Some 26 foreign agricultural experts have attended a training class in Changsha, capital of central south China's Hunan Province to study the cultivation method of hybrid rice.

Since the 1990s, entrusted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, father of hybrid rice, has conducted several similar training classes with the purpose of spreading the rice species worldwide.

Under the leadership of Yuan, Chinese scientists have cultivated an improved variety of hybrid rice with its per-hectare yield increased to 10.5 tons. Scientists describe the achievement as having great significance for China's food security in the 21st century.

So far, trial cultivation of hybrid rice has been conducted on over 20 countries including the United States, but its popularization has only been achieved in several countries like India and Vietnam due to technical reasons.

Experts attending the current month-long training class come from eight countries including India, the Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/22/2001)