Indiana News

Purdue Scientists Working on Drought-Resistant Crops

7/20/2012

Scientists at Purdue University are working on developing drought-resistant crops.

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Mitch Tuinstra, an Agronomy Professor at Purdue University, says there are other types of corn grown in places like Mexico, South Asia and Africa. "In some of those places, it's really hot and dry and farmers have developed varieties that are adapted to those conditions and so we're accessing these corn varieties from different parts of the world where they're used to growing in hot and dry conditions."

Tuinstra says the challenge is finding out how to take the resources of the exotic crops and move them into the local crops. He says the types of corn crops grown in more tropical areas look different than the ones we see in the midwest. He says a lot of them are much taller.

Tuinstra says the two types of crops are cross-compatible, meaning the type of crops they're trying to create are not genetically-modified.

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