EXCLUSIVE Pumpkins 10 times their normal size, 2lb tomatoes,
14lb aubergines, 9-inch chillies.. and all grown from seeds sent into
orbit by China. But how safe are they?
By Adam Luck 11/05/2008
They came from Outer Space... huge monsters never seen on Earth
before. And they could soon be heading towards a supermarket near
you...
These giant fruit and veg, grown from seeds sent into space, are now
being grown in southern China where they are being heralded as
a solution to the world's food shortage.
Fans hum amid the steamy heat in futuristic greenhouses as 15-stone
pumpkins - 10 times their normal size - are supported on raised platforms.
Thick twine stop 160lb Chinese winter melons falling and crushing
gardeners working below. Struggling for space are chilli plants the size
of small trees with fiery 9in-long fruit which look more like exotic peppers.
Alongside are 14lb aubergines, 2lb tomatoes and 2ft cucumbers.
Futuristic white tubes stretch upwards sprouting huge kohlrabi cabbage
and lettuce.
The Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Science, 50 miles from Guangzhou,
could be the taste of things to come as China struggles to feed its 1.3billion
population.
Vast farms are already being used to cultivate these crops as space
fruit and vegetables are put on dinner tables across China. A total
of 22 provinces are taking part in the programme, coordinated by
the China Academy of Sciences.
While the West agonises over genetically-modified crops China is
steaming ahead with its own answer to GM and they are not shy
about exporting the produce.
Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia have all taken delivery
of the super fruit and veg. European agricultural companies have
also begun to show an interest in the technology, although none
from Britain yet.
Chinese expert Lo Zhigang believes space seeds represent the future.
"Conventional agricultural development has taken us as far as
we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless.
"Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruit and vegetables
bigger and faster."
The China Academy of Sciences, working with the then Soviet Union,
first started looking at the benefits of growing seeds in space in 1987.
Then two years ago the Shijian-8, the first recoverable satellite designed
solely to carry space seeds, was blasted into outer space on China's Long
March rocket. On board were more than 2,000 seeds.
Scientists have yet to offer a definitive explanation of why space causes
the seeds to mutate but they believe that cosmic radiation, micro-gravity
and magnetic fields may play a part.
Mr Lo said: "After space travel the genetic sequence may change
from 1,2,3,4 to 1,2,4,3 or a gene may even disappear so 1,2,3,4 becomes
1, 2, and 4.
"We don't think there is any threat to human health because the genes
themselves do not mutate, just their sequence changes.
"With genetically-modified crops you have seen environmental problems
because they have added genes that can damage other organisms.
"But with space seeds they don't gain genes, they can only lose them."
Once the seeds are returned from space they are cultivated and only
fruit or vegetables that show improvements in size, taste or vitamin
and mineral content are selected.
The seeds from these plants are then bred over at least another three
generations to ensure they remain stable.
Chinese scientists claim some space fruit and veg are better than
the original. The Vitamin C content in some vegetables is nearly
three times higher and there is a marked increase in trace elements
such as zinc. Yields of space rice are also 25 per cent higher.
Research also shows that certain space breeds use proportionately
less water than their more traditional predecessors so they could
be perfect for arid areas.
To date China has bred more than 50 new species of plants and has
plans to produce more than 200 new species.
Mr Lo's government-owned Shenzhen Nongke Science and Technology
Company also runs a public park called the Shenzhen Space Crops Park.
Here you can see space cabbage, space aubergines, space tomatoes
and space sunflowers.
"A lot more space seed products are going to be coming on the market
in the next two to three years, with sweet pepper, tomato and cucumber
breeds on sale," said Mr Lo. "Some of China's space seed products are
already exported to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. These
include breeds of cucumber, sweet pepper, tomatoes and broccoli."
Agricultural-scale production of space breeds has so far been restricted
to huge state-owned farms in the more remote Chinese provinces such
as Jiangsu and Shanxi.
But even the most slavish supporters of space seeds admit there are
problems. Size doesn't guarantee quality and some breeds show
a notable decline in taste, vitamin content and an increased sugar
content.
But Mr Lo thinks the rise of space fruit is inevitable. "I believe that
these seeds will be available for sale on the open market in the next
couple of years.
"When they will be exported to Europe is another matter altogether.
That could take some time, but when you are hungry who knows?"
'Veg has 3 times more Vitamin C'
news@sundaymirror.co.uk
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