Shanghai has developed the only water-saving and drought-resistant rice "standard variety" in southern rice region.

The Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences announced on the 16th that Shanghai agricultural scientists have bred the only upland rice regional trial control variety in the southern rice region and the first japonica upland rice variety approved by the state in the southern rice region, and built the most perfect rice drought resistance identification and evaluation system and germplasm resources platform in China. Shanghai has become the main research base for water saving and drought resistance of rice in China.

According to Gu Xiaojun, vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the "Zhonghan 3" selected by scientists here is the first upland rice variety approved by the state in southern China, and has been designated as the only control variety in the southern rice region of the national upland rice variety regional trial, that is to say, "the drought resistance evaluation of any newly selected upland rice varieties in the future should take 'Zhonghan 3' as the standard." "Huhan 3", selected and bred in Shanghai, is the first japonica upland rice variety approved by the state in southern China, and "Huhan 7" has also been approved by Shanghai.

Drought has become the main reason for the reduction of grain production in China. Rice production accounts for 70% of China's total agricultural water consumption and consumes about half of China's total water consumption. Exploring water-saving and drought-resistant germplasm resources and cultivating and popularizing water-saving and drought-resistant rice are the main ways to ensure China's food security and alleviate the crisis of water resources.

Three water-saving and drought-resistant rice varieties that have been approved by the Shanghai upland rice research project have been widely planted throughout the country, mainly in arid areas of Guangxi, Hubei, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei provinces. At present, the cumulative extension area has reached more than 534.96 mu, increasing rice production by 300 million kilograms, saving 1.6 billion tons of water resources, and achieving economic benefits of 589 million yuan. Water-saving cultivation techniques matched with drought-resistant rice are also becoming mature. in some planting areas, water saving can be up to 50%, and soil and water conservation can be achieved on sloping land, reducing sediment loss by nearly 70%.

It is understood that Shanghai has also established an internationally advanced rice drought resistance identification and evaluation system for the first time in China, forming a "soil moisture gradient identification method" to achieve accurate identification of drought resistance during the whole growth period under field conditions. At present, this identification platform has become a platform designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and is open for use at home and abroad. At the same time, 86 water-saving and drought-resistant germplasm resources were selected by this technical system, a number of germplasm with better comprehensive characters were obtained, and more than 1000 water-saving and drought-resistant resources were provided to other research units in China. it is widely used in upland rice breeding and research.

With the long-term support of the National "863" Program, the Shanghai Science and Technology Program and the Rockefeller Foundation of the United States, the Shanghai upland rice research project has achieved breakthrough results. Shanghai has become the main center of upland rice research in China. The popularization of upland rice has formed four major economic and social effects of water saving, energy saving, pollution reduction and soil and water conservation.