To lessen the effects of climate change, particularly floods on the production of rice, the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), Badeggi, Niger State, disclosed that it has developed two varieties of rice that are flood-resistant.
The Executive Director of the Institute, Dr Aliyu Umaru, who disclosed this to newsmen in Bida, Niger State, said the new varieties include: Faro 67 and Faro 68.
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The variations, according to Umaru, can withstand submersion for two to three weeks as opposed to the previous varieties, which often perish after two to three days.
Umaru recounted how the nationwide devastation caused by this year’s floods cost the farmers, including the institute, enormous sums of money.
He urged the government to construct water control structures in wetlands throughout the nation.
He also called for the establishment of new irrigation schemes, adding, “irrigated agriculture outweighs rain-fed agriculture by far.”
Story was adapted from The Guardian.
