Scientists in Africa have developed Nitrogen Efficient Water Efficient Salt Tolerant (NEWEST) rice variety to increase rice production in Africa. The Principal Investigator for NEWEST rice project, Dr Mohammed Bashir said currently, the project is focusing on Nitrogen Use Efficiency, which is currently undergoing efficacy trial. The Rice Project Manager for AATF, Dr Kayode Sanni said the reason why scientists embarked on the NEWEST rice project was because conventional rice varieties in the country have low yield per hectare due to its inability to maximise the little nitrogen in the soil. “What we have done is that we have developed rice that can actually grow under low nitrogen and still give a very good yield. “This transformed New Rice for Africa 4 was giving us about 15 per cent yield advantage over the existing New Rice for Africa 4”, he explained.

Source: Nigerian Tribune April 28, 2022 10:40 UTC