On Oct 10, Yuan Longping, the agricultural scientist and educator, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, answers journalists’ questions at a super rice base in Hongxing village in Xupu county, Hunan province.[Photo by Deng Taiping/Hunan Daily]

The news conference during the fourth-phase experimental progress of China’s super rice was held at a super rice base in Hongxing village in Xupu county, Hunan province on Oct 10.

Cheng Shihua, leader of the High-yielding Rice Inspection and Acceptance Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and director of China’s National Rice Research Institute announced at Xupu that the 102.6 mu (6.84 hectare) demonstration field containing “Y Liangyou 900”, the fourth phase of super hybrid rice in Hongxing village, achieved a yield of 1026.7 kg per mu. It set a new record for the average yield of a one-hundred mu super rice demonstration field.

A large area of super high yielding rice is a significant subject with which many countries all over the world are concerned. It is an effective way to guarantee an increased supply of food as well as to ensure food safety. A team led by Yuan Longping, "the father of Hybrid Rice" in China, reached the super hybrid rice target of 700 kg-per-mu in 2000, 800 kg-per-mu in 2004 and 900 kg-per-mu in 2011. The 1000 kg-per-mu target of the fourth phase research started in 2013.