China's 'father of rice' throws doubt on Indian record holder

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Yuan Longping is known as the "father of rice". Photo: SCMP pictures

Published: 10:48am, 21 Feb 2013Updated: 11:26am, 21 Feb 2013

A hybrid rice developer in China has called into question an Indian farmer's contention that he had harvested 22.4 tonnes of rice on one hectare of land, breaking a world record of 19.4 tonnes set by the Chinese scientist, reported the state-run China News Service on Thursday.

Sumant Kumar, a young farmer in the Nalanda district of India’s poor state Bihar, said last year that he achieved the record yields by using a method called System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Farmers using the herbicide-free method have reported higher yields with fewer seeds and less water and chemicals, according to a report by The Guardian.

World renowned agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, the previous record holder, bluntly called Kumar a “120 per cent fake”.

“I introduced the intensification method to China myself,” Yuan said. “It could increase yields by 10 to 15 per cent in low-yield fields, but it’s not possible for fields that are already producing relativaly high yields .”

“He [Kumar] said they had lots of rain and little sunshine last year, but high yields would be impossible without adequate sunshine,” a doubtful Yuan continued.

Yuan said judging by photos, the harvested plants appeared short and couldn’t possibly produce high yields.

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