Banyuetan, a subsidiary of Xinhua News Agency, reported that some Chinese rice companies were cheating on yield tests to promote their varieties and obtain subsidies.
“In northern China, a company left rice plants widely spaced during the sowing season and transplanted the same varieties grown at the same time elsewhere into experimental plots just before harvest. This tactic produced more attractive yield data. ,” the report says.
Other strategies include using fresh water to irrigate salt-tolerant rice and including straw and leaves in the rice’s “total biomass,” according to the report.
Chen Liyun, a professor at Hunan Agricultural University, told Banuetan that some companies spend a lot of money to create excellent growing conditions, making it too expensive for farmers to reproduce. “Many varieties achieved good yield data in trials, but were ultimately abandoned by farmers,” Chen Liyun said.
The newspaper reports that companies are inflating yield data for marketing and subsidy purposes, but that’s not the only problem. Some experts work part-time within these companies, sponsoring experiments, and receiving substantial consulting fees from them. On the other hand, some local governments are using their “high-yield track record” as a political achievement.
“A gray profit chain is forming,” the paper said. It recommends that agricultural departments strengthen oversight and establish appropriate technical specifications for crop testing. Records of experimental data, conditions, and results throughout the testing chain must be documented to minimize the possibility of fraud.
“Yield measurement in crop trials should not only reflect production data, but also incorporate characteristics of varieties and planting techniques, so that farmers can learn from the process and successfully reproduce it,” Chen Liyun said. emphasized.
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