China's "father of hybrid¹ 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.

据当地知情人士上周六透露，中国“杂交水稻之父”正计划在中国东部山东省青岛市最近成立的研究中心里扩大海水稻种植。

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.

据新研究中心所在地青岛李沧区政府表示，在未来三年里，科学家袁隆平将带领海水稻研发中心，把海水稻每亩产量增产到200公斤。

Wild sea-rice is sometimes found in saline-alkaline soil at the junctures² where rivers join the sea.

人们有时会在河流入海口的盐碱地上发现野生海水稻。

The plant is resistant³ to pests, diseases, salt and alkali and does not need fertilizer. But its unit output is only around 75 kg.

这种作物可抗害虫、疾病和盐碱，而且不需要肥料。但是它的单产量只有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.

青岛市研究中心将会利用基因测序技术来研发培育新型海水稻，届时这种水稻的产量将会更高，并且可以在海水中生长。

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 marsh⁴ land just north of the Jiaozhou Bay in April.

研究的启动资金达到了1亿元人民币（约合1486万美元），科学家们将从明年4月份开始，在胶州湾北部一块2公顷大小的盐碱地上开始试验。

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

这个项目最终将会吸引到20亿元人民币的投资。