Record-high rice yields reported in Hainan

Rice harvesters reap a new, highly productive hybrid variety of the staple grain in the demonstration fields of Sanya National Paddy Park in Hainan province. [Photo by Wu Wei/For chinadaily.com.cn]

The spring yield of a super hybrid rice in a demonstration field, grown by a team of Yuan Longping, known as the father of hybrid rice, has reached 1,005 kilogram per 1/15 hectare (or mu) at the Sanya National Paddy Park in southern Hainan island — 100 kg more than the goal, according to field-yield measurement experts.

Three plots were randomly selected in the demonstration field and reaped by harvesters simultaneously on May 9. The average output per mu was slightly above 1,005 kg, said Xie Hua'an, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who conducted the yield measurements with a group of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Hainan provincial seed station.

Xie said the measurements included weight of the new rice grain, water content, acreage and extraction of impurities.

He said the harvest was part of a "double cropping" hybrid rice project launched in Hainan in December last year. It targets the combined early and late reaping with a yield of 1,500 kg per mu. Yuan Longping, who was also academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was the chief scientist for the project.

Six demonstration sites have been selected across the island for growing the high-yield, high-quality variety called Chaoyouqianhao, which was developed by Yuan's team.

Yields of the trial planting in Sanya has been rising continuously in the past several years. The spring rice grows well after withstanding the adverse effects of low temperature and reduced light in Hainan last winter and this spring, experts said. They are confident in gaining a good harvest with the paddy growing in the latter half of this year in Hainan.