More than 20 years of migratory bird breeding: the seed dream of the catcher in the northern Xinjiang

(New Spring at the grassroots level) More than 20 years of migratory bird breeding: the seed dream of the catcher in the rye field in northern Xinjiang

　　Chinanews.com, Hulunbeier, January 27th, title: More than 20 years of migratory bird breeding: the seed dream of the catcher in the rye in northern Xinjiang

　　Author Zhang Wei Diao Yulai

　　Spring and summer "northern breeding", autumn and winter "southern breeding".

For more than 20 years, Zhang Chunyan has hardly celebrated the Spring Festival at home, and this year is no exception.

　　"The New Year's Eve dinner is eaten at the breeding base." When interviewed by reporters, Zhang Chunyan said with a smile. Compared with going home to celebrate the New Year, she cares more about whether new wheat varieties can be successfully bred this year.

　　"Post-70s" Zhang Chunyan is the deputy head of the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station of Hulunbuir Nongken Lab Dalin Farm and Ranch in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and she is also a watchman rooted in the wheat fields in northern China.

　　Every winter, Zhang Chunyan "migrates" to Yunnan to carry out scientific research on "southern propagation" of wheat varieties.

　　"There is Xishuangbanna in the south, and Moerdaoga in the north." In the understanding of many people, this sentence echoes the scenery of Caiyunzhinan and Xing'an, Inner Mongolia. However, in Zhang Chunyan's heart, it also represents "North Yunan complex".

　　"Limited by climatic conditions, northern wheat can only be tested for one season a year, which is called 'Northern Breeding'. But in order to speed up the breeding process, we will go to Yuanmou, Yunnan, where the climate is suitable for wheat growth in winter, to plant and add generations. Nan Fan'." Zhang Chunyan explained.

　　Zhang Chunyan started "Southern Breeding" in 1997. Since then, she has also started a migratory bird migration from the Great Northeast to the Great Southwest.

　　Looking back now, these years have flooded Zhang Chunyan's mind like scenes of movies.

The picture shows Zhang Chunyan of "South Fan".

Photo courtesy of Ergun Rong Media Center

　　When her daughter was 3 years old, Zhang Chunyan took the child to Yunnan alone in order to take care of "Southern Fan" and raising the baby.

"Since the ridge of the pond is very narrow, the child is too young to walk steadily. In order to prevent her from falling into the ditch, sometimes I walk in the field with the child's collar." Zhang Chunyan said with a smile.

　　After the child grew up, a landline telephone was installed at home. Every weekend, Zhang Chunyan queued up to call her daughter from the rural breeding base in Yuanmou to the county post office 20 kilometers away.

When she was old enough to go to school, she sent her daughter to a boarding school in Dalian. Every year during the holidays, her daughter went directly from school to Yunnan to accompany her mother to "travel south".

　　"My daughter often says that I am closer to Maizi than to her." Although it was a joke, Zhang Chunyan still showed guilt in her smile.

　　My daughter always asks: "Mom, do you think it's worth paying so much?"

　　Zhang Chunyan's answer has never changed: "Every seed is like my child. It needs to be cultivated all the time, and I can't give up halfway if I don't want to. Seeing the seeds I cultivated are planted in the field, I am very happy and worth it!"

　　Zhang Chunyan was unable to stay with her father to fulfill her filial piety because of "southern propagation", but her father understood very well, "I can still learn from my daughter." I am very gratified to see how our older generation loves the land from the new generation of farmers."

　　In this way, the 80-year-old father accompanied Zhang Chunyan to Yunnan for "southern propagation".

　　Zhang Chunyan said that it was her father's enthusiasm that planted her interest in seeds in her heart.

"Golden wheat ears are a dream shared by my father and me."

　　As a "second generation of farmers", whether she is "growing from the north to the south" or "going to heaven and entering the earth", it is her dream to hold on to her own seeds.

　　In 2003, Labudalin Farm and Ranch tried space breeding for the first time. After space breeding and selection, in 2014, the first space breeding variety "Space Granny" passed the approval of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which can increase the yield by about 60 catties per mu of land.

　　She told reporters that it takes at least 11 years for a seed to go from space breeding to formal production.

　　"After space radiation or hybridization, 4 years of 'North Breeding and South Breeding' stable varieties, 2 years of yield identification, 2 years of variety comparison, 2 years of regional trials, and finally 1 year of production." Zhang Chunyan said.

　　In 2022, the two wheat varieties selected by Zhang Chunyan will be carried into space by the Shenzhou 15 manned spacecraft, and space breeding will be carried out again.

　　In the past 20 years, the wheat varieties of Labu Dalin Farm have been in space five times, and each seed is personally selected by Zhang Chunyan. "From characteristics to size, they are all selected from the best."

　　Zhang Chunyan said that space breeding has enhanced the high yield, disease resistance, and lodging resistance of wheat, as well as improved protein content and optimized gluten.

　　"Increasing income year after year is the passion and mission of every farmer." In Zhang Chunyan's view, this mission depends not only on the storage of grain in the romantic space, but also on the hard work of watching the wheat field.

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