Harvest from heavenly breeding

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-08-12 16:29
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Researchers demonstrate a set of space flowering and fructification experiment devices retrieved from the re-entry capsule of China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 in Beijing, Nov 21, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has been a pioneering country seeking to apply the technology of space breeding to agricultural farming on the ground.

The world's most populous country conducted its first space breeding experiment in 1987, launching packets of seeds on a satellite and returning them to Earth after exposure to cosmic radiation.

Since then, hundreds of plant species seeds have traveled with dozens of the country's retrievable satellites and Shenzhou spaceships.

Over the past three decades, China's space breeding program has helped produce more than 300 crop varieties and 700 new types of plants, ranging from vegetables, fruits, and flowers. The total planting area has exceeded 2.8 million hectares, roughly the size of Massachusetts in the United States.

It has increased grain production by 1.6 billion kg and generated economic benefits worth over 240 billion yuan (about $35.6 billion), said Zhao, also the secretary general of China's Space Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance.

In central Henan province, Liu Shunde is a farmer who has benefited from space technology. In 2016, he sent 13-gram seeds of leek into orbit for 12 days aboard a recoverable science satellite.

After four years of ground-based research, the space-induced leek mutations created a new variety with stronger resistance to coldness and disease. Liu's business has since then developed fast, with larger planting areas, higher yields, and more income.

Similar success stories have been reported nationwide, as space breeding has represented an innovative approach to helping Chinese farmers improve their productivity.

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