SENDAI--Attempts to find salt-resistant rice strains began June 15 on the Sendai Plain, a major rice-producing area devastated by the March 11 tsunami.
SENDAI--Attempts to find salt-resistant rice strains began June 15 on the Sendai Plain, a major rice-producing area devastated by the March 11 tsunami.
Thirty-six strains, including those for staple use and animal feed, are being cultured on a trial basis to provide data for disaster-stricken farmers and other regions inundated by high tides.
The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, an independent administrative body affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is in charge of the salt-resistance trial, the first of its kind on a large scale in Japan.
On the first day, employees planted rice seedlings at two sites in Sendai's Wakabayashi Ward beside plates that showed the rice strain names, such as Hitomebore and Koshihikari.