Making the most of weedy rice

Weedy rice has become one of the most common weeds infesting rice fields in the world. Agronomists Nadir et al. review the biological features of this weed and explore ways for its sustainable management and utilization. Weedy rice has several traits potentially useful for breeders, such as tolerance to drought, cold, salinity and many diseases. Exploiting the weedy germplasm natural variation gives hopes of improving the rice crop.