Farmers in SW China's Chongqing start to harvest 2-meter-high "giant rice" (7)

Photo shows harvested giant rice plant, with each spike of the plant capable of yielding a minimum of 360 grains of rice. (Photo/Zou Le)

A total of 15 mu (1 hectare) of 2-meter-tall giant rice plants, a hybrid developed through a process of heterosis – in which a crossbred hybrid is made superior to its parents – started to be harvested in Shiwan township of Dazu district, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Sept. 24.

The new rice variety is expected to yield 800 kilograms per mu and is twice as tall as standard varieties, explained Chen Yangpu, deputy director of the Chongqing branch of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center.

Chen added that the giant rice, which has straight, darker leaves, has greater photosynthetic efficiency than regular varieties, which means that a higher amount of light energy can be converted into chemical energy.

It was also reported that aquatic creatures such as fish can also be bred in the fields where the hybrid plants are grown.

"The development of giant rice is still at an experimental stage. After approval of its seed production one year later, the new variety will be able to obtain an ‘ID number’, and then be planted on a large scale," Chen said.