Farmers angry after high-yielding rice fails to perform as advertised
Print Edition
Rice that had promised strong yields performed badly last year, prompting farmers to question claims about its resistance to disease.
Liangyou 0293, a hybrid rice variety developed by Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co Ltd and grown in east China’s Anhui Province suffered massive crop failure after being infected with rice blast, a fungal disease.
More than 10,000 mu (667 hectares) of rice had low yields or outright failure last October, according to an investigation by the provincial seed management station.
Longping High-Tech, which distributes hybrid rice seeds and engages in research, was established by Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 1999 and has Yuan Longping, China’s “father of hybrid rice” as its honorary chairman.
“The variety I grew was infected with the disease. I saw them dying,” said Chang Xiuliang, a farmer from Wuhe County in Bengbu City. Chang is one of several farmers who claim the company was guilty of false advertising.
A leaflet distributed by Longping High-Tech says production of Liangyou 0293 would be stable even in bad years.
The variety boasts a less than 25 percent average probability of being infected by rice blast, according to a label on the seeds. However, an instruction tucked inside the package suggests the highest probability of infection at more than 50 percent, Chang told reporters.
Longping High-Tech says low temperatures in the rice-growing region, which led to an outbreak of the disease, was to blame for the crop failure.
Average temperatures in Anhui dropped to a 20-year low during July and August last year, a main trigger for rice blast
The outbreak led to massive failure of hybrids vulnerable to rice blast, including Liangyou 0293 in Anhui, the company said.
Liangyou 0293, a high yield variety approved in 2006, had been well received in Anhui, Longping High-Tech said, adding that the variety had never experience a massive crop failure due to rice blast.
The company said it had informed farmers of the variety’s susceptibility to rice blast and had provided assistance including adverse weather alerts and breeding guidance for large farms.
The company also said the unconsolidated pattern of rice production had hampered the company’s ability to deliver after-sales services.
The company and farmers in Anhui are at odds over compensation with farmers claiming compensation of no less than 700 yuan per mu, while Longping High-Tech has agreed to pay 20 yuan to 30 yuan per mu.
In central China’s Hunan Province, where Longping High-Tech is headquartered, Liangyou 0293 has long been replaced by more resilient varieties.
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