The new hybrid rice variety (Chaoyou 1000), growing in Bencha township in Rudong county, sets a new yield record of 12.04 tonnes per hectare. [Photo/WeChat account: JSRDTV2015]

A "sea rice" experimental planting field in Rudong, Nantong, in East China's Jiangsu province, set a record in output for rice grown on saline soil in China on Oct 14.

Sea rice is a new type of rice with saline-alkaline tolerance that was developed through crossbreeding and standard breeding technologies.

The experimental project is located in the Fangling reclamation area in the Bencha township of Rudong. It was led by a team headed by Yuan Longping, dubbed the "father of hybrid rice", in cooperation with Jiangsu Agricultural Technology Extension Station.

The new hybrid rice variety (Chaoyou 1000), set a new yield record of 12.04 tonnes per hectare.

Since 2016, Yuan has led a team to conduct experiments in five types of saline-alkali land areas across the country – Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Shandong, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Shaanxi provinces.

In 2020 demonstration experimental planting bases were selected from the five areas to provide successful examples. Bencha township was the only Jiangsu base chosen.

The Fangling reclamation area was formed in 2010. Agronomists found its coastal sandy saline soil has a salt content of between 2 and 6 per mill.

Four varieties of saline-alkali tolerant rice were planted in the reclamation area in May. Rudong adjusted the high-yield cultivation technology originally promoted according to the physical and chemical characteristics of saline soil, and also considered the local conditions of long-lasting rainy weather and the high incidence of pests and diseases. The rice cultivation and pests and weeds prevention and control technologies were continuously optimized until they achieved guaranteed success.

According to Guan Yongxiang, the head of Jiangsu Agricultural Technology Extension Station, the experiments adopted a mixture of best technologies developed by Jiangsu teams, including the precise quantitative cultivation technology developed by the team of Zhang Hongcheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Guan added that this is the first time machines have been used to transplant rice seedlings on saline soil.