The following is an excerpt.
Farmers are set to reclaim salt-ravaged land thanks to a single rice plant born of two unlikely parents that is spawning a new generation of rice that has double the salinity tolerance of other rice.
“This will make saline-stricken rice farms in coastal areas usable to farmers,” said lead scientist Dr. Kshirod Jena of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). “These farmlands are usually abandoned by coastal farmers because the encroaching seawater has rendered the soil useless. That means livelihood lost for these communities.”
Unlike regular rice, the new rice line can expel salt it takes from the soil into the air through salt glands it has on its leaves, explained Dr. Jena.
View the original article here: Wild parent spawns super salt-tolerant rice
