world hunger

Photosynthesis Differs in Rice Varieties — Natural Diversity Could Boost Yields

Rice is a direct source of calories for more people than any other and serves as the main staple for some 560 million chronically hungry people in Asia. With over 120,000 varieties of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) across the globe, there is a wealth of natural diversity to be mined by plant scientists to increase yields. A team from the University of Illinois and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) examined how 14 diverse varieties photosynthesize—the process by which all crops convert sunlight energy into sugars that ultimately become our food.

Renault Aids The Felix Project, Delivering Food To London’s Most In Need

Sometimes, life’s harsher realities affect the hearts and minds of the young more than others who find the stories of hunger in children further from their own lives. Felix Byam Shaw’s compassion developed for other young boys when he found out they did not have necessary comforts of life — such as the regular meals that some of us take for granted. Renault explains: “In particular, after he played in a football match and discovered that none of the opposing team of 10-year-old boys from South London had anything to eat that day.”