Chinese rice researchers have been actively promoting the development and cultivation of more profitable rice for more abundant future harvests. The Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center (SAGC) is the world's largest rice functional gene resource bank, with a storage of over 230,000 germplasm resources of 360 species from 93 families. It has been serving as a key platform for selecting and breeding rice varieties and for basic theoretical researches. At present, 327 new varieties have been cultivated, including new water-saving and drought-resistant rice varieties.
The water-saving and drought-resistant rice crop from the center has been promoted in Karamay City in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a dry and rainy area, since 2021.
The trial planting results have shown that the water consumption per hectare of the category named "Huhan 6220" is only one third of that of ordinary rice, and the yield per hectare is about 1,500 kilograms higher than that of local dry rice varieties.
"When growing rice in Xinjiang, the water consumption is more than 12,000 cubic meters per hectare, and is even as high as 18,000 cubic meters. However, the maximum water consumption of water-saving and drought-resistant rice is about 6,750 cubic meters per hectare," said local farmer Jia Shengqi. At present, more than 40 new varieties of water-saving and drought-resistant rice have been approved, and have been commercially promoted or demonstrated in more than two-thirds of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities nationwide, with the promotion area exceeding 333,000 hectares.
"About 70 percent of our arable land is medium and low-yield land, so the water-saving drought-resistant rice has a lot of room for development and utilization, because such crop can adapt to different cultivation environments and soil conditions. Guaranteeing the output of 70 percent of medium and low-yield land will effectively guarantee the basic foundation of China's food security," said Liu Yi, SAGC deputy director.
At another rice research institute in Changzhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province, more than 20 researchers have been racing against time to plant, proofread and inspect rice to cultivate more competitive species.
At present, the institute has cultivated more than 100 new rice varieties. Among them, a special variety named Wuyunjing No.7 has set many records, including the fastest promotion progress and the widest application range.
Researchers at the institute said that food security is a top priority for the country, and it is necessary to ensure that people not only have enough to eat, but also eat well.
"It is not an exaggeration to serve delicious rice to the people's dining tables," said Song Xuetang, director of the first breeding department of the research institute.
China's research, development on rice crops yield fruitful results
