AUTHOR=Fei Mingliang , Jin Yunkai , Jin Lu , Su Jun , Ruan Ying , Wang Feng , Liu Chunlin , Sun Chuanxin 

TITLE=Adaptation of Rice to the Nordic Climate Yields Potential for Rice Cultivation at Most Northerly Site and the Organic Production of Low-Arsenic and High-Protein Rice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00329

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.00329

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=There is an urgent need for low-arsenic rice on the global market, in particular for consumption by small children. Soils in Uppsala, Sweden contain low concentration of arsenic (As). We hypothesize that if certain japonica paddy rice varieties can adapt to the cold climate and long day length in Uppsala and produce normal grains, such a variety could be used for organic production of low-arsenic rice for safe rice consumption. A japonica paddy rice variety, ʻHeijing 5ʹ, can be cultivated in Uppsala, Sweden after several years´ adaptation, provided that the rice plants are kept under a simple plastic cover when the temperature is below 10 °C. Uppsala-adapted ʻHeijing 5ʹ has a low As concentration of 0.1 mg per kg and high protein content of 12.6% per dry weight in brown rice grain, complying with all dietary requirements in EU and other countries for small children. The high protein content is particularly good for small children in terms of nutrition. Theoretically, Uppsala-adapted ʻHeijing 5ʹ can produce a yield of around 5100 kg per ha, with a potential for organic production. In addition, we speculate that cultivation of paddy rice can remove nitrogen and phosphorus from Swedish river water, and reduce nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea and associated algae blooms.