The most noticeable achievement of agriculture in China is that about 7% of the world’s arable land feed 23% of the world’s population. New varieties of rice breeding and its production play an important role in this great achievement. Rice is one of the most important grain crops in China. More than 60% of the population in China takes rice as the staple food. Rice production accounts for 40% of the total grain output. With the increase of the population, the demand for rice will continue to grow. Therefore, breeding new rice varieties to improve rice production will play a crucial role to ensure food security in 21st century. This paper reviews the development course of rice production and breeding technologies of our country, and the achievements of rice breeding technology as well as the present situation of rice traditional breeding and molecular breeding.

• Piao Zhong-Ze(Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences)