Yuan Longping: extending Super Rice to more areas

On September 12, a special award ceremony was held in Changsha. Student representatives presented the "Golden Fruit Award" trophy to his teacher Yuan Longping. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's super rice research and development, and Chinese rice production, learning and research circles have gathered together to express in this way the contribution made by Academician Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice", to food security in China and the world at large.

In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture formally established a Chinese super rice breeding program. In 1997, Academician Yuan Longping put forward the rice super-high-yield breeding technology route of "the combination of morphological improvement and heterosis utilization". Since then, Chinese super hybrid rice breeding has rapidly stepped into the fast lane and achieved a series of international leading achievements in the past 20 years. From the first stage to the fourth stage of super rice, the yield per mu of the demonstration has achieved the targets of 700kg, 800kg, 900kg and 1000 kg, respectively. This year, Academician Yuan Longping led the scientific research team to sprint to the target of the fifth phase. According to him, the output of five 100-mu demonstration films, including Gejiu in Yunnan and Wugang in Hunan, will reach 1067 kg (16 tons per hectare) this year.

Demonstrate that the yield per mu has reached a peak, how about the actual promotion? "if super rice is to be popularized well, it is very important to have wide adaptability and resistance." Said Deng Qiyun, a core expert of Yuan Longping's team and chief scientist of the State key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice. On the morning of September 12, at the Yuanchuang Super Rice demonstration Base in Dongyang, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, front-line extension personnel of hybrid rice from 325 counties and cities across the country were learning to observe. Deng Qiyun had a number of varieties on display. "you see, the protagonist of the fourth phase, Y Liangyou 900, passed the national trials in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and South China last year and this year, respectively, and extended to farmers for planting. The yield can reach 900 kilograms, and the rice is of good quality and taste." In 2016, Y Liangyou 900 was popularized more than 3 million mu nationwide.

Just after talking about the star variety of the fourth phase, Deng Qiyun talked about the fifth super rice combination-Y Liangyou 957, which is another potential promotion "star" after "Super Youqian". In his view, Y Liangyou 957 has three major advantages: "first, the yield is high. On September 9, Hunan Province organized experts to measure the yield of the demonstration field in Niuxiangzui Village, Longhui County, and the average yield per mu reached 1000.5 kg, setting a national record for high yield of this variety. Second, the resistance is good, and the disease resistance reaches 4.6. from the current test performance, the high temperature resistance is relatively strong. Third, it is widely applicable, and now the regional test has been completed and is expected to be approved next year, which is suitable for promotion in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. "

"my second dream is that hybrid rice covers the whole world, but this dream needs to be accomplished by our teachers and students." Yuan Longping said: there are 2.2 billion mu of rice in the world, and if 1.1 billion mu of super rice is planted in the world, the annual increase of 150 million tons of grain can be calculated on the basis of an increase of 150kg per mu, which can feed 400 to 500 million people.