Gene for salt-tolerant soybeans discovered by Hong Kong professor
Lam Hon-ming hopes the development can help people grow crops on salty land
At first glance, the black-coloured wild soybeans in Professor Lam Hon-ming's hand don't seem particularly special.
Yet they contain a gene that can potentially benefit the agricultural industry - a gene that enables soybeans to become tolerant to salt.
"Salinisation is a huge problem," said Lam, the director of Chinese University's centre for soybean research, referring to the process of salt leaching into the soil and destroying crops. "There are over 900 million hectares of salt-affected land worldwide."
With a rising population, the world is experiencing a shortage of arable land and of what there is, more than 60 per cent suffers from salinisation.
Salt-tolerant soybeans could help alleviate soil deterioration and increase productivity, Lam said.
After examining the effects of salt on a species of wild soybeans and cultivated soybeans, Lam and his team found that some of the wild varieties exhibited higher salt tolerance than the cultivated ones.