China Central Television has produced a short video showing the plant experiments growing on the Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou-16 crew has been in orbit for almost three months, and says their space vegetable garden has given a good lettuce harvest.
Chinese Seeds’ Journey to Space
21.08.2023 - 11:10 / theunconventionalgardener.com / Emma Doughty
China Central Television (CCTV) has produced a fun video promoting the country’s space-breeding efforts.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition!
Another batch of seeds have begun their journey to space. Do not presume any seeds can travel to space. Space system engineering is highly complex with a large technical span. Every bit of payload capacity is precious.
The selected seeds should generally meet two conditions: genetic stability and
comprehensive traits.
It is no exaggeration to say that they are one-in-a-million “Chosen Seeds”.
Look, they’re back from their space trip!
After returning to Earth, the “lucky ones” among those hit by cosmic particles were selected and nurtured through multiple generations of screening. They also have to go through the test of high winds, insect attack, drought, etc. Finally, the seeds that have withstood these rigorous tests and been validated by the authorities are the real “space seeds”. The whole process takes 4-6 years.
Why do we have to do space breeding?
First, seeds are the chips of agriculture and have an irreplaceable role in improving the quality and yield of crops. Space breeding technology can produce high quality seeds in a relatively short period of time.
Through space breeding technology, some crops have shortened growth cycles, some have increased crop disease resistance, some have increased yields.
China’s space breeding industry has experienced more than 30 years of development and has achieved fruitful results. In 1987, China successfully sent its first crop seeds into space. In 2006, China launched the “Shijian-8” seed-breeding satellite, carrying more than 2,000 biological materials weighing 208 kg, including rice, wheat, corn, and cotton.
In November 2020, Chinese scientists
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