100 scientists from 29 countries to meet in Laguna

The International Rice Research Institute in Laguna is gathering about 100 scientists from 29 countries on Oct. 6-11 in Los Baños to popularize and push for the further development and cultivation of the so-called “scuba rice” or flood-tolerant rice varieties.

In particular, the 11th conference of the International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis (ISPA) will tackle how plants survive without oxygen as scientists strive to come up with food crops that can survive devastating floods.

The availability of such crops is becoming increasingly important especially in countries vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

This year’s conference takes into account issues like climate change, food security and environmental sustainability.

University professors, students and postgraduate fellows are also expected to attend.

Scientists are highlighting rice varieties with the “sub1” gene, which genomics research identified as making rice flood-tolerant.

According to the IRRI, vast rice-growing regions in countries like India and Bangladesh—where farmland are underwater and are thus useless during the rainy season—have been made productive since the sub1 gene was discovered and bred into popular existing rice varieties.

“Farmers were happy because, even if their paddies were flooded, their rice crops with the sub1 gene survived the floods,” IRRI principal scientist Abdelbagi Ismail said in a statement.

“More than 1.7 million hectares of flood-prone land in India is now planted with submergence-tolerant rice since the first flood-proof variety, called Swarna-Sub1, was developed,” he said.