Breakthrough in Japonica Hybrid Rice breeding

The reporter learned from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences on the 18th that Shanghai agricultural scientists have made a breakthrough in the breeding of japonica hybrid rice in the Yangtze River Basin. After obtaining the first restorer line of hybrid late japonica rice in the Yangtze River basin which was granted the right of national protection of new plant varieties, the first southern hybrid late japonica rice combination approved by the national variety was bred. At present, a series of strong dominant combinations have become an important support for the "provenance" of japonica hybrid rice in the Yangtze River Basin.

The researchers of the crop breeding Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences used the intermediate materials of indica and japonica subspecies as "bridge parents" to introduce indica rice restorer gene into late japonica rice varieties. a hybrid late japonica restorer line with strong advantage, high seed setting rate and large amount of pollen was successfully bred, which can be widely used in the Yangtze River basin. Among them, "Shenhui 254" is the first hybrid late japonica restorer line in the Yangtze River basin to be protected by national new plant varieties, and "Shenhui 1" has a resilience of more than 95%, which is one of the most resilient late japonica restorer lines at present.

With strong restorer lines as parents, researchers of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences have selected 8 japonica hybrid rice combinations, 4 of which have been approved by provincial and municipal varieties. "Changyou 1" is the first southern hybrid late japonica rice combination approved by the national variety approval in China. At present, these dominant combinations have been extended to more than 1.35 million mu, increasing the output of high-quality rice by more than 56 million kg. The seed setting rate of the hybrid combination matched with "Shenhui 1" was stable at more than 90%, and the general yield per mu was about 650 kg, saving labor and cost, obvious resistance to diseases and insect pests, and good rice quality, reaching the national rice standard of grade 3.

According to people from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the hybrid combination bred with the strong dominant restorer lines as parents will become the "main push variety" of late japonica hybrid rice in the Yangtze River valley in the future, and it is optimistically estimated that it can account for more than 60% of the popularized area of hybrid late japonica rice in the Yangtze River valley, which can promote the substantial improvement of rice yield and quality in the region, and play a role in the adjustment of agricultural structure.