Rice is the staple food providing about 35-59% of the total calorie intake of people in South and Southeast Asia. The demand for rice would be 800 million t by 2020. This means that we have to produce about 350 million t more rice by 2020 than what we are producing today to feed the ever increasing population. By 2030 the world must produce 60% more rice than it produced in 1995 to meet demands created by increasing populations and rising incomes. This production increase must be achieved on less land, with less labour, less water, and less pesticides, and must be sustainable. Experience in China, India, and Vietnam have established that hybrid rice offers an economically viable option to increase varietal yields beyond the level of semi dwarf rice varieties. Several other countries are currently exploring the prospects of hybrid rice. Availability of adequately trained human resources is an essential prerequisite for developing an effective national hybrid rice breeding program. More than 50% of the total rice area in China is planted to hybrid rice, and many countries outside China are developing and exploiting hybrid rice technology. Hybrid technology which has made wonder’s in rice production in China, is expected to give similar dividends in India in case the adequate quantity of quality seed of hybrid rice is made available at reasonable price to the farmers. This will be possible when ambitious programme on seed production is launched involving farmers and public and private sectors in a mission mode manner. The technology of Hybrid Seed Production in rice is quite different from that of maize, sorghum and pearl millet. Rice being self-pollinated, the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is used in Hybrid seed production. In order to make the farmers, seed production organization and scientists aware of seed production of hybrid rice, this paper on Hybrid Rice Seed Production Package has been written based on the experiences at Farmers’ Field as well as at Research Farm.

Keyword: Hybrid Rice; Seed Production Package; CMS Lines; Restorer Lines;