This week’s big environmental story, February 23-29
Some Chinese rice businesses have been cheating during yield trials in
order to promote their varieties and obtain subsidies, reports Banyuetan, a
subsidiary of Xinhua.
“In northern China, a business left wide space between rice plants during the
sowing season, and transplanted the same varieties grown at the same time
elsewhere into test plots shortly before harvest. This tactic results in more
appealing yield data,” the report read.
Other ploys have included using freshwater to irrigate salt-tolerant rice, and
including straw and leaves in rice “total biomass”, according to the report.
Chen Liyun, a professor at Hunan Agricultural University, told Banyuetan that
some businesses spend a lot of money on creating excellent growing conditions,
too expensive for farmers to recreate. “Many varieties achieved favourable
yield data in trials but were ultimately abandoned by farmers,” Chen Liyun
said.
The Paper reports that
businesses inflate yield data for the sake of marketing or to gain subsidies,
but they are not the only problem. Certain experts work part-time within these
companies to endorse experiments, from which they receive substantial
consulting fees. Meanwhile, some local governments leverage the “high yield
record” as a political achievement.
“A grey chain of interests is formed,” The Paper states. It advises
agricultural management departments to tighten up supervision and establish
appropriate tech specs for crop trials. Records of experimental data,
conditions, and results across the entire trial chain should be documented,
minimising the potential for cheating.
“Yield measurement at crop trials should not only reflect the output data but
also introduce the characteristics of varieties and planting techniques,
enabling farmers to learn from the process and replicate it successfully,” Chen
Liyun emphasised.
(Sources: China Dialogue)
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