As Japan swelters, farmers turn to new heat-resistant rice varieties to boost staple crop
New rice varieties give hope that farmers can overcome the climate emergency and a warmer future that threatens harvests When schoolchildren in Shiroishi were enlisted to plant rice seedlings in June, Shinto priests blessed the land and asked the deities for a bountiful crop.
Judging by the fields behind farmer Haruki Kawasaki, their prayers have been answered.
The 63-year-old is preparing to harvest this year’s crop of hinatamaru , a variety of rice whose plump grains have thrived despite exposure to another hot and dry summer, conditions that typically punish rice yields.
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