National rice sci-tech innovation platform inaugurated in NE China

BEIJING -- A national rice science and technology innovation platform has been officially inaugurated in Baoqing county, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, according to the China Science Daily on Wednesday.

The platform operates under the China National Rice Research Institute and is engaged in the core technology development of China's rice industry.

The institute has cooperated with local research institutes and colleges in Northeast China to promote new rice varieties and new technologies, said Wu Kongming, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

Since the construction of the innovation platform, it has carried out major sci-tech research in terms of rice breeding, returning straw to fields and black soil protection, as well as cultivating 120 strains with high yield and resistance to early maturing and 12 new varieties, according to Hu Peisong, head of the institute.

The glutinous rice varieties, cultivated in cooperation with relevant enterprises, have been widely put into production, said Hu.