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mutherhrg OP t1_iv6kox9 wrote

Chinese scientists say they have created a salt-tolerant soybean species that could reduce the country’s dependence on imports from places like Brazil, where soy production is driving deforestation.

The team from the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Jinan say their new soybean species can yield 4.5 tonnes per hectare – more than twice the average – in saline-alkali soil, the official Science and Technology Daily reported on July 28.

For the study, the scientists planted the soybean in places including the Xinjiang region and the Yellow River Delta, where soil salinity is a problem. They said most of the trial crops yielded far more than the average of 1.8 tonnes per hectare.

In China, about 100 million hectares of land is estimated to be affected by salinisation and soil degradation, about a third of it in Xinjiang in the far west. But if soybean could be cultivated on this land, there is potential to produce 450 million tonnes a year – almost five times the amount China imported in 2021.

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[deleted] t1_iv6segf wrote

> Chinese scientists say they have created a salt-tolerant soybean species that could reduce the country’s dependence on imports from places like Brazil, where soy production is driving deforestation.

Fuck, I forgot Chinese pull this all the time in "research" and then nothing they show actually can be done or recreated anywhere else.

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Southern-Trip-1102 t1_iv6wg4x wrote

And your evidence for this is where?

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Kickstand8604 t1_iv704mm wrote

Used to do ag research for the USDA. Many of the papers coming out of China used the wrong math, wrong area of study/said they were experimenting in a tropical environment but the study area was in a arid climate. One in particular I remember laughing at. The PT equation for the evaporation of water has a variable that differs for the type of environment of study (ocean, lake, alpine, etc) the Chinese researchers used the variable for the ocean but their study site was a semi-arid in west central china.

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totesmygto t1_iv7d4o5 wrote

I've been seeing a ton of these china positive posts here lately. And the usual pro china trolls. Almost like they are trying to distract from someones final step to dictator for life.

Edit: The downvotes have confirmed my claim. Remember. China has no access to new chip technology. So any claims to revolutionary breakthroughs are a complete fabrication. And this subreddit is completely overrun by China's 50 cent army. Hey... Xi's fan boys. Go back to posting pandas every time your government makes a stupid decision.

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TheDonaldQuarantine t1_ivvpwjm wrote

China should be punished for paying people to spread fake news, taking advantage of the free speech

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TR_on_his_moose t1_iv9f2cx wrote

You’re getting downvoted, but this sub has become a literal cesspool of both subtle and outward anti-west sentiment as well as authoritarian sympathizing. You get downvoted for calling it out. I would usually accept benefit of the doubt on an issue like this, in a sub like this, but Reddit generally speaking has been subject to a pretty big wave of both those sentiments. The CCP’s goals include eventually controlling global status quo, having the ability to censor anti-China rhetoric worldwide, and using their growing influence to destabilize and hopefully destroy every major Democracy in existence. The really unsettling aspect of this is that it isn’t some baseless conspiracy nor are those statements based off of anecdote. There is a plethora of credibly sourced information from agencies around the world (not just in the west) spanning from scientific research to higher academia to tried and true first hand journalism. If you try to provide any of these sources, the conversation gets derailed quickly and you’re either stuck with someone claiming that all western media/research is fake, or they go full “whataboutism” and start naming things the west has done wrong in the past even though those things are entirely unrelated to the conversation that was taking place. Don’t let the downvotes discourage you, keep speaking up, and be aware that the Chinese troll farms are exapansive enough to make any thread look like what they want it to.

The CCP historically foams at the mouth for making China look like it is the most technologically advanced society in the world and that no one holds a candle to their innovation. It’s basically propaganda, but their strategy for spreading that propaganda is unlike any historical example we have because it is on an absolutely massive scale comparatively.

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HighExplosiveLight t1_iv7fzqf wrote

Looks like you pissed off the Chinese reddit overlords.

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vitamin-z t1_iv8i1t4 wrote

I didn't even expect to find them here...I mean if this soybean thing is true that's fucking sick especially for poor societies, arid climates, and ~space soybeans~

But China lies all the time. Just ask them about the Uyghurs

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[deleted] t1_iv7i8pz wrote

-5 isn't even bad, another sub got me nearly -200. Reddit is full of BS.

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Koilosarx t1_iv6o5m5 wrote

Just what the world needs, more salty soy boys. Though I do hope that works out and it doesn't turn out to cause chronic health issues for consumers of farmers.

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Bulldogporridge t1_iv6vwjk wrote

My first exact thought mate. Apart from the eating the farmers bit.

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Winjin t1_iv7ukl0 wrote

Wait you're not supposed to eat the farmers?!

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Doom87er t1_iv8mj9v wrote

You can if you want to, but you risk developing chronic health issues

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Winjin t1_iv98yvg wrote

Like gunshot wounds?

