Yuan Longping: the resistance of super rice has reached the middle level

On the morning of October 13, in the super rice experimental field of the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, Yuan Longping, who had just got off the bus, left the crowd and went straight to the experimental field to carefully examine the rice. Although he came to see it only two days ago, he still looked uneasy.

The rice in the demonstration field has almost been harvested. Two days ago, Yuan Longping announced here that the new super rice variety "Chaoyou 1000" medium rice has been successfully planted in the urban area of Changsha, with a maximum yield of 1012 kg per mu, overcoming the problem of planting rice with a yield of more than 1000 kg per mu in Changsha.

However, super rice is not plain sailing. At the end of last year, "Liangyou 0293" rice suffered a reduction in yield and no harvest in Anhui. Since then, the "super rice" has been questioned by the outside world. In this regard, Yuan Longping said in an interview with reporters that although he is 85 years old, he is in good health. "some people have come to question Super Rice. What is their purpose?" Today's young people, do not know the value of food, I am 85 years old but I do not accept the old, you criticize me, I will not waver. "

"Grade 5 resistance to diseases and insect pests is the middle level."

"Let me introduce that this is double-cropping late rice, not single-cropping rice, about 700 kilograms per mu." In the demonstration field, Yuan Longping beckoned reporters to observe the bumper harvest of rice. Yuan Longping said: at present, there are a total of 39 demonstration films of super rice in China, and now some of them have had a bumper harvest. "We have set up 39 sites this year, of which half have been harvested and half have not been harvested. Six of them have exceeded 1000 kilograms (per mu) and one has exceeded 16 tons (per hectare; about 1067 kilograms per mu).

According to reports, at present, the planting area of rice in the world is about 2.2 billion mu, with an average per unit yield of 300kg. Even in Japan and other countries with relatively developed agricultural science and technology, the average per unit yield is only 450kg, while the average per mu yield of super rice in China has reached 500kg.

In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture established the breeding program of "Chinese Super Rice". At present, super rice varieties have evolved to the fourth stage. As of April this year, a total of 118 varieties of super rice have been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In October 2014, Longping Hi-Tech "Liangyou 0293" in the name of "Super Rice" had a yield reduction of 10,000 mu in Bengbu area of Anhui Province, which aroused the continuous concern of public opinion. Subsequently, the Ministry of Agriculture said that "Liangyou 0293" was not the super rice recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, and that the yield reduction would not affect the follow-up research on super rice, and issued a notice on Sept. 2 this year. 41 crop varieties, including "Liangyou 0293", are required to stop production immediately and stop their promotion a year later.

However, the doubts about the hybrid rice in the super rice family did not stop with the failure of "Liangyou 0293". These questions include: high yield and low quality taste poor, high fertilizer and high water is not environmentally friendly, seeds can not stay, and so on. It is worth noting that "Liangyou 0293" suffered a reduction in yield and no harvest in Anhui, which was caused by rice blast.

In the face of doubts, Yuan Longping said in an interview with reporters that there are still some technical problems to be solved in super rice, such as its resistance to diseases and insect pests, especially rice blast, is not very ideal. "Rice blast is a cancer of rice." it is always changing and very difficult; the resistance of super rice can only be said to be not ideal, in fact, it can, (belong to) moderate resistance, not so high resistance. "

According to Yuan Longping, according to the 9-level evaluation index of the Ministry of Agriculture, the ability of super rice to resist diseases and insect pests is at the middle level of level 5. "grades 1, 2 and 3 are highly resistant, 7, 8, and 9 are highly susceptible, and we are 5, which is the middle level. I think it would be good to get to level 3, and level 1 is very difficult." "ordinary rice also has resistance and some are not resistant, all of which are like this. At present, there is not a fully resistant rice variety, (resistance) is not absolute, it is relative. " Yuan Longping said.

"if you are not old at 85, there is still hope."

Yuan Longping, 85, is still full of energy when it comes to rice. He laughs that he is a post-80s generation. "I am now a post-80s generation. I originally said that I would conquer 16 tons (per hectare) before I was 90 years old, but now it's okay." Now I want to win 17 tons before 90. The harder you work, the stronger you are. " Yuan Longping told reporters.

Yuan Longping refers to an experimental field with a yield of more than 16 tons per hectare, which is located in the "Gejiu demonstration Base of Super Hybrid Rice" in Gejiu City, Yunnan Province. at the beginning of October, the 100-mu rice planting base broke the world record for the average yield of rice per 100 mu with 1067.5 kg.

According to a previous report in the Science and Technology Daily, in September 2013, Yuan Longping first looked forward to the "internationalization" target of 16 tons per hectare in the fifth phase of super rice. In February this year, Yuan Longping told the media that the target of super rice yield of 16 tons per hectare to be achieved in 2018 was advanced to 2016.

Therefore, Yuan Longping believes that the direction of super rice research is correct. "if you criticize me, I will not waver. I will still aim for a higher goal."

In the interview, Yuan Longping repeatedly stressed the importance of food security. He said that super rice is a major project put forward and set up by the state to ensure the food needs of the people of the whole country. "Rice is the largest food crop both in China and in the world, and more than half of the world's population and more than 60% of China's population take rice as the staple food. Especially when China has a large population and little land, we can only solve the grain problem by increasing the output per unit area of arable land, and there is no doubt about this direction of development. "

Taking the experimental field located in the rice hybrid center in Changsha, Hunan Province as an example, Yuan Longping said that under the unfavorable ecological conditions in Changsha, the yield per mu still exceeded 1000 kg, indicating that the potential of super rice is very great. "if it is extended to 100 million mu in a large area, according to the increase of 100kg per mu, it can increase 10 billion kg of grain per year, which is a very remarkable figure. It is enough for two mega-cities, Shanghai and Beijing, and there is more than enough food for the whole year. "

Yuan Longping told reporters that he had two dreams to realize in the end. "the first one was a dream of enjoying the cool under Hexia. I dreamt that in the experimental field, the super rice grew as tall as sorghum, the panicle was as long as a broom, and the grain was as big as peanut, so we sat down to enjoy the cool." "the second dream is that hybrid rice should cover the global dream. There are now more than 2.2 billion mu of rice fields in the world, and according to our previous figures, there are already more than 70 million mu abroad (planting hybrid rice). If half of them are planted with hybrid rice and increase by 150kg per mu, how much grain can be increased? After this dream is realized, it will be of great significance to ensuring world food security and promoting world peace. " "85 years old? But I don't accept the old. I think, first, I have a passion for rice, like it very much, I can not give up; another, I am in good health. I still have hope. I still want to run a thousand miles. I still want to run a thousand miles. I want to dream of these two dreams. "