A high-yield and good-quality variety of wheat for making bread, named "Quality 9507," has recently been developed by the Chinese Academy of Agriculture. Its value was verified a few days ago by the Tianjin Examination Committee. The Chinese Academy of Agriculture and Tianjin Municipal Government cosponsored an exhibition of "Quality 9507" in Baodi County in Tianjin, at which more than 200 representatives from the main wheat-producing areas of China were present. Having completed the investigation, Professor Wang Lianzeng, noted agriculturist and vice chairman of Chinese Science Association, and Zhuang Qiaosheng, well-known specialist in the cultivation of wheat and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Science, spoke highly of the new variety. They said that the new variety provided the ideal combination of good quality and high yield.
According to He Zhonghu, researcher of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture, China is foremost in the world in terms of land area for wheat growing and in terms of the total output and consumption of wheat. But he says that the quality of commercial wheat in China is poor and unstable. Bread, noodles and biscuits made of the wheat have some shortcomings and are less competitive in international market. The wheat production in China has seen bumper harvests in recent years, and the supply has outstripped demands. But quality wheat, in short supply, has been mainly imported from abroad.
Studies made by Cereal Examination Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and the International Corn and Wheat Improvement Center show that Quality 9507 wheat exceeds domestic first-grade-wheat standards and is competitive with international first-grade-wheat standards. This variety is considered to have the best special qualities for bread in China.
Experiments in Beijing, Tianjin and Baodi County show that the yield of Quality 9507 can reach 450 kilograms per acre, with fully developed seeds, insect resistance ability, and good agricultural nature of fall-resistance. The variety has resulted in great progress for China's industrialization program with support from the "Span Plan Project" of Baodi County in Tianjin, which produced 2.5 million kilograms of quality wheat for China last year. Meanwhile, some enterprises, such as the Tianjin Lida Flour Group, Ltd., and the Beijing Big Mill, Ltd., have signed agreements with Baodi County regarding purchasing the quality wheat. These agreements will help to form a development pattern covering research production enterprise, and will advance large-scale commercial production of the high-quality wheat.
(from the People’s Daily)
