Hybrid rice is a type of rice that has been bred from two very different parents. It can signficantly outyield other rice varieties. IRRI is working with its partners to develop new and improved hybrid rice varieties. Because hybrid rice can outyield other varieties of rice, it is a key technology that meets the increasing global demand for rice. In the 1970s, China’s hybrid rice breeding program averted an impending famine. Today, hybrid rice closes yield gaps evident in many areas. It also raises yield potential. Bountiful harvests mean that farmers earn higher incomes and rice becomes available and affordable to more consumers. IRRI became involved in hybrid rice research in 1979, and since then, with our partners in the public and private sectors, we have led research, development, and use of hybrid rice in the tropics. More hybrid rice varieties are now becoming available that allow farmers to significantly raise rice yields and thus overall rice productivity and profitability. The most poplar hybrid rice parents used in Asian countries outside of China have been bred by IRRI. They are being used in public and private hybrid rice development programs and have been commercialized across many Asian countries. Developing hybrid rice parents and hybrids, and seed production technologies