Professor Yuan Longping, director of the China National Hybrid
Rice Research and Development Center (CNHRRDC), said that the joint
testing by his center and Israel's FertiSeeds of bio-technology
components in selected crops to develop super hybrid rice is a
pilot effort. It will take at least five years to market the
technology developed in the experiment, he said. Yuan was speaking
at a cooperative agreement signing ceremony in Jerusalem on
Monday.
Dr. Vered Yesodi, chief executive officer of the private
agro-biotechnology company FertiSeeds, expressed his confidence
that the new technology will develop high-yield rice hybrids and
related technologies for China. He said the cooperation is the
first of its kind between the two countries.
The two organizations hope that the hybrid seeds based on
FertiSeeds technology will promote the economical production of
seeds that will significantly improve yield and quality in such
major crops as rice and cotton.
Yuan, 74, who is known as the father of hybrid rice in China,
shared the 2004 Israeli Wolf Prize in Agriculture with Professor
Steven Tanksley of Cornell University in the US. Israeli President
Moshe Katsav awarded the prize in Jerusalem on Sunday night.
Since 1978, five or six such prizes have been granted annually
to outstanding scientists and artists worldwide for their
achievements. Yuan is the first Chinese scientist to win the prize,
which was accompanied by an award of US$100,000.
(China Daily May 11, 2004)