News & Resources

Science Snapshot: Developing Heat-Tolerant Rice to Protect U.S. and Global Harvests

September 2026

U.S. farmers produce a rice crop worth roughly $3 billion annually, but heat waves can threaten both harvest size and grain quality. For example, in Louisiana alone, drought and excessive heat imposed approximately $155 million in economic losses and additional costs on rice production in 2023. Developing heat-tolerant varieties could help farmers protect their investment and maintain production during hot seasons. Heat damages rice in different ways. At flowering, it can disrupt pollination, leaving empty hulls instead of grain. During grain filling, high temperatures can produce chalky, fragile kernels that break during milling, reducing the recovery of higher-value whole rice. Protecting fertility and maintaining grain quality are therefore critical priorities for safeguarding crop value.

Whole Genome Sequence Data on Diverse Pearl Millet Accessions Across the African Continent

April 2026

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is a major staple cereal in Asia and West Africa but remains underrepresented in genomic research compared with other major cereals. This dataset presents whole-genome sequencing (WGS) variant data for a diverse panel of 231 pearl millet accessions collected across Africa.

Beating the Odds in Bangladesh

April 2026

For generations, rice farmers across Bangladesh have battled against the odds — struggling with salt-soaked soils, long dry spells, floods that swallowed their fields, and cold snaps that stunted their crops. Each season brought new uncertainty, and for many families, rice harvests — the foundation of their livelihood — were no longer guaranteed.

That story is beginning to change.

Seeds of Hope: Growing Wheat and Resilience Across Two Continents

March 2026

From the golden plains of Kansas to the sun-baked fields of Senegal, the story of wheat is being rewritten. Once, the American Midwest was known for its steady rains and predictable seasons, while West African farmers looked to the skies for a single life-saving storm. Today, both regions face the same challenge—hotter days, shorter rains, and a climate that refuses to play by the old rules.

In Kansas, farmers watch winter wheat struggle through dry, cracked soil. In Senegal, farmers wait for rains that come too late or too hard. Yet in this shared struggle, two worlds have found common ground—and a shared hope that innovation can outpace the climate.

Ethiopia’s Shift to Drought Resiliency via Scientific Discovery

February 2026

For years, developing drought-resilient sorghum in the drylands of Ethiopia faced a mix of scientific and logistical hurdles. Trials were difficult to coordinate, field conditions were unpredictable and collecting the plant samples needed for genetic research was slow, messy, and often unsuccessful.

Field teams used to travel long distances to gather leaf tissue from mature plants growing under the harsh sun. The work could take days, with samples scattered by wind, mislabeled, or damaged by heat. Even when successful, the older, fibrous leaves from mature plants yielded poor-quality DNA — leaving researchers with limited insight into the genetic traits that could make sorghum stronger against drought.