DPA - Output Of Green Revolution-Era "Miracle Rice" Down 15% In Destabilizing RP Climate

[hatrack]

Manila - Climate change has reduced by 15 per cent the yield of the 'miracle rice' which helped avert famine in Asia in the 1960s, the International Rice Research Institute said Friday.

A study conducted by the Manila-based institute showed that the yield of the IR8 rice variety, also known as 'miracle rice,' had dropped to 7 tons per hectare from yields of 9.5 to 10.5 tons per hectare when it was first introduced. Before the introduction of the new rice in the 1960s, the average global rice yield per hectare was only around 2 tons.

'Our study eliminated changes in the genetic composition of the IR8 which may have occurred over time, and instead identified changes in the environment as the cause of the decline,' Shaobing Peng, a crop physiologist from the institute, said.

'Hotter nights, which are known to reduce rice yields, and other environmental changes such as modification in soil properties ... and air pollution are all possible contributing factors,' Peng added.

EDIT

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1589947.php/Climate-change-takes-its-toll-on-miracle-rice-institute-says

[Nihil]

1. Ah, the portents of a happy future ...

... are sadly missing from your post.

> Climate change has reduced by 15 per cent the yield of the 'miracle rice' which
> helped avert famine in Asia in the 1960s

I can see a wave of migration hitting home though with a double load ... not only
will the migrants survive longer than their ex-compatriots but they will be doing
so with a much heavier drain on resources in their new home than when they were in
their original one ... this will also put more strain on their adopted home which
will, in turn, aggravate xenophobic extremism and thus spread the misery around
to one & all ...

My Monday-morning catch-up on DU is getting more depressing every week. :-(