| On the 60th anniversary of the success of rice dwarf breeding, the author reviewed the great achievements
made by Academician Huang Yaoxiang , the father of semi-dwarf rice, in the field of rice breeding research. He led the team
to develop the world's first widely used indica dwarf rice variety, Guangchangai, through artificial hybridization in 1959, and
created a new way of rice dwarf breeding. The success of dwarf rice breeding has realized the first leap in rice yield per unit
area, and led the first Green Revolution in agricultural history with dwarf wheat breeding in Mexico together. And it also laid
an important foundation on the research and development of hybrid rice, the second Green Revolution. On the basis of rice
dwarfing breeding, he successively initiated“cross combination and population selection”,“semi-dwarf, early-growing and
super-high yield breeding”,“semi-dwarf, early-growing, deep-rooted and super-high yield (special) quality breeding”
and“super rice breeding”, and established an efficient“group screening method” for the conventional hybridization breeding, and then formed a scientific system of ecological breeding, which has enriched and developed the discipline of rice
breeding. He led the breeding team to develop more than 60 rice varieties, including 15 varieties with an area of more than
66.7×104 hm2. He successively won 15 awards for various scientific and technological achievements at the national, provincial
(ministerial) level, and made great contributions to the increase of grain yield and the progress of rice science and technology
in China. In this paper, we demonstrated Academician Huang Yaoxiang’s thoughts and methods for solving the problems
encountered in rice production, and also summarized his spirit of seeking truth, being practical, sharp, innovative and willing to
dedicate and pursue persistently in rice breeding research by reviewing his major achievements made in rice breeding. |
