Researchers from the UK, USA and India, led by scientists at the University of York, are embarking on a major four-year project which aims to develop new strains of rice to help to feed millions of people. The aim of the project is to develop varieties of rice that will be more resistant to extremes of climate to provide subsistence communities in India and elsewhere with more stable grain yields. Rice is the staple food for more than two billion people, but a quarter of global rice production – and 45 per cent in India – is in rain-fed environments. With climate change predicted to cause more droughts and flooding in the future, the challenge is to develop rice strains that are both drought and submersion tolerant.