China super hybrid rice output sets new world record

Yuan Longping (second left), the "father of hybrid rice", checks the growth of hybrid rice in a field at an agricultural technology institute in Handan City, north China’s Hebei province, October 15. (Photo by Shi Ziqiang from People’s Daily)

A new type of Chinese super hybrid rice -- Xiangliangyou 900 -- has reached average yields of 1,149 kilograms per mu (about 0.07 hectares) on trial fields in Handan, north China’s Hebei province on October 15, setting a new world record. 

The Xiangliangyou 900 type produces more and bigger grains than other varieties and, combined with the use of water-soluble organic silicon fertilizer will guarantee a rate of 90 percent.

The fertilizer can help strengthen roots and stems of the plants, increase resilience, improve the yellowing process, and bolster disease and pest resistance to ensure higher yields.

Xiangliangyou 900 was cultivated by a team of scientists led by Yuan Longping, known as the "father of hybrid rice" whose dream is to spread his hybrid rice worldwide.

Yuan has estimated that the world now has 150 million hectares of rice fields, with less than 10 percent planted in hybrid rice. If that figure can go up to 50 percent, the added rice production will feed another 400 to 500 million people.

China has the second largest paddy coverage and the largest rice production in the world.