The research team led by Hu Peisong at China National Rice Research Institute of CAAS has focused on the breeding and application of super-high-yield early-season indica rice varieties for special purposes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China. They aim to solve three outstanding technical difficulties: rotten seedlings caused by low temperature in the seedling stage, the bottleneck for high yield in a short growth period, and poor rice quality caused by high temperature during the maturation stage. Their study has proposed the theory and method of super-high-yield early-season rice breeding for special purposes, created many new germplasms for super-high-yield early-season indica rice breeding, and developed a high-efficiency and accurate identification and selection technology system. Meanwhile, eight new super-high-yield early-season rice varieties have been cultivated for rice noodle processing. The representative variety Zhongjiazao 17 shows excellent processing quality in making rice noodles. It was recommended as the primary extension cultivar by the Ministry of Agriculture from 2010 to 2016. As a result, its annual planting areas ranked first in China’s southern rice region from 2013 to 2017. It is the only early-season rice variety that has been applied over 66.7×103 ha in a single year since 1991, covering about 20% of the early-season indica rice area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Their research achievement has brought enormous social and economic benefits.

Breeding of good quality, high yield, and high fertilizer use efficiency (super efficiency) indica rice cultivars in the middle and lower Yangtze River region, China