China’s new hybrid rice can preserve its high-yield traits across generations, allowing farmers to...

Chinese scientists at the China National Rice Research Institute developed a self-cloning hybrid rice system using the HUAXU gene.

The system achieves over 99% cloning efficiency, preserving high-yield traits across generations.

This allows farmers to replant seeds instead of buying new hybrid seeds every season, reducing costs.

The breakthrough overcomes the long-standing barrier of hybrid vigour loss in conventional two-line or three-line hybrids.

The research, led by Professor Wang Kejian, was published in the journal Vita on July 21, 2026.