(Interview between the two sessions) Zhao Zhihai, "Father of Hybrid Millet": Hope "Zhang Zagu" will help rural revitalization
China News Service, Shijiazhuang, February 28th, title: "Father of Hybrid Millet" Zhao Zhihai: Hope "Zhang Zagu" will help rural revitalization
Author Lu Da Huang Xinyao
“Poverty alleviation is not the end. It is hoped that millet planting will help farmers in poverty-stricken areas increase their incomes, consolidate the results of poverty alleviation, and help rural rejuvenation.” The National People’s Congress and the director of the Academic Committee of Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences said Zhao Zhihai Over the years, China’s continuous advancement of poverty alleviation, "Zhang Zagu" has a certain feasibility for realizing agricultural development, enriching farmers and reducing poverty in rural areas.
Zhao Zhihai, 63, is a well-known millet researcher in China. The series of "Zhang Zagu" he cultivated has filled the gap in the world. He is therefore known as the "father of hybrid millet". The industry has "Yuan Longping in the south and Zhao Zhihai in the north" "The name.
Millet, or millet, is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world.
As a traditional staple food in China, the millet planting area in China in the 1950s was about 150 million mu.
Later, due to low yield and other reasons, it was gradually replaced by high-yield hybrid corn and hybrid rice.
After years of research and development, the "Zhangzagu" series of millet has the characteristics of developed root system, strong drought resistance, wide adaptability, high quality and high yield.
In order to shorten the scientific research cycle, Zhao Zhihai has lived a migratory life like migratory birds for more than 30 years.
On January 5, Zhao Zhihai finished planting a new batch of experimental fields in Hainan early in the morning and rushed to Shijiazhuang, which coincided with a new round of local outbreaks of new crown pneumonia.
"The most uneasy thing in my heart is millet," Zhao Zhihai said. In order to cooperate with the local epidemic prevention and control, all the work has been moved online, which is a new attempt.
Having been in the countryside for a long time, Zhao Zhihai knows that farmers think and hope very much.
He said that some poverty-stricken areas are arid and drier, the climate is dry, and the land is barren, but they are suitable for the growth of "Zhang Zagu". He hopes that millet planting will help farmers in poverty-stricken areas increase their income and help rural revitalization.
After years of research and development, the "Zhangzagu" series of cereal seeds have basically solved the problems of low yield, labor intensive, and poor palatability. They are recommended by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for their drought resistance and high yield.
At present, "Zhangzagu" has been successfully tested in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Namibia and other African countries.
How to make "Zhang Zagu" more quality, efficiency and competitiveness?
Zhao Zhihai believes that it is necessary to change the way of crop breeding that once relied on accumulated experience, and to tackle the problem of genetic technology, which is a "stuck neck", and rely on scientific and technological progress to have great potential for food production.
With the improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation, non-local people stranded in Shijiazhuang due to the epidemic began to return home in an orderly manner.
In order to minimize the loss of experimental field data, Zhao Zhihai returned to Hainan on February 5 to devote himself to scientific research.
He said that China is a populous country, and food security cannot be relaxed. It is necessary to tap the advantages of dryland crops, create vitality in rural grain production, and truly realize "holding the Chinese people's rice bowl firmly in their own hands."
Regarding millet planting, Zhao Zhihai said that if millet can grow to 200 million acres in China, with an increase of 200 catties per acre, the output of 40 billion catties of grain and 40 billion catties of corn grass can be increased.
Millet can not only be sold as raw grain, but also used as a raw material for deep processing by enterprises. Grain can also provide high-quality forage for the animal husbandry industry, and farmers can get "double" benefits.
"In this way, we can develop the industrial chain, engage in millet deep processing, breeding, etc., develop a circular economy, and provide guarantees for the country's food security, while also increasing income for farmers and enterprises, and contributing to the revitalization of the countryside." Zhao Zhihai thought.
Regarding the future development of agriculture, Zhao Zhihai said that attention should be paid to the shortcomings of the scarcity of agricultural talents, so that agriculture will become "foreign" and the rural environment will retain people.
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