• Question: How do crops like rice survive in so much water, I thought too much water in the soil can kill the plant?

    Asked by to James, Jennifer, Kim, Liam, Ricardo on 20 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: James Taylor

      James Taylor answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      Generally plants need their roots to have some access to air (soil air) for respiration (breathing). However, some plants are adapted to living in situations where their roots are always wet. The classic example is mangroves, but rice is another. These plants develop alternative ways to get air into the plant. In mangroves they grow special roots that stick up out of the water like a snorkel. For rice, the stem is able to absorb air, so rice can breathe through its stem instead of its roots. The rice roots are also adapted to extract some oxygen from the water.

    • Photo: Jennifer Stephens

      Jennifer Stephens answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      Hi 12sarsat

      Rice plants are semi-aquatic so they are able to tolerate being partially underwater, the tops of the leaves still need to be above the water to take in carbon dioxide. They have specialized layers of cells that are much better at transferring carbon dioxide and oxygen throughout the plant to enable photosynthesis and respiration.

      Rice can grow just as well out of water but there are advantages to being underwater. There will be less weeds and insects there to bother the rice plants.

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