In the past couple of days, the four-hectare seeding field of Liangfeng Cooperative in Tangxi Town, Jinhua Development Zone, has been showing healthy seedlings standing upright in the wind and growing well, full of vitality.

These seedlings belong to Jinzao 645, a new variety of early rice selected by the Jinhua Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS) and Jinhua Sancai Seed Industry Co., Ltd. Last month, this newly developed variety of rice passed provincial approval. During the provincial production tests, this new variety increased crop yield by 8.4% compared to Zhongzao 39, and showed a moderate resistance to rice blast. This year, the new variety has been planted in over 66 hectares throughout Zhejiang’s demonstration sites.

For this variety, the end of March to early April is the sowing season. In about a month’s time, the seedlings can be transplanted, after they grow to about the fifth leaf. If the seedlings are too long, they tend to head early and affect yield. The best period for transplanting early rice is around May Day; while thousands of families were enjoying their time off, the early rice research group of JAAS ushered in the busiest period of the year.

“This is not only a local experiment, but also an opportunity for us to develop new varieties of early and late rice. It is an important window through which we can grasp the development of new varieties of rice,” explained Wang Kongjian, senior agronomist at JAAS. Each experimental field is divided into sections of equal area by a string fixed above the water surface; each section measures 1.3 square meters.

Wang emphasized that the crucial period for transplanting early rice generally lasts about 10 days around May Day. He also said that the period of seed selection and harvest starts in the middle of July and finishes at the end of the month, while at the beginning of August, they are busy with autumn transplanting. In late November, they usually go to the Hainan Lingshui base to work under favorable temperature and light resources. Early rice is planted three times a year, and late rice is planted two times a year; it is necessary to keep up with the sun to breed new varieties.

“Rice breeding is a field scholarship; one gets it when he steps in the mud.” Under the changes of weather, seasons, day and night, the “catchers in the paddy fields” of this research group are tirelessly working to develop the cultivation of rice. (By Zhang Xinyu, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)