Deep water, deep trouble
As crops go, rice is more fond of water than most. It is the only cereal that can live in standing water. In fact, it thrives growing in shallow puddles. But deep waters drown rice, so when a flood hits it often proves fatal.
This is a big problem because almost a quarter of the world's total rice crop grows in low-lying areas that are regularly inundated. By surviving submersion the new toughened rice variety looks set to save the world's poorest nations from millions of pounds in crop losses.
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The rice in these flooded paddies will die if submerged for too long.
Image: International Rice Research Institute |
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