The Embrapa-Cirad hybrid seed production system in upland conditions at Sinop, Mato Grosso. (Photo: Embrapa) The Embrapa-Cirad hybrid seed production system...

(Photo: William Sta. Clara) It is fair to say that, without a successful hybrid rice program, China would have struggled to achieve its phenomenal growth...

Hybrid rice technology developed at IRRI has clearly demonstrated yields that are 1–1.5 tons per hectare higher than modern inbred varieties in farmers’...

Rice is, arguably, the world’s most important food crop. In spite of this prominence, the private sector for many years concentrated only on developing rice crop protection products such as herbicides and insecticides. There was little investment in improving rice varieties, and low participation in the crop seed  business. In the mid-1990s, however, several agricultural...