Current location:sport >>
Scientists speed breed rice on edge of desert
sport92172People have gathered around
IntroductionThanks to soilless farming, artificial lighting and other technologies, rice now being planted on th ...
Thanks to soilless farming, artificial lighting and other technologies, rice now being planted on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has a significantly shorter growth cycle.
A group of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences recently announced the success of a trial planting in which a conventional rice variety took just 60 days, less than half the normal duration, to mature in greenhouses built on vast swathes of wasteland in Hotan in the southern part of Xinjiang. Inside the facilities, rice plants were grown in nutrient solutions on shelves, which helped save space. Artificial lighting was also used to help rice grow nonstop.
In contrast, conventional rice farming involves nurturing seed into rice seedlings, planting them in fields and waiting for harvest, and takes about 120 to 150 days on average to finish the whole process.
"Hotan has endless deserts, and good sunlight and heat resources," said Yang Qichang, a chief scientist from the academy's Institute of Urban Agriculture in Chengdu, Sichuan province, who led the project. "It is an ideal place to conduct farming research using the otherwise wasted land."
Yang started looking into the possibilities of fast-tracking rice growth in 2016.
By 2021, Yang and his colleagues had managed to cut the growth cycle of rice by half in laboratory settings in Chengdu — a city known for its rainy days and sultry summer — through manipulating factors such as temperature, humidity, lighting, carbon dioxide concentrations and fertilizer inputs.
Wang Sen, a CAAS researcher involved in the project, said the man-made environment was costly due to the vast amount of energy required to simulate sunlight and warm temperatures in Chengdu and the hefty construction cost of greenhouses in a population center in Southwest China, where land is limited.
"The construction cost for greenhouses in Hotan is much cheaper than in many other parts of China because many were built on leveled wasteland," he said.
That prompted the researchers to shift their focus to Xinjiang's endless deserts.
Abundant sunlight and the huge temperature difference between day and night in Xinjiang also encourage crop development and help reduce the amount of energy otherwise required to simulate such conditions.
After two years of trial and error, they managed to speed breed rice in the desert.
Wang said his colleagues are now thinking about using the same technology to speed breed other crops in the desert, including potato, corn, wheat, rapeseed, cotton and alfalfa.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Global Gazetteer news portal”。http://panama.downmusic.org/content-08a799255.html
Related articles
Indiana judge opens door for new eatery, finding `tacos and burritos are Mexican
sportFORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana judge who declared that “tacos and burritos are Mexican-style san ...
【sport】
Read moreGOP leaders still can't overcome the Kansas governor's veto to enact big tax cuts
sportTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators narrowly failed again Monday to enact a broad package of ...
【sport】
Read moreUAB football team becomes first in NCAA Division I to sign with college athlete organization
sportUAB became the first Division I football team to join a fledgling organization that hopes to represe ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Sarah Hyland LICKS her husband Wells Adams' tongue in loved
- Russell Brand announces plan to be baptised as it's 'an opportunity to leave the past behind'
- Cachin receives souvenir from Nadal after losing to the 22
- Duo charged with murder in killings of couple whose remains were found scattered on Long Island
- Barry Keoghan joins young co
- Two more people sentenced for carjacking and kidnapping an FBI employee in South Dakota
Latest articles
More trouble in Belgium for Miami
Uzbekistan and Japan qualify for men's Olympic soccer by reaching U23 Asian Cup final
Global negotiations on a treaty to end plastic pollution at critical phase in Canada
Belarus labels German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle ‘extremist,’ bans activities in the country
Louisville native Justin Thomas has work to do at PGA Championship, but 2
Powerball: Oregon authorities reveal winner of $1.3B jackpot
LINKS
- Feature: China's rural poor find new horizons in infrastructure development
- Sean Penn displays his platinum white hair as he takes a smoke break during Malibu outing
- Digital Silk Road development enables connectivity, prosperity
- Senate passes reauthorization of key US surveillance program
- Letter from China: Exploring the hustle and bustle of south China's border ports
- German delegation seeks deeper cooperation with central China's Wuhan
- U.S. stocks end mixed ahead of inflation data
- Report: Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at Tokyo Olympics despite positive doping tests
- China had over 1.26 mln UAVs by end of 2023
- Sabrina Impacciatore and Domhnall Gleeson join The Office spinoff in first casting announcement