China harvested its first batch of Space Rice from seeds that went on a 23-day lunar voyage. The Rice was sent to Space in the month of November. The rice has undergone cosmic radiation and zero gravity.
These rice seeds weighed around 40 grams which went to space and when returned were harvested. The project is done by the space breeding research center of the South China Agricultural University in Guangdong province.
As per the report, scientists said the seeds were 1 cm long. The Deputy Director of the research center stated that the best seeds will be bred in the labs followed by plantation in fields.
Rice seeds exposed to the environment in Space may have mutated. They can also shoe higher yields once planted on earth. China is well known to take seeds of rice and other crops to space since 1987.
China’s media reports the total plantation area for space crops approved by China has reached more than 2.4 million hectares after 2018.
In an interview with global times Wang Ya’nan stated, “With long-term human stays at the space station, researchers are hoping to conduct experiments to test a self-recycling ecosystem in space, which will greatly cut costs and reduce the resources needed for future manned spaceflights. This will support deep-space explorations, including the building of a lunar research base and manned missions to Mars.” Wang Ya’nan is a space analyst and chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine. It is a Beijing-based magazine. The magazine is of great interest to the global community in scientific researches.
China harvested its first batch of Space Rice from seeds that went on a 23-day lunar voyage. The Rice was sent to Space in the month of November. The rice has undergone cosmic radiation and zero gravity. These rice seeds weighed around 40 grams which went to space and when returned were harvested. The project is done by the space breeding research center of the South China Agricultural University in Guangdong province.
As per the report, scientists said the seeds were 1 cm long. The Deputy Director of the research center stated that the best seeds will be bred in the labs followed by plantation in fields.
Rice seeds exposed to the environment in Space may have mutated. They can also shoe higher yields once planted on earth. China is well known to take seeds of rice and other crops to space since 1987. China’s media reports the total plantation area for space crops approved by China has reached more than 2.4 million hectares after 2018.
They have published research on the field of microgravity, cosmic rays on organisms and the Earth needs which are yet to be explored.
This news from China is well appreciated by many. The Chinese media is full of “rice from heaven”. People are excited and waiting for the crop in market. Experts say it will at least take 3-4 years before entering the market.
The project is aimed at improving China’s grain harvest as well as country’s food security.
