Trial of high-yield rice hailed as success for food supply

Chen Yangpu, deputy director of Chongqing branch of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, said the giant rice, with straight, darker leaves, has greater photosynthetic efficiency than regular rice. The average number of effective tillers — the grain-bearing heads — can reach as high as 40, with the maximum grains of rice per spike around 500.

The new variety is resistant to heat, diseases, flooding, salt-alkali soil and lodging — where a stalk is bent close to the ground, making the grain difficult to harvest and reducing yield. The hybrid also provides an ideal habitat for aquatic animals and mammals, whose excrement adds nutrients to the plants.