Sowing the Seeds of Hope
Professor Lam Hon-Ming reveals the infinite possibilities of soybeans
# FoodSecurity
# SustainableAgriculture
# STEAM
Professor Lam Hon-Ming
Researchers have predicted that over one-fifth of the world’ s staple crops will be lost by 2050 due to global climate change. As the agricultural sector grapples with extreme weather events and soil depletion, smallholder farmers in developing states bear the brunt as they lack the resources to cope with the evolving agricultural landscape. Professor Lam Hon-Ming, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Life Sciences and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK), has dedicated over 25 years of his career to work out a solution. Through cultivating climate-smart soybean, the scientist envisages a more sustainable future that aligns with multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, to end hunger, poverty, and to take climate action while advocating international partnerships.
The potential of soybeans in sustainable agriculture
After completing his doctorate in the United States, Professor Lam returned to his alma mater in 1997 to set out on his agricultural research journey. Starting from scratch in soybean research, he encountered various challenges. In 1998, he met Professor Shao Guihua at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, who inspired him with her work on salt tolerance in soybeans. ‘Professor Shao devoted most of her career to field research into salt tolerance in soybeans. Limited by age and lack of proper facilities, she could not complete the study by herself,’ Professor Lam sighed.
Soybean cultivation is a game changer for sustainable agriculture due to its nitrogen fixation capacity. It can convert atmospheric nitrogen into organic nitrogen, enriching depleted soil and benefiting other crops growing in the same field. By contrast, application of artificial nitrogen fertilizers to the soil releases a greenhouse gas with a warming effect 300 times that of carbon dioxide. Professor Lam’ s focus is on increasing the nitrogen-fixing capacity of soybean and reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers. Compared with other staple crops, soybeans can more readily adapt to the harsh environment of Northwest China. ‘I envisaged that our research would not only increase soybean production in China, but also help to alleviate the serious desertification in China’ s northwest.’ Professor Lam promised
Professor Shao that he would achieve this goal with his CUHK team, and pledged to fulfil this promise.
Professor Lam and Professor Shao Guihua on CUHK campus
Illustration of nitrogen fixation
His research team has since decoded the genomes of numerous 17 wild and 14 cultivated soybeans in 2010. In 2014, he succeeded in identifying and cloning a new salt-tolerant gene from wild soybeans. In 2019, his research team completed the world’ s first reference-grade wild soybean genome. In May 2023, Professor Lam embarked on a new chapter in his agricultural research. The Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft and Shenzhou-16 crewed spacecraft, respectively carrying his research team’s rhizobia and soybean specimens, launched for the Tiangong space station, marking Hong Kong’s first aero-agricultural experiment in space. The project aims to explore genetic mutations in space and find new strains of rhizobia and soybeans with better adaptivity.
Serving the marginalized
Soybeans are highly nutritious, containing almost 40% protein and accounting for nearly 70% of the world’ s plant protein. This makes them an important source of protein in regions where animal meat is unaffordable and malnutrition is a threat. Professor Lam added, ‘The grants I’ve received are mainly for scientific research purpose. Bearing the needs of the disadvantaged groups in my mind, I’ve kickstarted various charity projects out of my own pocket.’
China, the homeland of soybeans, has a great economic and food supply potential related to soybean research. ‘Currently more than 80% of China’ s soybeans are imported. Our soybean research could contribute to the country’s food security,’ says the professor. Professor Lam has been collaborating with agricultural institutes in Mainland China to breed stress-tolerant soybeans and improve or restore arable land. His team has successfully developed three new stress tolerant soybean cultivars (Longhuang 1, Longhuang 2, and Longhuang 3), which have been distributed to local farmers in Gansu province for free since 2016.
In Pakistan, he initiated a collaboration with local researchers to develop heat-tolerant soybean varieties adaptive to the local environment to combat the negative impacts of global warming. In 2022, potential soybean cultivars have been identified and have been growing well in Faisalabad, despite the high surface temperature. This collaborative work also aims to provide agricultural knowledge to empower Muslim women.
In South Africa, he launched a soybean cultivation program with his collaborators in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, aiming to generate highly adaptive soybean varieties for local soybean production in remote villages. Satisfactory soybean growth performance was observed, even without the application of fertilizers, and the cultivation work has also improved youth employment in the Lukholweni district.
‘My South African collaborators hope that by using one village as a starting point, they can show that agriculture can increase local income. This may help to relieve serious unemployment among their youngsters.’
Inspiring youngsters to dream big
Professor Lam believes that the Tianzhou-6 and Shenzhou-16 spacecrafts carry not only his own agricultural projects, but also the hopes of science and innovation in Hong Kong.
In 2022, Professor Lam founded the social enterprise Soyvestors to enhance Hong Kong students’ scientific literacy and instil humanistic values.
Growing stress-tolerant soybeans helps restore arable land
Rooted in science but transcending science, Soyvestors leverages soybeans as a medium to inspire interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, liberal arts and mathematics) education. The enterprise aims to nurture all-round young talent with critical thinking skills and a humanistic understanding to comprehend global issues from diverse perspectives.
Students attend a STEAM workshop to learn about rhizobia
In July 2023, Professor Lam led a study tour to China’ s Gansu province, where students learned about soybean farming and other agricultural developments. ‘The students saw the deserts along the way as we rode on the bus. Not only did they learn about the importance of water, but they also saw how roads and electricity grids connected people and changed their lives. They also saw the large wind farms and the efforts China is making in developing renewable energy,’ said Professor Lam.
In July 2023, Professor Lam took school students to Gansu to learn about national agricultural development and the drought tolerant soybeans that he developed
While visiting local agricultural facilities and institutions, the participants also had the opportunity to interact with young agricultural researchers in Gansu. ‘The Longhuang Soybeans were launched into space to the Tiangong space station in May from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. This was a special event for the students as they saw for themselves that these beans were grown on agricultural land in Jiuquan,’ he added.
The promise made with Professor Shao 25 years ago has now been fulfilled, but Professor Lam’ s journey in sowing the seeds of hope continues.
The promise made with Professor Shao 25 years ago has now been fulfilled, but Professor Lam’ s journey in sowing the seeds of hope continues.
Jenny Lau is an editor in the Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Amy Li is an editor in the Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.