(Yicai Global) Jan. 7 -- Chinese scientists have made a national breakthrough in cloning the seeds of hybrid rice, which will help them to pass on the preferable weather-resistant qualities to the next generation of seeds.

A team led by Wang Kejian, a scientist at the China National Rice Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, managed to alter the fertilization process of the seeds, state-backed Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

Cloning could help farmers extend the short lifecycle of hybrid rice which may have a high yield in the first harvest but it cannot preserve the enhanced qualities till the next one. China's annual planting area of the cross-bred variety has exceeded 16 million hectares, making up over one half of the total area, official data shows. 

The asexual reproduction method will hopefully bring a new revolution to the agricultural sector, Wang said. The success is an important breakthrough in the field, said Yuan Longping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who is also known as 'China's father of hybrid rice.'  

Editor: Emmi Laine