[Breeding and spreading of new vairety "Yu-Qing No. 1" of Artemisia annua].

OBJECTIVE: To breed and spread a new cultivar of Artemisia annua. METHOD: The excellent germplasm resources of A. annua in the main production area of Artemisia were collected, and the improved germplasm were screened, the content of artemisinin was determined, and yield per plant was measured. The systematically maternal line and seed production techniques of mass selection were applied combined with the variety test, variety regional test trials and production trials for breeding and spreading the new cultivars of artemisia. RESULT: The popularization and experiment illustrated the production of the new species reached 3 000 kg x hm(-2), compared with wild A. annua it increased 10% -14%. The content of artemisinin reached more than 1%, increased more than 0.2%. CONCLUSION: It is proved that the systematically maternal line and seed production techniques of mass selection can significantly improve the quality of A. annua and it is an acceptable way to cultivate new variety. By production verification, it is practicable and high technical and economic benefits to popularize the new cultivar "Yu-Qing No. 1" of A. annua.