High-quality agricultural products cultivated by space breeding are enriching people's vegetable baskets

On December 4 this year, the Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft return module successfully landed
.
Along with the astronaut crew, there are nearly a thousand valuable aerospace breeding experimental materials
.
In fact, since the implementation of China's manned space project, various types of seeds have been carried on previous missions to carry out mutagenesis breeding experiments
in space.
Compared with traditional breeding techniques, space breeding may obtain a large number of mutant materials in a relatively short period of time, pressing the "accelerator button"
for breeding.
So, what kind of seeds can get a precious "ticket" to space travel? How will the Chosen Seed change our lives? Follow this reporter to reveal one by one
.

A journey to space with a seed

How will an ordinary seed change when it "flies" into space? After "ascending to heaven", the seeds mutate in the special environment of space, and then return to the ground after 4 to 8 generations of ground cultivation, from which high-quality, high-yield, better taste seeds
are selected.
This process is space breeding, that is, space breeding
.

In 1987, China sent seeds of rice, peppers and other crops to the sky for the
first time.
So far, re-entry satellites or manned spacecraft have been used several times to carry plant seeds, including wheat, sorghum and other grain seeds, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetable seeds, melon, cherry and other fruit seeds, and more than 700 new strains and varieties
of space breeding have been cultivated among more than 1,000 kinds of plants.

Space rice

Representative variety: Hangju fragrant silk seedlings

Ascension time: November 2020

Space travel duration: about 23 days

The yield of aerospace rice acres in the first harvest of this year is about 5% higher than that of ordinary rice

In April this year, Shenzhou 13, which had been on a business trip in space for 183 days, successfully returned to Earth
.
Returning in the same cabin, there was also a batch of crop seeds
.
Among them, there are 16 parts of rice, purple vetch and broccoli selected by the Huanong National Plant Aerospace Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center, with a total of 430 grams of materials
.
The "flying" seeds are the longest in space and were planted in July after ground cultivation, screening and validation
.

As the only national engineering center in the field of aerospace breeding in China, Huanong National Plant Aerospace Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center has carried out more than 20 batches of seed space carrying tests, and has cultivated about 60 new rice varieties that have passed the examination and approval
of varieties at all levels.

As early as November 2020, 40 grams of about 2,500 rice seeds provided by South China Agricultural University were flown to the moon
on Chang'e-5.
And this batch of seeds is actually a veritable "space second generation", whose father "China Airlines 31" and mother "Aviation Recovery 1508" have been in space
.

After 22 days of flight at 21:29, this batch of "space rice seeds" landed smoothly with the returner, which was the first time that China's rice aerospace breeding completed the deep space mutagenesis test
.

At the end of December of the same year, the first batch of "space rice seeds" took the lead in germinating; On February 26, 2021, budding rice seeds were placed into the seedling pot; A month later, the green seedlings left the greenhouse and "moved" to the school test base; On July 9th, the golden and heavy ears of rice ushered in the first harvest.
.
.
Since then, this batch of "space rice" has continued to breed on the land of Guangdong for generations, purifying excellent traits, and is expected to become a 100% original Chinese new rice variety
.

According to reports, aerospace rice has the advantages
of good quality, high yield, strong resistance to voltaics, and resistance to diseases and pests.
In mid-July this year, the aerospace rice planted in Heyuan Wanlv Wisdom Unmanned Farm ushered in the first bumper harvest, with an acre yield of 1,075 jin, about 5% higher than that of ordinary rice
.
In the second half of this year, the area of aerospace rice planted by the county in the Wanlv Wisdom Unmanned Farm in Liucheng Town has reached 1,500 mu, and this batch of aerospace rice has been ripe and harvested in late November, according to previous expectations, the mu yield will reach 1,080 jin
.

Space vegetables

Representative variety: Futian Caixin

Ascension time: November 2002

Space travel duration: about 6 days

The picking period of Aerospace Futian cabbage heart was extended by 1 month

Giant pumpkins with huge individuals weighing 300 pounds, egg tomatoes that are vivid in shape and color, chopped melons that are longer and longer and can heal on their own, long loofahs of one to two meters, giant rice about 2.
2 meters high, or even eye-catching apple bitter melons, eggplant trees taller than people, etc.
, are these novel vegetables and melons eye-opening?

In fact, in the Boluo County Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Farm in Huizhou (hereinafter referred to as the Boluo Agricultural Science Demonstration Farm), you can see its unique style on the spot
.
"For example, aerospace giant pumpkins, not all pumpkins on the same melon seedlings are so big
.
" Liu Haitao, deputy director of the demonstration field, revealed that after the pumpkin seeds of the aerospace mutagenesis landed, the results were different for different personnel, different humidity and different scenes, "pinching off other melons, and perhaps leaving only one melon carefully cultivated", so that the giant pumpkin produced is very ornamental
.

