Chinese scientists have cultivated a new rice species that requires no annual breeding of rice seeds, thus saving time, farmland and money for rice growers.

The strain, called apomictic hybriety rice, was developed by Prof. Chen Jiansan, an expert in the Chinese Academy of Agriculture, after 20 years of research.

The technology was described as "a major breakthrough" in rice breeding by over 200 experts from 28 countries at an seminar on apomictic hybriety held in Italy on April 28.

The per-hectare yield of the rice harvested earlier this year from his demonstration field is about 12,000 kg.

Having passing assessment by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, the rice has been planted some 33,330 hectares in sixprovinces in China, including the provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Hainan and Jiangsu with per-hectare yield of 10,500 kg.

The acreage under rice, the staple food for at least half of China's 1.2 billion people, totals about 32 million hectares in China.

Experts said if the new strain was used to replace other rice strains used in China, the added economic returns from reduced cost for seed breeding and farmland and increased yield would reach 10 billion yuan (US$ 1.2 billion) per year.

(People?s Daily November 28, 2001)