Rice gene bank gets huge funding boost to combat climate change
The International Rice Research Institute has secured indefinite funding to produce varieties that can resist high temperatures, droughts and floods
Kuala Lumpur — The world’s largest collection of rice varieties has secured indefinite funding in what officials say will be crucial for the development of seeds resilient to the effects of climate change. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will sign an agreement with Bonn-based non-profit the Crop Trust on Tuesday in Singapore to secure $1.4m a year to fund IRRI’s rice gene bank in Los Baños, the Philippines. “It is really important to the future of food security,” said Matthew Morell, director general at IRRI. “Within those rice varieties are genetics that will allow us to preserve the ability to produce rice in the face of climate change,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. About 3-billion people — mostly in Asia — depend on rice as a staple. But as the world’s population increases, farmers are struggling to meet rising demand, while crops suffer from extreme weather conditions linked to climate change. By 2050, annual global rice consumption is projected by IR...
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