Farmers in central China are reaping success with a type of lotus grown from seeds carried into space by Chinese astronauts in experiments designed to increase their yield.
The cultivation of "space lotus" has been pioneered by Li Baocheng, who has planted and helped others to plant the aquatic perennial on 333 hectares of land in Shaoyang, Hunan Province.
Lotuses produce stunning flowers above the shallow water they grow in and delicious, edible roots below. Their seeds are particularly prized as a food and for their use in herbal medicine. Li's crop on 10 hectares attracts tourists to stay in his guesthouse in Shaoyang's Dongfeng Village.
It all started in 2004, when Li heard about space lotus from a chef friend. The chef told him that the product could make him more money than Li's usual crop, potatoes.
A state-backed project saw the seeds taken into space aboard satellites and spaceships in the mid-1990s. Vacuum and microgravity conditions transformed them, according to the scientists behind the project.
In 2005, Li gave a wholesaler 5,000 yuan (US$756) for 65 seedlings, which covered just one mu. While growing the lotus, he raised loaches, carp and mudsnails in the surrounding water. The lotus and aquatic products generated more than 15,000 yuan at the end of the year. By day, guests at Li's inn gorge on the visual feast of the flowers, and at night they dine on lotus and fish from the same fields.
"Even my wife, who was unemployed, began to get very busy dealing with the tourists," Li said.
As his farm-tourism business started to take root, Li developed two other types of lotus based on the original strain. The new, late-maturing varieties helped prolong the flowering period from June to October, and kept the visitors coming.
"Each weekend, our village is so busy that there are often traffic jams on the country roads," said the 67-year-old.
Last year, he formed a rural cooperative in Dongfeng, bringing in extra business partners. He has also been selling seedlings to other parts of Shaoyang, charging 1,000 yuan for enough to cover one mu plus a surcharge for technical support.
