With the changing climatic patterns due to global warming the agriculture sector is facing increasing challenges as it strives towards producing adequate quantities of food for a growing global population.
One of the emerging trends as a result of climate change has been heavy flooding in several parts of the world which, apart from human destruction, has been creating havoc with agricultural crops.
Here in Guyana, we have had our taste of how devastating floods can be when we experienced our heaviest flooding in the Great Floods of 2004-2005 which wiped out a huge amount of rice and cash crops resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural losses to farmers and the national economy. Rice farmers suffered the greatest losses and many of them are still struggling to recover from that disaster.
In the prevailing weather conditions therefore, it is imperative that science and technology be increasingly applied to agriculture to cope with the emerging challenges.
Against this backdrop, it is most encouraging to hear that moves are underway to introduce a flood resistant variety of rice here.
According to Chief Scientist and Plant Breeder at the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Dr Mahendra Persaud the board is testing a flood-resilient variety with a gene that deactivates growth during flooded conditions. He made this disclosure at the GRDB’s open day at the Burma Rice Research and Extension Centre last Wednesday.
This shows that we do have competent persons charged with the responsibility of improving production and efficiency in the rice sector who are working innovatively to fulfill their mandate.
And it seems likely that this new flood resistant rice would succeed as it has been experimented with in other parts of the world. According to a CBS 2008 news report in article: “UC Davis Scientists Develop Flood-Resistant Rice”
“Researchers from UC Davis are developing a new and improved kind of rice, one that can hopefully feed millions of families around the world.”

“Normally, rice plants can survive severe flooding for three days, but the new type can withstand flooding for up to two weeks.”

“Pamela Ronald, a plant pathology researcher from UC Davis, is part of an international team that has developed flood-tolerant rice that’s worth growing now.”

“There was flood-tolerant rice 60 years ago, bred in East India,” Pamela said. “The older variety doesn’t yield well or taste well, so growers don’t want to grow it anymore.”

“The rice survives completely submerged in water for two weeks, and continues to grow well after the water drains. Pamela says annual flooding losses in South Asia can be up to four million tons of rice, enough to feed some 30 million people.”

“A lot of the research was done locally by a team of scientists from UC Davis. They were able to find that one gene in rice that can withstand severe flooding.”

“Then we genetically modify them so we can test the gene directly to see if it’s gonna do what it’s supposed to do,” said a researcher.

“Her work was taken from the lab to a rice field in the Philippines. In a four month time-lapse provided by the International Rice Research Institute, you can see the flood-tolerant rice survive a flood. The regular rice didn’t make it.”

“We were happy to see what we did in a lab could affect the lives of so many people,” Pamela said.

“Rice is a staple food for half of the world’s population. Pamela hopes her new rice plants will help families in developing countries from going hungry.”

“Some farmers in India and Bangladesh are already growing this new type of rice, and within two years, it should be widely available in South Asia.”

“I also hear it tastes pretty good.”
The Daily Star of Dhaka in Bangladesh reported in September last year that flood-tolerant rice will soon be officially released in Bangladesh.
The flood-tolerant rice varieties (called Sub1- rice) can help farmers, many who live on less than $1/day, dramatically increase yield during floods.
Dave Mackill of the International Rice Research Institute (formerly of UC Davis) led the precision breeding efforts. The team introduced the Sub1 gene into BR-11 and three other varieties that are popular with farmers and consumers. The new BR-11 Sub1 variety has been embraced by farmers in field trials because it is effectively identical to the conventionally bred BR11 parent. The difference is that BR11-Sub1 can survive two weeks of flooding, whereas the conventionally bred variety will die after three days. Achieving this type of stress tolerance is an important goal of plant breeders.
MA Mazid, former chief of the BRRI Regional Station in Rangpur, told The Daily Star that 65 percent farmers cultivate BR-11 during aman season, which is susceptible to flash floods or rainwater over 10 days. “So the Sub1 varieties now hold the potential to become a good replacement for BR-11.”
India released its first submergence-tolerant rice variety in April last year. The Philippines released its variety, called Submarino 1, in July last year.
So our rice farmers should feel encouraged with this new development as it provides optimism against the dreaded experience in the pat when many of them suffered tremendous losses when all or most of their crops were destroyed by flooding,