Rice feeds half the world. Climate change’s droughts and floods put it at risk
Scientists and growers will need to innovate to save the staple crop
In a severe drought, rice farmers in California’s Sacramento Valley have to leave some of their fields unplanted (upper left).
CALIFORNIA RICE COMMISSION, BRIAN BAER
Under a midday summer sun in California’s Sacramento Valley, rice farmer Peter Rystrom walks across a dusty, barren plot of land, parched soil crunching beneath each step.
In a typical year, he’d be sloshing through inches of water amid lush, green rice plants.