Drought-proof rice for African farmers
2009
Savitri Mohapatra
This article describes the collaboration between research institutes, donor agencies and community representatives to develop drought-tolerant rice for African farmers. The effects of climate change and the increase in frequency and severity of drought episodes, will have serious effects on African rice production, which is largely rainfed. Support from donors such as DFID and the World Bank has allowed seeds of drought tolerant varieties to be preserved in the WARDA gene bank and shared with researchers around the world. This collection of rice genetic resources was important in the development of NERICA, a cross between African and Asian rice varieties by WARDA. The continuing research by WARDA scientists and, in particular, the progress made in the IRRI project Stress-Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA) is outlined.
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