IX. China Academy of Science found a new high-yield rice variety
Department of International Cooperation Ministry of Science
and Technology (MOST), P. R. CHINA
Xia Xinjie, research fellow of the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture CAS, and his rice breeding team announced on October 16, 2017 that after more than 10 years’ research, the team has nurtured a new type of “giant rice” with extremely high yield and quality. The “giant rice” can grow as high as 2.2 meters with a yield of 800 kilograms per mu. The giant rice is high-yield, lodging-resistant, disease- and pest- resistant and flood-tolerant. The giant rice is confirmed as a new variety by the DNA fingerprinting of the New Plant Variety Test Center, Ministry of Agriculture and the DNA profiling using SNP gene chip of 56k rice by Huazhi Rice Bio-tech Company.
The giant rice is highly effective in photosynthesis and enjoys a per unit yield 50 percent higher than that of ordinary rice. Each stalk can effectively support 40 tillers and each tiller, 500 grains. Yield per quarter exceeds 800 kilograms per mu. Scientists have used a series of new technologies to cultivate this new variety including mutation induction, hybridization between different kinds of wild rice and molecular marker and marker-assisted selection.
