China News Service, Quzhou, March 8 (Zhang Bin, Xu Wei, Zheng Jingjing) In the vegetable seedling shed of the East Lake Scientific Research Demonstration Base of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, more than 10,000 pepper seedlings are neatly arranged and growing quietly.
Liu Huiqin, a member of Jiusan Society and director of the Vegetable Research Institute of the Quzhou Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, walked in the field, carefully observed and recorded data such as early maturity, plant type, growth, fruit color, fruit length and width, and disease resistance of pepper seedlings.
"It takes thousands of chili seedlings to choose a few good ones, so I can't be patient," she said.
Liu Huiqin solved the problem of scarcity of varieties for the pepper industry in Zhejiang Province.
The "Qujiao No. 1" she bred has been selected as the leading agricultural variety in Zhejiang Province since 2017.
In the past five years, the related new varieties have been promoted and applied in more than 100,000 mu both inside and outside Zhejiang Province, with an additional benefit of more than 200 million yuan.
A few days ago, the Quzhou "hot girl" who took root in the revitalization of the seed industry was awarded the title of "National March 8 Red Banner Bearer".
Liu Huiqin (1st from right) and team members.
Photo provided by the interviewee himself
After years of successful research and development of new varieties of white pepper
Quzhou is located in the Jinqu Basin of Zhejiang Province, adjacent to Jiangxi, which has a habit of spicy food. It has always been known as the "most spicy" place in Zhejiang.
For this reason, in 2006, when applying for a project in the field of vegetable breeding in Zhejiang Province, Liu Huiqin and her colleagues chose white pepper as the application project. extremely rare.
To this end, Liu Huiqin and her colleagues were determined to develop a new variety of white pepper suitable for modern and efficient agricultural planting.
As far as Quzhou, Lishui, Zhejiang, etc., as far as Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces, as long as I hear that there are good pepper varieties, Liu Huiqin will go to introduce them, or entrust friends and colleagues to send the seeds.
Even so, there are still few white pepper varieties available, less than 10 at the beginning of breeding.
Later, through selfing, hybridization, backcrossing, mutagenesis and other technical means, Liu Huiqin innovated the germplasm resources of white pepper, expanding the variety resources to more than 40 varieties.
In 2009, after preparing more than 30 hybrid combinations, Liu Huiqin found several hybrid combinations not only good in fruit shape, color and stability, but also high in yield. She excitedly invited Mei Chungou, a veteran vegetable farmer with many years of experience in pepper planting, to let him The best white pepper hybrids are selected empirically.
The hybrid combination of peppers that Mei Chungou was interested in coincided with those selected by Liu Huiqin. She made an agreement with the old vegetable farmer on the spot to provide free pepper varieties for the next year and put them in his vegetable field for trial planting.
In March of the following year, the white peppers in the Meichun dog vegetable field were growing satisfactorily, one month earlier than ordinary pepper varieties.
After a series of studies, "Qujiao No. 1" was born, and it was promoted in the market after being approved by Zhejiang provincial experts.
The pepper breeding project hosted by Liu Huiqin won the "First Prize for Technological Progress of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture" and "First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Quzhou City".
In the market, the new white pepper variety "Qujiao No. 1" with high yield and early market quickly replaced the original "yellow-skinned pepper" and occupied the local white pepper market.
At the Zhejiang Melon and Vegetable Seed Industry Expo held in 2012, "Qujiao No. 1" has been well-known in various aspects such as field growth, fruit appearance and taste, and its popularity has been greatly improved.
In addition to being grown in large quantities locally in Quzhou, it has also been promoted to Fujian, Guangdong and other places.
Liu Huiqin is doing breeding work in the field.
Photo provided by the interviewee himself
"Breeding is a 'stupid job', hard work always pays off"
"Qujiao No. 1" was an instant hit, and the road to research and development of new pepper varieties for "Lameizi" has not stopped.
Later, Liu Huiqin developed the "Jade Dragon Pepper" with high yield, good quality, spicy and delicious taste, which has been promoted in Hangzhou Jiande, Jinhua Lanxi and other areas in central Zhejiang.
In the past three years, she has bred 2 new varieties of peppers, and initially explored the formation mechanism of white peppers...
"They are like my 'children', and now, these 'children' have become talents." Liu Huiqin said, "Breeding is a 'stupid job', as long as you work hard, there will always be rewards." The words have always encouraged me to stick to pepper breeding.
The annual May Day holiday and National Day holiday are the most suitable periods for pepper hybridization. Liu Huiqin often gives up rest for this reason and leads her colleagues to do pepper crossbreeding work in the fields.
"It's a small thing to give up rest, but if the chili seeds that have been bred so hard can't be used, then it's called 'disheartened'." Liu Huiqin recalled her sadness in 2015: that year, when she sow seeds, she found that she Seeds selected after four years cannot germinate.
It was only later that I learned that there was a lot of rain in the winter that year, and the seeds were damp because they were not sealed properly.
After that, Liu Huiqin purchased a special seed storage cabinet and kept it by a special person, and there have been no similar mistakes since then.
"This year, an uncle bought 'Qujiao No. 1' pepper seeds, planted 6 mu of greenhouse peppers, and sold 15,000 yuan per mu of land. Although my mother's salary is far less than the 'Qujiao No. 1' brought to farmers There are so many benefits, but my mother feels a great sense of accomplishment." Liu Huiqin's son Wei Haoxiang wrote in the composition "Mother and Pepper".
As a woman, instead of pursuing gorgeous clothes, she chooses to deal with land and crops day and night, which is "no big deal" in Liu Huiqin's opinion.
Previously, the Quzhou Women's Federation took the lead in establishing a "one-meter vegetable garden" in the country, mobilizing farmers to make good use of idle land to create vegetable gardens.
Liu Huiqin participated in the whole process to improve the local rural environment.
Quzhou's "one-meter vegetable garden" experience is also being promoted nationwide.
"I am very lucky to be able to give full play to my professional advantages and try to make up for the shortcomings of achieving common prosperity in the countryside. I think very simply, be realistic and pragmatic, and don't ask questions. The sense of achievement that can make ordinary people earn money is unparalleled. Yes, no matter how hard it is, it's worth it." Liu Huiqin said.
(over)