Stress Tolerant Rice Varieties for Adaptation to a Changing Climate

Rising temperatures due to accumulation of greenhouse gasses are expected to result in declining rice yields in the tropics. In addition to the direct effect of high temperature in reducing yields, a rise in sea level coupled with more erratic and extreme weather events will result in reduced yields and increase the risks of rice farming. The abiotic stresses that are anticipated to worsen as the consequences of climate change include high temperature, drought, flooding and salinity stresses. While high temperature is not currently a major problem, the other stresses are already widespread yield limiting factors in the unfavorable environments of tropical Asia. Incorporating stress tolerance into high-yielding varieties has proven to be a very effective approach to developing varieties that can cope with these situations. These successes provide optimism that the problem of climate change can be addressed partially through development and dissemination of adapted germplasm.