BEIJING, Oct. 10 -- A team led by Yuan Longping, known in China as "the father of hybrid rice," has achieved a record for hybrid rice production with an average yield of 1,026.7 kilograms per mu (0.0667 hectare), an official with the Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday.

The new record was reached at a farm in Xupu County in central China's Hunan Province and was confirmed by experts organized by the ministry, Tang Ke, director of the ministry's department of science, technology and education, said at a press conference.

Yuan Longping, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, developed the world's first hybrid rice in 1974.