Li Zhen-sheng, Recipient of the Medal of the Republic, Cultivates theLand and Secures China’s Grain Basket
BEIJING, CHINA –Li Zhen-sheng, recipient of the prestigious Medal of the Republic and a pioneer in wheat distant hybridization breeding in China, has dedicated his life to securing the nation’s food security. The renowned academician, who has spent his entire career working in wheat fields, has not only developed high-yielding, disease-resistant, andsalt-tolerant wheat varieties but also spearheaded numerous strategic agricultural science and technology projects. His contributions have played a pivotal role in ensuring China’s food security.
The Xiao Yan series of wheat varieties, now carefully preserved in the ChineseAcademy of Sciences archives, represent a testament to Li Zhen-sheng’s lifelong dedication. These salt-tolerant, drought-resistant, and high-yielding varieties have revolutionized wheat cultivation in China.
In the early days of the People’s Republicof China, the country’s annual grain production was a meager 200 billion jin (approximately 100 million metric tons). The devastating impact of stripe rust, a fungal disease that ravaged the winter wheat-producing regions of northern China, resulted in a yearly loss of over 100 billion jin, equivalent to the annual food consumption of 40 million people.
In 1956, at the young age of 25, Li Zhen-sheng took on the challenge of tackling this global issue. He heeded the call to support the development of northwest China, joining the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Northwest Institute of Agro-biology in Yangling, Shaanxi Province.
Witnessing the vulnerability of winter wheat to stripe rust and the resilience of wild grasses, Li Zhen-sheng conceived a groundbreaking idea: to create a disease-resistant wheat variety by hybridizing wheat with wild grasses.
This ambitious endeavor presented numerousscientific challenges. Distant hybridization between wheat and wild grasses was fraught with difficulties. Undeterred, Li Zhen-sheng and his team persevered, tirelessly working for years, conducting countless breeding experiments. Their unwavering determination eventually yielded promising results.
Through relentless research, Li Zhen-sheng successfully developed the Xiao Yan seriesof high-quality wheat varieties. Among them, Xiao Yan 6 exhibited remarkable resistance to eight different stripe rust physiological races, coupled with high yield potential. This variety spawned over 80 derivative cultivars. By 2003, the Xiao Yan series had been widely adopted across China, covering over300 million mu (approximately 20 million hectares) of land and increasing wheat production by 150 billion jin.
In 2007, Li Zhen-sheng was awarded the prestigious State Supreme Science and Technology Award for his groundbreaking contributions to wheat distant hybridization and chromosome engineering research.
Atthe age of 75, Li Zhen-sheng embarked on a new mission: to reclaim grain from saline-alkali land. He led the development of salt-tolerant wheat varieties, resulting in an increase of over 200 billion jin in grain production within five years.
In 2020,nearing the age of 90, Li Zhen-sheng proposed the construction of a Coastal Grass Belt. This visionary plan aims to achieve efficient utilization of 10 million mu (approximately 6.7 million hectares) of saline-alkali land in the Bohai Sea region through a combination of grass planting and livestockfarming.
Li Zhen-sheng’s unwavering dedication to agricultural research has left an indelible mark on China’s food security. His legacy serves as an inspiration to future generations of scientists and researchers, reminding them of the crucial role science plays in ensuring a sustainable future for all.
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