Scientists have successfully grown rice in the harsh deserts of China’s Xinjiang region in half the time compared to conventional farming methods, a major step in the country’s campaign to ensure food security.
A new type of rapeseed engineered in China can improve upon yields by 50 per cent, increasing the domestic harvest of edible oil and lessening the country’s reliance on imports.
China has set a goal for higher grain yields by 2030 – a necessity only likely to grow more acute as its stock of arable land has stagnated and the global food market has become more volatile.
Projections for the world’s output of durians have gone as high as a 10 per cent increase by 2030 – making competition over market dominance in China, the largest consumers of the fruit by far, even more heated.