A new research and development project for hybrid plants hopes to increase crop yields.
Sun Qixin is the project's lead scientist and the vice-president of China Agricultural University. He said the research project is aimed at revealing why hybrid crops have advantages over other types.
"If our project is successful," Sun said yesterday, "China's grain output could increase by 5 billion kg a year, equal to 1 percent of the country's present annual food output,"
The Science and Technology Ministry has earmarked 30 million yuan ($4 million) for the five-year research project.
Earlier projects in the same field suggest success. For example, hybrid rice was developed in the early 1970s by Yuan Longping of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It boosted the country's rice output over the ensuing 25 years by a combined 400 million tons. That number is equal to the country's entire food production during an average year in the 1980s.
But Sun is asking why it is that hybrids are better than typical agricultural species. He says "This is a world problem that has never been tackled and our research is aiming to find the answer."
Yuan, is also known as "the father of hybrid rice." He spent a dozen years carrying out about 1,000 tests on parent crops before he found a special high-yield hybrid.
Sun said he wants to reduce test times.
He and his team have applied the results of their research around China.
"Our study is expected to boost hybrid rice production by 20 percent," he said.
More results are eagerly anticipated as the amount of arable land in the country has been on the decline while demand increases.
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Jonathan Stewart is a media and journalism expert from the United States with four years of experience as a writer and instructor. He accepted a foreign expert position with chinadaily.com.cn in June 2007 following the completion of his Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Comparative Politics.
