Stop me, oh whoa oh, stop me – stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before:
Scientists in the Philippines are working on some innovative new strains of rice, that rice procurement may be easier and prevent famine in places like Bangladesh.
"Sivaris Rice" by DesignBliss-Flickr
Wait a minute.
Try comparing this text, from today’s story:
In the past, plants bred to resist the fungus-produced rice that didn’t taste good. But the new genetic discovery should make it possible to combine resistance and good taste, says Shuichi Fukuoka from the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences in Tsukuba.
Susan McCouch, a professor of plant breeding and genetics and of plant biology at Cornell University, says the new research represents “a great day for rice genetics.”
The papers show that scientists really can help prevent famines, McCouch says. But she adds that rice genetics could help improve the quality of rice, as well as the quantity.
To this text, which now sounds even more like public radio prophecy:
… as much as the [Bangladeshi] food grain collection and monitoring committees say they wanted to try something new and different and daring with their rice mills, it was maybe just too scary, just out of their comfort zone, different from the way they had always done rice procurement. And by the way, you have to wonder about the message this gives to anyone in the future who even thinks about looking towards the food grain collection and monitoring committees as a place for innovation, as a laboratory for experimentation. Most grain experts, even if you dabble in biomechanical engineering, you’ll tell others that, you know, rice sometimes needs time to cultivate, especially a hybrid strain. It’s kind of a sad thing in the area of rice procurement.
Mike Pesca, though the rice procurement just can’t be kept down, we bow before your insight, foreknowledge, and wisdom. May your reign over humanity be long, peaceful, and informative.
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