‘Totally unexpected’: China’s trial Taklamakan Desert wheat yield doubles national average
Researchers attribute the performance of Jingmai 189 variety not only to genetics but also its interaction with desert environment
The wheat, known as Jingmai 189, was developed by the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences to withstand drought, saline soil and nutrient-poor land.
The trial on a managed, heavily saline plot produced a harvest of 768kg per mu (about 11.5 tonnes per hectare or 10,278lbs per acre) compared with the national average wheat yield of 399.2kg per mu recorded last year, the academy’s Institute of Hybrid Wheat Research said in a statement on June 23.
“It was totally beyond our expectations,” an institute spokesman said of the project on June 26.
The announcement comes as countries worldwide search for new ways to expand food production amid shrinking arable land, accelerating desertification and climate change. If deserts can be turned into productive farmland, even on a limited scale, the implications could extend well beyond western China.