Torrential rains in combination with poor drainage lead to flooding and subsequent loss of crops. The current climate prognoses predict that downpours will be more frequent even in areas that are projected to suffer from lower amounts of precipitation. Rice is domesticated from ancestors that were wetland plants and therefore rice already holds a number of traits that enables it to thrive in waterlogged soils – but partial or complete submergence is a challenge for all types of rice. In the project “Climate-smart African rice” we therefore attempt to develop new flood tolerant African rice varieties with inspiration from wild rice relatives and tolerant Asian varieties.
