<p>New rice varieties give hope that farmers can overcome the climate emergency and a warmer future that threatens harvests</p><p>When schoolchildren in Shiroishi were enlisted to plant rice seedlings in June, Shinto priests blessed the land and asked the deities for a bountiful crop. Judging by the fields behind farmer Haruki Kawasaki, their prayers have been answered.</p><p>The 63-year-old is preparing to harvest this year’s crop of <em>hinatamaru</em>, a variety of rice whose plump grains hav