The crude protein contents(PC) in 351 varieties were measured by near infrared spectroscopy(NIRS) and their distribution and classification were analyzed.The results showed that the average value of crude protein content in indica and japonica types were 13.2% and 12.2%,respectively,with an average of 12.42%.The ranges of those above were 10.8-16.8%,9.3-17.7%,and 9.3-17.7%,respectively.It elucidated that PC was higher in indica rice than that in japonica rice.The huge difference in ratios of varieties(lines) based on their PC showed the genetic disequilibrium between subspecies indica and japonica,for example,the ratio of japonica rice with low PC was eight times that of indica rice with low PC.According to the criterion classifying varieties with different protein contents,most of rice genotypes fell into the group with intermediate PC,and there was very small number of varieties with either high or low PC,especially with very high PC in japonica rice.However,we could find some extreme individuals whose PC were very high/low,such as those with high PC:forage rice,early maturity varieties and indica-japonica hybrid progenies close to indica in the subspecies of indica,or close to japonica in the subspecies of japonica;and those with low PC:some japonica rice(but the PC not low enough),some overseas germplasms in indica.Thus it was not impossible to find out extreme germplasms on PC from landrace,overseas germplasms or indica-japonica hybrid progenies etc.,which are fine basic materials in genetic and breeding research.From the results of SDS-PAGE analysis of the total seed storage proteins among some representative varieties,we could know that the seed storage protein composition was different among different types of rice genotypes.