In a rice paddy somewhere in Asia, Africa or South America, a farmer plants his crops, hoping for a bountiful yield but knowing all or part may be lost to disease, floods and environmental stresses.

Each year, half of the world's potential rice crop is lost to diseases, and flash flooding causes more than $1 billion in rice losses. For 70 million of the world's poorest people who depend on rice, it is a life or death issue.

UC Davis researchers Pamela Ronald and Eduardo Blumwald are working with colleagues internationally to unravel the molecular secrets of rice, hoping to identify genes that will lead to new varieties that can resist diseases, endure flash floods and thrive despite harsh environmental conditions.

Ronald recently helped identify a gene that enables rice to grow and produce grain even after being completely submerged by floodwaters. Meanwhile Blumwald is searching for genes that will help rice and other plants thrive despite salty soils and irrigation water. He hopes that, one day, salt-tolerant rice will flourish on millions of acres of once unproductive lands.

For a hungry world, time is of the essence. By 2015 the world will need to be producing an additional 50 million tons of rice annually. Researchers like Blumwald and Ronald are committed to meeting that goal.

For more information, please view the UC Davis 2006 Annual Report.

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