Gates funding to help poor rice farmers(e absence of submergence behave exactly ...)

A United States National Public Radio report in October 2007 visited a field of Sub1 rice grown by Bangladeshi farmer Gobindra, the only person in his village who planted the seed before an 8-day flood hit. After the water subsided, his crop recovered and now every other farmer in Gobindras village plans on planting the flood-tolerant variety. A striking time-lapse video showing the relative effects of 10 days flooding on a Sub1 rice variety and its non-floodproof counterpart is available at www.irri.org/timelapse.asp.

Even Bangladeshi farmers who were devastated by Cyclone Sidr in November last year which was so fierce that no rice crop could fully withstand itcan benefit from new varieties with sufficient tolerance of submergence, salinity, and stagnant flooding. Such varieties can mitigate the immediate effects of severe storms and offer yields that will avert hunger until the next harvest.

Several other major donors have signaled their confidence in IRRIs research. A series of significant grants has recently come from the government of Japan (499.5 million$4.7 millionfor flood tolerance in Southeast Asia), Germanys Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in combination with the Eiselen Foundation (1 million$1.45 millionfor salinity tolerance), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development ($1.5 million for sub-Saharan Africa, in partnership with the Africa Rice Center).

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