水稻与洪水的斗争

About half of the world’s population eats rice daily. It’s one of the globe’s most important food staples, said plant geneticist Pamela Ronald. But, she added, around 25% of that rice is grown in the flood-prone regions.

Pamela Ronald:Rice plants will die if they’re completely submerged for more than 3 days, and this is a big problem in areas of South and Southeast Asia, where farmers rely on the crop to feed their families.

Dr. Ronald, of California’s UC Davis, has been working for the last 15 years to isolate the gene for flood tolerance in rice. Five years ago she finally found it, and now that gene is being used in new varieties of rice.

Pamela Ronald:The new varieties of rice can withstand up to about 17 days of flooding.

The rice has the same taste, feel, and harvest schedule as rice typically grown in Asia. Ronald believes that’s one reason why farmers – who themselves did extensive field tests of the rice in India and Bangladesh – are now using it.

Pamela Ronald:Something like 2 billion very poor farmers live in these flood prone areas, so even a small change in the quantity of grain that can be harvested can have a huge impact on these families’ lives.

Ronald added her new rice yields about five-fold more grain under conditions of flooding.

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