Molecular Rice Breeding Program for the Mekong Region
Channel: GCProgramme
Date: 12/02/2014

The Greater Mekong basin spans Southern China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Since 2007, GCP has funded a rice molecular breeding community of practice (CoP) during the second phase of the Mekong rice breeding project. This Mekong CoP is one of the oldest at GCP. It is led by BIOTEC Thailand, in alliance with partners from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

Rice is a water-hungry crop, and most of the farmers depend on rain to grow rice, meaning when drought comes, it wreaks havoc. Researchers are therefore breeding drought-tolerant rice varieties to help farmers cope with drought. Besides drought, researchers are also breeding rice for resilience against soil salinity, flooding and against pests and diseases. 

(Video courtesy of BIOTEC Thailand)
Thai version: http://dna.kps.ku.ac.th/mekong/index.php/mas-th