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A testing field for the super-high-yield early indica rice Zhongjiazao 17. [Photo/WeChat account: jxfabu]

Jiaxing Institute of Agricultural Science in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, received the second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award on Nov 3.

The prize was awarded to the institute in recognition of the super-high-yield early indica rice Zhongjiazao 17 it cultivated in collaboration with the China National Rice Research Institute.

Zhongjiazao 17 is the only early rice variety in China with an annual cultivated area exceeding 10 million mu (666,666 hectares). The cultivation area for this variety of rice is currently more than 70 million mu.

This is the third time the Jiaxing Institute of Agricultural Science has won a national prize. In 1978, the institute won a major science and technology award for its high-yield Nonghu No 6 rice. In 2016, the institute's honorary president Yao Haigen received the second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award for his research into the core collection of late japonica rice.

Over the past years, the Jiaxing Institute of Agricultural Science has developed 227 new species of rice, wheat, and vegetables. The cultivated area of its 199 new rice species in China spans 700 million mu.