Grow rice in UK? As climate warms, it's 'not so crazy'

Researchers there pursue agricultural shift as heat, changing rainfall patterns affect crops

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Wearing large rubber boots, Dr Nadine Mitschunas joyfully handled mature rice plants peeking through the water of her small plot growing in the fertile soil of eastern England.

Growing rice “has not been done before in the UK”, said Dr Mitschunas, a field ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH).

But as temperatures rise due to climate change, “it’s not such a crazy idea because it seems to work”, she added.

As rice grows in eastern England, lemon groves and chickpeas are also cropping up in the south.

A warmer climate and changing rainfall patterns have made planning ahead essential, and British researchers are embarking on a journey of agricultural transformation.

Dr Mitschunas is leading research with a project that tests new crops in the flat Fens of Cambridgeshire by rewetting peatlands.

Its rich soil has facilitated high production levels, and the region now cultivates one-third of England’s vegetables and 20 per cent of its potatoes and beetroots.

But soil drainage gradually impoverishes the land, posing a threat to local farmers and releasing the carbon dioxide captured by the peatlands which are important carbon sinks.