China cultivates high-yield super rice

Chinese agronomists have cultivated a new species of high-yield super rice they have named Jijing 88, a significant breakthrough in the study of super rice cultivation in north China's cold areas.

Jijing 88 is regarded as a revolutionary breakthrough as it is excellent quality, resistant to cold and disease as well as highly adaptable.

As one of the country's 863 high-tech research and development programs, the Jing-breed Super Rice Cultivation Program was begun at the Rice Institute at the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 1996.

The per acre yield of the rice was 744.47 kilograms in 2004 and 742.2 kilograms in 2005, 15.6 percent and 19.3 percent higher than other varieties. The per acre yield this year was 752 kilograms. The rice has reached the quality of the country's first-grade standard.

The Jijing 88 has been tried in Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province, Liaoning Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for three years. The rice has been planted in 7.212 million acres of land.

The rice has helped farmers in those areas earn 1.44 billion yuan.

By People's Daily Online