Chinese hybrid rice yield hits record

A team led by Yuan Longping, known in China as "the father of hybrid rice" has made a record for hybrid rice production with an average yield of 1,004.5 kilograms per mu (0.0667 hectares).

The new record was confirmed by experts from the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center and the agricultural bureau of the Xiangxi Prefecture, who actually harvested three lots of a farm of 105.8 mu growing the new hybrid rice known as "Y liangyou 900" on Friday and Saturday.

The farm is located at Zhongnan Village, Longshan County of central China's Hunan province.

Yuan Longping, 84, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, developed the world's first hybrid rice in 1974.

The new progress surpassed the 1,000 kg-per-mu target set by the Chinese Agriculture Ministry in 2013 after the yield of hybrid rice was raised to 963.65 kg per mu in 2012.

The yield of hybrid rice per mu in China surpassed 700 kg in 2000, 800 kg in 2005 and 900 kg in 2011 respectively, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

China, the world's most heavily farmed country, faces problems including limited land and water resources, and rising pollution, making food security a major concern.