Super rice sets a new target: 16 tons per hectare within 5 years

Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," said on the 21st at the Xiangjiang Forum held in Wangcheng, Hunan, that after achieving a major breakthrough in the fourth-phase super rice project, he hopes to continue with the fifth-phase research, and suggested setting the fifth-phase target at 16 tons per hectare, with a plan to raise super rice yields to this new level within 5 years.

The fourth-phase super rice research project led by Yuan Longping achieved a major breakthrough not long ago. According to yield measurements organized by the Ministry of Agriculture with experts, the 100-mu plot of fourth-phase super rice in Xupu County, Hunan Province, exceeded 1000 kg per mu, setting a new world record of 1026.7 kg per mu (15.4 tons per hectare).

⟦NL> As of now, the super rice breeding program has successfully completed four phases of research. Just how high can rice yields ultimately go? Yuan Longping said that in theory, if based on a 2.5% solar energy utilization rate and calculated according to rice production levels in Changsha, the yield of single-season rice could reach 1500 kg, or 22.5 tons per hectare.