Extreme climate affects the harvest and the restrictions on the export of rice powers. It is the two main reasons for the soaring white rice prices in the past few months.
The statistics of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that the price of Indica Rice, the daily consumption of the people in Southeast Asian people, and the long "Indian rice") prices have continued to be strong. From 2022, it has been rising. The average index in March is 154 in March 154Point, 22.9%higher than the same period last year.Another kind of Armatic Rice, which is loved by locals, has a slight decline in prices, but it is much higher than in 2023.In this wave of white rice supply crisis, the two new Malaysias, which are highly dependent on India and Thailand, have tasted the suffering of rice prices.
Affecting the harvest of rice around the world, in addition to the climate, the quality of the rice species, the fertilizer, the pests, and other factors, those who have been dragging the rice production chain for many years have been dragged on the "back foot" of the rice production chain, and the "weeds and rice" infectious infection began in the fieldEssence
For example, in Thailand, these weed rice and cultivated rice plants compete for various resources, such as fertilizer, water, and sunlight, so that the rice planting industry has been harvested at least 10%in recent years; in the past 30 years, Malaysia's rice industry alsoAs a result, more than RM90 million (about S $ 25.48 million) per quarter.
The rice that is called "Padi Angin" (Padi Angin, the valley is fell off the valley), which is the "piracy" of the Overza Sativa in Asia; it is the same as the cultivation rice."Genus", no herbicides in rice fields are not right.Due to the easy loss of weeds and rice grains and poor quality of grains, once the rice field is attacked by it, the farmer will suffer heavy losses.Therefore, understanding the evolution of farmland weeds and how they breed in fields have always been the key hotspot of agricultural research in countries around the world.
At the beginning of this year, the author from the multinational team of Monash University Monash University (Monash University Malaysia) reported the latest discovery of how weeds and cultivated rice competition in Thailand and Malaysia in Thailand and Malaysia through genome sequencing and analysis.Lile the theoretical foundation for the planning of weeds in the field.The research report was published in the February journal of Nature Communications.
About 10 years ago, I and Professor Kenneth Olsen, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis, began to study Southeast Asian weeds and rice.Scientist in Thailand.We use the genome of weeds and rice from Thailand, Malaysia, and countries around the world to explore the evolutionary story of Southeast Asian weeds and rice.
Consistent with our previous studies found that most of the weed rice in Southeast Asia, the United States, and China mainly evolved from the cultivation of rice through "de-domestication" or "De-Dometing" process.
Different from temperate rice planting areas, there are natural ethnic groups in the tropical fields of Thai and Malaysia.These wild rice can be easily intercounted with cultivated rice or weeds, which are new "weapons" for weeds to attack rice field equipment to adapt to the farmland environment and spread rapidly.
Through natural hybridization, these "wild" weed rice types have obtained unique "wild genes" characterized by black peels, rice manges, and small valleys, making weeds and rice more competitive than cultivating rice.Grass rice dove occupy the nest and become the new hegemony of farmland.
In fact, plant species generally have "barriers" between wild species and cultivation crops, but the barrier of cultivation rice and wild rice is relatively weak, making wild genes easily flow into the genome of weed rice.
The research on the genetic mechanism of weeds and rice evolution will provide the theoretical guidance at the planning of prevention and control of weeds.We hope that the genetic information obtained by these genomic research institutes can help to develop the management and control policy of weeds and rice in Southeast Asian countries to slow down agricultural losses in the decreased white rice output.At the same time, some special traits that are beneficial to farmland planting, such as heat resistance and high growth rates, will provide a better breeding foundation for the rice industry in the future.
The author is an associate professor of molecular genetics at Montes University in Malaysia
