YNU scientists use technology to transform agriculture

Four research teams of young scientists at the College of Agriculture of Yunnan University, or YNU – located in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province – recently became the subject of media attention, for good reason.

That's because the teams are deeply engaged in major agricultural research, leveraging technology to advance and transform traditional agriculture and support the region’s rural vitalization.

The teams have been dispatched to different areas – with one covering perennial rice research in Menghai county, another looking at apples in Tenglong village in Lincang city, a coffee research team in Lijiang Dam, Baoshan city and a flower research team working at YNU's Chenggong campus.

The flower research team at the College of Agriculture has established what is known as the Chenggong Flower Science and Technology Backyard, helped by the local Dounan International Flower Technology Innovation Center.

Since 2020, 25 master's degree students have been stationed there, working to solve practical problems faced by commercial flower producers and promote key industry upgrades.

Nearly 70 percent of China's cut flowers are traded in the Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, which trades in over 1,600 varieties. Indeed, the market is known to have led the country in flower trading volumes and values for some years.

Zhou Ningning, associate researcher of the School of Agriculture at YNU, who is also the head of the Chenggong Flower Science and Technology Backyard, said that China's flower breeding sector started relatively late in the day and that consequently the majority of cut roses traded in the market are foreign varieties.

"For every flower sold, farmers have to pay a royalty fee ranging from 3 percent to 10 percent," Zhou said.

To address this bottleneck, the students and faculty at the Chenggong Flower Science and Technology Backyard have developed and promoted a full range of research and development efforts across the entire industry supply chain.

This includes breeding new flower varieties with independent intellectual property rights, seedling cultivation, modern planting techniques and post-harvest management of roses, lilies, dahlias, phalaenopsis orchids and carnations.

The overall goal is to fill the current gaps in the domestic market – helping flower farmers avoid hefty royalty fees – thereby increasing incomes and the motivation and drive to expand operations.