The ancestors of modern high-yielding rice cultivars inhabited freshwater wetland and are thus well adapted to waterlogged soils. Salt-affected soils and saline floods, however, are a huge challenge to domesticated rice; both can lead to complete loss of the crop. In the project “Climate-smart African rice” we therefore attempt to develop new salinity tolerant African rice varieties with inspiration from wild rice relatives and some Asian varieties that show better tolerance.
Salt affected rice field in Chanzuru village Kilosa district; photo by Susan Nchimbi Msolla.
