Diversifying crop culture to fight disease
Sometimes the answer to increasing crop yield seems just under our noses. Farmers in China have started using an innovative new strategy to increase crop yield “without using chemical treatments or spending a single extra penny”. This experimental new technique is planting two different types of rice instead of one. This has helped immensely with the prominence of rice blast in their paddies. According to Dr. Christopher Mundt, a population biologist from Oregon State University, “I wasn't surprised that the system worked, but I was surprised that it worked so well.” This new technique has helped fight rice blast, because the crops are not a monoculture so if not all the crops are affected even if the blast completely wipes out one type of rice. This has helped with the farmers’ bottom line because they no longer have a huge need for the fungicides that they use.
This project was highly successful because, not only did the type of rice that doesn't usually succumb to the blast survived, but it blocked some of the spores from the other type of rice. The rice that is susceptible to the fungus is a highly enjoyed sticky rice and the fungus has been devastating to the crop. As more farmers start using this technique, it is even more effective, as the spores from other farms don't blow over into the neighboring rice paddies because the not-susceptible rice is blocking it with great efficiency.
This technique could potentially be used on different crops, and the scientists are hopeful that it will be a great new technique that can increase crop yield without hurting the environment or the pockets of farmers.
Kaesuk Yoon, C. New York Times, Simple Method Found to Increase Crop Yields Vastly. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/22/science/simple-method-found-to-increase-crop-yields-vastly.html (accessed March 26, 2019)
