"About 54,353 kg per hectare!" Recently, in a trial turnip field in Jido Township, Riwoqe County, Chamdo City, at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters, a set of freshly measured data left everyone present astonished. "In the past, traditional cultivation yielded an average of only about 22,500 kg per hectare. This time, the yield has more than doubled!" said Wuci, a villager from Gerando Village in Jido Township, overjoyed.

The turnip is the most common native crop on the eastern part of Xizang, tolerant of severe cold, resistant to poor soil, and easy to grow. But in the past, villagers simply planted and left the harvest to the heavens, resulting in small turnips and low yields.

How can a traditional plateau crop be turned into a new source of income? In May this year, Riwoqe County selected local superior varieties and carried out standardized trial planting of turnips on about 1.47 hectares of land at the Qungala Agricultural Products Processing Farmers' Cooperative in Jido Township. Gongqiu Tsering, an agricultural technician from the county's Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs & Science and Technology, stayed in the fields all the time, bringing scientific planting techniques to the plateau fields step by step, from spring plowing and land preparation and seed selection to field management and pest and disease control.

The autumn yield measurement and acceptance was the best test of half a year's work. On the morning of October 12, agricultural technicians entered the fields equipped with measuring tapes, weighing equipment, and registration ledgers. Following standardized yield measurement methods, they crouched to measure, randomly selected multiple sample plots, dug by hand, bagged and weighed, and repeatedly verified every set of data.

"Yield measurement allows no 'roughly' or 'about right'." Gongqiu Tsering said while carefully inspecting and recording, "Every piece of data is authentic and traceable. It not only tests the effectiveness of this year's trial planting, but also directly determines whether we can promote it on a large scale next year and whether it can truly help local people steadily increase their incomes."

The measured data broke the local record for traditional turnip cultivation. "Turnips that haveundergone variety selection and standardized planting are crisper in texture, sweeter in taste, more consistent in appearance, and more resistant to cold and disease. This has effectively overturned the impression that 'plateau turnips are worthless,'" said Tashi Dargye, director of the Gerando Village Committee in Jido Township.

Qimei Tsewang, head of the Qungala Agricultural Products Processing Farmers' Cooperative, held a heavy turnip in both hands, examining it repeatedly with a look of deep satisfaction. "This year, technicians often came to guide us, teaching everyone scientific management and meticulous care. Now one unit of land yields as much as several did in the past. Looking at such fine turnips, I feel much more secure. We will definitely earn more this year!" Qimei Tsewang said frankly.

During breaks in the yield measurement work, the fields became a mobile classroom. Agricultural technicians gathered around the field ridges, explaining on-site techniques for timely turnip harvesting, key points for autumn and winter freeze protection and management, and methods for storage and preservation to reduce losses, giving hands-on corrections of farmers' planting misconceptions.

A field yield measurement is also a field survey that directly confronts industry shortcomings and recalibrates development direction. Gongqiu Tsering said: "During field inspections, we will carefully sort out weak links in planting and management, collect farmers' production difficulties, and identify the pain points and bottlenecks in large-scale turnip cultivation on the plateau, accumulating first-hand experience for optimizing planting layout, promoting superior varieties, improving the technical system, and extending the production and sales chain next year."

From "low-value forage" to "high-yield quality product," from "relying on nature" to "increasing income through science and technology," the transformation of turnipsfield records the hope of harvest in the plateau fields and bears witness to Riwoqe's solid steps in cultivating specialty agriculture and animal husbandry industries and advancing comprehensive rural revitalization.

Translator: Zheng Yujie

First Review: Pan Lu, Liu Fang

Second Review: Drakpa Wangchen

Third Review: Hu Rongguo