Accelerating Hybrid Rice Development

This symposium is a follow-up to one held in China in 1986. Since then considerable progress has been made in research and development of hybrid rice. This second international symposium was held under the umbrella of the International Rice Research Conference. Eighty scientists and seed production experts from 18 countries, IRRI and FAO attended. Contributions covered breeding, biotechnology, seed production, agronomy, plant physiology, plant pathology, entomology and economics.

Rice is the most important food crop of the developing world and the demand for it is growing. Provided here is a concise account of hybrid breeding in rice, a newly deployed breeding approach to increase the yield. Research on heterosis, male sterility systems, outcrossing mechanisms, disease/insect management, and grain quality considerations in hybrid rice are reviewed. The book contains a wealth of useful information for practicing hybrid rice breeders, seed producers, researchers, and students of plant breeding.