Norin 10 wheat facts for kids

Norin 10 wheat (小麦農林10号) is a special type of wheat that doesn't grow very tall. It was developed in Japan by a scientist named Gonjiro Inazuka [ja] at a research farm in Iwate Prefecture. This wheat has very large ears, which are the parts that hold the grains.

Norin 10 was created from a mix of different wheat types. One of its "parents" was an old, local type of wheat from Japan that might have come from Korea a very long time ago (around 300 or 400 AD). The other parents were two types of wheat from the USA. In 1935, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officially recognized Norin 10 as a new wheat type.

Why Norin 10 Wheat is Special

Norin 10 wheat usually grows to be about 60 to 100 centimeters (about 2 to 3 feet) tall. This is much shorter than most other wheat types, which can grow up to 150 centimeters (about 5 feet) tall. This shorter height is very important for farmers.

How Short Wheat Helps Farmers

When farmers add a lot of fertilizer to their fields, especially nitrogen, tall wheat plants grow too high. They become top-heavy and can easily fall over, especially during strong winds or rain. This falling over is called lodging. When wheat plants lodge, it's hard to harvest them, and they don't produce as much grain.

Norin 10 wheat has two special genes, called Rht1 and Rht2. These genes make the wheat plants grow shorter. Because they are shorter, they can absorb nutrients from the soil better and don't fall over as easily, even with a lot of fertilizer. This means farmers can use more fertilizer to get much bigger harvests!

Norin 10's Impact Around the World

The special genes from Norin 10 wheat have been used by scientists all over the world to create new types of wheat. These new types are also short and produce more grain.

Spreading the Seeds

After 1945, a biologist and wheat expert named Cecil Salmon visited Japan. He was part of General Douglas MacArthur's team. Salmon collected 16 different types of wheat, including Norin 10. He sent these seeds to Orville Vogel at Washington State University in the USA. In the 1950s, these seeds were used in wheat breeding programs across the USA.

Norin 10 seeds were also sent to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. Here, a famous scientist named Norman Borlaug and his team used Norin 10. They crossed it with local wheat types to create new dwarf varieties. These new wheats were not only short but also didn't depend on the length of the day to grow, and they could resist a plant disease called rust.

The Green Revolution

These new, high-yield wheat varieties were then shared with countries all over the world. Some of these new types, like Lerma Rojo 64 and Sonora 64, were tested in India during a time known as the Green Revolution.

The Green Revolution was a period when new farming methods and special crop varieties helped many developing countries, like India and Pakistan, produce much more food. Norin 10 wheat played a huge role in this. It helped these countries increase their crop production by about 60%, which meant more food for more people!