The fast-growing rice planted inside greenhouses in desert for the first time in Hotan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was reaped on Friday, marking the success of the project.
It took the researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) only two months from planting to reaping the rice.
"What we adopted is the rapid-breeding technique, in which we spent 15 days in cultivating rice seedlings. We transplanted the rice seedlings in these soilless tanks in February, and by now, the whole growth cycle is 60 days," said Wang Sen, a researcher of the Institute of Urban Agriculture under the CAAS.
Under normal conditions, the average growth cycle of rice in China is about 120 to 150 days.
But the fast-growing technique invented by Yang Qichang, principal investigator of the Institute of Urban Agriculture has shortened the growth cycle by half.
In 2021, Yang led his research team in successfully shortening the growth cycle of rice by half at a plant factory in southwest China's Sichuan Province after five years of research.
"Under the conditions of our plant factory, we could completely control the temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide and nutrition around the rice roots. That means we could completely control its environment. However, in the environment of the plant factory, the costs of energy, operation and construction are rather high. That's why we want to utilize the greenhouse conditions in desert, because the light and heat resources are ideal in desert greenhouses," said Yang.
Now that the growth cycle of rice is shortened by half, Yang's team is exploring fast-breeding and growing technologies for soybeans, corn and wheat, as well as rapeseed, cotton and alfalfa in desert greenhouses in Hotan.
Researchers cultivate fast-growing rice in Xinjiang desert
China and Japan should work together to promote stable, lasting bilateral relations, and to uphold regional and international peace and stability, said China's top diplomat Wang Yi in a video speech at the 20th Beijing-Tokyo Forum on Wednesday.
Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, noted that China and Japan have an exchange history of more than 2,000 years, and that it has been over 50 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A China-Japan relationship with the right development direction is not only of great and positive significance to both countries and their peoples, but also to the peace and development of the region and the world, he said. Both sides should be guided by the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, adhere to the original aspirations of relations, follow the right path, seek common ground, and coordinate actions, all with the aim of promoting stable, lasting bilateral relations, he said. Noting that the two sides should understand the correct positioning of bilateral relations, Wang said China has always regarded Japan as an important cooperation partner, and hopes that Japan can view China's development objectively and rationally.
It is hoped that Japan will work with China to follow the correct positioning of the comprehensive advancement of the strategic, mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan, and implement the important consensus that the two countries should be cooperative partners and should not pose a threat to each other, he said.
The two sides should maintain the political foundations of bilateral relations. The four political documents between China and Japan have laid the political and legal foundations for bilateral relations, and they should not be blurred, retrogressed or undermined, Wang said.
China and Japan need to promote an open strategy of mutual benefits. Both sides should cherish their cooperation space and common interests that have already been established, and work together to maintain the stability and smooth operations of the global free trade system and industrial and supply chains, he said. Wang also called on the two countries to uphold regional and international peace and stability. In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China and Japan need to work in tandem to safeguard Asian unity and cooperation to prevent external forces from fomenting confrontation, he said.
It is hoped that the Beijing-Tokyo Forum will continue to promote candid exchange, build consensus, provide suggestions for China-Japan relations, and make new contributions to the development of China-Japan relations that meet the requirements of the new era, he said.
Launched in 2005, the Beijing-Tokyo Forum is an annual event held alternately in Beijing and Tokyo. The forum is a high-level, large-scale, interactive exchange platform between the two countries.
China's top diplomat calls for joint efforts to promote stable, lasting China-Japan ties
