Shandong agronomist Xu Defang bred a new variety of upland rice

In the golden autumn, a new upland rice variety carefully cultivated by Xu Defang, an agronomist in Dongying Branch of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has had a bumper harvest. It is estimated that the yield is more than double that of the current upland rice variety 297, with a yield of 600-650 kg per mu, marking a breakthrough in upland rice breeding in China.

Using more than 30 ancestral materials provided by Professor Li Zichao of China Agricultural University, Xu Defang found a dwarf variant line from a high stem line 33-1, from which he selected a batch of 9 lines, that is, early-maturing, glutinous rice, early-maturing glutinous rice, mid-maturing glutinous rice, late-maturing glutinous rice, late-maturing glutinous rice, long-grain stalk rice and round-grain stem rice, all of which have the advantage of short stem and large panicle, and the yield is more than double that of upland rice 297. And it can be used for both water and drought. According to Xu Defang, these strains can be widely adapted to the Huang-Huai River basin.

Since the discovery of dwarf rice varieties in the 1950s, dwarf and large panicles have been studied in the world. because no such planting genes have been found, the way of high stalks and large panicles has been taken. The breeding of these new strains selected by Xu Defang has completely solved this historical problem. These strains have a plant height of 80-90 cm, more than 2000 grains per panicle, a seed setting rate of more than 95%, and a high yield potential, which is about double that of the currently popularized upland rice varieties, and has good quality, high transparency, abdominal whitening rate less than 15%, and rare long-grain stalk rice.

At the same time, these lines also have the advantages of strong tillering and high panicle height. Generally, there are 12-13 tillers per plant, the average number of filled grains is more than 180, and the 1000-grain weight is 26 grams. Compared with the currently popularized rice varieties Yumian 6 and Zhendao 88, the yield per mu is increased by more than 100 kg, and the per unit yield can reach 750 kg to 800 kg.