Summary of the Key Points
This is a public sharing by Researcher Tian Zhixi from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the Gzhi Lun Dao platform, where he details the entire process of leading a team in soybean breeding efforts over the past 12 years since returning to China. He first explains the real structure of China's soybean consumption and the underlying reason for its 80% dependence on imports. He then outlines how his team adopted a new approach to breeding by "designing the breeding process." Starting from scratch, they collected 3,000 local soybean germplasm resources, developed the world's first two-dimensional soybean pan-genome, and identified hundreds of key genes that control high yield, stress resistance, and quality. As a result, they not only created high-yield soybean varieties suitable for ordinary farmland but also overcame the global challenge of growing soybeans in saline-alkali soil. They achieved a breakthrough of 300 kilograms per mu (about 0.167 hectares) in irrigated coastal saline-alkali areas, paving a feasible path to reducing China's heavy reliance on imported soybeans for food security.
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Simplified Explanation of the Key Points
1. Do you consume 180 kilograms of soybeans per year? 90% of it is invisible to you
Many people are surprised when they hear that the average annual consumption is 180 kilograms of soybeans. In fact, the soybean products we see directly account for less than 10% of the total consumption; the remaining 90% is "invisible consumption." The protein in the feed for livestock and poultry, such as pork, chicken, eggs, and milk, comes from soybean meal—the residue left after oil extraction, which is highly nutritious and more efficient for increasing meat production. In the past 50 years, the production of meat, eggs, and milk has increased by more than tenfold, largely thanks to soybeans. Even if you don't eat soybean products, consuming meat and milk still means indirectly consuming soybeans. This amounts to 120 million tons of soybeans consumed annually, averaging 180 kilograms per person.
2. 80% of soybeans are imported because it's the best choice after careful consideration
Some wonder why we don't grow our own soybeans and rely on imports. This is a strategic decision based on risk assessment: China accounts for 19% of the world's population but only 8% of its arable land, which is already scarce. Soybeans have a low yield per unit area—corn can yield 1,200 kilograms per mu, while soybeans can only yield 300 kilograms, less than a quarter of that. If we tried to grow all 100 million tons of imported soybeans domestically, we would need to allocate 400 million mu of arable land, leaving insufficient land for other crops. This would lead to a greater risk of importing staple foods, making it more detrimental than importing soybeans. Therefore, importing soybeans is a way to use foreign exchange to ensure food security, not a lack of desire to grow them.
3. Modern breeding is no longer about luck; scientists have a "godlike" perspective
Traditional breeding methods involve randomly crossing different soybean varieties, hoping for a high-yield variety to emerge after years of trial and error. However, Tian Zhixi's team used a new approach called "designer breeding." They first collected all available soybean germplasm resources, totaling more than 3,000 samples, and developed 50,000 new varieties. They used mathematical graph theory to create the world's first two-dimensional soybean pan-genome, mapping all the genes that control various traits. They then precisely combined the desired genes to achieve the desired traits without trial and error. They also discovered that the texture of the soybean pods (more or less hairs) affects resistance to pests and drought. Their efforts have resulted in high-yield, high-protein, and high-fat soybean varieties.
4. New arable land has been created, and saline-alkali soil is now a new source of soybeans
With limited arable land, the team turned to previously unused saline-alkali areas. In Shandong's Dongying region, they developed a soybean variety called Ke Dou 35, which can produce up to 306 kilograms per mu in salt-alkali soil without irrigation. This variety not only has a high yield but also excellent quality, with soybean milk that is as thick as milk and more fragrant. If 100 million mu of saline-alkali land were converted to grow this variety, it could significantly reduce China's soybean import dependence, effectively creating additional arable land.