Abstract

In 1996, China launched a program to breed super rice or super hybrid rice by combining inter sub specific heterocyst with ideal plant types. Today, approximately 80 super rice varieties have been released and some of them show high grain yields of 12–21 t/hm2 in field experiments. The main reasons for the high yields of super rice varieties, compared with those of conventional varieties, can be summarized as follows: more spikelets per panicle and larger sink size (number of spikelet per square meter); larger leaf area index, longer duration of green leaf, greater photosynthetic rate, higher lodging resistance, greater dry matter accumulation before the heading stage, greater remobilization of pre- stored carbohydrates from stems and leaves to grains during the grain-filling period; and larger root system and greater root activity.

Keywords: Basmati Rice; Grain Yield; Grain Filling; Crop Physiology