After 20 years, the frequency of super rice is questioned: high water, high fertilizer, no environmental protection, no increment.

On September 15, Deng Qiyun, chief scientist of the State key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, was at the planting base of the fourth super rice variety "Y Liangyou 900", which set a record of 1000 kg per mu.

Super rice faces new challenges after the storm of "no harvest in ten thousand mu"

Will the term "super rice" be abolished?

China Economic Weekly reporter Cao Chang Li Yonghua reporting from Changsha

The "super rice variety" has no harvest of 10,000 mu, blindly pursues the goal of super high yield, high water and fertilizer is not environmentally friendly, the increment does not increase production, and the taste of rice is poor. Since the "China Super Rice" breeding program was established by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1996, the super rice led by Academician Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, has made great strides all the way, continuously setting a new world record for super high yield of rice. Why did you suddenly "harvest" so many questions 20 years later?

"I appeal that we must adhere to the direction of super-high-yield breeding and not waver." Deng Qiyun, chief scientist of the State key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, said. And this used to be an indisputable "axiom".

The production of "Liangyou 0293", which resulted in a poor harvest of 10,000 mu, was suspended.

"the failure of 'Liangyou 0293' is a serious misreading of super rice by the outside world. 'Liangyou 0293' does not represent super rice." On September 15, at the academic popular Science Salon held by the State key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, Deng Qiyun, chief scientist of the laboratory, Zhang Yuchen, deputy director of Hunan Rice Research Institute, and other experts comprehensively responded to questions about super rice.

In October 2014, Longping Hi-Tech "Liangyou 0293" in the name of "Super Rice" reduced its yield in ten thousand mu in Bengbu area of Anhui Province, which aroused the continuous concern of public opinion. Since then, Longping Hi-Tech has repeatedly issued announcements and explained them through the media. Academician Yuan Longping said publicly that the entire super rice plan could not be denied because of one incident, and the Ministry of Agriculture also said that the yield reduction incident would not affect the follow-up research on super rice.

On Sept. 2, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a notice requiring 41 crop varieties, including "Liangyou 0293", to stop production immediately and stop their promotion a year later. Perhaps to hedge the news, Longping Hi-Tech announced that its two new hybrid rice varieties were approved by the state on the same day.

However, doubts about super rice have not stopped, including high yield and low quality, high fertilizer, high water and so on. But exactly what is "super rice", no matter the industry experts or the general public, are not very clear.

In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture established a Chinese super rice breeding program, in which super rice is the "patent" of hybrid rice. The measures for the confirmation of Super Rice varieties promulgated by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2008 does not limit whether the varieties are hybrids, nor does it clearly indicate how many kilograms per mu are super rice varieties.

By April 2015, a total of 118 varieties of super rice had been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, including both conventional rice varieties such as "Wuyunjing 27" and indica two-line hybrid rice varieties represented by "Y Liangyou 2". Not all the super rice claimed by many public data are hybrid rice. "if the relative yield is high, it may be rated as super rice, which has nothing to do with the variety, which should be based on the statement of the Ministry of Agriculture." Zhang Yuchen thinks.

After the incident of yield reduction and harvest loss of 10,000 mu in Anhui, the Ministry of Agriculture clearly pointed out that "Liangyou 0293", which has always been sold in the name of super rice, is not a super rice variety. In the seed market, such as "Liangyou 0293", it is not uncommon for fish eyes to mix pearls. For this reason, Tong Pingya, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, proposed that the saying of "super rice" should be banned and the approval system of super rice should be abolished.

Why is there a wide gap between the experimental output and the average output?

In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture implemented the "China Super Rice" breeding program, the first goal is to increase production. In 2000, the variety "Liangyou Peijiu" achieved the first stage goal of super rice yield of 700kg per mu, and then broke the mark of 800kg and 900kg per mu. In 2014, the average yield per mu of the new super rice combination "Y Liangyou 900" reached 1026.7 kg, setting another world record.

When the record is repeatedly broken, it is pointed out that there is a wide gap between the experimental output and the average output. If the super rice variety "Yongyou 12" with an average yield of 963.65 kg per mu was achieved in 2012, the average yield per mu in Jiangsu Province was 565.4 kg in two years.

In this regard, Zhang Yuchen admitted that the average yield of super rice has not exceeded 600 kg / mu in recent years, but it is much higher than the previous yield. According to figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture, the average yield of super rice varieties identified by the Ministry of Agriculture reached 578.9 kg per mu in 2013, with an increase of 63.1kg per mu.

Deng Qiyun explained, "the purpose of scientific research output is to explore the potential of varieties and achieve breakthroughs, but we should not exaggerate and interpret scientific research data."

Zhang Yuchen pointed out that under general ecological conditions, from "Liangyoupeijiu", a representative combination of super rice in the first stage, to "Y Liangyou 900," a representative combination of super rice in the fourth stage, the discount rate has been decreasing relative to their yield potential for tackling key high-yielding problems, but it shows that super rice combinations have greater potential for yield increase, and it is necessary to further study and popularize their high-yield and efficient production techniques.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture show that after 16 years by the end of 2012, the central government has invested 340 million yuan in super rice research and extension. From 2010 to 2014, the planting area of super rice in China increased from 101 million mu to 136 million mu, an expansion of 35 million mu, accounting for about 30% of the country's rice acreage.

In spite of this, Deng Qiyun still stressed that after the scientific research output exceeds 1000 kg per mu, it is more important to do a good job in the promotion of super rice and further increase the national rice yield. "the government's support for the promotion of super rice should be increased."

Zhang Yuchen believes that another key factor in increasing the yield of super rice is to change the cultivation methods and promote new technologies suitable for super rice. "the cultivation level of most farmers in our country is still in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, as long as we adopt better cultivation techniques and do not increase investment, it is also very easy to achieve a yield of more than 700 kilograms per mu." Zhang Yuchen said, for example, that adding panicle fertilizer, for example, can greatly increase the yield, while the traditional method rarely applies panicle fertilizer.

What is the effect of the expansion of super rice area on the increase of national rice yield? During the Eleventh five-year Plan period, the total extension area of super rice throughout the country was 643.84 million mu, accounting for 21% of the rice planting area in the same period, with a cumulative increase of 41.5 billion kg of rice. Since 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture has implemented the "National Super Rice double increase 100 work Plan" for five consecutive years, requiring the promotion of super rice of more than 100 million mu, and strive to achieve the goal of increasing production by 100 jin per mu, saving cost and increasing efficiency by 100 yuan. In October 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture said that "double increase of 100" had achieved its goal.