Green Options

Traditional farmers in the Thai hills are still growing rice the old fashioned way, and they may be single-handedly preserving the crop’s genetic diversity in the process.

Domesticated rice varieties have been selected for their high yield, and though they are necessary in order to feed the world’s growing population, they are genetically static. But a new study demonstrates that the traditional farming methods still practiced in remote areas of Thailand are preserving ancestral varieties of rice by keeping them genetically dynamic.

Draws upon a recent news reports in Science about the stem rust fungus, Ug99, that is sweeping the globe and threatening to decimated the world’s wheat harvests. Also, the politics behind some nation’s reluctance to give full access of their seed banks (which may possess genetic varieties of these crops that can withstand this and other diseases) to other nations.