Detailed introduction to the sesame variety Hangzhi No. 1
Sesame is one of the main oilseed crops in China and a traditional specialty agricultural product. In recent years, the national sesame planting area has been 13-15 million mu, with a total output of about 1 million tons, ranking first in the world in both planting area and total output. Henan, Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi are the main sesame-producing provinces, with the total area of the four provinces accounting for more than 60% of the national total. Jiangsu, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and other provinces also have a certain area, with a relatively wide distribution range. Sesame has two cross-provincial concentrated production areas: one is in northwestern Hubei and southwestern Henan, including more than ten counties and cities such as Suizhou, Yicheng, Zaoyang, Xiangyang, Laohekou, and Danjiangkou in Hubei and Xinye, Tanghe, Dengzhou, and Zhenping in Henan; the other is in southeastern Henan and northwestern Anhui, including counties and cities such as Pingyu, Shangcai, Runan, and Xincai in Henan and Linquan, Taihe, Funan, Guoyang, Lixin, Mengcheng, and Suixi in Anhui.
After China's accession to the WTO, new development opportunities have been brought to the sesame industry, and the requirements of domestic and international markets for sesame products have become increasingly high. Therefore, it is imperative to develop high-standard sesame products.
"Hangzhi No. 1" is an achievement of the Ministry of Agriculture's key project "Ninth Five-Year Plan Crop Space Technology Breeding." In 1996, the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences provided "Yuzhi No. 4" as parent seed, which was carried on China's 17th recoverable satellite and returned to the ground after a long stay in space. Since 1997, continuous multi-year selection has been carried out. After multiple identification tests on genetic stability, yield, quality, resistance, and other traits, it was significantly superior to the control. In 2001-2002, it performed outstandingly in the national sesame regional trial, with all indicators ranking first.
Judging from the trial demonstrations and promotion across the country in 2003-2004, "Hangzhi No. 1" performed excellently in comprehensive traits and was highly praised by operators and farmers, with very broad promotion prospects. The advantages of this variety are specifically as follows: wide adaptability, and it can be planted in both the Yangtze River and Huang-Huai River basins. In terms of planting in the Yangtze River basin, from Sichuan and Chongqing in the upper reaches; to the Xiangfan area, Danjiangkou, and Wuhan area in Hubei and the vast Jianghan Plain and Jiujiang in Jiangxi in the middle reaches; to the northern Anhui area in Anhui, including Linquan, Funan, Lixin, and others, and the vast areas of northern and central Jiangsu in the lower reaches, it has all performed well. In the Huang-Huai River basin, including the main production areas of Zhumadian in Henan, the Zaoyang area, Hanzhong in Shaanxi, and Yuncheng in Shanxi, this variety has shown broad adaptability.
It has strong growth vigor, a well-developed root system, thick and sturdy stems, and resistance to lodging. In Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, "Hangzhi No. 1" was introduced for planting for two consecutive years in 2003-2004, with more than 600 mu planted in contiguous fields in Xijiadian Town. At the end of August 2003, "Hangzhi No. 1" suffered successive fierce winds and rainstorms. Other varieties lodged severely, but "Hangzhi No. 1" still stood upright. In 2004, during large-scale planting in Pingyu County, Henan Province, the county was also hit by a rainstorm in mid-August, with maximum wind force reaching force 7. Local sesame varieties all lodged to varying degrees, while "Hangzhi No. 1" basically did not lodge. In two years of large-scale production in Feixi County, Anhui Province, "Hangzhi No. 1" had a compact plant type and tall, sturdy plants, generally 1.7-1.8 m, with the tall ones reaching more than 2.0 m, on average more than 30 cm taller than the main local varieties.
It is tolerant to waterlogging and continuous cropping, and has strong disease resistance, with high resistance to Fusarium wilt and stem spot blight. In mid-August 2004, Pingyu County had successive heavy rainstorms and continuous overcast and rainy weather. Other varieties all showed disease to varying degrees, while "Hangzhi No. 1" showed no disease symptoms. In Luoxi Village, Zhumadian, field observation on August 18 showed a low incidence of stem spot, with sampling data of 3%, about 10 percentage points lower than the main local varieties "Yuzhi No. 4" and "Yuzhi No. 8."
The first capsule-bearing position is low, and capsule setting is strong. Generally, capsules appear at the four true-leaf stage, mostly three capsules per leaf. There is a phenomenon of multiple capsules per leaf in the middle and upper parts. Generally, there are 140-160 capsules per plant, and the more numerous ones can reach more than 200.
The grains are large, the seeds are white, and the quality is excellent. "Hangzhi No. 1" has large grains, with a 1000-grain weight of 3.2-3.5 g, about 0.5 g heavier than ordinary white sesame. The seeds are white, with good gloss and relatively light reticulate markings, and excellent quality, among which the protein content is 19.27%, and the oil content is 57.67%, reaching up to 60% in the highest year.
High and stable yield. In 2001-2002, it participated in the national sesame variety regional trial for two consecutive years and ranked first, with an average yield increase of 11.82% over "Yuzhi No. 4" (ck1) and 15.2% over the local control (ck2). In the production trials at 8 sites in 4 provinces, the average yield increased by 21.12% over the control "Yuzhi No. 4," and all sites showed yield increases. In 2003-2004, during two consecutive years of high-yield demonstration planting in Hubei, Anhui, and Henan, "Hangzhi No. 1" reached an average yield of 150 kg per mu, an increase of more than 20%-30% over the control "Yuzhi No. 4."
"Hangzhi No. 1" is an excellent new sesame variety with wide adaptability, strong stress resistance, good disease resistance, both high and stable yield, and quality suitable for export.