Researchers at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute have developed a rice variety tolerant of flash floods and submergence for up to 14 days during the tillering stage.
The rice variety, KKL(R)2, is a cross of ADT 46 and Swarna Sub 1 and is expected to reduce crop damage from rain and short-term flooding.
KKRL(R)2 can still produce yields up to 3,600 kg/ha under flooded conditions and almost 7,000 kg/ha under normal conditions.
Read the story @Business Insider India
Scuba rice goes against the flow of woes in flood-prone eastern India
About 5 million hectares of land planted to rice in eastern India are prone to flooding. Although major flash floods do not occur every year, farmers are constantly in danger of losing their crops when these do occur. Under submerged conditions, rice plants die within days and farmers lose an estimated 3 tons per hectare. For decades, smallholder farmers in flood-prone areas could do little as floodwater inundated their rice crops.
Holding back flood, sweat, and tears
Swarna-Sub1—also called “scuba rice” because of its ability to survive underwater for up to two weeks—has been a dramatic success story in flood-prone areas of South Asia. While yield levels of other varieties are drastically reduced by flooding, Swarna-Sub1 is able to produce up to 6 tons per hectare.
Indian farmers adopt flood-tolerant rice at unprecedented rates
Farmers cultivating rice on 12 million hectares of flood-prone areas in India are planting flood-tolerant rice varieties at unprecedented rates, thanks to faster seed multiplication, targeted dissemination, and linking of partners.
