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Uganda: Disease Resistant Rice is Here |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Tuesday, 17th August, 2010 |
Uganda: Disease Resistant Rice is Here
Martin Ssebuyira
11 August 2010
Rice is one of the widely grown cereal crops and staple food for more than half the world's population. More than three billion people, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation, consume more than 100kg of rice per year, each. President Yoweri Museveni in March 2004 launched the Upland Rice (Nerica) Project, which increased rice farming in Uganda from 4,000 farmers to over 35,000 in 2007.
However, despite the increasing number of farmers who produce rice in the country, the crop has been affected by the rice yellow mottle virus. The epidemic that was first discovered in Kenya in 1966 gains entry into rice plants through injuries, which may be inflicted by insects or mechanically during the course of crop cultivation, for instance, damage to plants during hoe-weeding and destroys the plantation that affects the crop yields.
The virus has not only caused panic among farmers because of its increasing spread, but also to agricultural researchers who want to invent a rice breed that is resistant to the yellow mottle virus.
"We discovered that wild rice is resistant to the yellow mottle virus and we have started conducting research about it and planted in our research facilities to get better rice," State Minister for fisheries Mr Fred Mukisa said. He added that they want to get the genres of wild rice and put them in the locally produced rice to get a resistant breed to improve rice production.
The minister said they have got various yields from various places for conservation in research gardens because the breed is facing extinction. Wild rice grows naturally in the shallow water of lakes or rivers and only requires steady supply of clean moving water and temperatures above 70 degrees for at least 40 days to grow well.
Mr John Wasswa Mulumba, the head of the National Generic Centre in Entebbe however says, highly competitive annual and perennial wild rice species were identified as one of the important constraints to rice production, but would preserve it for research purposes. Expansive swamps around the Lake Kyoga basin is leading to habitat destruction and thus loss of rice genetic diversity. "Overgrazing, cultivation and construction are the leading factors," he says.
According to Mr Wasswa, they are collecting breeds from various places to centre for experimental crops gardens for purposes of conservation and documentation as well as utilisation in crop improvement to get better rice yields. He added that they can keep various seed varieties and crops in the National generic center for a period of over 50 years to assist them in making better crop varieties like the rice breed they want to invent.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201008110371.html
Last changed: Tuesday, 17th August, 2010 at 3:14 PM
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