Current location:Culture Canvas news portal > world
Reaping the Rewards of a Lifetime in the Fields
Culture Canvas news portal2024-05-21 10:58:31【world】1People have gathered around
IntroductionContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom
- Home
- News
- People
- In-depth
- ACWF
Reaping the Rewards of a Lifetime in the Fields
ByLi Kun and Chen Meiling December 6, 2022Zhang stands in front of a field planted with different varieties of wheat in Xiangyang. [China Daily] |
As the Chinese saying goes, a seed can change the world; a variety can benefit a nation.
Zhang Daorong, who has spent the last 26 years cultivating 13 new varieties of wheat and contributing to national food security efforts, has done both.
The 50-year-old, who is dubbed the "mother of wheat", is a researcher at the Xiangyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province. Xiangyang is the largest wheat production area in the province, and the yield in the city accounts for more than 40 percent of the provincial total.
The wheat varieties developed by Zhang and her colleagues have been grown on 2 million hectares of farmland and have generated net profits of over 100 million yuan ($14 million).
One of them produces large seed heads and is highly resistant to stripe rust; another is highly resistant to pre-harvest sprouting, which results in a decrease of the grain yield and affects the quality of flour and seed value for the following year.
Some are more suitable for making bread, and some are among the raw materials used to make the distiller's yeast for renowned alcohol brand Kweichow Moutai.
The research into new varieties requires strict standards and rigorous experiments.
"The first step is to find suitable parental types for a specific cultivation purpose. Then we try a hybrid combination," Zhang explained. "After several generations of trial and selection, and when characteristics remain stable, we begin a two-year process of yield testing and disease identification."
After several more rounds of tests, an application for evaluation and approval can be made to provincial or national authorities for market production.
"Generally speaking, a good new variety should produce high yields and stable production, show good resistance to bad conditions and be acceptable to the market," she added.
Wheat is planted in late October and matures in late May and early June. During the fallow period from June to September, Zhang said she doesn't rest because there is so much work to do, including data disposal, seed selection and planning for autumn sowing.
In her office, there is a 2-meter pile of materials related to a variety that has been cultivated for the last 18 years. Zhang said that the team planted 70,000 to 80,000 seedlings each year and were strict about conducting experiments, making records and analysis, before it passed approval in 2015.
"Key and core technologies cannot be taken, bought or begged for," she said.
When she graduated from the Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University in Daqing, Heilongjiang Province, in 1996, Zhang did not think she'd be dealing with agriculture for the rest of her life.
When she returned to her hometown in Xiangyang and joined the academy in 1997, she was not entirely satisfied with the job at first because the salary was low.
Over the last two decades though, working conditions and incomes for researchers have improved, and Zhang has also derived a great sense of achievement from studying agriculture.
She said that with the domestic and global economy still facing headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's her responsibility to work hard and contribute to food safety.
"Agricultural research work is hard and complicated. Sometimes your efforts do not pay off. All we can do then is think more, discuss more, ask more questions and find answers on the land," she said.
Today, Zhang's team is developing a semiwinterness wheat that produces high yields.
Zhou Fangju, a researcher at the academy, said that Zhang also cares about villages and farmers and promotes their research in rural areas.
"She also teaches younger researchers. Her spirit of innovation, dedication to work and empathy for people inspires us," Zhou said.
(Source: China Daily)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Comments
Magazines
Projects
- 2023 Women Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer...
Photos
- People Enjoy Blooming Tulips in Jinan, East...
- Flowers Bloom Across China in Spring
Special Coverage
Address of this article:http://belize.arnoldview.org/news-68d199882.html
Very good!(283)
Related articles
- Everybody may love Raymond, but Ray Romano loves Peter Boyle
- Born on this day
- Dozens of jobs set to be axed at Treasury
- About MailOnline
- Siblings trying to make US water polo teams for Paris Olympics
- U.S. dispatches general in charge of the Middle East to F
- Hong Kong gov't contacts police over satirical fake press release congratulating porn star
- 'Catherine is thrilled by the kind wishes and support': Camilla thanks well
- Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry
- Not b***** likely! How straight
Popular articles
Recommended
Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect
A quiet birthday for Meghan's former best
Family use a drone to find their lost dog... and find it playing with a family of wild BEARS!
It's discreet, stylish and very, very British
Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Could William and Harry be reunited at the Duke of Westminster's wedding?
Meghan Markle purchased pair of £1990 diamond earrings from Dragons' Den hopefuls
Danish queens don't get to be crowned. But when Margrethe steps down this weekend, her daughter
Links
- Woman gets 2 life sentences in 2021 murders of father, his longtime girlfriend
- Teacher 'who took virginity of her 16
- Lithuania elections: Lithuanians vote as anxieties rise over Russia and Ukraine war
- West Ham gives departing Moyes a winning sendoff at London Stadium with victory over Luton
- Wisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people
- China's foreign trade growth accelerates amid improving demand
- EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Princess Beatrice's pal Alice Naylor
- Mark Canha hits grand slam, Kerry Carpenter homers twice in Tigers' 8
- A'ja Wilson and Nike announce the Las Vegas Aces star is getting a signature shoe
- Local governments struggle to distribute their share of billions from opioid settlements