Seedlings virus-free, let sugarcane "win at the starting line"

Editor's note: China is a big sugarcane producer, 90% of sugarcane is sugar cane. According to the latest statistical data of the Ministry of Agriculture's Production and Development Plan for Sugar Cane Main Producing Areas from 2015 to 2020, the total area of sugar cane in China is 27.25 million mu, the total output is 128.2 million tons, and the coverage rate of virus-free seedlings is less than 4%. Production practice at home and abroad has proved that the application and popularization of virus-free seedlings is the key to increase sugarcane yield and improve quality. In order to shorten the distance from a large sugarcane country to a powerful country, many people are struggling and busy. Today, we choose two of them to see how they practice and offer suggestions for revitalizing the sugar cane industry...

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A Report on Popularization of Virus-free Sugarcane Seedlings by Yang Benpeng, Researcher of Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences

"Professor Yang, do you think your sugar cane yield will be good?" August 20, Guangxi Chongzuo Fusui County Bapen Village a sugarcane cultivation technology on-site observation training meeting, a sugarcane grower face puzzled asked.

"Look at it yourself. The sugarcane you grow yields 4 to 5 tons per mu. The sugarcane we grow is thick and strong, 7 to 8 tons per mu, and 9 tons of good ones." Yang Benpeng, a researcher at the Institute of Tropical Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Academy of Thermal Sciences), replied with a smile.

"Is this the first generation?" Another grower smiled and said,"I didn't expect the first generation to be so thick. The rattan I planted the year before last grew thick. We all thought the first and second generations couldn't be used."

"Why can't the first generation do it? That's not a good seedling. Look, our virus-free healthy seedlings are already so good in the first generation. They will definitely get better and better in the future!" Looking at this group of simple sugarcane growers in front of him, Yang Benpeng said confidently.

Start from scratch

Over the past 30 years, Yang Benpeng has never left the front line of poverty alleviation through science and technology, and his footprints are all over Hainan, Guangxi and Yunnan mountainous areas. How can mountain farmers really get out of poverty? Yang Benpeng believes that it depends on industry.

Yang Benpeng thought of the sugar cane industry. Sugarcane is the largest tropical cash crop in China and the main raw material for sugar production. Sugar is a necessity for human growth and life, and also an important raw material for energy industry. The development of sugarcane production plays an important role in improving people's lives, promoting agricultural development and even the development of the entire national economy.

Since 2001, Yang Benpeng has devoted himself to the research of virus-free sugarcane seedlings. At that time, in the Academy of Thermal Sciences, no one had studied sugar cane, and everything could only start from scratch.

Solving the Variety Degradation Problem

Sugarcane variety degradation is one of the main bottlenecks restricting the development of sugarcane industry in China. To enlarge and strengthen sugarcane industry, we must first solve the problem of variety degradation.

"Normal sugarcane seedlings will be infected after 5 years of continuous planting, while the process of sugarcane selection and breeding generally takes more than 10 years, and the fast one takes 8~9 years." Yang Benpeng admitted that this means that the sugarcane varieties we have selected have been infected, directly affecting the yield and sugar content of sugarcane. The virus-free seedlings can restore the maternal traits without disease, and the yield is naturally higher than that of non-virus-free seedlings.

The process of sugarcane detoxification is complicated: cutting stems, comprehensive treatment, disinfection and sterilization, stripping growth points, induction culture, rapid propagation... Yang Benpeng said with a wry smile, a little careless, and have to do it again. It is common for a data to be tested dozens of times. For example, when warm water treatment, the water temperature is too high, sugar cane buds will be scalded to death; incomplete disinfection will lead to pollution of growth points, and the final result is no emergence. All the lab had was a clean bench and two scientists.

Getting started is not easy, and innovation is even harder. Each link, there is no experience reference, can only explore a little bit by themselves. For more than half a year, I consulted various literatures at home and abroad, tried dozens of methods, but still did not make virus-free seedlings.

Yang Benpeng was particularly anxious. He also held administrative positions at that time. He had to work in Danzhou from Monday to Friday and could only rush back to Haikou Laboratory for research on weekends. Back and forth and grope for a month, the first batch of virus-free seedlings finally grow out.

Supporting production technology is indispensable

Sugarcane production is a complete industrial chain, which solves the problem of virus-free seedlings before production. Next, it is necessary to solve the problems of large-scale transplanting, field expansion and supporting production and cultivation.

