After years of experiments, a team of agricultural experts in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province has cultivated a number of high-quality rice varieties, including one codenamed "Suijing 18" featuring high yields and better resistance to disease.

"Suijing 18" is currently one of the main varieties planted in Heilongjiang, accounting for nearly one-sixth of the rice planting area of the province.

Nie Shouju from the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences is the team leader.

So far, the planting area of the rice variety has exceeded 60 million mu (1.48 million hectares), with an increased harvest volume of more than 2.1 billion kilograms.