High-yield rice to feed the world
15 Jan 09
Oxford university scientists will take part in an international effort to re-engineer photosynthesis in rice. The initiative is led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and has received an $11m grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rice is a staple food for 50 per cent of people around the globe, so boosting the productivity of rice plants could be crucial as the world’s population continues to grow and water for growing crops becomes scarce.
‘The type of photosynthesis that occurs in rice is not as efficient as in many other crop species,’ said Professor Jane Langdale, Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford and a lead investigator on the project. ‘Maize and sorghum have evolved a more efficient way of using solar energy to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into carbohydrate, if we could create rice which uses this same process then we may be able to increase rice yields by 50 per cent even when using less fertiliser and less water.’
The global consortium of scientists, led by IRRI, aim to use modern molecular tools to develop a more efficient and higher-yielding form of rice. The team at Oxford will investigate the role specific genes play in determining the structures in the leaves of plants such as maize that enable them to harness the sun’s energy so efficiently.
It is believed that the project will take a decade or more to complete but the benefits of such high-yield crops to farmers in the developing world could be immense.
Members of the consortium include the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Dundee, Nottingham and Sheffield in the UK, and Yale, Cornell, Florida and Washington State Universities in the US.