Yuan Longping says he wants to extend super rice to more regions
On September 12, a special award ceremony was held in Changsha, where student representatives presented the "Golden Fruit Award" trophy to their teacher Yuan Longping. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's super rice research and development, and China's rice industry, academia and research community gathered together to express in this way their recognition of the contributions made by Academician Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," to food security in China and the world.
In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture officially established the China super rice breeding program. In 1997, Academician Yuan Longping proposed the rice super-high-yield breeding technical route of "combining morphological improvement with utilization of heterosis," and China's super hybrid rice breeding quickly entered the fast lane, achieving a series of internationally leading results over the past 20 years. From the first phase to the fourth phase of super rice research, the demonstration yields per mu reached the targets of 700 kg, 800 kg, 900 kg and 1,000 kg respectively. This year, Academician Yuan Longping is again leading his research team to sprint toward the fifth-phase target. According to him, this year the yields of 5 hundred-mu demonstration plots, including Gejiu in Yunnan and Wugang in Hunan, will reach 1,067 kg (16 tons per hectare).
Demonstration yields per mu have hit new highs, but how is actual extension going? "To extend super rice well, broad adaptability and resistance are very important," said Deng Qiyun, a core expert on Yuan Longping's team and chief scientist of the State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice. On the morning of September 12, at the Yuanchuang super rice demonstration base in Dongyang, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, hybrid rice frontline extension workers from 325 counties and cities across the country were there to study and observe, and Deng Qiyun was thoroughly familiar with the 19 displayed varieties. "Look at the main player of the fourth-phase research, Y Liangyou 900. Last year and this year it respectively passed national approval for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the South China region. When extended to farmers for planting, its yield can reach 900 kg, and the rice quality is good with a good taste." In 2016, Y Liangyou 900 was extended on more than 3 million mu nationwide.
Just after finishing talk of the fourth-phase star variety, Deng Qiyun turned to the fifth-phase super rice research combination, Y Liangyou 957, another potential extension "star" after "Chaoyou Qianhao." In his view, Y Liangyou 957 has three major advantages: "First, high yield. On September 9, Hunan Province organized experts to conduct on-site yield measurement in a demonstration field in Niuxingzui Village, Longhui County, and the average yield per mu reached 1,000.5 kg, setting a national record for high yield in trial planting of this variety. Second, good resistance. Its disease resistance reaches level 4.6, and judging from current trial planting performance, its high-temperature resistance is relatively strong. Third, strong broad adaptability. Regional trials have now been completed, and it is expected to be approved next year. It is suitable for extension in the middle-season rice area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River."
"My second dream is for hybrid rice to cover the globe, but this dream requires our teachers and students to carry the baton and complete it," Yuan Longping said. The world has 2.2 billion mu of rice area. If 1.1 billion mu worldwide were planted with super rice, calculated at an increase of 150 kg per mu, it could increase grain by 150 million tons each year and feed 400-500 million more people.