Yang Benpeng built a greenhouse and sugar cane experimental field on an open space in Haikou District. Virus-free sugarcane seedlings from the laboratory are propagated here. He crouches in the sugarcane field every day, carefully checks the growth of each seedling and marks it.

Under his careful care, the survival rates of virus-free sugarcane seedlings cultivated by greenhouse transplanting, open-air bare-root transplanting and open-air tray transplanting reached 98%, 95% and 98% respectively.

After two years of field experiments, virus-free sugarcane seedlings can be produced on a large scale. Yang Benpeng also found a piece of land in Huangtong Town, Lingao County, Hainan Province, and established a sugarcane high-yield demonstration base. In this field, he began the research and development of supporting production technology.

"Sugarcane cultivation is a complicated job, ditching, applying base fertilizer, returning soil, installing dropper, covering plastic film, transplanting, watering root water..." Sugarcane research team member Cai Wenwei said, Yang Benpeng hands-on ability is particularly strong, each link must be hands-on.

Yang Benpeng has this account in his heart: "There are many links in sugarcane production and cultivation. If each link can be improved a little and saved a little, the planting cost will be reduced a lot, and the farmers 'income will be really improved."

"How much is measured?"

In December 2008, the Science and Technology Department of Hainan Province organized experts to conduct field acceptance of virus-free sugarcane seedlings. Yang Benpeng said that field identification usually takes 20 samples from a field to see how many effective stems there are, measures the average plant height, and then calculates the sugarcane yield of the field through a formula. This algorithm measures theoretical yield, sample selection is random, there are errors, data accuracy is low.

"To do research, you need real data. The long and short ones, the thick and thin ones, are all cut down and measured. How much is measured is how much." Yang Benpeng led more than a dozen young men, under the scorching sun, it took a whole day to cut down nearly ten thousand catties of sugar cane in more than 10 experimental areas.

According to statistics after weighing, the yield of virus-free sugarcane seedlings developed by Yang Benpeng's team is 8320kg per mu, which is 26% higher than that of non-virus-free seedlings, and the yield per mu is 6612kg.

This technology also won the second prize of Science and Technology Progress Award of Hainan Province in 2009, and the achievements have reached the international advanced level as a whole. By adopting the set of technology for planting sugarcane, the yield can be increased by more than 20%, the sugar content can be increased by 0.5 - 1 percentage point, and the seed consumption can be saved by more than 60%.

"This kind of sugarcane planting is very interesting!"

"No matter how well you say it, it's better to see it than to believe it. If you don't see any effect, it's useless to talk to the farmers." In order to expand the promotion area as soon as possible and benefit the common people, Yang Benpeng resigned from his post as assistant to the president of the Academy of Thermal Sciences and began to go to Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other sugarcane producing areas without stopping to negotiate with enterprises and cooperate with agricultural technology departments to build sugarcane high-yield demonstration bases.

Chongzuo, Guangxi, is full of vast cane sea. The sugarcane planting area here accounts for one fifth and one quarter of the total output of the whole country and Guangxi respectively. Yang Benpeng cooperated with Guangxi Kangtian Company to establish a thousand mu demonstration base in Fusui County, Chongzuo.

"This seedling looks so good. It's really rare." Strong, high-yielding virus-free sugarcane seedlings quickly attracted local farmers. In Kangzhong Village Demonstration Base, the surrounding farmers rushed to pull seedlings with oxcarts. After trial planting, the yield per mu generally exceeded 7 tons, some even exceeded 12 tons.

The villagers agreed,"This kind of sugar cane, very good!" At present, Yang Benpeng has established more than 150 demonstration bases (points) of various types in Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, training 15,000 personnel of various types. Comprehensive techniques of virus-free sugarcane seedlings blossom and bear fruit in sugarcane area. Over the past 7 years, more than 590,000 mu has been popularized and applied accumulatively, with an average yield increase of 2 tons per mu, and the net income of sugarcane farmers increased by more than 700 yuan per mu.

In order to enlarge and strengthen the sugarcane industry, Yang Benpeng established a sugarcane research team, successively carried out research on sugarcane transgene, mechanization and nanocellulose extraction, and made great efforts to extend the sugarcane industry chain and improve the added value.

After 30 years of practice, Yang Benpeng has successively won many honors such as the first national advanced individual in science, technology, culture and health "three villages", the national advanced worker in poverty alleviation through science and technology, the national Zhenhua Science and Technology Poverty Alleviation Award, the national advanced individual in agriculture, etc., and what he values more is the actual income increase data of farmers.