Climate-smart African rice
Tackling two of the most devastating climate stressors in one go, our project Climate-smart African rice uses a novel approach to securing food and income for smallholder farmers in Tanzania. By combining cutting-edge genetics with field-based breeding and strong public-private partnerships, we aim to deliver rice varieties that withstand both flooding and salinity, often occurring together under climate change. This initiative aligns with key Sustainable Development Goals and national development plans, offering real-world solutions where they are needed most.
Our project will deliver resilient rice varieties tailored for African conditions - tolerant to submergence, salinity, and poor germination under low oxygen. Using advanced genetic tools and African germplasm, we will identify key tolerance traits, map QTLs, and produce breeding lines ready for uptake by national seed agencies and private seed companies. Alongside this, we will train over 100 local scientists, technicians, and extension agents to sustain and scale these innovations, ensuring long-term impact on food security and rural livelihoods.
Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Pedersen O (2023) A meta-analysis of plant tissue O2 dynamics. Functional Plant Biology: 10.1071/FP22294. doi: 10.1071/FP22294.
Jiménez JdlC, Mustroph A, Pedersen O, Weits DA, Schmidt-Schippers R (2024a) Flooding stress and responses to hypoxia in plants. Functional Plant Biology: 10.1071/FP24061. doi: 10.1071/FP24061.
Jiménez JdlC, Noorrohmah S, Suresh K, Zeisler-Diehl VV, Peralta Ogorek LL, Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Nagai K, Ashikari M, Takahashi H, Pedersen O, Schreiber L, Nakazono M (2024b) Leaf Gas Film 1 promotes glycerol ester accumulation and formation of a tight root barrier to radial O2 loss in rice. Plant Physiology: 10.1093/plphys/kiae1458. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiae458.
Jiménez JdlC, Pedersen O (2023) Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from rice via manipulation of key root traits. Rice 16: 24. doi: 10.1186/s12284-023-00638-z.
Lin C, Peralta Ogorek LL, Liu D, Pedersen O, Sauter M (2023) A quantitative trait locus conferring flood tolerance to deepwater rice regulates the formation of two distinct types of aquatic adventitious roots. New Phytologist 238: 1403-1419. doi: 10.1111/nph.18678.
Lin C, Zhang Z, Shen X, Liu D, Pedersen O (2024) Flooding-adaptive root and shoot traits in rice. Functional Plant Biology: 10.1071/FP23226. doi: 10.1071/FP23226.
Lin C, Zhu T, Peralta Ogorek LL, Wang Y, Sauter M, Pedersen O (2022) The pyramiding of three key root traits aid breeding of flood-tolerant rice. plants 11: 2033. doi: 10.3390/plants11152033.
Lutambi KK, Henry A, De Campo M, Chebotarov D, Pedersen O, Nchimbi Msolla S, Kilasi NL (2024) Genotypic screening for salinity tolerance of rice genotypes from Eastern and Southern Africa at seedling stage. Journal of Plant Interactions: 10.1080/17429145.17422024.12349623. doi: 10.1080/17429145.2024.2349623.
Mheni NT, Kilasi N, Quiloy FA, Heredia MC, Bilaro A, Meliyo J, Dixit S, Nchimbi Msolla S (2024) Breeding rice for salinity tolerance and salt-affected soils in Africa: a review. Cogent Food & Agriculture 10: 2327666. doi: 10.1080/23311932.2024.2327666.
Mwakyusa L, Dixit S, Herzog M, Heredia MC, Madege RR, Kilasi NL (2023a) Flood-tolerant rice for enhanced production and livelihood of smallholder farmers of Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1244460.
Mwakyusa L, Heredia MC, Kilasi NL, Madege RR, Herzog M, Dixit S (2023b) Screening of potential donors for anaerobic stress tolerance during germination in rice. Frontiers in Plant Science 14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1261101.
Omar MM, Massawe BHJ, Shitindi MJ, Pedersen O, Meliyo JL, Fue KG (2024a) Assessment of salt-affected soil in selected rice irrigation schemes in Tanzania: understanding salt types for optimizing management approaches. Frontiers in Soil Science: 4:1372838. doi: 10.3389/fsoil.2024.1372838.
Omar MM, Shitindi MJ, Massawe BHJ, Fue KG, Meliyo JL, Pedersen O (2023) Salt-affected soils in Tanzanian agricultural lands: type of soils and extent of the problem. Sustainable Environment 9: 2205731. doi: 10.1080/27658511.2023.2205731.
Omar MM, Shitindi MJ, Massawe BHJ, Fue KG, Pedersen O, Meliyo JL (2022) Exploring farmers’ perception, knowledge, and management techniques of salt-affected soils to enhance rice production on smallholder farms in Tanzania. Cogent Food & Agriculture 8: 2140470. doi: 10.1080/23311932.2022.2140470.
