Earth Equity News

Africa Revives Hardy, Local Rice vs Asian Cousin. By Alister Doyle, Reuters, May 21, 2010. "Scientists are reviving long-ignored African rice to cut dependence on Asian varieties that may be less able to withstand the impact of climate change on the poorest continent, a report said on May 21. Historically, scientists have focused on breeding useful traits such as disease resistance from African rice into Asian rice. Now the focus is on the reverse -- using African rice as the basic crop and improving it with Asian genes. 'African rice was initially ignored by mainstream research,' said Koichi Futakuchi, a scientist at Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) in a statement. 'Now for the first time, we're reversing the gene flow.' Asian and African rice are the only two cultivated species of the crop in the world but the usually higher-yielding Asian type, introduced to Africa by the Portuguese in the 16th century, has become the dominant type to meet surging demand... 'With climate change a reality, the work of developing crop varieties adapted to the changing environment is going to keep plant breeders busy for decades,' AfricaRice said in a study coinciding with U.N. International Biodiversity Day on May 22."