USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    Searching for the food of the future

    By Yang Wanli and Li Yingqing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-03-03 07:37

    Searching for the food of the future

    Li Canhui, director of the Root and Tuber Crop Research Institute, displays buds growing in a container.Yang Wanli / China Daily

    Ease of cultivation

    In the southwestern province of Yunnan, one of China's biggest potato-cultivation areas, more than 90 percent of the land is in mountainous or semi-mountainous areas, making it hard to farm. The ease with which potatoes can be grown has made the tuber a popular food and a major source of income for local farmers.

    Statistics from the provincial agriculture department show that Yunnan's annual potato output remained stable during the past decade at about 10 million tons, placing the province among China's top five producers. Since the 1950s, Yunnan's farmers have developed about 70 new potato strains, accounting for 20 percent of new varieties developed nationwide.

    Potatoes that are grown commercially are actually clones, grown from tuber cuttings rather than seeds. As the tuber matures, it produces two to 10 buds, known as "eyes", arranged in a spiral pattern around its surface. The buds generate shoots that grow into new plants under favorable conditions. Approximately 300 to 400 tubers, each about the size of a chicken egg, can be grown on 0.06 hectares of land, according to farmer Li Shuyu, who has grown and sold potatoes in Yunnan for more than 20 years.

    "Unlike most vegetables that grow from seeds, we need to store the 'mother potato' for next year's planting season. The storage temperature should be strictly controlled at 15 C or lower because if the atmosphere is too damp or the storage temperature is too high, the 'mother's' ability to grow into plants will be killed off," the 50-year-old said.

    Constantly cultivating certain strains of "mother potato" on the same patch of land leads to another problem - the potatoes diminish in size every year and the yield per plant falls from about 12 to less than five.

    Solutions

    The shelves of a lab at the Root and Tuber Crop Research Institute of Yunnan Normal University hold nearly 3,000 glass containers in which tender little buds are growing vigorously. The lab is expected to become the birth place of solutions to the most-pressing problems faced by farmers such as Li.

    In September, the university founded the Joint Academy of Potato Science, the country's first scientific establishment dedicated to potato research.

    "We are mainly working on potato genomics and using the magic of science to transform traditional planting methods by growing potatoes from seeds, instead of using tubers in the traditional way," said Li Canhui, the institute's director.

    There is no easy fix, however, and many problems remain, he said, noting that many potato plants are sterile, so they are unable to produce viable pollen that can fertilize potato flowers and spread their genes.

    Moreover, the genomic construction of most commercial potato cultivars - plant varieties produced via selective breeding - results in a breeding cycle of 11 to 13 years for new cultivars. The success rate is just one in 100,000, and repeatedly growing the same cultivar on the same spot for a long time results in lower output and smaller tubers.

    The birth of a true 'mother seed' would revolutionize plant breeding, according to the experts. "Traditional planting methods require at least 200 kg of tubers to produce 1 ton of potatoes, but we can grow the same amount with just a handful of seeds," said Li Canhui, adding that he expects the research to yield successful results very soon.

    In addition to seeds, the lab is also conducting research into new cultivars that have stronger resistance to disease. Asexual reproduction of potatoes ensures the continuation of desired crop characteristics, but because plants grown this way are virtually identical, they are particularly vulnerable to diseases.

    Li Canhui, who has conducted research into potatoes since the 1980s, said the university has been studying the properties of potatoes for 40 years.

    Editor's picks
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    久久精品中文无码资源站| 中文字幕久久精品| 亚洲日韩精品A∨片无码| 久久久久无码精品国产app| 国产激情无码一区二区三区| 亚洲中文久久精品无码ww16| 2024最新热播日韩无码| 中文字幕在线观看国产| 国产精品中文字幕在线观看| 精品人体无码一区二区三区| 少妇无码一区二区三区| 日韩va中文字幕无码电影| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕重口| 久久久无码精品午夜| 无码国内精品久久人妻| 亚洲国产精品无码久久一区二区| 欧美中文字幕无线码视频| 中文午夜乱理片无码| 亚洲精品一级无码鲁丝片| 国产亚洲情侣一区二区无码AV | 亚洲色中文字幕无码AV| 国产亚洲?V无码?V男人的天堂 | 无码一区二区三区| 久久无码专区国产精品发布| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线播放| 无码人妻丰满熟妇区BBBBXXXX| 中文字幕日本高清| 中文字幕亚洲色图| 最近中文字幕视频在线资源| 精品久久久久久久久中文字幕| 中文字幕无码精品三级在线电影 | 无码人妻AⅤ一区二区三区水密桃 无码欧精品亚洲日韩一区夜夜嗨 无码免费又爽又高潮喷水的视频 无码毛片一区二区三区中文字幕 无码毛片一区二区三区视频免费播放 | 日本在线中文字幕第一视频| 日本成人中文字幕| 天堂中文在线资源| 最近免费中文字幕大全高清大全1 最近免费中文字幕mv在线电影 | 久久超乳爆乳中文字幕| 日韩电影免费在线观看中文字幕| 最近2019年中文字幕一页| 中文字幕av日韩精品一区二区| 蜜桃AV无码免费看永久|