Wednesday, August 1, 2012

No. 577: Developing rice breeds highly resistant to climate change (August 1, 2012)

Technology:
Abnormal climate damages the growth of agricultural products worldwide, and global warming seems to have entered into a new and more serious stage. Universities and laboratories are busily occupied with developing rice highly resistant to climate change. Toshiaki Mitsui of Niigata University developed a new breed that does not deteriorate the quality even at a high temperature and in a high concentration of carbon dioxide. Rice suffers from abnormal accumulation of starch when a high temperature lasts long in summer. If the average temperature of the 20 days after rice ears up exceeds 26 degrees centigrade, rice grains become clouded and deteriorate the quality. He replaced the gene of the enzyme for resolving starch by another gene to decrease cloudiness. In the environment where the temperature is higher than in the production district, the rate of cloudiness of the new breed is 30%, whereas 70-80% of the existing breeds become clouded. In the environment where carbon dioxide concentration is 600 ppm that is 200 ppm higher than the production district, the rate of cloudiness of the new breed is 30-40%, whereas 50% of the existing breeds become clouded. It is expected that the new technology will be put into practical used in a few years.

National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) developed a new breed that blossoms early in the morning to avoid problems with pollination. Rice does not bear easily if the temperature at the time of flowering exceeds 35 degrees centigrade. NARO mated a wild breed that blossoms early in the morning with the existing breed. The new breed flowers around 7:00 a.m., three hours earlier than the existing breed. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Nagoya University developed a new breed that has thicker stalks than the existing breed. The new breed does not come down easily even in a gale. The stalk of the new breed is 7-8 mm, 2 mm thicker than the existing breed. Accordingly, the new breed has 40% higher ability to resist wind without being broken. As global warming develops, a typhoon grows bigger and faster. The new breed is expected not to fall down until harvesting. As mentioned above, lots of efforts are being made to develop rice breeds more productive in the days of climate change.  

 Developing rice breeds highly resistant to
climate change is in progress  
 

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