Performance, Economics and Potential Impact of Perennial Rice PR23 Relative to Annual Rice Cultivars at Multiple Locations in Yunnan Province of China
by
Guangfu Huang 1,†, Shiwen Qin 1,†, Shilai Zhang 1,†, Xiaolin Cai 2, Shukang Wu 2, Jinrong Dao 2, Jing Zhang 1, Liyu Huang 1, Dome Harnpichitvitaya 3, Len J. Wade 4,* and Fengyi Hu 1,*
Guangfu Huang 1,†, Shiwen Qin 1,†, Shilai Zhang 1,†, Xiaolin Cai 2, Shukang Wu 2, Jinrong Dao 2, Jing Zhang 1, Liyu Huang 1, Dome Harnpichitvitaya 3, Len J. Wade 4,* and Fengyi Hu 1,*
1
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Research Center of Perennial Rice Engineering and Technology in Yunnan, School of Agriculture, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
2
Yunnan Agricultural Technology Extension Centre, Gaoxinqu District, Kunming 650106, China
3
Department of Agronomy, Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Ubon Ratchathani 34000, Thailand
4
School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this paper.
Sustainability 2018, 10(4), 1086; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041086
Received: 13 February 2018 / Revised: 27 March 2018 / Accepted: 27 March 2018 / Published: 5 April 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies, Advances and Challenges of Breeding Perennial Grain Crops)
Perennial grain crops hold the promise of stabilizing fragile lands, while contributing grain and grazing in mixed farming systems. Recently, perennial rice was reported to successfully survive, regrow, and yield across a diverse range of environments in Southern China and Laos, with perennial rice PR23 being identified as a prime candidate for release to farmers. This paper reports the evaluation of PR23 for release, by (1) comparing its survival, regrowth, performance, and adaptation with preferred annual rices across nine ecological regions in southern Yunnan Province of China; (2) examining the economic costs and benefits of perennial versus annual rice there; and (3) discussing the evidence for the release of PR23 as a broadly adapted and acceptable cultivar for farmers. Overall, the grain yield of PR23 was similar to those of the preferred annual rice cultivars RD23 and HXR7, but the economic analysis indicated substantial labour savings for farmers by growing the perennial instead of the annual. PR23 was comparable to the annuals in phenology, plant height, grain yield, and grain size, and was acceptable in grain and cooking quality. Farmers were keen to grow it because of reduced costs and especially savings in labour. PR23 is proposed for release to farmers because of its comparable grain yields to annual rices, its acceptable grain and milling quality, its cost and labour savings, and the likely benefits to soil stability and ecological sustainability, along with more flexible farming systems.
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Keywords:
adaptation; cultivar release; genotype by environment interactions; grain quality; labour savings; perennial grain crops; performance; regrowth; survival; yield
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MDPI and ACS Style
Huang, G.; Qin, S.; Zhang, S.; Cai, X.; Wu, S.; Dao, J.; Zhang, J.; Huang, L.; Harnpichitvitaya, D.; Wade, L.J.; Hu, F. Performance, Economics and Potential Impact of Perennial Rice PR23 Relative to Annual Rice Cultivars at Multiple Locations in Yunnan Province of China. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1086.
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