Marina Ular, a widow from Clarin, Misamis Occidental, Philippines, used to have sleepless nights during a full moon and strong typhoons. She used to worry that water from the nearby sea would submerge her farm and damage her rice crop, resulting in poor or zero harvest.
Thus, pail in hand, she would go back and forth to her farm to see if saltwater was coming in; and when it did, she would make a futile effort to keep the water from engulfing her farm by collecting it with a pail.
These days, Ular sleeps soundly even when there is a strong typhoon or when the full moon causes sea water to rise and flood her farm. She is confident that the new rice variety she planted— Salinas—could tolerate salt water.
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