Jefferson matures in about 125 days. A sturdy stem keeps the plant from toppling and spilling its grain onto the ground where it can't be harvested. Long and thick, the rice grains have an average 21 percent amylose, a starch component that helps reduce stickiness and softness. Asian farmers currently must grow lower-yielding tall rice varieties that survive by keeping their grain heads above flood waters. But ARS scientists crossbred tall and short varieties to combine their valuable traits into one short, high-yielding variety and have located the gene that confers submergence tolerance.
Breeders can develop commercial varieties from the new plants.
Another benefit of the new rice might be weed control, because fields planted in short rice can be flooded until the weeds drown. Annually, Asia produces about 90 percent of the 500 million tons of rough rice produced worldwide. While this dwarfs the seven to nine million tons grown in this country, the U.S. accounts for about 20 percent of all rice sold in international markets. The deficiency occurs because sulfides formed in rice paddies make zinc unavailable. Yield loss to zinc deficiency costs farmers millions of dollars each year.