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Norin 10

A close-up of a semi-dwarf wheat plant with golden grains and long awns against a black background.

Norin 10 is a semi-dwarf variety of wheat developed in Japan in the 1930s. It grows a short, thick stalk that resists falling over under the weight of heavy grain heads, a trait critical for heavily fertilized crops. Brought to the United States after the Second World War, it became the vital genetic foundation for the high-yield wheat strains that revolutionized global agriculture in the latter half of the twentieth century.

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