CUHK Research: Changing the world

“Recently, I’ve given money to build fences in a drought-stricken, underprivileged village in South Africa that will enable farmers there to start cultivating our drought-tolerant soybean and other crops. My South African collaborators hope that by using one village as a starting point, they can show that agriculture can increase local incomes. This may help to relieve serious unemployment among their youngsters.” In Pakistan, Professor Lam has started a project to test the heat tolerance of his soybean cultivars. An additional aim is to help local Muslim women acquire agricultural knowledge that may improve their social status. Experimenting in space In May 2023, Professor Lam and his team became the first to launch a Hong Kong agricultural research project into space. With support from the China Manned Space Agency, they sent rhizobia (soybean nitrogen fixing bacteria) samples to the Chinese space station Tiangong, in collaboration with the China Resources Research Institute of Science and Technology and Shenzhou Space Biotechnology Group. The professor sees it as a rare chance to escape terrestrial limitations and, under conditions of microgravity and space radiation, experiment with genetic variations to increase the bacteria’s nitrogen fixing ability. This could help to reduce use of chemical nitrogen fertiliser, improve soil quality and, ultimately, boost crop yields. “Through this project, we are combining advanced agricultural technology with aerospace technology to develop new strategies for agricultural field applications and food security. We hope these new horizons in agrobiotechnology will benefit farmers and communities in China and around the world.” We are combining advanced agricultural technologywith aerospace technology todevelopnew strategies for agricultural field applications and food security. 62