China's Super Hybrid Rice Output Exceeds 1,000 Kg Per MuThe output of China-bred super hybrid rice has hit a new world record to reach 1,138.135 kilograms per mu (15 mu equals to 1 hectare).The calculation was based on the rice output of a 1.08 mu paddyfield, an experiment area belonging to Yuan Longping, "father of the world's hybrid rice", and an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In the mid 1990s, China produced 1,033.35 kilograms of rice per mu. The high-yielding rice paddy is located in the Taoyuan Township of Yongsheng County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Per-mu output of the paddyfield has been maintained at around 1,100 kilograms since 1998, said Yuan during his recent tour in Chongqing Municipality. "The alluring output fully shows the great potential of China's grain output and is of great significance to China, a country with a huge population, but comparatively less farmland," Yuan said. China feeds 22 percent of the world's total population with only 7 percent of the world's arable land. The Chinese government has attached great importance to the improvement of various crops since the founding of new China in 1949, especially rice, whose output accounts for more than 40 percent of the country's total grain output. China now ranks fourth in the world in terms of per-mu output. China's per-mu output is 100 kilograms less than that of Australia. China has 30.667 million hectares of rice paddy, 50 percent of which is planted with hybrid rice. Yuan said that if 13.333 million hectares of paddyfield is planted with super hybrid rice, an extra 30 billion kilograms of rice will be produced annually. "This can feed more than 70 million people," he added. Yuan stressed, "China has the capability to raise its grain output and is capable of supporting its population." Yuan disclosed that China is expected to plant 666,666.7 hectares of super hybrid rice next year. |
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