Japan finds a new rice variety that can withstand drought

According to Nature Genetics magazine on August 4, a group of Japanese biologists expertly created a new rice variety with deep roots that can maintain high yields even during the drought.

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The expert team from the National Institute of Agricultural Biology (NIAS) in Tsubaka said it has found a special gene in a rice variety grown in the dry mountains of the Philippines.

This rice variety called Kinandang Patong has deep roots and stabbed downwards, deep in dry soil to water, contrary to the shallow and oblique root system of typical rice varieties on flooded fields.

Photos: wikimedia.org

The gene of this DR01 deep root rice variety was incorporated into IR64 rice variety, which is very popular in Asia. After that, the new rice variety was transplanted in rice fields in 3 different conditions: non-drought, moderate drought and severe dry soil.

Normally in moderate drought conditions, the yield of IR64 is reduced to 42% compared to the non-drought condition. But with the IR64 rice variety combined with the DR01 gene, yields are almost unaffected.

For severe drought conditions, IR64 yields are almost lost, while with new rice varieties in severe drought conditions, yields are reduced by only about 30%.

The United Nations estimates that the world population will reach 9.6 billion by the middle of the 21st century and 10.9 billion by 2100 compared to the current 7.2 billion people.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the French National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), to provide enough food for humans in the context of floods, droughts are worsening, needing there must be a comprehensive campaign against the situation of wasting food, using land, water, fertilizer, pesticides appropriately, as well as promoting new inventions in the agricultural sector to create High-yielding rice varieties are able to withstand extreme weather conditions.