The whole process of moving a seed from the lab to the field can take 8 to 10 years, or even longer. For the sake of food security, many agricultural scientists have been working in the fields for ten years. Today, we pay attention to the column of "Talent Xingzhao": Li Zhou and his team selected and bred a new variety of Zhaoshu No. 12 to help the development of Zhaotong potato industry.
Li Zhou, senior agronomist director of the Alpine Crops Institute of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences: "The most restrictive development of our (Zhaotong) seed potato industry is the production of the original seed, the production efficiency of the original seed is very low, the traditional you just looked at that, a seedling is about 2.5 to 3 grains. ”
Recently, teachers and students of Honghe University made a special trip to Zhaotong to visit the breeding and supporting technology of the new potato variety Zhaoshu No. 12, and the potato introduced by Li Zhou is the new variety Zhaoshu No. 12. Zhaotong is the main potato producing area in Yunnan, with a planting area of about 2.4 million mu, accounting for about one-third of the province. For the industry to develop, seeds are crucial.
Li Zhou, director of the Institute of Alpine Crops of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and senior agronomist
"Zhaotong is located in the core area of Wumeng Mountain, its climate characteristics are completely different from other (places), the light here is weak and humid is large, after the outside varieties are taken, the overall adaptability and disease resistance will be very poor, which is manifested in our low yield and low output value."
The Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences set up the Alpine Crops Institute with Li Zhou as the director to overcome the problems in the potato production process. Whether the potato planting harvest is good or not, seven points depend on seeds, three points depend on planting and management, and the quality of seed potatoes directly determines the quality of the harvest. In this regard, Li Zhouhe and his team carried out the selection and breeding of processed potatoes.
Li Zhou, director of the Institute of Alpine Crops of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and senior agronomist
"In view of the special climatic conditions in our Zhaotong and Wumeng Mountain regions, we have selected and bred varieties with high yield and high resistance (disease) suitable for this side, which will improve the income of the people as a whole and increase the yield of potatoes, which will better guarantee our food security."
The most difficult thing about the breeding of a new variety is not only that the breeding time takes 8 to 10 years, but also that a lot of knowledge is still only in the data.
Li Zhou, director of the Institute of Alpine Crops of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and senior agronomist
"Potato Seed Aeroponics is a theory, which we get from the International Potato Center. The genetic background of the potato is very complex, and if it goes well, we select a new variety in 8 to 12 years, and if it doesn't go well, then we may take longer. ”
In order to breed new potato varieties, since 2012, Li Zhou has led the team to prepare more than 200 hybrid combinations, screened out more than 300 excellent high-generation strains, and constructed a batch of potato germplasm resources that can support the selection and breeding to meet the requirements of the complex climate and environment of Zhaotong and even Yunnan. After 8 years of overcoming difficulties, Li Zhou's team finally successfully bred Zhaoshu No. 12, this variety not only has the characteristics of good disease resistance, suitable for deep processing products, etc., but also has the characteristics of high yield, with an average yield of about 2.3 tons per mu, which is twice the yield of conventional processed potatoes and can increase income by about 1,200 yuan per mu.
Li Zhou, senior agronomist director of the Alpine Crops Institute of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences: "To increase the income of the people, we must stretch our industrial chain, and the processing of potato varieties is particularly important." We must first have good varieties and suitable varieties before we can process them. ”
Rooted in the land of Wumeng for more than ten years, Li Zhou has participated in 20 national, provincial, municipal and institute scientific research and promotion projects, presided over the collection and improvement of more than 600 potato planting resources, selected and bred 6 new potato varieties, and obtained 1 invention patent and 15 utility model patents. And the achievement of these achievements is only the beginning for Li Zhou.
Li Zhou, director of the Institute of Alpine Crops of Zhaotong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and senior agronomist
"Now the selection of Zhaoshu No. 12 is a start, we will according to the needs of the market, according to the needs of the development of the potato industry in Zhaotong City, to formulate this breeding goal, and then select and breed more varieties suitable for Zhaotong and more needed by the industry."
Source: Zhaotong Rong Media Center Reporter: Wang Guojiang Sun Guibo
Audit|Yang Yuhang
Editor|Yang Chaoye
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