Cauliflower seeds help Pakistani farmers increase income by 50%

In a greenhouse in Wuqing District, Tianjin, 61-year-old Sun Deling squatted on the ground, carefully looking at a cauliflower, his clothes were soaked. These varieties of cauliflower are specially bred for export to Pakistan and are well adapted to local climatic conditions.

As an expert on the improvement of cauliflower varieties in the National Bulk Vegetable Industry Technology System, Sun Deling, a researcher at Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has been dealing with cauliflower for half his life, and led his team to cultivate more than 20 varieties of cauliflower, which has changed the shortage of excellent hybrid varieties of cauliflower in China. Some varieties are also exported to countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" such as Pakistan and India, helping farmers in foreign countries to increase their income and become rich.

Across the ocean and go out

Cauliflower, commonly known as cauliflower, was introduced to China in the 19th century. By the 1970s and 1980s, cauliflower was very common on Chinese family dinner tables, but cauliflower hybrid seeds were still monopolized by foreign countries.

In the 1990s, Sun Deling joined the Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences and led a team to cultivate cauliflower varieties. After years of hard work, the team has successively cultivated more than 20 varieties of cauliflower, including "Jinxue 88", "Xiaxue", "Fenghua", "Jinpin" and "Jinsong", which have been extended to more than 20 provinces and cities in China, with a cumulative promotion area of ​​more than 8.5 million mu, and the new economic benefit is nearly 6 billion yuan.

After the "One Belt, One Road" initiative was put forward, Sun Deling noticed that cauliflower is very popular among the people in some countries and regions along the "One Belt One Road", and it is a vegetable crop with a very high local consumption. He began to set his sights on overseas markets and promoted high-quality, compact cauliflower varieties with "Chinese cores" to go out.

"The connection with Pakistan was at an international seed industry conference, and some seed distributors from Pakistan were very interested in our cauliflower varieties." Recalling the original scene, Sun Deling smiled. The purchase intention was expressed, and the connection was gradually established.

Driven by Sun Deling, Chinese cauliflower seeds have been promoted and tested in Pakistan since 2014.

Overseas planting still needs to adapt to local conditions, and local climatic conditions have raised new issues for Sun Deling. "In addition to high temperature, Pakistan has produced many 'microclimates' due to its complex terrain. Two places separated by dozens of kilometers may have very different requirements for varieties, so targeted breeding must be done." Sun Deling said.

After thousands of selections and continuous improvement...the first batch of cauliflower varieties suitable for planting in Pakistan were finally successfully selected.

Taking root in a foreign country

In Punjab province, Pakistan, about 4,000 kilometers away from Tianjin, farmer Mohammad returned home with newly harvested cauliflower from the field.

"Last year, our local seed salesman brought a Chinese cauliflower seed and promised high quality and high yield. I just wanted to try it out."

After about 60 days of growth, the first batch of Chinese cauliflower emerged with "white heads" in Muhammad's field. "The price of Chinese cauliflower seeds is not high, but the quality and yield are not low. The income of each planting season has increased by 50% compared with the past." Mohammad grinned.

As soon as the news spreads, more and more farmers are planting. At present, the annual planting area of ​​Chinese cauliflower seeds by Sun Deling's team in Pakistan has accounted for more than 20% of the annual planting area of ​​local early-ripening cauliflower.

Why can Chinese seeds be recognized by the local people? "High cost performance." Sun Deling blurted out.

For a long time, cauliflower seeds from Western countries have monopolized the South Asian market, but the price is high, and farmers are under great economic pressure. Sun Deling believes that this is both a challenge and an opportunity for China Seed.

In order to improve the integration level of breeding, seed production and promotion, Sun Deling found Tianjin Tianlong Field Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., which has been engaged in crop promotion in South Asia and Southeast Asia for a long time, and jointly promoted the "going out" of Chinese cauliflower seeds.

"We use biological enzyme coating technology to make each seed 'eat well' in the embryo, effectively improving the germination rate, bud vigor and disease resistance of the seeds." Tianjin Tianlong Zaitian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. Bao Wanjun, chairman of the company, said, "Currently, our corporate standard for the germination rate of cauliflower seeds is 90%. In fact, it can basically reach more than 95%, which is significantly higher than the international standard of 85%."

"Today, the quality of our seeds is not inferior to the international advanced level, but the price is much lower." Sun Deling said, "Taking early-ripening cauliflower varieties as an example, the average selling price in Pakistan is only one-third to one-half of that in Western countries. , but the yield and disease resistance are good and very popular."

"Explore new machines" on the overseas road

Why can Chinese cauliflower seeds gain the trust of local partners? Bao Wanjun summed it up in one word - heart-to-heart.

In mid-March this year, the temperature in Pakistan rose suddenly, and the high temperature will cause the germination rate of seeds to decrease. During the epidemic, the shipping schedule was delayed, and missing the best sowing time may cause farmers to lose their crops. Thinking of the possible losses to local farmers, Bao Wanjun became anxious and took the initiative to coordinate the port to bring out the seeds and send them to Pakistan by air instead. For hundreds of kilograms of seeds, Bao Wanjun spent 10 times more shipping costs, and gained the sincere gratitude and trust of Pakistani seed companies and farmers.

"Cooperation in the seed industry is not a one-shot deal. We adhere to a concept - the seed enters the customer's warehouse, and the cooperation has just begun." said Sui Liying, executive deputy general manager of Tianjin Tianlong Zaitian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.

"Through word of mouth, many customers gradually recognized them from not knowing at first, and then took the initiative to help us introduce new customers." Sui Liying said that now, China's cauliflower seeds have formed a brand in South Asia. In addition to Pakistan, they have also successfully entered India. , Bangladesh and other markets.

The recognition of overseas markets has brought a large number of orders, which makes Bao Wanjun overwhelmed. "Expanding production capacity is a top priority. At present, the company is setting up a vegetable research and development center in Pakistan, and is conducting joint research with domestic breeding experts to improve seed production technology and increase seed production. Yield. The annual export volume of cauliflower seeds is expected to reach 10 tons by 2027.”

While expanding production capacity, strengthening breeding research is still the top priority. In order to seize the commanding heights in the field of cauliflower genome research in the world, Sun Deling's team completed the whole genome sequencing of cauliflower for the first time in the world in 2019, bringing China's cauliflower genomics research level into the international forefront. At present, the scientific research team is conducting breeding research on the materials that have been sequenced.

"In the next step, we will also select varieties with a long growth period in some cold alpine areas in Pakistan and India. These varieties are difficult to breed and have greater market potential." Today, Sun Deling, who is 61 years old, still insists on scientific research. one line.

"As an agricultural 'chip', self-controllable seeds not only help Chinese people secure their jobs, but also help farmers in foreign countries to increase their income in the process of 'going out'. In the future, we will continue to improve our innovation capabilities, so that more and more Many vegetable seeds become self-reliant and go global," said Li Jintian, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences.