Sharing agricultural knowledge with world
Print Edition
Professor Feng Baili’s office is often stacked with bags of seeds that are ready to be shipped overseas.
He examines the seeds carefully and fills in detailed information regarding their origin, time for harvest and other specifications.
The professor of agriculture works at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (NWAFU) in Yangling, about an hour’s drive west of Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road.
Last month, Feng and his research team prepared 73 types of seeds of wheat, buckwheat, and corn for a trial plantation in an agricultural park in Belarus.
“I have high hopes for the success of the seeds, and I look forward to new findings from the cooperation,” Feng said.
Starting in 2016, Feng and a few dozen researchers in the university have carried out cross-border cooperation in agriculture-related technology.
The university founded an agricultural technology innovation league in 2016. Now the organization works with 76 universities and research institutes from 14 countries and regions.
About half of China’s land mass is dry or semi-dry, which is similar to Central Asia.
Hu Yingang, also a professor of agricultural studies, said that it was only natural the first cross-border cooperation started with Kazakhstan.
“We found that we could complement each other in various aspects,” he said.
“On the one hand, Chinese researchers have a strong proficiency in irrigation and field management. On the other, the crop varieties in Kazakhstan are of high quality, for example, the wheat grown there is a desirable choice for making bread.”
So far, researchers from China have set up three demonstration parks in Kazakhstan.
In these parks, experts from both sides work to study breeding, water-saving irrigation and agricultural machinery.
“Our colleagues in Kazakhstan are cross-fertilizing their local breed with some of the Chinese varieties which show outstanding traits in resisting wind, drought and diseases,” said Hu.
Entrepreneurs have also joined the cooperation.
Xi’an Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group signed an agreement with the university in 2017 and became a member of the innovation league. The firm leased land in Kazakhstan and hired local farmers. The products are then sold to Chinese customers.
“Such mutual benefit has strengthened bonds between the two peoples,” Hu said.
In NWAFU, a few dozen other researchers are also involved with cross-border studies in agricultural technology.
Professor Kang Zhensheng, a specialist on curbing wheat rust, has traveled to ten Belt and Road countries and regions to share the technology. Assistant Professor Hai Jiangbo worked in Cameroon to carry out joint research on rice.
Since 2007, over 500 students from 20 Belt and Road countries and regions have studied at the university.
“There is a lot more room for cooperation,” said Li Xingwang, Party secretary of the university.
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