Two flood-resistant rice varieties are helping farmers in Africa to improve productivity, with huge potential returns for countries affected by climate change, agricultural food experts say.
Scientists at the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) say the rice they developed could survive for more than two weeks under complete submergence, whereas existing rice varieties die after one week of flooding.
The experts found that it can generate up to two tonnes per hectare more than rice varieties vulnerable to flooding.
“Until recently, no flood-tolerant rice varieties existed in Africa and farmers suffered enormous losses due to floods,” says Venuprasad Ramaiah, head of the International Rice Genebank at the IRRI.
Read more at SciDev.Net
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