Hybrid rice grown from single seedlings with reduced nitrogen rates can maintain high grain yield and improve nitrogen use efficiency. Field experiments in China showed that lowering nitrogen levels by 20% only caused a small 4% decrease in yield, and a 40% reduction led to a maximum 7% yield loss. The plants adjusted their growth to compensate for the lower nitrogen, resulting in similar yield attributes. By reducing nitrogen rates, the efficiency of nitrogen use increased by 21-24% with a 20% reduction and 56-63% with a 40% reduction. This means that hybrid rice can still produce good yields while using nitrogen more effectively when transplanted as single seedlings in fertile soil.