Yet Longping High-Tech says low temperatures in the rice-growing region, which led to a far more adverse outbreak of the disease, is to blame for the crop failure.
Average temperature at Anhui dropped to a 20 year low during July and August of 2014, a main trigger for the rice blast disease that has plagued rice planted in the region. Temperature even dropped to a half-a-century low in Bengbu, the company told Xinhua.
The outbreak of rice disease led to massive failure of hybrids vulnerable to the rice blast, including "Liangyou 0293" in Anhui, the company said.
"Liangyou 0293", a lodging-resistant and high yield variety approved in 2006, has been very well received in Anhui, with sales in Bengbu region at 70,000 kg in the past seven years it has been marketed there, Longping High-Tech said, adding that there has never been massive crop failure for this variety due to rice blast infections.
The company said it has informed farmers of "Liangyou 0293"'s susceptibility to rice blast and has provided assistance including adverse weather alerts and breeding guidance for large farms, but the advice failed to help farmers ward off the disease this time.
The company also said that the unconsolidated pattern of rice production has hampered the the company's ability to deliver its after-sale service.
The company and farmers in Anhui are far from reaching a consensus over compensation. Chang Xiuliang said farmers claimed compensation of no less than 700 yuan per mu, whereas Longping High-Tech only agreed to pay 20 yuan to 30 yuan per mu.
The Anhui provincial agriculture committee asked experts from several universities and institutes to investigate this hybrid rice disease last September. They found that the slashed yields or even failure resulted from rice blast, which was caused by low temperature and rains, the breed's high susceptibility to the disease and poor prevention and control measures.
Bao Wenxin, chief of this investigation team and an agronomist told Xinhua that disease resistance, weather and human factors all affect the growth of a breed. "Liangyou 0293" is no longer suitable to be planted in Huaihe River region.
"Liangyou 0293" has been marketed in China for eight years. In Hunan, where Longping High Tech is headquartered, it has long been replaced by more resilient varieties.