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Eudamonia t1_iv9a1tb wrote

It’s eating Chinese farmers so you’ll be hungry again in an hour

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Winjin t1_iv9a63u wrote

Ah, the classic McDonald's symptoms!

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theNorrah t1_iv9fc9d wrote

Its eat the Rich! I understand the confusion. ‘Some’ farmers are rich, and they all drive expensive flashy vehicles.

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Winjin t1_ivbodyw wrote

Yeah, I've seen the price tags on tractors and the extensions! That's where I got confused!

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Little_Froggy t1_iv7zp8e wrote

About 77% of the world's soybean production goes towards feeding livestock. This would contribute far more to animal agriculture than to soy boys

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pbradley179 t1_iv6x17r wrote

I mean, shit, how much clean water does it need. How much clean water does China got anymore? Some of their bigger cities you can taste laundry detergent in the tap water.

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caidicus t1_iv8w44g wrote

First rice, now soy beans. I like where this is going.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're already working on wheat.

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[deleted] t1_iv9mzmz wrote

[removed]

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Words_Are_Hrad t1_ivaalja wrote

What possible reason would they have for doing that??? I get it the CCP is indeed a terrible government, but they do have reasons for doing what they do beyond "BE EVIL FOR NO REAOSON!!" I mean how fucking off the deep end are you that you would even think such comic book level villainy actually exists?? They do plenty of actual bad shit to try to spread their influence abroad and crack down on and control their own citizenry that you don't need to reach to such absurdities. All you accomplish is delegitimizing any arguments you make about it in the future by allowing them to be dismissed as coming from an ignorant sinophobe. Use your brain...

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Doinkus-spud t1_ivan1k5 wrote

Whoa didn’t mean to hit a power cord. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest the CCP would reach this level of evilness. There’s millions of Uruguayans in concentration camps in china right now. Every bit of technology they have is the result of intellectual property theft. Forced labor camps, killing scientists who speak out, sending seeds of invasive plants to the heart of America to try and wipe out our crops, covid, 50-cent party, population control, 1 child rule…the list doesn’t stop there. So yeah, I do believe they are evil enough to genetically modify plants to kill people. I don’t care about downvotes either.

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charlieisahorse t1_ivaw9ny wrote

You mean Uyghurs? Not Uruguayans. Wrong continent. Even if the western media isn’t lying for once there’s only a million people in reeducation camps. This is a mere third of the prison population in the US. The US uses forced labor every single day. No UN vote on human rights in the US though. There’s little evidence for this in China and it has been debunked repeatedly.

Intellectual property theft is not evil, it’s evil to hoard technology and ideas for the sole goal of profit. Technology should be used to benefit everyone.

The rest of the shit you said doesn’t even deserve recognition. Find any genuine source backing up anything you’re saying. It’s sad you let such bigotry reside in your mind without evidence.

It’s also quite bigoted to claim all their tech is stolen implying that their scientists are essentially fake or too dumb. Heaven forbid they try and feed more people, they obviously must be trying to kill us all. They’re actively trying to feed people in the Xinjiang province where the Uyghurs reside but you wouldn’t know that cause I doubt you even read the article or know anything further than “China bad cause news man say!”

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kricket53 t1_ivt80gn wrote

Two different bad things can both be bad lollll

A million ppl In reeducation camps is absolutely fucked. so it the size of US prison population. Neither are justifiable and both need to be criticized and changed by the ppl who live there respectively.

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ShihPoosRule t1_ivd7ecj wrote

I’ll trust the free media over State run media any day.

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mutherhrg OP t1_ivg7crd wrote

I bet you probably love the BBC.

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ShihPoosRule t1_ivg8em3 wrote

I do, then again it’s not under State editorial control as evidenced by how harsh its criticisms often are of the State.

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Yumewomiteru t1_iv8ouir wrote

Chinese scientists' research on agricultural sustainability is really paying off. First we hear about growing rice with salty water and now this, this will go a long way in solving world hunger!

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MyBallsAreOnFir3 t1_iv9cmnf wrote

We don't actually need to grow more food. If we want to "solve world hunger" we just need to distribute the food we have better.

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Helasri t1_iv9pruh wrote

Its easier to grow food there than ship it from the other side of the world

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sunshinebasket t1_iv9mfwl wrote

Err, how about advances like this so more area to grow that is closer to human settlement? Instead of trucking it around from major “good basket”?

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fuzzybunn t1_iv9pvxc wrote

This has been a thing for Millenia, and yet people still starve. Trying to get the people in power not to hoard resources is a pipe dream even Jesus, Mohamad or the Buddha couldn't solve.

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progreziv t1_iva555d wrote

Yes! As much as CCP is vile. They’re doing everything they can on research front as they have 1.5 billion humanity to feed and this will benefit the world in the end too.

