There are 1.5 billion acres of saline-alkali land in our country, which are also extremely important reserve farmland resources for our country in the future. If we promptly carry out research on the cultivation of salt-alkali tolerant rice varieties and core technologies, and transform 100 million acres of them into rice fields, based on an estimate of 300 kilograms per mu, we are expected to increase grain production to feed more than 80 million people every year. This is also a major innovative project that will serve the present generation and benefit the future. On the 16th, Yuan Longping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who was still busy at the South Breeding and Breeding Base in Sanya, Hainan, told a reporter from Science and Technology Daily via online connection. ?
In recent days, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, many countries and regions have launched policies to restrict their food exports in order to prevent local food supply shortages. This move also triggered a round of reflection on food security in various countries to assess whether they are likely to encounter a food shortage.
As far as our country is concerned, due to the influence of the red line of cultivated land area, it is not realistic to significantly expand the area of ??grain cultivated land.
Therefore, to ensure food security, the main focus is on using technology to increase the yield per mu of cultivated land and exploring the area of ??food cultivation outside the "red line" that may be created out of thin air. The plan to develop saline-alkali tolerant rice proposed by Academician Yuan Longping is expected to increase the cultivated area outside the "red line".
In fact, Academician Yuan Longping has proposed this long-term goal for several years. Since the goal was proposed, scientific personnel in the field across the country have been working tirelessly to tackle the problem, and have gained "first experience" in the cultivation and planting of saline-alkali tolerant rice varieties in my country.
A survey shows that a person consumes at least one kilogram of food every day, and a medium-sized or above city wastes 64,000 kilograms of food a day. 64,000 kilograms of food can meet the daily rations of at least 60,000 people. In addition, the trend of comparison among the people often leads to the situation where the poor suddenly become rich. The waste of resources is particularly serious. ?
Cherishing food and respecting farmers are the most basic principles of life. ?A grain of millet planted in spring will turn into ten thousand grains in autumn. ?The foot is steaming and earthy, and the back is burning in the sky. ?Every grain of food we eat is hard-earned. However, in daily life, we often see the phenomenon of food wastage. The cautionary sayings of the poet Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty: "Looking at the virtuous countries and families in the past, success resulted from diligence and frugality, failure resulted from extravagance". It still seems out of date now. There are more than 6 billion people in the world. If each person wastes 1 grain of food every day, how many grains of food will be wasted in a year! ?It’s noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil. Who knows that every particle of the meal is hard work. ?I believe many people are familiar with Li Shen's song "Compassion for the Farmers", but how many people can understand the author's compassion and respect for the farmers! No matter who needs to eat every day, they cannot do without food and the efforts and hard work of farmers. When you are eating a big meal and sipping fine wine, have you ever thought about the farmers who are working under the scorching sun and sweating profusely! Planting in spring, hoeing in summer, harvesting in autumn, farmers are silently dedicating themselves. Those who think themselves noble have no reason to look down on farmers! ?