With the summer solstice approaching, what could be more comforting than taking a bite of chilled watermelon?
In foreign countries, watermelon is actually a luxury that ordinary people can't afford to eat, a pound of watermelon in South Korea is priced at thousands of won (1 yuan = 192.9757 won), Japanese watermelon is sold by piece, the elderly in their sixties have never bought the entire watermelon in their lives, and the family that can afford to buy the whole watermelon must be either rich or expensive (or may not be reluctant).
In China, we have long achieved the freedom to eat watermelon, one person half with a spoon to eat, it is estimated that the Japanese and Koreans see us eat watermelon way are envious of tears.
According to the data, China's annual watermelon production accounts for 70% of the world's total, and it eats 80 million tons every year. So many watermelons, but the export rate is less than 0.1%, the reason is because we have too many melon eaters, the domestic supply is in short supply, and even import more than 100,000 tons per year.
So, who made us achieve watermelon freedom?
The native of watermelon is Africa, it was originally a wild plant of the cucurbitaceae family, and then artificially cultivated into edible watermelon, initially spread from the Mediterranean coast to northern Europe, and then introduced to the Middle East, India and other places, and was introduced to China from the western region in the fourth and fifth centuries.
All along, watermelon is not as thin-skinned and juicy as it is now, delicious and sweet. Even the top watermelon at that time was the same as the winter melon, with a thick skin and white skin, and it was slightly bitter to eat. All of this has changed completely in just a few decades, thanks to the Watermelon Queen.
In 1984, Southwest Agricultural College came out of two great people, one is the father of hybrid rice that everyone knows - Yuan Longping, and the other is the mother of watermelon - Wu Mingzhu, which everyone does not necessarily know.
In 2004, Wu Mingzhu experts observed the breeding of watermelons in the greenhouse
At that time, China's watermelon seeds were imported from abroad, did not have their own initiative, and were subject to people everywhere. After graduation, Wu Mingzhu, in order to realize the dream in her heart - to let the people of the whole country eat the sweetest watermelon, resolutely refused to be transferred to Beijing, where the working environment is better, and took the initiative to ask for support for turpan in Xinjiang, the worst.
Turpan is known as the "fire state", the daytime temperature is as high as forty or fifty degrees, the temperature difference between day and night is up to 20 ° C, the sunshine is sufficient, and the environment is very suitable for the growth of watermelon.
Turpan Flame Mountain grape drying room
Turpan Flame Mountain
Turpan Flame Mountain
For the melon dream, Wu Mingzhu shuttled through the wind and sand every day, traveled through more than 300 production teams in three years, and established the first data file for Xinjiang melon. When Wu Mingzhu was pregnant with her first child, she was only more than seventy pounds thin, she still rode a donkey through the Gobi, the child was born less than three months, it was handed over to the mother to bring back to the countryside to raise, she plunged headlong into the melon breeding cause, often cultivating a new variety, it takes about ten years, but xinjiang winter cold wind, six months a year is not suitable for breeding, so Wu Mingzhu led the team to open up the Hainan base, and after more than ten years, in Xinjiang and Hainan for north-south selection, filling the gap in the southward migration of the mainland's north melon, It has created a successful practice of high-speed breeding throughout the year.
In the past 62 years, Wu Mingzhu has cultivated nearly 30 new varieties such as red heart crisp, fragrant pear yellow, small green skin, etc., and dedicated his life to melons, which not only allows us to realize the freedom to eat melons, but also creates economic benefits for society.
It turns out that the reason why watermelons are so sweet is because someone has suffered for us.
Hats off to our Watermelon Grandma!
The picture comes from the Internet, and the infringement is jointly deleted!