Australia: Research hopeful for fast growing rice

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200907/s2621031.htm

http://beta.irri.org/news/index.php/rice-news/australia-research-hopeful-for-fast-growing-rice.html
ABC Radio Australia: A James Cook University researcher is working as part of an international team to develop faster growing rice. Professor Jim Burnell is one of a group of 26 researchers who are working to increase the rice plant's growth rate and reduce the amount of water and fertiliser the plant needs. By changing the biochemistry of rice plants, professor Burnell's team are hoping to enhance the photosynthetic process in rice making it grow up to 50 per cent faster. "If we can introduce what we call the C4 pathway - photosynthetic pathway, into rice, which is a C3 plant, we should also be able to increase it's water use efficiency and it's nitrogen use efficiency, so that you could grow plants using less water and less nitrogen fertilisers," he says.