Omar MM, Shitindi MJ, Massawe BHJ, Pedersen O, Meliyo JL, Fue KG (2024b) Modeling the electrical conductivity relationship between saturated paste extract and 1:2.5 dilution in different soil textural classes. Frontiers in Soil Science 4: 1421661. doi: 10.3389/fsoil.2024.1421661.
Pedersen O, Herzog M (2024) The Importance of Leaf Gas Films for Gas Exchange During Submergence. In: J-I Sakagami, M Nakazono (eds) Responses of Plants to Soil Flooding. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore.
Pedersen O, Jiménez JdlC (2024) Function and induction of the root barrier to radial O2 loss. A commentary on ’Exogenous abscisic acid induces the formation of a suberized barrier to radial oxygen loss in adventitious roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare)’. Annals of Botany: 10.1093/aob/mcae1036. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcae036.
Pedersen O, Liu D, Ogorek LLP, Sauter M, Lin C (2024) Function and Regulation of Aquatic Adventitious Roots. In: J-I Sakagami, M Nakazono (eds) Responses of Plants to Soil Flooding. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore.
Peralta Ogorek LL, Jiménez JdlC, Visser EJW, Takahashi H, Nakazono M, Shabala S, Pedersen O (2024a) Outer apoplastic barriers in roots: prospects for abiotic stress tolerance. Functional Plant Biology 51: FP23133. doi: 10.1071/FP23133.
Peralta Ogorek LL, Song Z, Pellegrini E, Liu F, Tomasella M, Nardini A, Pedersen O (2024b) Root acclimations to soil flooding prime rice (Oryza sativa) for conditions of water deficit. Plant and Soil 494: 529–546. doi: 10.1007/s11104-023-06299-7.
Peralta Ogorek LL, Takahashi H, Nakazono M, Pedersen O (2023) The barrier to radial oxygen loss protects roots against hydrogen sulphide intrusion and its toxic effect. New Phytologist 238: 1825-1837. doi: 10.1111/nph.18883.
Song Z, Lin C, Pedersen O, Jiménez JdlC (2024) Anatomical and physiology responses of roots and rhizomes in Oryza longistaminata to soil water gradients. Annals of Botany: 10.1093/aob/mcae1131. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcae131.
Song Z, Zonta F, Peralta Ogorek LL, Bastegaard VK, Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Pedersen O (2023) The quantitative importance of key root traits for radial water loss under low water potential. Plant and Soil 482: 567-584. doi: 10.1007/s11104-022-05711-y.
Tong S, Ashikari M, Nagai K, Pedersen O (2023a) Can the wild perennial, rhizomatous rice species Oryza longistaminata be a candidate for de novo domestication? Rice 16: 13. doi: 10.1186/s12284-023-00630-7.
Tong S, Kjær JE, Peralta Ogorek LL, Pellegrini E, Song Z, Pedersen O, Herzog M (2023b) Responses of key root traits in the genus Oryza to soil flooding mimicked by stagnant, deoxygenated nutrient solution. Journal of Experimental Botany 74: 2112-2126. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad014.
Tong S, Ranathunge K, Pellegrini E, Liu D, Herzog M, Jiménez JdlC, Kotula L, Pedersen O (2024) Silicon weakens the barrier to radial O2 loss and delays its formation, resulting in increased Na+ and Cl− fluxes to the shoot. Environmental and Experimental Botany 226: 105941. doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2024.105941.
- Kefrine Lutambi
- Lupakisyo Mwakyusa
- Moh'd Omar
- Nafeti Mheni
- Paulo Sulle
- Victoria Bulegeya
Funded by:
Project: Climate-smart African rice
Funding Agency: Danida Fellowship Centre
Period: 6.5 years
Grant: DKK 12,000,000
Period: April 2020 to September 2026
Contact
Professor Ole Pedersen, PI
ORCID
Consortium members
| Name | Institution | |
|---|---|---|
| Abdel Ismail | International Rice Research Institute | |
| Amelia Henry | International Rice Research Institute | |
| Dr Atugonza Bilaro | Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute | |
| Dr Fitta Silo | International Rice Research Institute | |
| Dr Juan Jiménez | University of Copenhagen | |
| Dr Mawazo Shitindi | Sokoine University of Agrculture | |
| Dr Newton Kilasi | Sokoine University of Agrculture | |
| Dr Ole Pedersen (PI) | University of Copenhagen | |
| Dr Rosemary Murori | International Rice Research Institute | |
| Dr Susan Nchimbi-Msolla | Sokoine University of Agrculture |