New soybean could make China more self-reliant during trade war
- Scientists create Henong-71, whose seeds produce nearly four times the average yield for the plant in China
- A drop in imports from the US left a shortfall for the world’s biggest soybean consumer
Trials of a soybean in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, in western China, have achieved a record yield after scientists from the country’s northeast created a hybrid species that grew extra pods and was more resistant to harsh weather.
Henong-71 seeds produced nearly four times the average yield for soybeans grown in China, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology last week.
Imports of the plant from the United States plunged after China slapped 25 per cent punitive tariffs on American soybeans in July last year. That forced the world’s biggest soybean consumer – China imported 88 million tonnes last year, according to its customs data – to buy from other countries and boost domestic production.
It was traditionally a global leader in producing a crop that provides raw material for tofu and has been an important source of protein for Chinese people since the earliest archaeological records, in 1100BC.