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Add to Preferred SourcesFarmers in Indonesia have over the last few years grown enough rice for more than 20 million people using plants developed through the country’s plant mutation breeding programme.
The programme first took root through collaboration with the IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1997 and has since grown into a comprehensive partnership network that brings the results of scientific research with nuclear techniques to farmers’ fields.
More than 35 new varieties of crops, such as soybeans and rice, have since been developed through the programme. The new varieties are bred using irradiation and selected based on their improved characteristics compared to other local varieties, such as higher yields, shorter cultivation time or resistance to climate change stressors and diseases. Once ready, seeds for these new crops are then multiplied and made available to farmers.
“Sustaining agricultural production has never been more challenging than today as water scarcity, soil erosion, land degradation and crop failures keep amplifying,” said Qu Liang, Director of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division during a visit to Indonesia in March 2019. “Climate-smart agriculture through effective plant mutation breeding programmes like Indonesia’s is an important part of building a sustainable future.”
Original source: IAEA
Published on 24 April 2019