China Develops Revolutionary Hybrid Rice That Can Double Yield

New Delhi: Scientific advancements are transforming agriculture, and China is once again at the forefront. Chinese scientists have developed a breakthrough hybrid rice variety capable of cloning itself through seeds, meaning farmers will no longer need to purchase new hybrid seeds for each planting season.

A Game-Changer for Rice Cultivation
According to the South China Morning Post, experts are calling this discovery revolutionary. Traditional hybrid rice requires farmers to buy fresh seeds every season to maintain high yields, a major barrier for cost-effective cultivation. With this new variety, farmers could drastically reduce costs while retaining the high-yield traits of hybrid rice across generations.

Up to Four Times Higher Yield
The most remarkable feature of this hybrid rice is its productivity. Early trials show it can produce up to four times the yield of conventional rice varieties. If widely adopted by rice farmers globally, this could potentially double worldwide rice production, meeting growing food demands.

Developed by Top Chinese Researchers
The breakthrough comes from a team led by Wang Kejian at the China National Rice Research Institute, under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The team has successfully developed a rice variant that uses a process called apomixis, which allows seeds to form without fertilization, effectively producing a clone of the parent plant.

Pricing and Accessibility
Currently, the hybrid seeds are expensive, costing up to 200 yuan (around USD 28) per kilogram in China, and potentially higher internationally. However, the institute’s “one-line” system could reduce production costs by 99%, making seeds affordable for farmers at prices comparable to regular rice seeds.

Next Steps
The research has been submitted for peer review and was pre-published on bioRxiv on 17 October under the title: “Fixing Hybrid Rice: >99% Efficient Apomixis with Near-Normal Seed Set”. The new Fix8 series has achieved over 99.7% cloning efficiency, producing seeds at rates comparable to traditional hybrids. This innovation essentially creates a “self-replicating super rice,” capable of maintaining its high-yield characteristics across generations.

With global rice demand rising, China’s self-cloning hybrid rice could redefine food security and agricultural efficiency worldwide.