As time goes by, winning the title of the Fifth National Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent in 2014 has been a memorable experience over my course of life. Looking back now, the experience still means a lot to me and will be motivating me throughout my life. Reminiscing about the past, I still feel that my growth, achievements and transformation attributed to my efforts to keep pace with the times.

Food is the first and foremost sustenance in people’s lives. Food security is closely related to national security and it has always been the country’s top priority. In China, the Central Plains region plays a key role in promoting national development and people’s well-being. However, agriculture has always faced challenges, particularly the environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, and sandstorm. All of this hinders agricultural development and results in food shortages and even famine. How to adapt plants to poor environmental conditions, especially in the Central Plains region, becomes my long-term area of interest in the hope of bringing insights into how to solve basic scientific problems faced by agriculture by means of life science methods. My aspiration to make contributions to agricultural research has been internalized and become a source of motivation for me to keep going and working towards my goal.

In 1986, I just started working for Henan University, where there were no laboratory and relevant equipment. Biology at Henan University was a whole new academic discipline which needed to be developed from scratch. How to conduct scientific research in the absence of basic experimental equipment and funds has become the big problem that plagues us. We started with the development of master’s programs and doctoral ones in the academic disciplines and with establishment of laboratories both at provincial and national level in the relevant facilities. In this process, a series of advanced research techniques have been developed, such as regulating water loss through stomata on the surface of plants to improve the drought resistance. It proves that after years of hard work, it is reasonable to say that subjects like stomatal physiology and cell biology have become core subjects that are aimed at providing a research direction for analyzing the signal transduction process of stomatal movement. At that time, we accumulated a small amount of funds, built a basic experimental platform, and successively developed new technologies in cell physiology and electrophysiology. We, no later than any other laboratory team, managed to develop a temperature-sensitive far-infrared thermal imaging system. And we established an effective molecular genetics screening system, obtained many genetic materials for controlling plant water use,achieved a series of research results in improving plant water use efficiency, and won the second prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2012.

It is always memorable to think about the thorns and obstacles along the way. As for scientific competition, we got half the result with twice the effort. Just like making a dish called fried shredded pork with eggs and black fungus, some people can quickly opt for available ingredients sold in the market, which saves time and energy, but we instead start with building a chicken coop and raising chickens for eggs, which no ordinary people would ever take.

At the same time, I have always been grateful during my personal growth. It is precisely ascribed to the fact that the country has fostered all kinds of talents and established a perfect talent system that assists all kinds of talents with aspirations to keep up with the pace of the times, to seize development opportunities, to identify their own positioning, and to integrate their personal career pursuits. I have deeply rooted my personal growth in the mountains and rivers of the motherland, so in turn I would like to have my knowledge and ability contributed to the development of the country and region.

No pain, no gain. Winning the title of ‘National Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent’ in 2014 is a result of series of hard work, an accumulation of periodical achievements, and a response to the original ideology that I have always adhered to. For the central and western regions that are in urgent need of talent support, this award is undoubtedly a great affirmation. It encourages more professionals in more fields to contribute to regional economic, social and country development, and national rejuvenation. It also inspires me to continue my attachment to the Central Plains and do my best for the science with all the ideology and determination in my heart!

(The author is the fifth ‘National Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent’, President of Henan University)