时间：2022-09-05 01:49:52
As a primitive breed unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， the yak is an important means of production and source of livelihood for the people living in the plateau area. In our country， there are about 14 million yaks， 92 percent of the total world population， distributed mainly over alpine grassland of about 157 million hectares on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Since the end of the 1950s， with Professor Cai Li as a representative， a group of scientists from the Southwest College for Nationalities have conducted scientifi c research on yaks. They also examined the scientifi c and technological development of yak production in the alpine pastoral area at more than 4000 meters above sea level. They have achieved important outcomes and won acclaim from all over the world. In 1987， The Southwest College for Nationalities was the fi rst in the country to recruit post-graduates to study “yak genetic breeding” in order to produce new generations for our yak studies. After 20 years the students have already made outstanding contributions to the development of the breed.
A Khampa Man Who Neglected Study for Five Years
Li Jian， a Tibetan man， was born in May 1957 in the County of Li， Sichuan Province. He is currently Executive Deputy-Director of the Institute of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the Southwest University for Nationalities， and a professor and an expert specially subsided by the State Council.
In 1996， the Northwest Agricultural University awarded Li Jian a doctorate degree in “veterinary obstetrics”. Then he was headhunted by the Sichuan Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary. “I signed a contract with my institute， but for a long time， I made no progress so I then became stressed. Later our country imported the South African Boer goat that is acknowledged as the most excellent mutton goat in the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization in the United Nations defi nes it as the terminal hybridization male parent to improve the mutton goat. I sensed that maybe the embryo transplantation in which I had been engaged might have some value in meat production. Why？ Because at that time a common goat was worth three or four hundred Yuan but a Boer goat was worth more than 20 thousand. If I used the goat worth several hundred RMB to produce one or more worth 20 thousand… obviously I would make a good profi t. In those years， my team gained a breakthrough with the embryo transplantation of Boer goat and achieved success with our experiments. Our achievement won much attention from the Sichuan provincial government and was awarded First Prize for Scientifi c and Technological Advances at the provincial level. Later， some enterprise came and offered to cooperate with us. We set up a joint company offering technical services for many provinces such as Shanxi and Shaanxi. We did good business and made a lot of money.”
Mr. Cai Li， Professor of the Department of Animal Husbandry in the Southwest University for Nationalities， is one of the world innovators in yak study. He has devoted all his life to yak research. In the improvement of hybridization technique， he has achieved a lot， especially on how to make use of its advantages. He has cooperated with some other teachers and set up specifi cations on how to use frozen semen from domestic cattle to improve the breeding of yaks by artifi cial insemination. He has improved the use of hybridization to“use the fi rst generation for milk， and the second for meat”. The technology has produced 100 thousand hybrid progeny since it was introduced to the prairie on the highland， having greatly increased milk and meat production， and has been favored by herdsmen in yak raising areas. As such， Prof. Cai is happily called “Cai Yak” by shepherds in the Northwest of Sichuan. Prof. Cai Li has been reluctant to support his daughter in looking for a boyfriend among his colleagues. However， out of his expectation， Zhong Jincheng who often called on him to discuss academic questions and fell in love with his daughter. After the tutor became aware of the affair， he didn’t oppose it， maybe because Mr. Zhong was one of his favorite pupils.
Mr. Zhong’s academic career has advanced since he got married to his tutor’s daughter. In 1994， his paper On Jiulong Yak’s Germplasm Property and Breeding won the Second Prize for Science and Technology Advances in Sichuan Province. In 1995， The Breeding Standard for Jiulong and Maiwa Yak， formulated chiefl y by him， was put into effect by the Sichuan Technical Supervision Bureau； in 1996， his Yak Heredity and Breeding was published by Sichuan Science and Technology Publishing House； in 1998， his paper， Chinese Yak’s Genetic Diversity， won the Second Prize for Excellent Thesis awarded by the International Yak and Camel Foundation； in 2007， his Genetic Study on Yak Reproduction Effi ciency and Hormones won the Third Prize for Science and Technology Advances， Sichuan Province. And he published more than 180 papers on yaks on Journal of Genetics and Genomics Virus Genes、 Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences、 Canadian Journal of Animal Science and so on.
Speaking of his study of yaks， Mr. Zhong is very modest， “We did extend our technology in the county of Hongyuan and Mao， but not in a very large area. Firstly， as for the breed improvement， a normal yak doesn’t produce a good growth performance by itself. After hybridization with some other cattle， the fi rst generation produced is mainly used for milking. Generally speaking， a yak gives 700KG milk a year， but the fi rst generation of a crossbred yak can give 3000KG. However， because of the reproductive isolation existing in nature， males of the fi rst generation cannot multiply， and females of the second cannot give milk， but are selected for meat. If we alternate the two generations one by one， we can get good results in marketing. In addition， the consumers are pleased to accept it. In Ruoergai， we mainly work on domesticating wild yaks because when a wild yak is crossbred with domestic livestock， there will be no sterility or reproductive isolation and the offspring grow and multiply faster. As we talk to the local people， we also suggest they exchange stud stock amongst different groups， not only within the same village， but also with the neighboring villages or counties， so as to acquire hybridization advantages and alleviate regression. Besides that， the university has cooperated with the local government， offering herdsmen stud stock at favorable prices. For instance， last year， our Longri Pedigree Station provided the herdsmen with more than 700 yak studs. If only thirty or forty， or nearly a hundred yaks raised by the local people become inbred， the volume of production will steadily decrease.”