YNU professor reveals secrets of perennial rice on CCTV

Hu (right) discusses the characteristics of perennial rice with an interviewer. [Photo/WeChat account of Yunnan University]

The largely unknown story of perennial rice technology was revealed by Professor Hu Fengyi of Yunnan University, or YNU – located in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province – who appeared on CCTV-1's Opening Speech program on Feb 18. 

The Opening Speech is broadcast on CCTV's General Channel, CCTV-1, every Saturday night at 22:30 and runs for 45 minutes.

The program is positioned as China's first television youth open class and has been widely concerned and praised for its "youth" and "all-media" communications characteristics.

During the program, Hu said that rice, wheat and corn have been annual crops for thousands of years. He said the perennial rice cultivated by his team did not need to be transplanted from the second year after being planted in suitable areas – and could be harvested continuously in the next three to four years.

During this period, only routine field management such as watering, fertilizing and spraying needed to be carried out and the yield and quality were considerable, making it a real "agricultural black technology," the YNU professor added.