Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Salt – resistant rice under tests

Hot news coming straight from London: scientists are doing some lab tests on the salt-resisting rice species. They came up with the idea right after giant tsunami wave hit paddy fields in Japan and left behind a salty sludge.

It is common for farmlands accumulating salt to have lower crop yields which may threaten food supply, as rice provides nourishment for the countless masses of people. The scientists claim that the method (called MutMap) is simple: they work with cultivars favored by farmers and already adapted to local conditions. Owing to the MutMap method new crop varieties can be developed in the nearest future, possibly within a year.
The new method is said to improve the rice productivity all over the world as much of the crop plantations tend to have a high level of salinity. MutMap method uses the speed at which sequencing can be done in order to screen plan mutants for valuable traits. The results are very promising and the plant scientists hope to be successful and their findings will serve to the benefit of the mankind.

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