Waterproof rice survives flooding

By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

Rainy season is here again. The crops, trees, and plants would gladly bathe under the showers of rain. However, when typhoons strike and floods flow like a river, the trees would sway and dance in a fast forward rhythm and plants may drown and die.

But among the plants, one variety of rice can survive flooding. This rice variety is named sub1 or submergence1, according to Dr. Dave Mackill, head of the plant breeding, genetics and biotechnology division of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Mackill and other researchers from IRRI and the University of California in Riverside and in Davis campuses have discovered from an Indian rice variety FR13A a gene that can withstand flooding of up to 17 days.

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