Sea rice grown in Sanya sees harvest in spring

The sea rice is grown in the Qingdao Sea Rice Research and Development Center's South Breeding Base in Yazhou district of Sanya. [Photo/Hainan Daily]

In March, more than 300 plants of saline-alkali-tolerant rice, also known as sea rice, were harvested at the Qingdao Sea Rice Research and Development Center's South Breeding Base in Yazhou district of Sanya.

Saline-alkali-tolerant rice, or sea rice, is capable of growing in coastal tidal flats and saline-alkali land. It generally refers to rice that can grow normally in soil with a salt (alkali) concentration of more than 0.3 percent.

 
Sea rice exhibits more competitive survival capabilities than regular rice, including resistance to flooding, saline-alkali tolerance, lodging resistance, and resistance to diseases and pests.

"After months of careful management, the sea rice on 30 mu (2 hectares) is growing well, and it should yield over 400 kilograms per mu," said Zhang Shuyin, a researcher at the Qingdao Sea Rice Research and Development Center.

"To cultivate a new rice variety usually requires at least eight generations of selection to stabilize, and after the regional trials, it can be approved by the relevant departments," Zhang said.

 
Zhang added that if the sea rice breeding is only conducted in places like Qingdao, where it can only be planted once a year, it would take at least 10 years. However, if winter breeding is carried out in Hainan and continued in Qingdao in the summer, two seasons can be achieved in a year, halving the research time.

Currently, sea rice varieties have been promoted in major types of saline-alkali land across the country, covering regions such as Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Heilongjiang, Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, and Ningxia.