The World’s First Perennial Rice Makes Its Debut at the 1st China (Macao) International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo
Source：BGI Bioverse View count：28372
On October 20th, the 2022 1st China (Macao) International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), was held concurrently and at the same venue in Macao as the 27th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF). Two "super species" from BGI Bioverse—Perennial Rice and Multi-fruit Eggplant Tree—made a stunning debut, attracting numerous visitors to stop and admire them.
BGI Bioverse showcases two "super species" including Perennial Rice and Multi-fruit Eggplant Tree
Ho Iat-seng, Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Lu Shan, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, and other distinguished guests listened to the scientific stories behind the two "super species" during their visit to BGI's booth, and expressed recognition for "Manla No. 1" Perennial Rice.
Cao Wei (third from the right), a staff member of BGI, briefed the leaders on the progress of the R&D and trial planting of Perennial Rice
"Manla No.1" Perennial Rice
The perennial rice, jointly developed by BGI Bioverse and the team from Yunnan University, can be planted once and harvested continuously for multiple seasons and years, effectively saving planting costs and labor. It represents a "from 0 to 1" theoretical and technological breakthrough in food crop breeding, and is also the world’s only commercializable perennial food crop. It has been included in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s "International Agricultural Technology Innovations".
Perennial Rice Stubble
Perennial rice varieties achieve perennial regrowth by leveraging dormant buds on the rhizomes of Oryza longistaminata. In the following year after overwintering, the seedlings germinated from dormant buds on rice stubble rhizomes show no differences in field performance compared with seedlings grown from seeds, with stable and consistent yields across years.
To date, perennial rice has been trialed and promoted at 117 locations across China, covering a total area of 169.5 hectares (2,543 mu) and spanning 13 major rice-growing provinces including Yunnan, Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi.
The other "super species"—the Multi-fruit Eggplant Tree—launched by BGI Bioverse, subverts the traditional vegetable production model. It is developed by cultivating perennial woody rootstocks based on wild solanaceous plants, and then grafting multiple varieties of annual herbaceous solanaceous crops (such as eggplant, tomato and pepino melon) onto a single tree via advanced grafting technology, enabling year-round fruiting of multiple crops on one tree.
The Multi-fruit Eggplant Tree laden with different varieties of eggplants