Kids get hands-on experience with "DIY Juice Blending with Sea Buckthorn Puree," "Decorating with Animal Buttercream," and "Pie Making"; they also enjoy tasting "Nutrient Sausages" and the aroma of roasted duck while witnessing the standardized production of modern noodles. Cutting-edge agricultural research equipment such as radar, drones, and flying mills are showcased. Plus, adorable internet-famous pets like chicks, ducklings, and fish are available for adoption through ring-toss games...
Tasting animal cream on site. Photo by Li Chen.
At the Sixth Agricultural Science Open Day held recently at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a variety of enjoyable activities such as science popularization markets, course explanations, gourmet tastings, and fun games were on display, attracting public attention and disseminating agricultural science knowledge, showcasing cutting-edge research results, and promoting the dissemination and sharing of agricultural science knowledge.
The most popular "feast for the taste buds"
"Potatoes have seeds too? It's my first time seeing them!" At the main venue of the Malianwa campus of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, visitors who had just tasted the hybrid potato variety Opti-tuber 1 expressed great curiosity about its seeds, unable to resist holding them carefully and marveling at them.
Such scenes were also common at the exhibition area of the Shenzhen Institute of Genomics of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. In addition to hybrid potatoes, the Institute of Genomics also showcased more than ten cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements and products, including Bama fragrant pigs, deeply loved tomatoes, rice seeds, wheat seeds, and others, and conducted on-site roasting of Bama fragrant pigs and Opti-tuber 1, offering free tastings to the public, attracting many visitors to "check-in" and "try."
At the sub-venue of the Vegetable and Flower Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the freshly squeezed juice of the Zhongyu 1877 carrot, full of "orange" flavor, received rave reviews. One female visitor exclaimed, "I've never tasted carrot juice this delicious before." Zhuang Feiyun, a researcher at the Vegetable Institute, introduced that this is the "Chinese core" fruit-shaped carrot developed by the research team after many years of development, which can fully meet the diverse market demand.
Carrot juice tasting on-site. Image provided by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
In addition, the independently developed "Fat-reducing Beauty" new varieties such as Zhongnong Cuiyu 3 cucumbers rich in succinic acid, and Zhongqing 15 broccoli with a refreshing and delicious taste that can be both salty and spicy, also made a stunning appearance. Various fruit and vegetable chewable tablets, instant fruit and vegetable powder, vegetable crisps, and other healthy products received unanimous praise.
The branch venue of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Processing Institute, themed "Health on the Tip of the Tongue," attracted nearly 1,000 participants from over 500 families. Scientific experts and engineering craftsmen explained the history of dietary development, processing technology, nutritional health, and other scientific knowledge in a popular and vivid manner, popularizing the scientific basis of dietary "color, aroma, taste, and appearance," interpreting the different identities of similar labels, and guiding precise nutrition for different groups of people, truly achieving delicious and healthy eating.
While enjoying themselves with laughter and joy, children also enhanced their understanding of agricultural science and technology.
Fun experiments with educational elements
In the science popularization gaming area of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Plant Protection, visitors showed great interest in activities such as handcrafting seed paintings themed around "I Love My Country, Bumper Harvest, and Warm Spring, Swallows Return," turning tiny seeds into vivid and interesting artworks with their nimble hands.
Painting with seeds. Photo by Li Chen
Children are seen smearing agar plates with their own hands, "to see if their little hands are dirty"; identifying "grain" rice, millet, Job's tears, wheat, beans, barley, sorghum, etc., and planting wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, vegetables, and other crops by themselves... The children enthusiastically participate, receiving gifts, gaining happiness, and increasing their knowledge.
Inside the beehive, you'll find a hive of activity. The exhibit at the branch venue of the Institute of Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences attracted many visitors. The "Magic Little Black Box" showcased the wizardry of a high-throughput multispectral phenotyping device: with just a turn and a click, it could reveal all there is to know about plant information. "X-ray Vision" displayed the root systems of different plants buried deep in the soil, allowing people to understand crop root growth environments through tiny sensors. The "Wisdom Eye" from drones could perform high-throughput measurements of cotton germplasm field information, including plant height. Inside a dark box, one could observe glowing plant seedlings and seeds, understanding how fluorescent proteins "light up" plants. Then there's the futuristic "AI Prophet," showcasing intelligent breeding and protein structure prediction systems, bringing artificial intelligence and big data technology into agriculture, making intelligent breeding a reality.
