One of the latest developments in food science, out of the University of California-Davis, is rice that is tolerant of flooding.
David Mackill of the Rice Research Institute in the Philippines discovered a gene that promotes flood resistance, according to CNN.com. He sent the information to Pamela Ronald, a professor at UC-Davis, who then isolated the gene, called Sub1. Normal rice dies after just three days of being submerged underwater. However, this flood tolerant rice can live after 17 days of flooding.
While other experiments with flood resistance have failed because they changed the rice’s yield or flavor, this rice is identical in every way to the normal. The test runs alone have proven its usefulness. Farmers found the yield increased threefold to fivefold, and it is planted and maintained just like regular rice.
This discovery is going to help millions of people around the world. Every year, 4 million tons of rice are lost to flooding, enough food for 30 million people. Now those numbers will change.
So much of the rest of the world is dependent on rice as their main source of food. Never before have the developed countries of the world been able to help so many people permanently. Sure, the U.S. and other countries have provided emergency food to starving countries in times of famine or war, but those solutions are only temporary. They only feed people for a brief time, not a lifetime.
There are many people out there who say we’re raising too many animals when we should be growing food, or that raising animals takes away too many of our resources (like food for starving people). However, animals are typically pastured on land that is useless for farming, and their meat, milk and by-products contain essential nutrients for the human body.
People have argued that we Americans are selfish, hoarding creatures that do nothing but take, take, take. I know, however, that we are a generous, loving people that care about the rest of the world and want to help. I don’t think anything we’re doing in the U.S. is taking away from others but rather is discovering new ways to help them.
While I have always been disappointed in the fact that our country cannot do more for the hungry of the world, I know we don’t have the resources to grow enough food here. Now, on the other hand, we can spread knowledge to the masses to help them feed themselves!
It seems the old adage is true – “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” Only in this case, I guess it’s more like teach a man to use flood-tolerant rice.
Hannah Kaase is a sophomore majoring in animal and dairy science. She can be contacted at [email protected].