Semidwarfism of rice improves phenotype (light-interception properties and harvest index), nitrogen responsiveness, and lodging resistance and is thus an important trait worldwide. The International Rice Research Institute produced a cross between Peta, a tall indica variety (culm length, 150–180 cm), characterized by abundant, long hanging leaves, commonly grown in tropical Asia, and Dee-geo-woo-gen (DGWG), a Taiwanese indigenous semidwarf variety, to improve its lodging resistance and light-interception properties. The resulting semidwarf rice variety IR8 (culm length, 90–100 cm), developed in 1966, has dramatically improved rice yields and brought the Green Revolution to tropical Asia .