(File photo of Yuan Longping)
With an actual yield of 1,013.8 kilograms per mu (0.0667 hectares) in Linyi, Shandong province, the harvest of Yuan Longping's "1,000 rice" has broken a world record for hybrid rice cultivated at a high latitude.
Yuan and his team spent three years cultivating the superior 1000 rice. After seeding the rice in April and transplanting it in May 2016, the super rice posted a high ripening rate.
For testing the yield, experts chose three fields at random. Reaped by machine, with water content deducted, Xie Hua'an, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, announced the final result of the yield: 1,013.8 kilograms per mu.
Just two weeks ago, Yuan's hybrid rice cultivation had broken the previous world record with its yield of 980.43 kilograms per mu in Rizhao, Shandong province. In an interview, Yuan explained that he spent 10 years raising the yield per mu of super rice from 700 to 800 kilograms, and there were no remaining technical obstacles to raising the yield per mu from 900 to 1,000 kilograms. If the climate conditions are suitable, the yield per mu can certainly break 1,000 kilograms, Yuan predicted accurately.
With the latest record set, Yuan has indeed proven himself right.
