The only standard water-saving and drought-resistant rice variety for the southern rice region has been bred in Shanghai
The Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences announced on the 16th that Shanghai agricultural scientists have bred the only upland rice control variety for regional trials in the southern rice region and the first japonica-type upland rice variety in the southern rice region to pass national approval, and have built China's most complete rice drought-resistance identification and evaluation system and germplasm resource platform. Shanghai has become the country's main base for rice water-saving and drought-resistance research.
According to Gu Xiaojun, vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the "Zhonghan No. 3" bred by scientists here is the first upland rice variety in China's southern rice region to pass national approval, and has been designated as the only control variety for the southern rice region in national upland rice variety regional trials, meaning that "from now on, the drought-resistance evaluation of any newly bred upland rice variety must use 'Zhonghan No. 3' as the standard." The "Huhan No. 3" bred in Shanghai is the first japonica-type upland rice variety in China's southern rice region to pass national approval; "Huhan No. 7" has also passed approval in Shanghai.
Drought has become a major cause of grain production reduction in China. Rice production water accounts for 70 percent of China's total agricultural water use and consumes about half of China's total water consumption. Exploring water-saving and drought-resistant germplasm resources and breeding and promoting water-saving and drought-resistant rice are the main ways to safeguard China's food security and ease the water resource crisis.
The Shanghai upland rice research project has bred 3 approved water-saving and drought-resistant rice varieties, which have been promoted and planted on a large scale across the country, mainly distributed in arid areas of Guangxi, Hubei, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei and other provinces. At present, the cumulative promotion area has reached more than 5.3496 million mu, increasing rice output by 300 million kg, saving 1.6 billion tons of water resources, and achieving economic benefits of 589 million yuan. The water-saving cultivation techniques supporting drought-resistant rice are also maturing. In some planting areas, water savings can reach 50 percent, and soil and water conservation can also be achieved on sloping farmland, reducing sediment loss by nearly 70 percent.
It is understood that Shanghai has also established China's first rice drought-resistance identification and evaluation system with internationally advanced standards, forming a "soil moisture gradient identification method" that enables accurate identification of drought resistance throughout the entire growth period under field conditions. At present, this identification platform has become a platform designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and is open for use domestically and internationally. At the same time, this technical system has also screened out 86 water-saving and drought-resistant germplasm resources and obtained a batch of germplasm with relatively good comprehensive traits, providing more than a thousand instances of various water-saving and drought-resistant resources to other domestic research institutions, widely used in upland rice breeding and research in various places.
Under long-term funding from the National "863" Program, the Shanghai science and technology research program, and the Rockefeller Foundation of the United States, the Shanghai upland rice research project has achieved breakthrough results. Shanghai has become China's main center for upland rice research. The promotion of upland rice has formed four major economic and social effects: water saving, energy saving, pollution reduction and soil and water conservation.