‘Totally unexpected’: China’s trial Taklamakan Desert wheat yield doubles national average

A demonstration wheat plot in China’s vast Taklamakan Desert has produced a harvest nearly double the national average yield recorded in 2025, according to a project announcement. The wheat, known as Jingmai 189, was developed by the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences to withstand drought, saline soil and nutrient-poor land. The trial on a managed, heavily saline plot produced a harvest of 768kg per mu (about 11.5 tonnes per hectare or 10,278lbs per acre) compared with the...

By Chao Kong