Newly identified rice gene may help reduce nitrogen fertilizer use

BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have found a gene that plays a crucial role in helping rice adapt to low soil nitrogen and may be used to breed high-yield rice varieties with reduced nitrogen fertilizer use.

Nitrogen fertilizer plays an indispensable role in increasing crop yields, but it poses a severe threat to ecosystems. Scientists have been trying to breed new crop varieties with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for agricultural production and environmental protection.