In Chile, some rice fields adopted technology to reduce water consumption by this crop by more than 50% under conditions of climate change. These technologies help increase rice production volume in one of the driest soil types in the Ñuble region, located 400 kilometers from the city of Chillán.
This new method is not a natural wonder, but the result of research by scientists from the American Institute of Cooperation on Agriculture and the National Chilean Institute of Agricultural Research, which introduced genetic modifications to the Asian rice variety, providing it with the ability to withstand climate changes while also being less polluting to the surrounding environment.
They managed to produce a yield that consumes 50% less water than usual, and currently, they are also striving to reduce methane emissions into the atmosphere, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Rice fields make up 10% of global emissions of this gas, according to data from the Global Bank.
The new rice variety has proven to be resilient not only to drought but also to cold. Carla Cordero, who leads the rice genetics improvement program at the National Institute of Agricultural Research since 2006, stated: "With changing climate, there is a likelihood of either water scarcity or its excess."
Around the world, there practically exists a type of dry rice that only feeds on rain and possesses drought resistance. According to Cordero, this rice variety has low yields, especially in Asia.
Many research efforts called 'rice corals' in Chile, as they are named for their multiple studies in the sector, have led to the need to produce larger volumes of rice without harming the surrounding environment. It is believed that the Asian continent, where the majority of rice is produced, should seek other forms of diversity to avoid failures and losses.
The result of these studies has been the air rice, cultivated on dry or well-drained soil. For researchers, this could become an alternative for mitigating the consequences of climate change, and they are working on additional scientific evidence for using this method in other countries.
