From importing seeds to developing ideal varieties, science drives China's vegetable industry

Holding a hoe in one hand, Pan Jin'e digs shallow holes in the soil. With the other, she places cabbage seedlings in the holes and covers their roots with earth.

In mid-September, as summer turns to autumn, transplanting seedlings is part of her daily routine. Pan lives in Jiayu county in Xianning, Central China's Hubei province.

By late November, the seedlings will have grown into firm, round cabbages ready for dinner tables, Pan said.

During the busy transplanting season, she can plant 2 mu (about 0.13 hectares) a day, earning 220 yuan ($32.8).

Rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, cabbage is a common vegetable on Chinese dinner tables and is available throughout the year. Behind this steady supply is decades of work by Chinese plant breeders.

In the 1960s, China relied heavily on imported cabbage seeds, said Ma Jiliang, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

In 1967, a team led by Fang Zhiyuan, the late academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, began developing domestic cabbage varieties.

The researchers first focused on providing Chinese growers with homegrown seeds. They later bred varieties with better resistance to disease and harsh growing conditions.

Their work then turned to breeding cabbages suited to early spring and late autumn, as well as varieties that could survive the cold winters of the Yangtze River basin. These efforts helped make year-round supply possible.

"Plant breeding takes time," Ma said, adding that it requires repeated trials, selection, and improvements over many years.