An ordinary seed "flies" into space, what kind of magical changes will occur? "Space mutagenesis breeding is not as simple as everyone thinks, and it is successful as soon as it is
launched.
" Lin Chengfeng, secretary of the party branch and director of the Boluo County Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Farm, explained that after the seeds carried in space for a certain period of time, the seed genes have three results: "good, unchanged and bad", and after returning to the ground, 4 to 8 generations of ground cultivation can be selected and bred from high-quality, high-yield, better taste seeds
.

Futian Caixin, which is mutagenesis breeding, is a successful case
.
On December 30, 2002, four local seeds of four kinds of crops, namely crisp mash, Futian cabbage, Shiba rake-toothed radish and Xinhui sticky rice, were launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on board the first batch of Shenzhou-4 spacecraft
.
"Aerospace Futian cabbage heart to high-quality and high-yield mutation, can be harvested about 80 days after sowing, and the picking period is extended by 1 month
.
" Lin Chengfeng said that Futian cabbage not only reduces crude fiber, the taste is crisp and sweet, tender and free of residue, but also the mu yield is about 1,300 kg, an increase of 20%
year-on-year.
At present, Aerospace Futian Caixin has been promoted and planted in various towns in Boluo County, and the Futian Caixin Festival has also become a well-known local agricultural event
.

Following the first batch of Futian cabbage heart, crisp mash vegetables, Shiba rake tooth radish and Xinhui sticky rice, the next 10 agricultural varieties such as Tangxia melon seeds, Huzhen winter melon, Gongzhuang beans, Ping'an orange, peanuts, bitter gourds, etc.
were successively "Feitian" mutagenesis breeding in Boluo
.
Among them, the winter melon in Aerospace Lake Town has a small ventricle, a single melon weighs 20 to 35 kg, the largest weighs about 45 kg, and the mu yield is as high as more than 10,000 kg, which is more than one-third higher than
that of ordinary varieties.

The demonstration field has successively demonstrated and promoted more than 90 aerospace varieties in 15 series, including aerospace corn, Hanghua No.
3 peanut, China Airlines No.
31 rice, as well as aerospace bell pepper, aerospace chestnut pumpkin, aerospace purple tomato, aerospace watermelon, aerospace white pearl bitter melon, etc.
, and promoted more than 8,500 aerospace varieties and excellent new varieties such as super rice, aerospace Xinhui sticky rice, aerospace Futian cabbage, aerospace crisp mash, etc.
, and promoted a total planting area of more than 450,000 mu
.

Like other crop varieties, aerospace crop varieties will degrade and their excellent traits gradually weaken after many generations, so the Boluo Agricultural Demonstration Farm is planning to send a new batch of space breeding test subjects into space
.

"Farming is the first priority, and then we will cooperate with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong Huizhou) Green Agricultural Products Production and Supply Base and Huizhou Kexin Seedling Technology Co.
, Ltd.
to jointly build a variety of high-quality vegetable seedling breeding bases
, including aerospace vegetables.
" Lin Chengfeng further introduced that the project includes about 100 acres of planting area, including nearly 50 acres of exhibition area, with a total investment of 16 million yuan, which is currently under construction and is expected to start in the first half of next year, when it will reduce the planting links of farmers and provide farmers with high-quality and assured vegetables and fruit seedlings
.

Space fruit

Representative variety: Meizhou golden pomelo

Ascension time: November 2020

Space travel duration: about 67 hours

Space-carrying pomelo seedlings germinate 20 days earlier than ordinary pomelo seedlings

The autumn color of the year is the most beautiful, and it is also when
the pomelo fruit is fragrant.
In Dapu County, Meizhou City, a batch of golden pomelo seeds returned from space travel successfully completed the seedling breeding work and has now entered the stage
of grafting experiments.
The new varieties of space grapefruit bred in this batch can germinate 20 days earlier, which will greatly shorten the growth cycle of grapefruit and improve the yield and quality
of Meizhou golden pomelo.

In May 2020, the Guangmei Aerospace Breeding R&D Center of Aerospace Biology Group completed the first space trip of Meizhou agricultural seeds, and through space mutagenesis breeding experiments, golden pomelo seeds from Meizhou successfully "went home"
after traveling in space for nearly three days.
Now two years later, the reporter saw in the aerospace breeding test field of the research and development center that the Meizhou golden pomelo seeds returned from space have been successfully bred, and the experiment is progressing smoothly
.

Cao Lubin, deputy director of the Guangmei Aerospace Breeding R&D Center of Aerospace Biology Group, said that at that time, the Meizhou golden pomelo seeds flew in space for 67 hours, using the high vacuum, high radiation, microgravity and other environments of the space environment to mutagenesis, and then sent the seeds back to the ground, and the scientific research team of the research and development center preserved and bred their varieties
.

In the process of breeding, the scientific research team used plant tissue culture technology to rapidly expand the experimental materials, obtain a large number of regenerated plants with consistent genetic traits in a short time, and use micro-grafting technology to obtain rooting seedlings, then carry out ground planting and observation, and finally screen and identify aerospace mutagenic mutants to obtain new varieties
of golden pomelo with excellent traits.

