Given the advantages of , a group of scientists from institutions around the world are working on the  Rice Project to produce a strain of rice, naturally a  plant, that uses the  pathway by studying the  plants maize and Brachypodium. As rice is the world's most important human food—it is the staple food for more than half the planet—having rice that is more efficient at converting sunlight into grain could have significant global benefits towards improving food security. The team claims  rice could produce up to 50% more grain—and be able to do it with less water and nutrients.
The researchers have already identified genes needed for  photosynthesis in rice and are now looking towards developing a prototype  rice plant. In 2012, the Government of the United Kingdom along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided US$14 million over three years towards the  Rice Project at the International Rice Research Institute. In 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted another US$15 million to the Oxford-University-led C4 Rice Project. The goal of the 5-year project is to have experimental field plots up and running in Taiwan by 2024.
C photosynthesis, an intermediate step between  and Kranz , may be preferred over  for rice conversion. The simpler system is less optimized for high light and high temperature conditions than , but has the advantage of requiring fewer steps of genetic engineering and performing better than  under all temperatures and light levels. In 2021, the UK Government provided £1.2 million on studying C engineering.