After being successful in isolating a gene in rice plants that help them to grow and produce high yield in the salty waters of Sundarbans, the scientists are waiting to start the field trials of the saline-resistant rice crop.

The clinical phase of the experiments took 10 years to complete and the greenhouse phase of experiments is still underway. Only after this gets over, the seeds will be ready for field trials.

“We patented this gene in 2004 but it was only a year ago that the greenhouse trials started. It should take us a couple of years more to finish this part of the experiment and after that we will be able to apply to the Central government for the right to conduct the field trials,” said Arun Lahiri Majumdar, senior professor, Bose Institute.

The wild rice that grows in the cultivable tracts of Sunderbans is of inferior quality. Not only this, on an average around 3 tonnes of rice is produced per hectare in Bengal, but the average yield in the Sundarbans is only around 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hectare.

Scientists say that with increasing salinity in the area and more land becoming saline, this new variant of rice will help farmers make more money.

“What will make this variant of rice even more interesting is that the rice seeds would not only be capable of growing in the saline condition but would also be draught-prone. Since Sundarbans is a low-lying region, like most of the region in eastern India, it is dependent on land, hence suffers from draught problems. Hopefully, these problems will be solved,” said Swapan Datta, department of Botany, University of Calcutta.

Researchers also point out that once these seeds are grown in Bengal, rice production per hectare would increase.