"The three grapefruit seedlings planted at the same time, in the same environment and in the same way germinate 20 days earlier than ordinary pomelo seedlings and grow better
.
" Cao Lubin pointed to the pomelo seedlings in front of him and said that through experimental planting, compared with the same period, theoretically the growth cycle of space-carrying pomelo seedlings is earlier than that of the control varieties, and it is expected to select and breed Meizhou pomelo
with early fruit hanging and morning market.

At present, Guangmei Aerospace Breeding R&D Center has reached a cooperation intention with the Taipo County Institute of Agricultural Sciences to establish a cooperative intention in the experimental planting base of Meizhou pomelo aerospace pomelo, and will jointly carry out the trial planting of aerospace pomelo to cultivate new varieties
with better sense of export, higher yield and stronger competitiveness.

Cao Lubin said that in terms of the analysis of the genetic diversity of Meizhou pomelo, the project has completed the preliminary investigation of pomelo resources in Meizhou area, selected high-quality pomelo varieties, extracted grapefruit germplasm leaf DNA, and preliminarily established and optimized
the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) system.
This research will help Meizhou pomelo varieties stand out among many pomelo producing areas across the country and create a unique geographical business card
.

Space peanuts

Representative variety: "Hamato" peanuts

Ascension time: November 2021

Duration of space travel: about 6 months

Space peanuts cultivated in Heyuan were harvested at the end of last month

The peanut seed "fire bean" selected from Daxiang Village in Heyuan was sent back to Heyuan for cultivation
after 6 months on the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft.
All aerospace breeding scientific research activities in this process are carried out in Heyuan, which is the first case
in Guangdong.

In July this year, the peanut seeds were officially planted
for the first time in a rice field in Xiaba Village, Liucheng Township, Dongyuan County, Heyuan.
Now, after months of germination and extensive management, the first batch of space peanuts was harvested
at the end of last month.

So, how to select and cultivate aerospace "turkey" peanuts back to the ground? According to reports, the first 100 Heyuan aerospace peanut seeds were planted in Heyuan and Guangzhou, of which 50 were sown in Xiaba Village, Liucheng Town, Dongyuan County, Heyuan City, and the remaining 50 aerospace peanut seeds were brought back to the Guangzhou base for trial planting
by experts from the Crop Research Institute of the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences 。 "In Xiaba Village, Liucheng Town, Dongyuan County, the first Heyuan aerospace peanut seeds planted, germinated seedlings of more than 30 seeds, the rest of the peanut seeds due to weather drought and other reasons did not germinate into survival", the relevant person in charge said, after the first aerospace peanut seeds planted in Heyuan germinated and grew seedlings, local agricultural technicians implemented extensive management, did not fertilize, water and spray pesticides on Heyuan aerospace peanuts, etc.
, let them grow extensively, in order to monitor the stress resistance, disease resistance and soil adaptability of aerospace peanut seeds in the growth process
。 Now, after months of germination and extensive management, the first batch of space peanuts was harvested
at the end of last month.

According to reports, the seeds that came back with the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft are called "first-generation seeds", and the planting method and daily management of the first seeds are no different from ordinary peanut seeds, but they need to be monitored and observed
throughout their growth process.
The variation traits of peanuts in Heyuan Aerospace were recorded in the above way without any screening
.
Subsequently, all the harvested seeds are replanted, and the ones grown are called "second-generation seeds", and the second-generation large-scale identification of excellent traits and genes is carried out, and finally the third-generation will be demonstrated and displayed on a small scale
.

"In the process of mutagenesis, there is great randomness and uncontrollability
in how, when and what the genetic material of seeds changes.
" Hong Yanbin, deputy director of the Crop Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that before the actual cultivation, no one knew what kind of mutations
existed in the seeds.
However, on the whole, seeds may have a large range of mutation, many mutation points, and stronger mutation stability in the space environment
.
Hong Yanbin said that mutagenesis is random, and traits can be good or bad, so ground breeding is very critical
.
Ground breeding requires multiple generations of screening and cultivation, the best of the best, and finally through the registration of crop varieties, the "chosen seed" can be regarded as certified
.

"From seed carrying back to ground planting, to cultivating new varieties, different plants have different breeding years
.
" Hong Yanbin said that the first generation of aerospace peanut seeds can mature in about 110 days, and according to the plan, it is expected to complete the second-generation screening of Heyuan aerospace peanuts by the end of next year, and select some excellent individuals and strains
.
Hong Yanbin said that the peanut variety "Hanghua 2" cultivated by the Crop Research Institute of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences through the return satellite in the early days is the first aerospace peanut variety in China that has passed the national crop variety identification, and the variety has been promoted in the south of more than 10 million mu, and has been rated as the leading variety
of Guangdong Province and national agriculture.