The Gene for better rice. Research from China

source

It's already a well known fact that the temperature at which grain develops can affect the quality of the grain. When temperatures soar during the time the grain is growing, the starch and protein content of each grain become unstable so because of that they become soft and chalky, which makes a greater percentage of harvested grain falling apart. If you consider that billions of people rely on rice as a food source and it's my personal favorite, you can actually imagine how important it is that rice continues to be viable as a food source.

This year, scientists in China identified a gene that helps to moderate the effect of heat on the stability of the grains. The gene is called QT12 and it exists in rice plants. QT12 acts to stabilize the starch and protein in the grains so that they do not break down when subjected to high temperatures they will continue to be solid instead of turning to chalk.

The scientists then tested QT12 rice under actual field conditions near The Yangtze River, as opposed to testing QT12 rice in a laboratory with controlled environmental conditions, so they went all out to make sure this works in real life conditions.

The results for them were impressive. Rice with QT12 produced between 31% and 77% more food under high temperatures than the conventional rice. A 31% increase in yield is obviously, the indifferent factor between a good harvest and a bad harvest, so the range of 31 - 77% is very substantial for any farmer.

It's not just that they're being more productive, the grains produced with QT12 were intact and so a usable food source at harvest time, and the same conventional rice undergoing a heat event was degrading in quality at harvest time as it would normally.

The population growth continues to increase and I can't say we shouldn't have more people, it's a fun world with more people but plant growth and growing seasons are becoming less stable. So growing conditions should continue to place more stress on crops and more than ever before.

Farmers need tools that will help them cope with climate changes that are happening now and that will continue to happen, rather than limiting farmers to using tools that were developed for climates that may no longer be relevant to us.

The QT12 gene will do just that and perhaps after this there will be more breakthrough in that area for other crops.

_{Posted using SteemX}