On May 20th, a technical observation event showcasing the "double-density, double-high, multi-resistant" rapeseed technology model was held in Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province. In the Qiangang Town of Dongtai City, 200 acres of Sinopec Hybrid Rapeseed ZA 501, planted in a continuous pattern using new varieties resistant to high density, high yield, high oil content, and multi-resistance, along with new technologies for dense planting, high yield, high oil content, and multi-resistance (referred to as the "double-density, double-high, multi-resistant" technology), is expected to yield a bountiful harvest after enduring multiple rounds of rain, snow, and freezing weather during the seedling and budding stages. According to the field evaluation organized by the Oil Crop Professional Committee of the Chinese Crop Society, the theoretical yield per acre reaches 370.3 kilograms.
Observing the event on-site. Photo by Li Chen.
The "double high, double resistant" technology model for rapeseed was developed under the stable support of the national rapeseed industry technology system and the innovation project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It was jointly developed by the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and related units. Centered around the new rapeseed variety "Zhongyouza 501," it integrates technologies such as high-density mechanized precision sowing, rapeseed full-nutrient slow-release formula fertilization, precise regulation for vigorous growth, comprehensive green disaster prevention and reduction, and mechanical segmented reduced-loss harvesting.
Since the autumn sowing of 2023, the main rapeseed producing areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have experienced challenges such as warm and long seedling growth period, a steep drop in temperature after winter, rapid temperature rise during the budding stage, and another steep drop in temperature during the "big freeze." The rapeseed "double high, double resistant" technology model with "Zhongyouza 501" at its core has been promoted on over 1 million mu in the entire Yangtze River basin. Demonstrations in the upstream represented by Pengshan, Sichuan, and in the midstream represented by Xiangyang, Hubei, have achieved per mu yields of 306.7 kg and 263.8 kg respectively. This success follows the establishment of multiple high-yield records in production demonstrations with "Zhongyouza 501."
"Zhongyouza 501" is a superior variety developed by the team of Wang Hanzhong, a researcher at the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, after 10 years of research and breeding. It features characteristics of tolerance to high density planting, high yield, high oil content, and multiple resistances. In regional trials (with a planting density of about 20,000 plants per mu), the average yield per mu is 213.11 kg, with an oil content as high as 50.38% and an average oil yield per mu of 107.35 kg, surpassing international standards for double-low quality.
With the supporting technology of planting over 30,000 plants per mu, in 2022, "Zhongyouza 501" achieved a theoretical yield of 419.95 kg per mu in a demonstration plot in the dryland area of Xiangyang, Hubei, setting a new record for single-crop winter rapeseed in China. In 2023, in the rice-oilseed rotation area of Jiangling, Hubei, the actual yield reached 303.8 kg per mu according to the expert group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, setting a new record for mechanical actual yield per hundred mu in Hubei Province. This variety possesses multiple resistances such as salt tolerance, disease resistance, lodging resistance, and cold resistance. In 2023, in a continuous planting of 200 mu in saline-alkali land in Dongtai, Jiangsu, the mechanical yield reached 323.87 kg per mu, setting a new record for high-yield rapeseed in saline-alkali land.
Experts unanimously agree that this technology model effectively overcomes the adverse effects of extreme weather on rapeseed production. In large-scale promotion and application, it has shown outstanding advantages such as minimal frost damage, rapid growth recovery, and small yield losses, ensuring a bountiful harvest in the year of the "big freeze." Accelerating the application of the "double high, double resistant" technology in the main rapeseed producing areas of China is of great significance in promoting a substantial increase in rapeseed yield per unit area, increasing farmers' income, improving industry efficiency, and enhancing national oil production.
