What is a colored wheat breeding base like? Step into the Zhongpu Resource Nursery

Colored wheat seed resource nursery

Data shows that the global population has now exceeded 6.5 billion, and according to estimates by relevant experts, it will reach 9.5 billion by 2050. Due to urbanization and the expansion of modern industry, arable land will become increasingly scarce. At current wheat grain yields, there will be a huge shortfall by then. Many countries are working hard to increase grain yields, and the topic of researching high-yield wheat seeds is also placed before the world.

As a major grain-producing province in China, Henan has seen many experts and scholars devote themselves to research on high-yield wheat. Among these experts, Zhou Zhongpu must be mentioned. The wheat harvest season has arrived. At the wheat seed resource nursery located in the Yellow River floodplain, varieties such as white wheat, black wheat, green wheat, and purple wheat are planted. Most people cannot tell any difference, but Zhou Zhongpu has “sharp eyes” and can distinguish them one by one. He selects fine wheat ears and marks them for cultivation the following year. Zhou explained that colored wheat is rich in trace elements such as iron, selenium, zinc, and iodine, and is extremely beneficial to human health.

Wheat seed production is a project with a long cycle, large investment, and slow returns. Zhou Zhongpu encountered problems such as funding, and his life's work was nearly interrupted. When the brothers Fan Guofu and Fan Anfu learned of this situation, they provided funds to develop it together. In Fan Anfu's words, these 50 mu of wheat resource nursery are the hope of China's wheat seed industry, and it must not be abandoned halfway.

Zhou Zhongpu, now 85 years old, enjoys a special allowance from the State Council. Although he could have enjoyed a comfortable retirement, he chose the uninhabited Yellow River floodplain to pursue his path of high-yield wheat. In his words, he simply likes farming. At present, there are 16,000 wheat breeding resources in the resource nursery, earning him a reputation as a “magician” in the breeding field. Not only that, the colored wheat he bred has multiple colors including black, green, purple, and red, causing a sensation at home and abroad. He is called the “father of colored wheat,” and some even compare him to Yuan Longping, saying that in the south there is Yuan Longping, and in the north there is Zhou Zhongpu.

Having successfully bred colored wheat varieties, Zhou Zhongpu believes this is only a small step forward. The planting and promotion of colored wheat are conducive to increasing farmers' income; using the relatively high nutritional quality of colored health wheat to develop functional foods and health foods that meet market demand has broad market prospects. But bringing colored health wheat foods into ordinary households as soon as possible, thereby improving people's quality of life, is the true “colored wheat dream” in Zhou Zhongpu's heart.