Rice is the most important foodgrain crop of Asia.
It is also the most threatened by germplasm loss. One rice scientist who saw the emerging threat to biodiversity was the late Dr R.H. Richharia. The technique of rapid clonal multiplication of rice seed enables any farmer to effectively proliferate even a single seed of rice into thousands within the space of a single season. The technique is particularly useful for rapid multiplication of endangered varieties of which only a few seeds may be available. The method will work even if one has a single healthy grain of rice.