Oryza glaberrima

Oryza glaberrima
Seeds of Oryza glaberrima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Angiosperms
Class:	Monocots
Subclass:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Bambusoideae
Tribe:	Oryzeae
Genus:	Oryza
Species:	O. glaberrima
Binomial name
Oryza glaberrima Steud.

Oryza glaberrima, commonly known as African rice, is a domesticated rice species. It is believed to have been domesticated 2000–3000 years ago in the inland delta of the Upper Niger River, in what is now Mali. Its wild ancestor, which still grows wild in Africa, is Oryza barthii.

This species is grown in West Africa. African rice often shows more tolerance to fluctuations in water depth, iron toxicity, infertile soils, severe climatic conditions, and human neglect, and exhibits better resistance to various pests and diseases, such as nematodes (Heterodera sacchari and Meloidogyne spp.), African rice gall midge (Orseolia oryzivora), rice stripe necrosis virus, rice yellow mottle virus, and the parasitic plants Striga. The species shows several negative characteristics with respect to the Asian rice species O. sativa, such as brittle grain and cracking during industrial polishing. More importantly, it consistently shows lower yields than O. sativa, which is due to its tendency to shatter grains easily.

Scientists from the Africa Rice Center managed to cross-breed African rice with Asian rice varieties to produce a group of interspecific cultivars called New Rice for Africa (NERICA).

The genome of O. glaberrima has been sequenced, and was published in 2014.

Further reading

• Oryza glaberrima: A source for the improvement of Oryza sativa
• Carolina Gold
• Identification of a rice stripe necrosis virus resistance locus and yield component QTLs using Oryza sativa × O. glaberrima introgression lines