Breeding high-yield superior quality hybrid super rice by rational design

Abstract

The challenge of meeting the increasing demand for worldwide rice production has driven a sustained quest for advances in rice breeding for yield. Two breakthroughs that led to quantum leaps in productivity last century were the introduction of semidwarf varieties and of hybrid rice. Subsequent gains in yield have been incremental. The next major leap in rice breeding is now upon us through the application of rational design to create defined ideotypes. The exploitation of wide-cross compatibility and intersubspecific heterosis, combined with rapid genome sequencing and the molecular identification of genes for major yield and quality traits have now unlocked the potential for rational design.