Mitigating flood risks to rice production in the Indian subcontinent
Rice is a staple food across the globe irrespective of the country’s location and economic position and therefore, it is by far the most important food crop compared to wheat and maize for populations in low and lower-middle income countries. Rice provides 20% of dietary energy supply all over the world while wheat supplies 19% and maize 5%. My project aims at understanding the impact of environmental stress on rice productivity. Revealing the identity of signaling pathways that boost crop productivity under stress will be crucial for classical breeding and biotechnology programs for increasing crop productivity. Specifically, I will be aiming to understand how SUMO mediated protein modification systems can be exploited to mitigate crop losses due to flooding.
Vaishnavi Mukkawar
