Yuan Longping

Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, and his team have set a new record with the yield of their third-generation hybrid rice variety reaching 911.7 kg per mu (about 667 square meters) in an experiment in Hunan Province, central China.

Plus an early season rice yield of 619.06 kg, the same plot in Qingzhu Village, Hengnan County, produced 1,530.76 kg per mu in a year. The output is equivalent to 22.96 tons per hectare.

Last year, the same hybrid rice variety, Sanyou No.1, gave a single-cropping yield of 1,046.3 kg per mu from the same plot.

Yuan said he wants to ensure the variety can promote greener and more sustainable development of China's rice production with higher quality.

The 90-year-old, who developed the world's first hybrid rice in the 1970s, has set multiple world records in hybrid rice yields, making incalculable contribution to food security, both in China and elsewhere. His team is still working on third-generation hybrid rice combinations and conducting studies for simplifying the cultivation with less use of fertilizers.

(Print Edition Title: Father of Hybrid Rice Makes New Breakthrough)