CHENGDU, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Agronomists have planted about 4,000 rice varieties in a hybrid experimental rice base in southwest China's Sichuan Province to acquire the ideal seeds for large-scale plantation.
The hybrid rice science park, which opened in May in the Pidu District in the provincial capital of Chengdu, was named after China's renowned agronomist Yuan Longping. It has 9,087 square meters for the first phase of construction, along with 133.33 hectares of outdoor farmland.
This year, nearly 4,000 rice varieties, each with 50 to 100 stems, have been grown in the one-hectare experimental field, said Kuang Yinglong, breeding department manager of the Chengdu branch of the China National Hybrid Rice R&D Center.
The rice seeds will be obtained roughly 20 days after pollination, and the seeds will be grown in November in Sanya, Hainan Province. The harvesting conditions can be observed next March, said Kuang.
He said researchers will further hybridize those with better characters to get the ideal varieties that are genetically stable.
"Only one-thousandth of the varieties planted every year may finally become rice seeds, which can enter the market for farming only if they are examined and approved by authorities," he said.
Tuesday marked the Chinese farmers' harvest festival. Enditem
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