Researchers to Conduct Further Study on African Rice Blast

Researchers from the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Colombia will work together to search for genes that make some rice cultivars resistant to witchweed Striga as many rice-growing areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are infested by the said parasite. Witchweed harms the crops as it attaches to the roots of plants and steals nutrients and water which lead to severe stunting and yield losses of 60 to 100 per cent.

Scientists will use cutting edge genomic approaches to identify resistance genes from the African rice species Oryza glaberrima and wild ancestors of rice. They will then use these genes in breeding programmes to improve resistance and tolerance to witchweed. Field trials will be established in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to test how well the new resistant cultivars grow in different environments and to identify the best witchweed resistant/tolerant rice genotypes available.

For more information, contact Prof. Nick Talbot at n.j.talbot@exeter.ac.uk.