Development of Hybrid Rice Technology in China The development of hybrid rice in China begins in the 1960s with exploratory efforts to identify the materials and techniques needed to further the technology. Four decades of research and development have led to widespread cultivation, a vibrant seed industry, and continuous yield gains. See Table 10.1 for a chronology of hybrid rice development in China. The key stages in the development of hybrid rice from 1973 to present are described in detail below.
Initiation and Early Stages (1964–76)
China’s hybrid rice development effort began with the basic challenge of producing hybrid vigor or “heterosis” in rice, a phenomenon in which the resulting offspring are superior to their parents in one or more traits. The major obstacle to generat- ing heterosis in rice is that it is a self-pollinated crop: the plant contains tiny florets with both male and female organs in the same floret and thus does not typically
Table 10.1 History of hybrid rice technological development in China, 1965–2006
Phase Year Development Initiation and early stages
1964 Research on three-line hybrid rice was initiated. 1970 Wild abortive rice was identified on Hainan Island in China. 1973 Photoperiod- and thermosensitive genic male sterile material was identified.
1974 First sets of three lines (A, B, and R lines) were developed for three- line system hybrid rice.
1976 Hybrid rice commercialization started.
Technological improvements 1977 Systematic hybrid rice seed production technique was developed. and large-scale
commercialization Progression to two-line hybrid rice system
Enhancement of hybrid rice heterosis
rice acreage reached more than 10 million hectares; National Two-Line System Hybrid Rice Program was established.
1990 Hybrid rice acreage reached more than 15 million hectares. 1995 Two-line hybrid rice system was developed. 1996 National Super Rice Breeding program was initiated.
1998 Hybrid rice seed yields more than 2.5 metric tons per hectare. 2000 Super hybrid rice Phase I objective (10.5 metric tons per hectare) is achieved.
2004 Super hybrid rice Phase II objective (12.0 metric tons per hectare) was achieved.
2006 Work on super hybrid rice Phase III objective (13.5 metric tons per hectare) was initiated.
Source: Authors.
1983 Hybrid rice seed yielded more than 1.2 metric tons per hectare. 1987 Hybrid rice seed yielded more than 2 metric tons per hectare; hybrid