is a semi-dwarf

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

with very large ears that was bred by at an experimental station in

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Its parents were a semi-dwarf Japanese

landrace A landrace is a Domestication, domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural Environment (biophysical), environment of agric ...

that may have originated in Korea in the 3rd or 4th century AD, and two varieties from the USA. In 1935 it was registered as a numbered cultivar by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry . Norin 10 grew to just two feet (60 - 100 cm) tall, instead of the usual four (150 cm). It provided two genes, ''Rht1'' and ''Rht2'', that resulted in reduced-height wheats, thus allowing better nutrient uptake and tillage, since when heavily fertilised with nitrogen, tall varieties grow too high, become top-heavy, and lodge. The ''Rht1'' and ''Rht2'' genes have been used in wheat breeding programmes worldwide to provide shorter plants with higher yields. Cecil Salmon, a biologist and wheat expert on General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

's team in

after 1945, collected 16 varieties of wheat including Norin 10. He sent these seeds to Orville Vogel at Washington State University and they were used within USA breeding programmes in the 1950s. Norin 10 was also provided to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. It was used here by Norman Borlaug and collaborators in crosses with local varieties to produce dwarf varieties that were also daylight-insensitive and had resistance to

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

disease. These were subsequently distributed worldwide. These included high-output varieties tested in India (Lerma Rojo 64 and Sonora 64) during the

Green Revolution The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...

. Norin 10 helped

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

, such as India and Pakistan, to increase the productivity of their crops by approximately 60% during the

References

External links

Rht1 gene

Ears of plenty: The story of wheat

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

, December 20, 2005 {{Wheat Wheat cultivars

See also

References

External links