The pilot cultivation of super hybrid rice in south China has proved successful with an average per-hectare yield hitting 10.5 tons.

   The highest output exceeds 11.6 tons on the 6.7 hectares of farmland used for the trial cultivation in Huaixiang town of Xinyi City, Guangdong Province.

   The project was carried out in Xinyi at the call of Yuan Longping, China's top scientist on hybrid rice.

   Known as the "father of hybrid rice," Yuan has developed high-yielding hybrid rice to feed the millions in China and in the rest of Asia.

   Under Yuan's guidance, Chinese scientists have grown an improved variety of hybrid rice with higher and higher yield.

   Scientists say the achievements in hybrid rice cultivation bear directly on China's food security in the 21st century.