Nurturing better Chinese crops and producing more Chinese grains
2024-04-11
The path of agricultural research has never been smooth sailing. If you want to make a breakthrough, you must dare to innovate and take the path that has not been walked. Guzi, formerly known as millet, was once the main grain in the north after being shelled. I grew up eating millet. However, at that time, the grain harvest was low, making it quite difficult to support a family with it. After graduating from university, with the thought of "what can I do for my fellow villagers", I returned to my hometown and started dealing with Gu Zi. A good harvest cannot be achieved without good seeds. The breeding of high-yield hybrid varieties of foxtail millet is a global challenge. In the 1960s, China initiated this research project. For a long time, researchers drew on the experience of hybrid rice, sorghum, and other crops to conduct a large number of experiments, but the progress was not ideal. The existing road is impassable, only by opening up new paths. Taking into account the sensitivity of foxtail millet to light, temperature, and other factors, we adopted a light temperature sensitive "two system method" for our research. Hundreds of thousands of grain ears, one plant at a time. Hard work pays off for those who are willing. We have made a crucial breakthrough and successfully bred the foxtail millet photosensitive and temperature sensitive male sterile line "821". A few years later, "Zhangzagu No.1" was introduced. Compared to conventional grains, it can increase yield by more than 30%, with a maximum yield of over 600 kilograms per mu. The path of agricultural research has never been smooth sailing. To make breakthroughs, one must dare to innovate and take the path that has not been taken. From the experimental base to the field, yield is not the only factor to consider. "Zhangzagu No.1" has increased production, but the cost of seed production is as high as 30-40 yuan per kilogram, while ordinary grain seeds only require over two yuan per kilogram. Moreover, weeding and transplanting foxtail millet is very cumbersome, which has become a roadblock for promoting planting. In order to make more people willing and affordable to grow, we continue to tackle key issues and have successfully cultivated more than 20 varieties of the "Zhangzagu" series. The yield of sterile millet breeding has significantly increased, and the cost of seed production has also been significantly reduced. At the same time, excellent genes such as herbicide resistance, water and drought resistance, and salt alkali resistance have also expanded the suitable planting areas for foxtail millet. From the agricultural and pastoral transitional zone along the Great Wall to the Gobi Desert at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Zhangzagu can thrive. In order to benefit more people with good seeds, I often go to towns and villages in various places to provide technical guidance to farmers, help them dispel concerns, and actively cultivate new varieties. At the same time, we collaborate with research institutes and enterprises to explore deep processing technology of foxtail millet and research and development of forage feed, expand new space for the development of foxtail millet industry, and drive grain production increase, farmer income increase, and agricultural efficiency increase. Not only that, hybrid millet has also gone abroad and become an important project for China's agricultural aid to Africa, contributing China's efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty and maintain international food security. Millet always strives to take root downwards and grow tenaciously upwards, nurturing golden hope in the soil. Do we not need such a spirit to do well in agricultural research? Breeding is a long and slow process, and in order to cultivate excellent varieties, researchers often need to select, crossbreed, and combine thousands of germplasm materials. Looking back on these years, we often entered the greenhouse with cold air and walked out sweating profusely. Agricultural research has strong seasonality, and our lives are completely revolving around the agricultural season. Focusing solely on the fields and fields, never giving up until the goal is achieved. Which excellent variety is not bred in this way
Edit：Luo yu Responsible editor：Wang er dong
Source：people.cn
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