The results of the experiments, reported in the journal Science, show that the modified plant can thrive even when salt levels are twice the amount that would kill a normalcrop of corn.
Cotton prices have already started to fall and we believe this trend will continue throughout most of 2011 as the normal supply of the crop from China resumes.
The recent decrease in rainfall has occurred during the country's dry season, and has thus affected only the second rice crop, which accounts for a fifth of the total in a normal year.