, even though the farming method is as strange as the terraces. But have you ever thought about humans being able to grow rice in the sea ? In the situation when saline water is encroaching on the fertile deltas, is it really a good idea to switch to salt-based farming ?

Up to 70% of the fresh water that humans are using is used for farming. Increasing population leads to increased demand for food, and agriculture is aggressively seeking new ways to produce food, going to areas we never considered feasible crop areas.

Two young, 24-year-old scientists look out over the ocean and think that this could become a giant granary. They set up their own company to study this impossible with the intention of creating a floating farm by 2021, with a model model expected to be launched by the end of this year 2020.

The scientist is working in a laboratory.

In addition to human resources, traditional agriculture also needs fertilizer, water, and chemicals used exclusively for cultivation (pesticides, growth drugs, etc.). Water is used primarily for irrigation, and some breeds are especially fond of water, having to be bathed a lot to produce satisfactory products. Rice is one of the crops that need the most water, and rice is one of the most used foods worldwide.

A few numbers for rice are easy to imagine: there are more than 100 rice-growing countries, producing 700 million tons of rice a year and 90% of which comes from Asian countries. About 3.5 billion people live on rice every day; And because of that importance, scientists are still trying to find ways to modify the rice gene to get the most affordable and nutritious products possible.

Trials of vegetable cultivation on saline water.

In addition to adding vitamins to rice (such as the Golden Rice Project putting vitamin A into rice), many other studies are looking to increase the photosynthesis capacity of rice and drought tolerance, besides reducing the emissions that rice plants bring to the environment. But Agrisea is looking in a different direction.

Using genetic modification to increase salt tolerance, Agrisea experimented with growing rice on the sea surface. The new rice can grow in seawater without soil, fertilizer or fresh water. Instead of introducing other species genes into rice, the team aims to manipulate genes that regulate rice's ability to excrete salt, genes that sequester cells and protect the DNA of the plants.

' These genes are linked and work together into a unified network ,' said Luke Young, CEO and co-founder of Agrisea. ' We only encourage them in a natural way, so the plants can live in a salty environment .' Two Agrisea founders explained that they could selectively breed to produce the desired rice, but editing the gene would save a lot of time.

In addition to rice, Agrisea is targeting corn, wheat, barley, soy and many other vegetables.

Currently, Agrisea says it has contacted major rice producing and consuming countries of the world, wishing to test the model of floating rice bowl in the sea. In addition to providing food, the team wants their rice to play the role of a water filtration system located at the mouth of the river, taking advantage of the waste from arable land in the sea. Agrisea will also experiment to grow this rice variety on saline soils.

The team has received a total of 1 million USD of capital contribution, and the money (will increase) will be poured into the investment of plant varieties other than rice; Agrisea is targeting corn, wheat, barley, soy and many other vegetables.