The upcoming Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission will experiment cultivating two consecutive generations of rice in orbit, according to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China is sending rice seeds along with astronauts to its space station Tiangong via the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, scheduled to be launched on Sunday.
The new rice experiment, if successful, will mark the first complete growth cycle from seed to new seed grown in space, then to a second generation of space seeds, opening possibilities for in-situ food production on future lunar base and deep-space missions.
In 2022, six rice seeds spent 120 days aboard Tiangong, flowering and producing 59 offspring grains. The upcoming mission upgrades that effort by adding a second new generation.
In microgravity, plants lose their sense of direction and rice seedlings tend to grow erratically. Scientists have developed a method of using directional lighting to guide upright growth. Rice's self-pollination also helps overcome the challenge of pollen failing to settle naturally in microgravity.
However, rice cultivation in space still faces a series of challenges, like disrupted flowering times, slower development cycles, and reduced seed vigor.
The experiment will compare two cultivation methods to explore answers to these challenges and find the best fit for the space station's confined environment - the conventional sexual reproduction through flowering and seed propagation, and the asexual reproduction which involves ratoon rice that regrows from retained roots after harvest.
Another batch of rice seeds will undergo five months of exposure to space radiation and varying gravity levels in external and internal experiment boxes, potentially generating mutations that could yield valuable germplasm resources for breeding new varieties.
Shenzhou-23 to grow second-generation space-faring rice seeds
Buyers and exhibitors began making valuable new connections on opening day of the 140th Canton Fair, where international attendees discovered the latest products ranging from AI glasses to air conditioners.
About 86,000 overseas buyers from 208 countries and regions traveled to south China’s Guangzhou to attend the first day of the event, also known as the China Import and Export Fair.
Throughout the full multi-phase event, more than 30,000 exhibiting companies and about 340,000 overseas buyers are expected to attend.
Serving as a barometer of China's foreign trade, this year's fair, marking its 70th anniversary, features innovation, intelligence, greater specialization and higher quality. The Canton Fair is one of the world's few one-stop trade platforms offering a complete range of products and technologies.
Among the exhibitors, over 11,000 are niche-market leaders or specialized enterprises known for sophisticated technologies and novel products. Technology adoption runs high, with roughly 64 percent embracing innovations such as the industrial internet and AI. New and green products also set records, appearing at 23 percent and 26 percent of exhibits respectively, with more than 700 launch events planned.
At the "home appliances" exhibition area, a Chinese foreign trade company brought its newly launched solar-powered air conditioner. Against the backdrop of continuously rising energy prices, this category of products is increasingly popular among overseas customers.
"We buy air conditioning split units. We've been having very good feedback from our customers when we were coming here. Everyone is coming to Canton Fair, everyone is buying some goods and it's a very good business. And also there are many opportunities, and anything you bring from Canton Fair, there are very good profits," said Mohannad Waia, a buyer from Dubai.
In order to further expand the market, Chinese foreign trade enterprises are adapting to the needs of different regional markets through product innovation, and their overseas markets are continuously expanding.
"Based on the special needs of many countries, for example, this year we focused on launching this split air conditioner that requires no professional installation and no drilling for the European market. In fact, the industry as a whole has seen quite rapid growth this year. As for our company, we achieved an overall growth rate of 26 percent," said Liu Rongqiang, an exhibitor.
Since the beginning of this year, the import and export of AI products have maintained a momentum of rapid growth. Many Chinese companies in this sector have substantially enhanced their capacity for international operations by developing new products and improving production quality and efficiency.
"Our products mainly focus on AI and wearables. We have carried out product development spanning from hardware to software to the cloud. Through the Canton Fair, we have developed business contacts with clients from Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East over the past few years," said Zeng Zhitao, another exhibitor.
The 140th Canton Fair runs in three phases in Guangzhou from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4.
Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair has grown into China's largest and longest-running international trade event, with the most complete product range, the largest number of buyers and the highest transaction volume.
Over 80,000 overseas buyers seek new partnerships on Canton Fair's opening day
