Well over half of China's total rice-growing area of some 15 million hectares is planted with rice hybrids, making the country by far the world's largest producer of the crop. But little is known about the impact of the switch to hybrids. Are yields higher? Are farmers better off? Is the country losing its traditional rice varieties? Are farmers becoming dependent on the seed companies? GRAIN talked to rice farmers in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan to find out. Please follow the link above to the article.The article also includes a box that reviews the history of hybrid maize in Canada and questions whether the switch to hybrids for that crop has actually provided any real yield advantage