It's too hot today! The weather forecast says there is rain, but don't get too heavy..."
He Zuhua, the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, went to see his test field in Songjiang on the day of the summer, and the seeds he and his students sowed on June 13 had grown into seedlings.
At eight or nine o'clock, the sun was already hot, and as soon as He Zuhua got on the car, he cared about the weather, worried about the students who rushed to the field early in the morning, and worried that the seedlings planted would be subjected to heavy rain.
He talked about his rice all the way, lamenting that he missed the April planting round this year because of the epidemic. Suddenly understood, why every year to recruit graduate students, He Zuhua's first question is always: do you really like agronomy, really like crops?
It is love that makes him go to different mountain nurseries, stick to the field for 40 years, and die with rice stubborn diseases, so that rice has gained "cancer" lasting immunity.
Today, in addition to publishing a number of important papers in journals such as Science, Cell, and Nature, the most scientific and technological worker in Shanghai in 2022 has also provided the broad-spectrum disease resistance genes developed free of charge to a number of seed companies and breeding experts, achieving huge economic and social benefits in increasing agricultural production and increasing farmers' income.
Stick to the original intention and fight against rice diseases to the end
He Zuhua is from the countryside and is deeply touched by the harm of rice diseases. Therefore, at the beginning of his master's studies, he did not hesitate to study the disease resistance of rice to rice blast. During this period, two things strengthened his determination to fight rice blast.
In October 1983, He Zuhua followed his mentor Professor Shen Zongtan to the Tonglu Mountains of Zhejiang Province to observe the rice blast situation, only to see that most of the rice varieties withered everywhere and the grains were not harvested, which shocked him.
At the end of November of that year, He Zuhua followed his brother to the breeding base of Academician Xie Hua'an, who was still working at the Sanming Agricultural Science Institute in Fujian Province, in Youxi, where a large area of rice blast was like a needle tip, and he secretly made up his mind to cultivate the most disease-resistant germplasm resources.
To this end, he collected a large number of disease resistance materials, established a strict disease resistance identification process of natural identification of disease nurseries, field injection inoculation and greenhouse spray inoculation, and excavated excellent disease resistance resources.
In order to make the identification of disease resistance more accurate, he and his brother established and improved the injection method of "injection" of rice, facing the loess every day with their backs to the sky, although sweating and back pain, but greatly improving the accuracy of research and the quality of scientific research.
Doing basic scientific research must be combined with application needs, otherwise it will become self-congratulatory! ”
Fortunately, He Zuhua's persistence is worth it, he led the research team to find the most disease-resistant rice genes such as Pigm, etc., which have been applied and approved by more than 40 breeding units such as Longping Hi-Tech, Tsuen Yin Hi-Tech, China Rice Institute, etc. The new varieties of disease resistance have been promoted more than 35 million mu, basically achieving broad-spectrum and long-lasting resistance to rice blast, and reducing the application of pesticides, achieving huge economic and social benefits.
Rooted in agriculture, running through the fields all year round
To do genetic research on crop disease resistance, it is not enough to carry out theoretical research in the laboratory, but must take root in the field. The results made by the laboratory must be verified in the field! ”
He Zuhua said.
Arriving at the Songjiang Test Base, He Zuhua's first thing was to change into rain boots and bring a straw hat. In the test field, he worked with his students like a local farmer.
Seeing the crisscrossing silk threads in the test field, and the signs inserted on each seedling, with various numbers written on them, the reporter could not help but be curious.
He Zuhua explained that farmers sowed seeds in large areas and planted seedlings one by one. We sow seeds one by one, and the seedlings are also planted one by one. Pulling the line, there is a ruler, the vertical and horizontal intervals are neatly arranged, in order to prevent the sparrow from destroying, but also to pull on the protective net. The rice planting sign is their "identity code", who plants it, who the 'parents' of the previous generation are, and what traits to investigate... Just look it up.
Do the work solidly and meticulously so that you can't make mistakes, and if you get it mixed up or made wrong, you're likely to waste a season of time. ”
Li Qun of the research group has been working with He Zuhua since 2001, and dedication and love for students are the two major labels he has attached to He Zuhua.
He is very dedicated and does not have any concept of weekdays and weekends or holidays. Arrive at the lab around 8 a.m. and head home at 90 p.m. When you encounter an important rice node, you must go to the field yourself. ”
He Zuhua traveled three times a year: sowing in Hangzhou in April, moving non-stop to Tianma Town in Xiamen to do rice in autumn after harvesting in July, and transferring to Lingshui, Hainan in winter. At that time, green-skinned trains, passenger ships and coaches were the main means of transportation, sometimes taking a hard seat for more than 30 hours, and then transferring a steamer for 30 hours to Haikou.
In order not to miss the rice season, he sometimes spent the New Year at the Hainan base. One year, in order to avoid the rice quarantine disease, the bacterial stripe disease, he first planted the material to Xitang in Nanning, Guangxi Province, for research, and then took the harvested seeds through layers of transfers and ships, and spent 5 days to reach the town of Yanglan in Sanya for planting. In order to be able to observe the disease resistance of rice in time and complete the hybrid breeding, he lived in a pesticide warehouse in Yanglan Town for 3 months, and obtained crucial data for the smooth development of the project and the seeds of southern breeding.
Pass on the scientific spirit of love and perseverance
In the past 10 years, He Zuhua began to focus on rice aspergillosis, hoping to overcome it in another 5 years.
Aspergillosis is fast-onset and harmful, and once rice is infected, rice will produce toxins. Only by fixing rice blast and rice aspergillosis can the stable yield and high quality of rice be guaranteed. ”
This scientific spirit of learning to farm and loving farmers and leaving the fruits in the field is the basis for his continuous scientific research to produce important outputs, and it is also his magic weapon for cultivating outstanding students.
In the rice fields under the scorching sun, young people who bend down to work have sweat on their faces and sticky dirt, but they are full of vitality and occasionally joke with each other.
Xiao Jiao, from Northwest, is a graduate student at the University of Science and Technology. I had never been exposed to rice before studying with Mr. He. She said that every time it comes to the planting season, Teacher He will personally guide the students, and everyone will learn a lot and grow a lot by learning with the teacher.
As for why we young people are willing to run to the rice field in such a hot weather, bend down to sow and plant seedlings by hand, it is because whenever we see these seedlings and think that our efforts can make a certain contribution to our agriculture, and our results have been used for breeding, it is full of motivation. ”
Xiao Jiao said that it is very happy to be able to complete his dreams while also contributing to the country.
Teacher He has always insisted on 'writing the paper on the field of the motherland'. Dreams and love are the driving force behind our perseverance, and ensuring food security is the most important thing to ensure people's food safety. Teacher He treats these seedlings like his own children, and these seedlings are the future for us.