Super rice sets a new yield target of 16 tons per hectare in 5 years.

Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, said at the Xiangjiang Forum held in Wangcheng, Hunan Province on the 21st that after making a major breakthrough in the fourth phase of the super rice project, he hoped to continue tackling key problems in the fifth phase, and suggested that the target of the fifth phase be set at 16 tons per hectare. It is planned that the per unit yield of super rice will leap to this new level within five years.

The fourth phase of the super rice project led by Yuan Longping made a major breakthrough not long ago. According to the yield measurement organized by experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, the yield of the fourth phase of super rice in Xupu County, Hunan Province exceeded 1000 kg per mu, setting a new world record of 1026.7 kg per mu (15.4 tons per hectare).

Up to now, the four phases of the super rice breeding program have been successfully completed. How high can the per unit yield of rice be? Yuan Longping said that in theory, based on the 2.5 per cent utilization rate of light energy and the amount of rice produced in Changsha, the per unit yield of single cropping rice could reach 1500 kg, or 22.5 tons per hectare.