Flood-resistant Rice Varieties Must Be Developed - Dr. Rai

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Nov 8: The foundation stone was laid for the Marine Research Center of CMFRI on Nov 7, Saturday. 

Dr. Mangala Rai, the director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Ressearch (ICAR), who spoke to the media on the occasion, said that India has fared well in spite of problems such as draught, water shortage, and overpopulation; and the credit for this goes to the ICAR. 







He also spoke of the importance of culturing in the sea and developing varieties of rice that can resist droughts, floods, and other natural calamities. Already the ICAR had developed IR64, Sama Masouri, and Sahbhagi, rice varieties that contain a gene called Sub1, which enable these varieties to withstand floods. He said that, in order to achieve all this, the CMFRI need to partner with research institutes, universities, and ICAR. 

Dr. Suresh S Honnappagol, the vice chancellor of Karnataka Veterinary and Fisheries Sciences University; Dr. S Ayyappan, the deputy director general of ICAR; Dr Mohan Joseph Modayil, the member of ASRB (New Delhi); and Dr. G Syda Rao, the director of CMFRI (Kochi) were also present.