Flood-resistant rice, developed this year with the help of genetic engineering, may reach farmers as soon as 2009, helping them cope with global warming and the extreme weather it is expected to bring.

Scientists, led by David Mackill at the International rice Research Institute in the Philippines, announced in August that they had identified a gene that enables rice to survive for up to two weeks in water.

It is regarded as one of the top breakthroughs in rice research this year as flooding causes annual losses of over $1 billion, with south and Southeast Asia the hardest hit.