Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or less commonly Oryza glaberrima (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera Zizania and Porteresia, both wild and domesticated, although the term may also be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.

Since the 1980s, with the rapid development of the economy and the excessive use of the ecological environment, wetland resources occupation by wanton, combined with the ecological environment pollution, use of pesticides, invasive species, as well as the lack of social common protection consciousness and so on factors, lead to wild rice is an important habitat of the wild plant resources by unprecedented destruction, Most of the habitats where growth was recorded are now unrecognizable or gone.

From 2002 to 2009, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences organized Agricultural Research Institutes in seven provinces to investigate wild rice and found that compared with the 1980s, The loss of distribution sites of common wild rice (Oryza ufipogon), medicinal rice (Oryza officinalis) and warp-grain rice (Oryza Meyeriana) were about 70%, 55% and 30%, respectively.

Present germplasm nurseries have the genetic diversity to reduce the risk

It is predicted that if no effective protection measures are taken, the wild rice population in China will disappear in another 20 years. The government and scientists have done much work to protect wild rice, a vital plant resource effectively, but there are still some deep-rooted problems that need to be solved. Mainly manifested in:

1. The state has established a wild rice seed quality resource nursery, but there are concerns about decreasing genetic diversity. 

When wild rice seeds from different populations were kept together for a long time, the pollination at flowering time could easily lead to gene exchange from wild rice from different populations. Therefore, the genetic diversity of the offspring of the wild rice species preserved in the resource garden may be reduced, resulting in genetic drift and gene recombination in the next generation of individuals, which may destroy or disappear some important useful genes, affecting the genetic diversity of wild rice.

2. The disturbance of wild rice habitat by human activities has not been excluded. 

The wild rice habitat is very easily disturbed by people's daily life and economic activities, which destroys the wild rice habitat and leads to the gradual disappearance of wild rice seed groups.

3. Alien plants invaded and occupied the habitat of wild rice.

Exotic invasive plants such as microchamomile, lantana, water hyacinth, and native plants such as wild taro, Dryopteris and grasses began to invade wild rice habitats. The wild growth of these plants, combined with the lack of special care, led to the coverage of wild rice individuals or the continuous occupation of population habitat, eventually forcing wild rice to lose its home.

4. Inadequate protection funds lead to poor in situ protection effects of wild rice. 

Most of the growing areas of wild rice are remote, and many in situ protection plots for wild rice are virtually empty.

Suggestion: Strengthen protection and survey wild rice resources

According to the protection status of wild rice in China, the following protection suggestions are put forward:

1. Strengthen in situ, near and ex-situ protection of wild rice seed groups: Iron fence fences, plant fences and other forms of protection are adopted for seriously threatened populations to physically isolate native areas from surrounding areas and reduce interference from human activities and invasion of alien plants. It can also be combined with constructing wetland parks around the country to establish an appropriate amount of wild rice ex-situ protection communities.

2. Carry out a continuous census of wild rice resources in China to find out the real-time status of the wild rice population. A short, relatively concentrated period to understand the current situation of wild rice growth will enable the development of better priority strategies for protecting wild rice populations and the immediate implementation of conservation action plans.

3. Carry out research on the genetic diversity of wild rice and formulate scientific and reasonable conservation strategies: Based on the research results, formulate more targeted scientific conservation strategies.

Original Chinese article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nJim2QaTuQIZ0L2dFeboYg

Translator/Syying 

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