Scientists used to think modern rice, Oryza sativa, was domesticated twice: sticky, short - grained japonica rice was domesticated in China, and in India, rice was domesticated into long -
grained varieties indica and aus.
Scientists from Japan and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have discovered a rice gene that in preliminary testing increased production by 13 - 36 % in modern long -
grain indica rice
varieties — the world's most widely grown types of rice.