Seeds of hope amidst Philippine floods
2012-08-14
(Press-News.org) Amidst horrendous flooding around Manila and major rice-growing across Luzon in the Philippines, some good news has emerged for rice farmers – Submarino rice – rice that can survive around 2 weeks of being under water.
Rice is unique because it can grow well in wet conditions where other crops cannot, but if it is covered with water completely it can die, leaving flooded farmers bereft of income.
Submarino rice was bred by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and can survive floods if they occur before flowering. The latest Submarino variety was released in the Philippines in 2009 and disseminated and promoted by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to help rice farmers in times of floods and typhoons.
Philippine Secretary of Agriculture Proceso Alcala said, "IRRI is one of our partner agencies that studies and promotes the propagation of Submarino rice varieties that can recover even after being submerged for 14 days."
Since its release, Submarino rice has been widely adopted by rice farmers across the Philippines thanks to efforts by the DA and its agencies, which have been actively promoting Submarino rice to farmers. Their effective strategies have included involving farmers in early field trials and seed multiplication efforts across the country alongside information, education, extension, and communication campaigns and materials.
"By planting Submarino rice, farmers have a fighting chance to outlast most rains and floods that unfortunately beset the country," said IRRI Deputy Director General for Communications and Partnerships Dr. V. Bruce J. Tolentino.
INFORMATION:
The Submarino rice varieties currently available in the Philippines include Submarino 1 (NSIC Rc194, released 2009) and Sacobia (PSB Rc68, released 1997). Seed for these varieties can be obtained by contacting the PhilRice Text Center on 0920 911 1398, plus IRRI can provide small "starter seed" packs for multiplication by contacting info@irri.org.
To help others in the community affected by the recent floods, IRRI is also coordinating donations from its staff to give to people in affected areas in the communities of Los Baños and Bay around IRRI headquarters.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-08-14
Investigators reporting in the Cell Press journal Trends in Genetics say that new analytical techniques are changing long-held, simplistic views about the evolutionary history of humans in Europe. Their findings indicate that many cultural, climatic, and demographic events have shaped genetic variation among modern-day European populations and that the variety of those mechanisms is more diverse than previously thought.
Recent advances in paleogenetics are providing never-before-seen glimpses into the complex evolution of humans in Europe, helping researchers piece together ...
2012-08-14
Decoded process could hold the key to future treatments for a wide range of chronic health problems including Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers, University of Sheffield scientists have revealed.
Experts from the University's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, collaborating with scientists from Harvard Medical School in the USA, have revealed how a complicated set of proteins called TREX act as a passport for the transfer of cell blueprints which create proteins that are essential for life.
The researchers believe ...
2012-08-14
Two papers that will appear in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, both receiving advance online release, may help identify gene variants that contribute to the risks of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette syndrome (TS). Both multi-institutional studies were led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, and both are the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the largest groups of individuals affected by the conditions.
"Previous studies of these disorders have demonstrated that both TS and OCD are strongly heritable and may ...
2012-08-14
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW) today released a report representing consensus findings from a cross-section of stakeholders that could help transform the process used to evaluate interventions to treat obesity, a public health crisis that now affects one in three adults. The report, "Obesity Drug Outcome Measures," results from a stakeholder dialogue group convened by GW that, over a period of nine months, explored why development and approval of obesity drugs have proven so difficult.
"At a time when ...
2012-08-14
Ottawa, Ontario (August 14, 2012) – Nutrient pollution, one of the greatest threats to our freshwater resources, is responsible for the algal blooms that blanket our lakes and waterways in summer months. Large blooms of cyanobacteria ('blue green algae') can cause fish kills, increase the cost of drinking water treatment, devalue shoreline properties, and pose health risks to people, pets, and wildlife. A new paper just published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences shows that microcystin, a toxin produced by cyanobacteria, is present in Canadian lakes ...
2012-08-14
A novel virus has been identified as the possible cause of a common but mysterious disease that kills a significant number of pet snakes all over the world, thanks to research led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)—and three snakes named Juliet, Balthazar and Larry.
The virus, previously not thought to infect snakes at all, appears to cause "inclusion body disease." Long the bane of zoo officials and exotic pet owners, the deadly illness spreads among boas and pythons in captivity, causing micro clumps of clustered proteins to form inside ...
2012-08-14
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida have discovered a mechanism that explains how some cancer cells "hijack" a biological process to potentially activate cell growth and the survival of cancer gene expression.
Their study appeared in a recent issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
The newly discovered mechanism involves histones (highly alkaline proteins found in cells that package and order DNA), and in this case, histone H2B, one of the five main histone proteins involved in the structure of chromatin. Chromatin ...
2012-08-14
VIDEO:
Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have identified the specific type of immune cells that orchestrate the inflammatory attack on the artery wall, which is a...
Click here for more information.
SAN DIEGO – (August 14, 2012) – Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can ...
2012-08-14
Whilst the most powerful earthquake since records began hit Japan in 2011, triggering a massive tsunami which devastated much of the country, space scientists involved in one of the 'brightest' international Sun missions continued working tirelessly at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Japan, to capture new data from our turbulent star.
These latest Hinode results, to be discussed in a meeting at the University of St Andrews this week (Tuesday 14 August), include new data on the structure of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, obtained whilst ...
2012-08-14
Guided press tour
The excavation will be open to the press on Wednesday 15 August from 13.00 to 15.30.The tour starts at Alkenvej 171, 8660 Skanderborg.
...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Seeds of hope amidst Philippine floods
