Recently, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Forestry and Grassland Administration (IMARFGA) has announced the results of grass variety examination and approval in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2022. Two new forage grass species-“Inner Mongolia No. 1 Alfalfa-Medicago Sativa” (Inner Mongolia-Approved Seed Serial NO. -065-2023) whose application Prof. Ren Weibo with the School of Ecology and Environment of IMU led in and “Inner Mongolia No. 2 Cyperus esculentus”(Inner-Mongolia-Approved Seed Serial No.-067-2023) whose application Li Juan with the School of Life Sciences led in, have gone through the examination and approval of IMARFGA. In recent years, IMU has been focusing on “Five Missions(Inner Mongolia will build itself into the important ecological shield in northern China, security and stability shield in Northern China, national base for key energy and strategic resources, national base for producing important agricultural and animal husbandry products and key bridge tower to open to the outside world in the northern China)” to conduct organized research and made progress in cultivation of new species of animals and plants, ecological restoration of degraded grassland and ecological treatment of three lakes(Hulun Lake, Daihai Lake and Uliangsuhai Lake) and scientifically support the high-quality social and economic development of Inner Mongolia.

Medicago Sativa is perennial leguminous forage which is eulogized as “king of forages” for its high yield and nutritious value. It is indispensable key forage grass in the high-quality development of dairy industry in Inner Mongolia. And home-produced high-quality alfalfa has long been undersupplied and its supply has heavily depended on the import from other countries. With the shortage of the varieties of alfalfa for arid and semiarid areas in Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia University started coordinated research with such research institutions as the Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. With Medicago sativa L. cv. Zhaodong, Medicago sativa L.cv. Sanditi and Medicago sativa L. cv. Xinjiang Daye as parents, combination of such methods as space mutation and bulk-population breeding and aim of strong reproducibility, high yield of forage grass and strong adaptability, it has taken 15 years to cultivate the new breed of “Inner Mongolia No. 1 Alfalfa-Medicago sativa” with 3 rounds of bulk selection. The breed has such strengths as high and straight plant, multi-branch, long stem node, rapid reproducibility and strong drought and freeze resistibility. It is suitable in the production of high-quality and high-yield alfalfa in the central and western areas of Inner Mongolia. The results of production experiments have showed that in its second-year and third-year planting the yield of “Inner Mongolia No. 1 alfalfa-Medicago sativa” has increased 18 to 20% compared with the check variety. The planting of the breed has been successively demonstrated and popularized in Hohhot City, Ordos City, Linhe City and Tongliao City. The total popularized area of the breed has reached 500 mu(about 0.67 square kilometers) and showed prominent social and ecological benefits.

Single plant of Inner Mongolia No. 1 alfalfa -Medicago sativa

The experts from IMARFGA evaluate the production performance of Inner Mongolia No. 1 alfalfa-Medicago sativa in the fields.

Cyperus esculentus is high-quality forage grass. Its stems and leaves above the ground contain 5-9% crude fat, 6-15% crude protein and 10-19% crude fiber. Inner Mongolia University conducted coordinated research with Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences and Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences. With the germplasm resource of Cyperus esculentus which was introduced as parent and through chemical mutation to cultivate strain with genetic stability, “Inner Mongolia No. 2 Cyperus esculentus” was cultivated after many years of seed selection. The production experiments have showed that the yield of fresh grass of the breed is 6-10% higher than its check variety. The breed has prominent high-yield performance, strong resistance against stress, plant diseases and insect pest and consistent target character.

Plant morphology of Inner Mongolia No.2 Cyperus esculentus

Demonstration and popularization field of Inner Mongolia NO. 2 Cyperus esculentus