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Fuylo88 t1_iv925a1 wrote

It can survive all of the saltiness, I think is what they are trying to say.

In all seriousness this is badass and I hope to see more.

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TWDacolyte t1_iv7aiqf wrote

That would help with so much more then just food that plant life and created environment would have potential to change the once barren land into a more life sustaining habitat.

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sandcrawler56 t1_iv92w6l wrote

This sounds awesome. I'm just wondering if the beans will be salty since they suck up salty water? How that that even work from a plant biology point of view?

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sst287 t1_iv79zzc wrote

I am glad that we will always have soy sauce even if the sea level raises .

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TheWatch83 t1_iv9u5f8 wrote

I wonder if over time would it pull salt from the soil

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FuturologyBot t1_iv6p49i wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/mutherhrg:

Chinese scientists say they have created a salt-tolerant soybean species that could reduce the country’s dependence on imports from places like Brazil, where soy production is driving deforestation.

The team from the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Jinan say their new soybean species can yield 4.5 tonnes per hectare – more than twice the average – in saline-alkali soil, the official Science and Technology Daily reported on July 28.

For the study, the scientists planted the soybean in places including the Xinjiang region and the Yellow River Delta, where soil salinity is a problem. They said most of the trial crops yielded far more than the average of 1.8 tonnes per hectare.

In China, about 100 million hectares of land is estimated to be affected by salinisation and soil degradation, about a third of it in Xinjiang in the far west. But if soybean could be cultivated on this land, there is potential to produce 450 million tonnes a year – almost five times the amount China imported in 2021.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yn1uqq/chinese_scientists_develop_salttolerant_soybean/iv6kox9/

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Noxiuz t1_iv8zhjs wrote

high salinity in soil already affects the plants and the nutrients binds in the soil meaning that you will just be dependent on liquid fertilizers and that probably wont do much and like everything else fertilizers wont last forever.

are they also going to develope "salt tolerant nutrients"?

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KriosXVII t1_iv9btv2 wrote

Soy fixates its own nitrogen.

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Noxiuz t1_iv9eddj wrote

a plant doesn't only thrives with just nitrogen

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pyramidguy420 t1_iv9zx6a wrote

Ah yeah so that means more groundwater usage where there is little to begin with. Definitely nothing that can go wrong in the long term

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sonofthenation t1_iv8iuns wrote

Didn’t China salt the Mongolian Step so this is a win win for them.

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Kaizen2468 t1_iv8rfdr wrote

Oh great if it’s anything we need more of it’s fucking soy

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Eelroots t1_iv6vha9 wrote

In a couple of year, this will be known as Soylent Green. Eventually they will discover Soylent White.

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Teddy-Bear-55 t1_iv6yrpe wrote

Great, now all they need is the water to make it grow..

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patrykpudlo t1_iv74j3m wrote

So another episode of kicking the can down the road, we destroyed the soil through exploitative farming and pesticides but no worries! We will genetically modify our crops so it can grow even on rocks! Let’s buy ourselves couple more years before the collapse hurray!

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dub10u5 t1_iv7l9sn wrote

I think they could've picked something better than soybeans wtf?

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dys_functional t1_iv7xopv wrote

Soybeans are a great source of protein and have great variety in use: cooking oil, tofu, live stock feed, soy milk, edamame beans, etc.

It's one of the best options for poorer families who cant afford meat regularly or for folks who have moral issues with large scale slaughterhouses.

Soy doesnt have negative stigma in the east either, most families regularly consume it. I'm not sure why it has such a bad reputation in America. There are no known negative side effects from eating reasonable quantities of it.

Go to a chinese restaurant near you and try some hot braised tofu. I havent met anyone who doesnt like it.

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dub10u5 t1_iv85kkc wrote

Despite how good the soybean is, I still think another plant, corn in particular, would've been a better choice to make hardier and able to grow in arid environments. I know those scientists probably picked soybeans for a different reason than why I'd choose corn. Better reasons, sure. It's probably way too crazy to do the same to a plant like corn. I get it.

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FalloutNano t1_iv8f2ud wrote

Oats would be even better. There are quite a few grains and other plants that would be preferable, like Moringa!

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risketeer t1_iv7m1ib wrote

And what has been your contribution to humanity thus far? Shh… 🤫

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1995FOREVER t1_iv7vgz4 wrote

china has a massive soybean import from the west and they're trying to reduce it

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the_anti-alpha_male t1_iv80n1u wrote

Do you know how much soy is used in everything? From a cooking oil, to livestock feed, to supplement ingredients.

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dub10u5 t1_iv84owj wrote

Yea, I do. I still think another plant, like corn, would've been better.

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[deleted] t1_iv6ztwl wrote

[removed]

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