Yuan Longping's team is studying the third generation breeding methods to develop hybrid rice.

Changsha, 14 Dec (Xinhua) Yuan Longping recently revealed that the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center is actively studying the third generation breeding methods. Because it is compatible with the advantages of the previous two generations, it means that hybrid rice with higher yield, high quality and better resistance may be cultivated.

The first generation of hybrid rice uses the "three-line method" to form a hybrid generation through male sterile lines, maintainer lines and restorer lines. This method has complex procedures, many seed production links and high cost, and the probability of selecting good combinations is low, and it is difficult to solve the contradiction between high yield and high quality of hybrid rice. The second generation breeding method is the "two-line method", that is, the free combination is realized by using the hybridization of male sterile lines and restorer lines, and the probability of breeding good varieties is much higher than that of the three-line method. At present, the second generation method is widely used in hybrid rice breeding in China, and a variety with good quality and quality has been selected, which has a yield of more than 1000 kg per mu and the rice quality reaches the national second-class high-quality rice standard.

"but the second-generation breeding method is also lacking." Zhang Yuchen, deputy director of Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, said that two-line breeding is easily affected by temperature and there is a greater risk of seed production. It will usually cause great losses to seed enterprises, and if it cannot be identified, it will also have an impact on the production of farmers.

Yuan Longping said that the third generation of hybrid rice in China uses the engineering male sterile line as a genetic tool, and has the advantages of stable fertility of the "three-line method" and free combination of the "two-line method." the greatest feature is that the female parent is not affected by the environment, seed production is safe, and the combination is free, so that more excellent varieties can be cultivated.

"in areas with a large population and little land, the breeding goal of high yield is mainly aimed at high yield, and high yield genes can be selected. For the areas susceptible to rice blast, disease resistance genes can be introduced to improve disease resistance. In order to cultivate hybrid rice with better comprehensive characters such as higher yield, better quality and higher resistance, it is possible to optimize the combination of genes with high yield, high quality, good resistance and strong adaptability, so that the quality of hybrid rice can be improved to a new level. " Zhang Yuchen said. (reporter Zhou Mian)