DNA of rice raises hopes of a green revolution

A rice stalk in a paddy field at the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, the Philippines. Better rice varieties can be developed and passed on to farmers with the guidance of DNA sequencing. Photos: AFP

Rice-growing techniques learned through thousands of years of trial and error are about to be turbocharged with DNA technology in a breakthrough hailed by scientists as a potential second “green revolution”.

Over the next few years farmers are expected to have new genome sequencing technology at their disposal, helping to offset a myriad of problems that threaten to curtail production of the grain that feeds half of humanity.