Yu Meng collects rice seeds at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

HAIKOU, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Yu Meng, a post-90s agricultural researcher, is the head of the saline-alkaline tolerant rice breeding project in Qingdao's saline-alkaline tolerant rice research and development center.

In 2018, she started her work in the center.

Yu does almost all her work in the field, from land reclamation, sowing, transplanting, hybridization to harvesting. She dreamed of cultivating new strains of high yield sea rice.

To improve efficiency, Yu and her colleagues visit the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, which is dubbed the "silicon valley" of China's seed industry, each year to undertake seed breeding, thanks to its unique light and heat resources.

Yu Meng airs rice seeds on the balcony of a rented apartment in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng (L) sorts out seeds at a laboratory of a saline-alkaline tolerant rice research and development center in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 12, 2022. (Xinhua)

Yu Meng (R) packs rice seeds in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng (2nd L) sorts out seeds at a laboratory of a saline-alkaline tolerant rice research and development center in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 12, 2022. (Xinhua)

Yu Meng (R) and her colleague leave the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng conducts a hybridization experiment in the field at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng (R) packs rice seeds in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows rice seeds on the balcony of Yu Meng's rented apartment in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng checks the growth of hybrid rice at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng (L) and her colleague check the growth of rice at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng collects rice seeds at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

Yu Meng (R) and her colleague work in the field at the Nanfan breeding base in south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)■