HAIKOU /China/, May 14. /TASS/. Hainan province's Nanfan Scientific and Research Seed Breeding Base (Sanya city) crop specialists ensured early season yields of hybrid rice to a "breakthrough" 12.6 tons per hectare. This was reported by the Sanya Daily newspaper.

According to Chinese experts cited by the newspaper, Sanya has thereby made significant progress in the program aimed at raising the annual yield (includes early and late harvests) to about 30 tons per hectare. Thus, as noted, the city is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring the PRC's food security.

"It took 10 years to increase [hybrid rice] yields from 10.5 to about 15 tons per hectare per year, from 15 to 22.5 tons over 15 years," recalled Li Denghai, founder of the Chinese crop growing company Shandong Denghai Seeds. An equally important task, he said, is to increase corn yields at an accelerated pace.

According to Yang Xiaofeng, deputy director at the Nanfan Research Institute of Hainan University (HNU), Sanya plays a key role in the government's strategy to develop new crop varieties. He noted that the plant laboratories in Hainan "help form new channels for the cultivation of seedlings, which then take root in the northern regions of China." There is cooperation with Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, as well as with the northeast region of the country bordering Russia.

Hainan is important for China's agricultural development. There are several modern laboratories on the island with a wealth of breeding experience. Due to a favorable climate allowing to grow plants all year round, the province plays a key role in Chinese seed production; every year the country's leading specialists come here to conduct experiments and exchange experience. Other countries with which China's southernmost region maintains close research contacts also show interest in these projects.