Yuan Longping leads the "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project to achieve high yields

Yuan Longping leads the "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project to achieve high yields

Hunan increases rice output by 6.1 billion kg in nine years

Reported by our reporters Zhang Zhenzhong and Yang Juan: On September 6, in Niuxingzui Village, Yangguao Town, Longhui County, Hunan Province, at this high-yield demonstration base, a county that in the previous two years consecutively met the 1,000-kg per-mu research target in the same ecological region, the observation meeting for the middle-season rice of Hunan's "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project was held.

After inspecting the growth of the super rice at the base, Yuan Longping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, assessed that although this year encountered many unfavorable climatic conditions such as prolonged overcast and rainy low temperatures from May to June and abnormally high temperatures in August, the super rice withstood the test; among the 3 varieties, "Y Liangyou 143" performed best in particular, showing advantages such as good resistance and a high seed-setting rate. At the demonstration base, the expected highest yield of Y Liangyou 143 per mu is hoped to reach more than 800 kg; even outside the demonstration area, if farmers plant it by ordinary methods, the average yield per mu can also reach 720 kg-750 kg/mu.

In 2006, Academician Yuan Longping proposed implementing the super hybrid rice "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project, that is, using the technical achievements of super hybrid rice to produce the grain of 4 mu of farmland from 3 mu of farmland.

Over ten years, the expert team headed by Academician Yuan Longping innovated all along and repeatedly overcame difficulties, and the "plant three, harvest four" demonstration area kept expanding, achieving remarkable demonstration results. According to statistics, from 2007 to 2015, the "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project was planted on a cumulative 54.719 million mu in Hunan over 9 years, increasing rice output by 6.119 billion kg, with per-unit yield increasing by 143.1 kg/mu over the average per-unit yield in the 5 years before the project was implemented.

Increased production is the driving force. This year Hunan's "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project added more than 1 million mu, bringing the total planted area to 13 million mu, and Yangguao Town is a major production base of Hunan's "plant three, harvest four" project. Under the guidance of Yuan Longping's team, Longhui County this year focused on promoting super rice varieties such as Y Liangyou 143, Y Liangyou 2, and Shenliangyou 5814, and the county's "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project demonstration area reached 150,000 mu.

"In another 6 days, my family's middle-season rice will be harvested." said Wang Tiaoshu, a villager of Niuxingzui Village. Compared with previous years when conventional seeds and conventional methods were used to grow grain, the middle-season rice in this year's "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project demonstration area is expected to increase by more than 150 kg per mu.

"By next year, the 'plant three, harvest four' project will strive to expand to 15 million mu in Hunan, producing grain equivalent to that of 20 million mu, equivalent to saving 5 million mu of farmland for the whole province and increasing grain by 2 billion kg!" Yuan Longping said with full confidence. Now Anhui, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces and autonomous regions are also actively following up with implementation of the "plant three, harvest four" high-yield project, hoping that by 2020 it will expand to 60 million mu nationwide, with the potential to produce grain equivalent to that of 80 million mu of farmland.

The cover photo shows Yuan Longping inspecting the growth of Y Liangyou 143 at the research base in Niuxingzui Village.