Rice needs sufficient amount of water to grow at its early stage, but lately, the rainy season cannot be counted on to provide rice with enough water. Drought-resistant rice is currently being developed for a more efficient use of water Photo: Salina Christmas

Genetically modified drought-resistant rice is being developed by researchers in the US, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico and The Netherlands. Professor Andy Pereira of the US Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and colleagues identified a gene known as HARDY in Arabidopsis plants that leads to more efficient use of water. Transferring the gene into rice resulted in an increase in biomass by around 50% under conditions of water deprivation, and by 25-80% in non-stress control conditions.

HARDY rice remains at present a research project. The next stage would be to transfer the gene into field cultivars, but this is more difficult, says Professor Pereira. Such research would be done in collaboration with the Generation Challenge Program, an international CGIAR-initiated consortium for drought research. If successful, “the results would be channelled through proper scientific testing and then into farmers’ fields when approved”, Professor Pereira adds.

The research on HARDY rice “offers the exciting prospect of improved water-use efficiency and drought resistance in rice and perhaps other grain or seed crops”, says Shital Dixit, graduate student at Dutch research company Plant Research International (Wageningen).
By Simon Varcoe

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