雜交水稻之父袁隆平在青島研發海水稻

China's "father of hybrid rice" is planning to expand its production of sea-rice at a newly founded research center in Qingdao, a port city in the eastern province of Shandong, local sources said last Saturday.

據當地知情人士上週六透露，中國“雜交水稻之父”正計劃在中國東部山東省青島市最近成立的研究中心裏擴大海水稻種植。

Within three years, the sea-rice research and development center, headed by scientist Yuan Longping, is expected to expand the yield of sea-rice to 200 kilograms on each "mu," the Chinese unit equivalent to 666 square meters, according to local authorities in Qingdao's Licang District, where the new research body is located.

據新研究中心所在地青島李滄區政府表示，在未來三年裏，科學家袁隆平將帶領海水稻研發中心，把海水稻每畝產量增產到200公斤。

Wild sea-rice is sometimes found in saline-alkaline soil at the junctures where rivers join the sea.

人們有時會在河流入海口的鹽鹼地上發現野生海水稻。

The plant is resistant to pests, diseases, salt and alkali and does not need fertilizer. But its unit output is only around 75 kg.

這種作物可抗害蟲、疾病和鹽鹼，而且不需要肥料。但是它的單產量只有75公斤左右。

The Qingdao research center will use gene sequencing to cultivate new strains of sea-rice that will yield more rice and grow with saline water.

青島市研究中心將會利用基因測序技術來研發培育新型海水稻，屆時這種水稻的產量將會更高，並且可以在海水中生長。

With start-up funding of 100 million yuan (14.86 million U.S. dollars), scientists will start their experiment on a 2-hectare saline-alkaline marsh land just north of the Jiaozhou Bay in April.

研究的啓動資金達到了1億元人民幣（約合1486萬美元），科學家們將從明年4月份開始，在膠州灣北部一塊2公頃大小的鹽鹼地上開始試驗。

The project will eventually draw an investment of 2 billion yuan.

這個項目最終將會吸引到20億元人民幣的投資。