Chinese research team may have cracked secret to crossbreeding Asian and African rice

3-MIN READ3-MIN0ListenPublished: 2:20pm, 2 Sep 2026Updated: 2:45pm, 2 Sep 2026Chinese scientists have identified a genetic barrier that makes it hard to crossbreed African and Asian rice varieties – a discovery that could lay the foundations for creating high-yielding hybrids.While both Asian and African cultivated rice varieties have distinct strengths, crossing them often produces offspring with sterile pollen and low yields.A research team has now identified three genes that act as a barrier to reproduction – and also a possible way round the problem.01:332-metre ‘giant rice’ twice as tall as other varieties nearly ready for first harvest in China“This discovery provides an important theoretical foundation and valuable genetic resources for breaking the reproductive barrier between rice species and breeding new, ultra-high-yielding hybrid rice varieties,” the official China-science-daily" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="17557" data-entity-type="organization">China Science Daily reported last Friday.