Farmers harvest turnips in Quxu County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Aug. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng) By Yi Ling

LHASA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Jiang Lili is on an unprecedented six-year expedition at the foot of Mount Qomolangma. Unlike the many adventurers who set out from there to climb the highest peak on Earth, she set her sights on the barren land under her feet, aiming to find viable cash crops for the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau to improve local livelihoods.

And Jiang has succeeded in her quest.

Jiang, an associate researcher of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has been leading a team, in collaboration with the CAS Kunming Institute of Botany, to cultivate high-quality and high-yield plant varieties in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, with the aim of addressing forage shortages in the region.

The great news is that her team has finally identified a viable option -- a turnip, which is commonly known as "Tibetan radish" in Xizang.

This plant, which resembles a radish, is entirely edible, from its leaves to its roots. Notably, it is a versatile source of food, medicine and animal feed.

Over the past six years, Jiang's team has successfully cultivated turnips in over 10 locations in Xizang, including one at the Mount Qomolangma base camp town, situated at an altitude of 4,127 meters above sea level.

SEARCHING FOR THE PLATEAU'S "CHOSEN ONE"

Jiang, after completing her postdoctoral research in 2012, joined the CAS Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research to study grassland ecology. During her extensive research efforts on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, she identified a bottleneck issue affecting the development of Xizang's animal husbandry, namely a shortage of forage.

Xizang, which is one of China's major pastoral regions, contains nearly one-third of the country's total grassland. According to 2021 data from the regional natural resources department, grassland is the dominant ecosystem in Xizang, covering over 1.2 billion mu (around 80 million hectares) and representing 30.2 percent of the national total.

Consequently, livestock farming is the primary source of income for local herders. However, the high altitude and low temperatures make it difficult to grow most forage grasses, such as alfalfa, throughout the region.

Jiang Lili, an associate researcher of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, showcases the harvested turnips with students at the pilot field at the foot of Mount Qomolangma in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Sept. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

In 2018, Jiang led a team to undertake a CAS research project to tackle this forage challenge. After evaluating over 60 potential options, her team selected oats, forage rapeseed, Dahurian wildrye, Siberian wildrye, barley and turnip for establishing artificial grasslands in northern Xizang, with turnip showing remarkable adaptability to the local environment.

"Turnip excels in terms of cold tolerance," Jiang explained. "Its seedlings can endure temperatures as low as minus 3 to minus 5 degrees Celsius. In addition, alfalfa seedlings would perish after just two rounds of hail, while turnips can survive even after four or five rounds."

"In Nagqu, where the average altitude exceeds 4,500 meters, when a cloud comes in summer, the temperature will drop by 10 degrees Celsius. Under these conditions, rain often falls as small hail, and at times, heavy rain mixed with large hail," Jiang explained.

"But these turnips still survive despite the extreme conditions. They are the 'chosen ones' for the plateau," she noted.

FROM LITTLE FIST TO BIG BLOCK

"One year, four seasons, people eat, and horses feed. In spring, we eat their seedlings, in summer, the leaves, in autumn, the core, and in winter, the roots." These are the lyrics of a folk song, which reflect the seasonal consumption of turnips. It is a song still sung by locals in Xizang today.

Jiang Lili, an associate researcher of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (R), and a farmer compare a newly-developed variety of turnip with local turnips in Quxu County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Aug. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

A Tibetan farmer from Zanda County in Ngari Prefecture expressed amazement to Zhao Weiwei, a graduate student from the CAS Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, about the unusually large Tibetan radishes just unearthed from the pilot field.

"I have never seen such big Tibetan radishes before," the middle-aged man told Zhao.

Zhao is part of Jiang's team, which traveled from Lhasa to assess the results of their year-long experiment on a 7.33-hectare pilot field in Zanda.

The results were promising, with the experimental field yielding over 5,000 kilograms of turnips per mu -- and the largest individual turnip weighed no less than a hefty 11.67 kilograms.

The team reserved some samples for further research and donated the rest of the harvest to local residents for use as food for both people and livestock.

Children were seen in the fields, cleaning the freshly harvested turnips with their sleeves, peeling them and then enjoying the juicy roots.

"Although they look similar to radishes, turnips contain more protein and sugar and they have a mild sweetness rather than spiciness," Zhao noted.

Previously, local varieties of turnips in Xizang were limited and produced low yields.

"They were only the size of a child's fist, weighing about 250 grams," said the middle-aged Tibetan farmer, while demonstrating the plant's size with his thumb and index finger.

Farmers harvest a turnip weighing over 10 kilograms in Quxu County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Aug. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

Jiang and her team have dedicated six years to identifying various turnip varieties that are suitable for different altitudes and ecological conditions in Xizang, transforming "little fists" into "big blocks."

Jiang emphasized that for every 1,000 meters increase in altitude in Xizang, the temperature decreases by 6 degrees Celsius, highlighting the need for selecting appropriate varieties and applying suitable techniques in pilot fields at varying altitudes, many of which were learned from local Tibetan farmers.

For instance, in Lhasa, turnips can be planted twice a year, starting in April or May, while in other regions, sowing should be postponed by a month, allowing for only one planting per year, while even broadcasting techniques vary depending on locations, said Jiang.

In August, they harvested the "king of turnips" in Quxu County of the city of Lhasa, which is the largest known turnip in decades, weighing 12.04 kilograms. Despite the challenging environment of Nagqu, the biggest single turnip grown there weighed an impressive 4.8 kilograms.

Jiang has, therefore, been hailed by many as the "queen of turnips." The turnips produced by her team garnered significant attention at a recent event promoting new plant varieties in Quxu County. The regional catering association later introduced special dishes featuring turnips.

Looking to the future, Jiang expressed her intention to continue searching for improved turnip varieties and to investigate more advanced cultivation methods.

"My biggest dream is wild. I envision turnips being widely planted, even in the backyards of local Tibetans, providing them with more vegetable options for themselves and more feed for their livestock. Ultimately, this will lead to better incomes and a better life," she said.