The main objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the GY potential of new indica hybrid cultivars in China; (ii) to explore the complex correlations between rice GY and yield-related traits in a large pool of high-yield genotypes or cultivars; and (iii) to evaluate the stability of yield-related traits over time and across locations for the new indica hybrid cultivars. Two experiments were performed. The first was performed over the 2007–2008 see more growing seasons in Taoyuan village, Yongsheng county, Yunnan province (26°13′ N, 100°34′ E, 1170 m a.s.l.), to investigate the relationships between several traits influencing yield. Newly released indica rice cultivars

(53 cultivars in 2007 and 48 cultivars in 2008) were grown on a farm during the rice growing seasons, which occurs from mid-March to mid-September. The second experiment was performed in both Taoyuan and Nanjing, Jiangsu province (32°2′ N, 118°42′ E, 80 m a.s.l.) from 2005 to 2008, to investigate variation in yield-related traits. Two typical Chinese indica F1 hybrid cultivars, a large-panicle cultivar, II You 107, and a heavy-panicle cultivar, Xieyou 107, were planted during the rice growing

seasons. The soil at Taoyuan was an OrthicAcrisol (FAO taxonomy) with pH 8.0, an organic carbon content of 12.4 g kg− 1, and a total nitrogen content find more of 2.0 g kg− 1. The soil at the Nanjing site was an OrthicAcrisol with pH 7.3, an organic carbon content of 6.7 g kg− 1, and a total nitrogen content of 1.1 g kg− 1. Both experiments were arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replicates. The area of a plot was 4 m × 5 m = 20 m2. Seedlings 30-day-old raised in a wet nursery were transplanted Phospholipase D1 in early April at the Taoyuan site, and seedlings 35-day-old raised

in a dry nursery were transplanted in mid-June at the Nanjing site, with hill spacing of 0.3 m × 0.13 m and one seedling per hill at both sites. Nitrogen (125 kg ha− 1 N as urea), phosphorus (150 kg ha− 1 P2O5 as single superphosphate), potassium (150 kg ha− 1 K2O as K2SO4), and zinc fertilizer (15 kg ha− 1 Zn as magnesium–zinc fertilizer) were incorporated in the Taoyuan site, and 105 kg ha− 1 N as urea, 75 kg ha− 1 P2O5 as single superphosphate, 75 kg ha− 1 K2O as KCl, and 15 kg ha− 1 Zn as magnesium–zinc fertilizer were incorporated in plots in the Nanjing site one day before transplanting. In the Taoyuan site, additional N was applied 7 days after transplanting (125 kg ha− 1), 12 days after transplanting (62.5 kg ha− 1), panicle initial (PI) (187.5 kg ha− 1), and the stage of the 2nd leaf from the top extension (125 kg ha− 1). An additional 150 kg ha− 1 K2O was also supplied at the PI stage.