Scientists in China are growing towering hybrids of wheat and rye – taller even than some humans – in the deserts of its western Xinjiang region.
The hybrids, known as triticale, can adapt more easily than wheat to challenging conditions and, in addition to providing food for humans, their stalks and leaves can be used for animal feed.
“It is tolerant of poor soil, cold, drought, salinity, and wind and sand,” Kuang Feiting, the executive director of Xinjiang Maishengdao Biotechnology, the firm playing a leading role in the project, told China News Service earlier this month.
“In newly reclaimed desert saline-alkali land, it may be difficult for ordinary wheat to even sprout, and it may take two or three years to become profitable.”
Kuang said triticale could produce up to 4 tonnes of forage per mu – a Chinese unit of land measurement equivalent to 667 square metres (7,180 sq ft) – each year, making bumper harvests possible.
Triticale, a synthetic hybrid produced by crossbreeding the grains of wheat and rye, was first bred in laboratories in Scotland and Germany in the late 19th century.
Hybridisation allows the favourable traits of two species to be combined, resulting in a more adaptable crop that can produce higher yields.
Rye – which is commonly used to make bread and alcohol – is capable of growing where wheat fails, including in sandy and acidic soils, as well as colder climates. This helps make triticale more resilient to climate fluctuations.
While wheat and triticale can yield the same quantities under normal growing conditions, under poor conditions – for example when water supplies are limited or the soil is low in nitrogen – triticale can offer higher yields, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Field Crop in 2024.
The researchers from the Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology said the crude protein and total digestible nutrients of triticale were comparable to those of wheat.
China has been transforming deserts in Xinjiang into agricultural hubs to grow crops such as wheat and rice.
However, scientists and farmers in the region still need to contend with challenges such as local weather and alkaline soils with high salt levels.
Kuang was mentored by Yuan Longping – known as the “father of hybrid rice” – for five years, and has been working on growing triticale in the transformed Xinjiang desert for several years, according to the state-owned China News Service.
Earlier this month, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Institute of Crop Science held a meeting on using saline-alkali land in Xinjiang to grow forage triticale.
Zhongsi 1048, the variety they are growing at a demonstration base in Kashgar prefecture, can reach almost 1.6 metres (5 feet 3 inches) in height – tall enough to prevent weeds growing and increasing the amount of fodder produced.
“By planting triticale, the region achieved an ecological reversal from desert to lush greenery in just six months, with soil salinity decreasing from 1.4 per cent to 0.76 per cent,” the institute said.
The ability of triticale to reduce salt levels means it can also be planted in rotation with other crops such as cotton and nuts to help improve soil conditions. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
