China's "Father of Hybrid Rice" Yuan Longping receives an interview at an experimental field of 'giant' rice in Jinjing Township of Changsha County, central China's Hunan Province, on Oct. 16, 2017. Photo by Li Ga 

By Tan Yixiao, Dong Ruifeng, Zhou Mian 

A new kind of rice that can grow to a height of 2.2 meters has been introduced to China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences institute of subtropical agriculture (ISA) announced on Monday, Oct. 16.

With the average height of more than 1.8 meters, the yield of the 'giant' rice is expected to surpass 11.5 tonnes per hectare, 15 to 20 percent more than ordinary rice, said the ISA.

"We will keep working to increase its yieled," said China's "Father of Hybrid Rice" Yuan Longping at an experimental field in Central China's Hunan Province.

The rice also provides excllent habitat for frogs and fish, said Wu Jinshui, head of the ISA.

The ISA owns complete intellectual property rights to the rice which has been planted in cities of Shaoyang, Changde, Zhuzhou and Changsha in Hunan.