en.Wedoany.com Reported - China's self-bred durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) achieved its first large-scale field harvest in June 2025 in Wuyi County, Hebei Province, with a measured maximum yield of 560.68 kilograms per mu, surpassing imported varieties. This milestone marks a breakthrough in China's domestication and cultivation of durum wheat, reducing long-term reliance on imports.
Durum wheat, with its hard kernels and high protein content, is a core raw material for producing pasta, pizza, and other foods. Previously, due to constraints in breeding technology and suitable germplasm resources, China imported an average of about 3 million tons of durum wheat and other hard wheat varieties and processed products annually. Since 2014, a team led by Professor Gou Jinying from China Agricultural University began breeding research in Wuyi County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province. Targeting the challenges of poor cold tolerance and difficulty adapting to northern climates in native durum wheat, they screened tens of thousands of germplasm materials and conducted genomic analysis. After 11 years of selection and breeding, the trial field yield exceeded 450 kilograms per mu in 2025, with quality indicators meeting premium standards, making it suitable for large-scale demonstration planting.
On June 20 this year, the harvest of 3,035 mu of self-bred durum wheat began in Wuyi County, with a measured maximum yield of 560.68 kilograms per mu, exceeding that of imported varieties. Li Hui, Vice President of the Wheat Branch of the China Seed Association and Chief Expert of the Hebei Province Wheat Modern Seed Industry Innovation Team, stated that this season's bumper harvest provides experience for expanding cultivation nationwide.
Wuyi County has implemented an "enterprise + cooperative + farmer" order-based planting model, signing guaranteed price purchase agreements, and supporting high-standard farmland renovation, unified pest control, and managed services to lower the threshold for farmers. Currently, the Hebei Wuyi Durum Wheat Professor Workstation has established a research base of nearly 3,000 square meters, providing support for subsequent variety optimization and industrial upgrading. Next, Wuyi County will create contiguous standardized planting bases and explore a full industry chain model of "breeding + planting + processing."
