After 35 years of deep cultivation in the fields, I have led a research team to independently select and cooperate in the breeding of more than 100 new corn varieties. The promotion area of new corn varieties has reached over 30 million mu, with a cumulative increase of more than 3 billion kilograms in yield.
He is Peng Xubing, the General Manager and Communist Party member of Hubei Kangnong Seed Industry Co., Ltd. He spent over 10000 hours observing and working in the fields, cultivating a retail store located in a poverty-stricken mountainous area into a high-tech enterprise that integrates crop cultivation, breeding, and promotion. He was listed as a "Golden Seed" enterprise in Hubei Province and successfully listed on the "New Third Board".
Digging deep into the fields and searching for a good seed
Cultivating 'golden seeds' and increasing farmers' income is my dream. "On June 29th, in the sample exhibition room of Hubei Kangnong Seed Industry Co., Ltd. in Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, Peng Xubing proudly introduced a new variety of corn that has entered the international market to reporters.
This is' Kangnongyu No. 3 ', which has been exported to the African market with strong resistance to lodging, increasing production by nearly 20% compared to local varieties; this is' Gaoyu 351', which has basic immunity to gray spot disease; this' Gaokang No. 2 'is even more powerful, specifically targeting the so-called' corn killer 'vitiligo disease...' To outsiders, there is no difference between each golden corn cob, but Peng Xubing can recognize it at a glance.
Some varieties have good adaptability, some have disease resistance, and some can increase yield... "Peng Xubing gently rubbed the corn with his rough hands, like caressing his own child. He told reporters that behind the birth of every new variety, there is a story of dedicated scientific research and difficult tackling.
In 1990, Peng Xubing carried corn seeds on his back and traveled alone to Hainan to breed new varieties. Without the poetic and picturesque charm of coconut wind and sea as imagined, and the daily lack of water and electricity, Peng Xubing carried his own water to irrigate the experimental field.
During the pollination season, in order to control the survival time of pollen, Peng Xubing burrowed into the corn field under a scorching sun of 40 ℃, pollinated, bagged, and hung it.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan made landfall and Peng Xubing could only sigh helplessly as he watched the greenhouse being blown away and the seedlings he had put in so much effort into sprouting were ruined.
After the strong wind, Peng Xubing and the research team knelt down in the experimental field, trying to rescue every possible surviving seedling.
A strong wind caused losses exceeding 4 million yuan. Unfortunately, these corn seeds have been cultivated for six years and require a lot of time and effort to start over from scratch.
People do not disappoint the green mountains, and the green mountains will definitely not disappoint people. After years of research, the new corn variety "Kangnongyu 108" has emerged, which combines the characteristics of wide adaptability, disease resistance, high yield, and high quality, solving the problem of promoting corn planting in many areas. Back then, an American company offered a huge sum of money to acquire a new variety, but was politely declined by Peng Xubing.
"Selling a variety will not hurt the enterprise, but the germplasm resources are more important. I only hope that the Chinese people's jobs are in our own hands," Peng Xubing said.
Empowering technology to secure Chinese rice bowls
"China's fields are planted in China, and China's bowls are filled with Chinese grain. This is the responsibility of a Communist Party member and a Chinese!" Peng Xubing firmly believes that only by climbing over those "mountains" can agriculture become stronger and more people become rich.
On July 4th, in the Kangnong Seed Industry Laboratory, a "seed revolution" is underway to explore tropical germplasm resources and innovate. In 2022, the company approved a total of 19 new corn varieties, and can add more than 15 new product approvals in 2023, "said Peng Yukang, director of the R&D center.
At the same time, more than 1000 kilometers away, the Kangnong Seed Industry's "25000 ton per year hybrid corn seed production base project" located in Qingtongxia City, Ningxia is accelerating construction. After completion, it will greatly control transportation and logistics costs, improve the engineering and industrialization capabilities of breeding results, and better benefit the people.
Seeds are the 'chips' of agriculture. To win the' seed industry turnaround 'and build the' strongest core 'of China's seed industry, we must constantly unlock the genetic code of corn breeding, "said Peng Xubing.
In recent years, Kangnong Seed Industry has actively collaborated with well-known domestic universities and research institutes to explore "industry university research" cooperation, jointly building expert workstations and enterprise university joint innovation centers. Adopting a "flexible talent introduction" model, experts are selected as "vice presidents of science and technology", and industry leaders are hired as "chief consultants" to add innovative momentum to the company.
Kangnong Seed Industry has been listed as a national crop seed industry formation enterprise for two consecutive years, becoming a key national force in "winning the battle for the revival of the seed industry". At present, the company has 77 corn varieties with independent intellectual property rights, and the new corn varieties "Kangnong 2" and "Funong Yu 6" are listed as the "2022 National Grain and Oil Production Main Recommended Leading Varieties".
Promoting rural revitalization through agricultural cooperation and cooperation
Peng Xubing always had the common people in his heart. In the corn experimental field, he used the ground as a pillow, squinted his eyes, and looked through the edge of the straw hat at the thriving corn. He also had the same dream as when he was a child, a rural revitalization dream of a bountiful harvest for the people.
The achievements of enterprises cannot be reflected solely by a series of numbers. The long-term plan for enterprise development is to enable more ordinary people to truly benefit. "Peng Xubing said that taking efficient and advantageous varieties as the core competitiveness, turning perfect after-sales service into a weapon, and giving back to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, benefiting the local area, is the embodiment of practicing the Party's resolute oath with actions.
Peng Xubing once led professional and technical personnel to go deep into the grassroots level 280 times, covering more than 80000 kilometers and measuring public sentiment with his footsteps. Kangnong Seed Industry actively responds to the call of rural revitalization and implements the "company+farmer+market" order agriculture model. It has built scientific research and breeding bases and seed production bases across the country, and increased income by nearly 10 billion yuan through order production, linking agriculture with farmers.
The seed industry is a strategic and fundamental core industry of the country. We must hold onto Chinese seeds and stabilize Chinese rice bowls. Kangnong Seed Industry will play a leading role in driving the industry, strive to break through the bottleneck technology of the seed industry, and create a high-quality seed industry with the spirit of craftsmanship, connecting the seed lineage of farmers' prosperity, "said Peng Xubing.
Source: Three Gorges Daily
Three Gorges Daily All Media Reporter Gao Ran Correspondents Wang Lamei and Chen Xiaoxia