The magical little black box spins and clicks, revealing all there is to know about plant information. Image provided by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
At the Vegetable Research Institute, the only national mid-term repository for vegetable germplasm resources in the country, young visitors diligently learn about the importance and diversity of vegetable germplasm resources, and get hands-on experience making specimen bottles for vegetable germplasm. At the post-harvest processing booth for vegetables, volunteers guide children in conducting macro and micro observations of microorganisms, teach them how to make healthy drinks, and demonstrate self-generated atmosphere-controlled preservation technology, allowing the public to understand the principles of food processing and preservation. Audience members also have the opportunity for a close-up observation of potato virus-free seedlings and miniature potatoes, learning how to correctly cut seed potatoes and engaging in a fun starch-based secret message science experiment.
Meanwhile, at the Comprehensive Experimental Base of the Institute of Genetics in Shenzhen, a group of elementary and middle school students, under the guidance of science teachers, are venturing into the fields for a unique scientific journey.
Assistant researcher Yuan Quan guided students in wheat hybridization experiments. In the wheat field, students carefully identified different wheat varieties and, under the guidance of their teacher, completed wheat hybridization experiments to understand the breeding process of wheat and the importance of germplasm resource protection. In the tomato greenhouse, students tasted newly beloved tomato varieties, learning about the domestication process and growth habits of tomatoes. In the insectarium, students had the opportunity to observe insect specimens up close and interact with insect models, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the insect world from various aspects such as body structure, growth and development, habitat environment, relationship with agriculture, and relationship with humans, experiencing the charm of insects.
In the "Inspiring Thinking" science popularization classroom, a student from Tsinghua Attached Primary School commented after attending a lecture at the Plant Protection Institute, "I used to know that China is vast and rich in resources, but I didn't expect there to be so many plant diseases and pests. Farmers really have a hard time!"
In the science popularization area, Associate Professor Liu Wenwen from the Plant Protection Institute, with the topic "Plants' Silent Moves: The Secret of Plant Viruses' Spread," revealed the mysteries of plant virus transmission from different perspectives and explained the relatively scientific and effective prevention and control strategies in China. Associate researcher Fan Jieru focused on "Who Causes Plants to Get Sick," allowing children to understand the types of pathogens that cause plant diseases, as well as their transmission methods and quite professional infection characteristics. Scientists patiently and meticulously explained vividly, as close as possible to the children's lives and cognitive levels, using knowledge quizzes and interactions with the children, making it easy for them to learn new knowledge.
Observing Plant Disease Symptoms. Photo by Li Chen.
In the science exhibition area, visitors gained a wealth of new knowledge from 34 display boards and explanations provided by 12 guides. They learned about various aspects of plant diseases, including types, diagnostic principles, prevention and control strategies, as well as regulations on pest and disease prevention.
Close encounter with stick insects. Photo by Li Chen.
At the Institute of Biology, young scientists vividly showcased the applications of AI in protein structure prediction and smart agriculture with "The Fantastic Agricultural Journey of Young Explorers and AI," leaving everyone in awe of the wonders of artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, "The Wondrous World of Intelligent Breeding—A New Beginning of Human-designed Life" demonstrated how scientists utilize intelligent breeding technologies to create crops that are more adaptable to environmental changes and richer in nutrients, evoking a sense of wonder at the beauty brought into people's lives by intelligent design. The captivating lectures attracted many parents to bring their children along, immersing them in scientific seminars and deepening their understanding of the marvelous world of biology and the futuristic agriculture driven by technology.
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Dr. He Jiachun and Dr. Shen Hongfang from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Rice Research Institute gave popular science lectures on "Understanding Pests and Beneficial Insects in Rice Fields" and "The Power of Seeds" respectively. Visitors also experienced "A Time Travel Journey of a Grain of Rice" in the rice culture popular science exhibition hall and toured the complete process of rice processing at the Gaoke Technology Seed Industry Co., Ltd., where they sampled high-quality rice dishes.
New rice varieties. Image provided by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The Agricultural Science Open Day comprehensively showcased innovative varieties and technological achievements in recent years, presenting a distinctive brand of popular science event that combines scientific knowledge dissemination, social education, cultural exchange, and technological innovation. It further promotes the popularization of scientific knowledge and the inheritance of scientific spirit, sowing a seed of agricultural science in the hearts of children.
