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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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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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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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[deleted] t1_iv6segf wrote

Replying to mutherhrg (#451,260)

> 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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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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pbradley179 t1_iv6x17r wrote

Replying to Koilosarx (#451,417)

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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Teddy-Bear-55 t1_iv6yrpe wrote

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

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Kickstand8604 t1_iv704mm wrote

Replying to Southern-Trip-1102 (#451,747)

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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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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sst287 t1_iv79zzc wrote

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

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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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totesmygto t1_iv7d4o5 wrote

Replying to Kickstand8604 (#451,890)

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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dub10u5 t1_iv7l9sn wrote

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

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dys_functional t1_iv7xopv wrote

Replying to dub10u5 (#452,702)

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

Replying to dys_functional (#453,145)

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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vitamin-z t1_iv8i1t4 wrote

Replying to HighExplosiveLight (#452,490)

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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sonofthenation t1_iv8iuns wrote

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

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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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Kaizen2468 t1_iv8rfdr wrote

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

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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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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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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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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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TR_on_his_moose t1_iv9f2cx wrote

Replying to totesmygto (#452,370)

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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fuzzybunn t1_iv9pvxc wrote

Replying to MyBallsAreOnFir3 (#455,214)

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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TheWatch83 t1_iv9u5f8 wrote

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

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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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progreziv t1_iva555d wrote

Replying to Yumewomiteru (#454,223)

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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Words_Are_Hrad t1_ivaalja wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#455,522)

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

Replying to Words_Are_Hrad (#456,487)

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

Replying to Doinkus-spud (#457,057)

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

Replying to charlieisahorse (#457,373)

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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