18 June 2019
Guo Rui, director of Yangling Seeds Corporation, leads a state-funded space breeding center founded in August 2018 in China's northwestern province of Shaanxi. The center's mission is to cultivate high-quality crop and tree seeds to curb the expansion of the Gobi Desert. The next satellite, carrying seeds into orbit, is set to be launched within a year. Extraterrestrial conditions such as high radiation, low temperature, and zero gravity enable the production of seed variations that are superior in both quality and output, Guo explained. Space breeding involves sending seeds attached to a satellite into orbit for a few days. Then upon their return to Earth, mutated seeds are selected, based on favorable genetic traits, ranging from resistance to extreme weather to extra nutrients, and planted. "The cultivation period of such high-quality seeds is reduced from eight years to four years," Guo added.
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Space breeding center facilitates seed upgrading in northwest China
18 June 2019
A space breeding center in Shaanxi province is cultivating plants with space breeding technology so as to upgrade ordinary seeds and resist the dry climate in northwest China.
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