Rice grassy stunt virus
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| Rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV) | ||||||
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rice rosette Philippines virus |
Rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV) is a plant pathogenic virus. In the 1970s, the grassy stunt virus decimated rice harvests across Asia because the majority of Asia was planting few species: IRRI (the International Rice Research Institute) had bred several rice species which gave a high yield (the press dubbed the species "miracle rice"), but were susceptible to disease [1]. When RGSV struck, it was a catastrophe for thousands of Asian farmers.
To breed a resistant crop, IRRI had to find a wild variety which happened to have the desired trait which provided it with resistance. They screened 6273 varieties: only one was luckily found to be resistant, a relatively feeble Indian variety, known to science only since 1966 [2]. It was hybridised with other varieties and is now widely grown worldwide.
This episode highlights the importance of biodiversity[3] in crop systems - if there hadn't been a pool of 6273 wild varieties to choose from, the rice industry could have been permanently damaged. This Stunt virus has greatly affected the rice industries chance to grow crops.
[edit] References
- ^ Microsoft Word
- ^ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/omar.pdf
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
[edit] External links
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