In Xinjiang, freshly baked naan has distinct layers and is crispy and durable; In the Guanzhong region, the handmade noodles of Jindao are infused with hot oil to stimulate a rich aroma; In Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Wonton, Shaomai, Xiaolongbao have become a hot day... If there is one food that can be eaten from north to south, it can also be eaten in thousands of ways - there is no doubt that it is wheat. Wheat is the main source of energy for humans. China has a perennial wheat planting area of 350 million mu and a total output of over 130 million tons for 11 consecutive years, accounting for 17% of the world's total. It is the largest producer and consumer of wheat in the world. Nowadays, wheat is not only the main food to fill the stomach, but also the carrier of health and a better life. A single grain of wheat interprets the myriad atmosphere on the dining table of foreigners. Customized dining table deliciousness - specialized wheat, specialized storage, specialized processing, empowering the ever-changing stories of pasta, all come from the "superpower" of wheat: the activated gluten and soluble protein through grinding form a gluten network when exposed to water, giving the dough elasticity and extensibility, creating strong plasticity in noodle products. At the laboratory of Yanjin Keming Flour Co., Ltd. in Henan Province, staff are using professional instruments to measure the gluten content and dough stability time of wheat. The company leader Song Ligang spread the wheat in his palm and carefully examined it, then put it in his mouth and chewed it. "The wheat has a dark color, is hard, and has toughness when chewed. It must be a strong gluten wheat." Soon, the instrument measurement result showed that the wet gluten content was 32%. Yanjin is the hometown of high-quality wheat. Every summer, Keming Company purchases a large amount of high-quality wheat in the surrounding area. Wheat with good performance indicators has a higher purchase price than regular wheat, "said Song Ligang. Flour has strong gluten, and the resulting noodles are more resistant to cooking and less prone to clumping. In recent years, the company's newly developed soft elastic noodles and hand extended noodles all use this type of wheat. In major production areas such as Henan and Shandong, high-quality specialized varieties such as "Xinmai 26", "Zhengmai 1860", and "Jimai 44" have successively emerged and become "hot cakes" in the market. Compared with the chewy taste of the tendons, the southern Mantou is another flavor. At the "First Evaluation Meeting on the Quality of Mantou Wheat Varieties in Southern China", the wheat "Yannong 1212" bred by Li Linzhi, the head of Yantai Comprehensive Test Station of the national wheat industry technology system, won the first prize. Researcher Jiang Hongming, a breeder, said that this variety has white flour, high flour yield, and rich wheat aroma. It has been promoted in about 30 million acres in the Huang Huai wheat region of China. Specialized wheat, specialized storage, and specialized processing have become a major trend in the field of wheat consumption. Zheng Xueling, director of the Processing Research Office of the National Wheat Industry Technology System and professor of the School of Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs of Henan University of Technology, said that the classification of wheat flour products is becoming more and more sophisticated because of the different quality requirements of different types of flour products, such as bread, noodles, Mantou, biscuits and so on. In the market, the proportion of specialized flour has already accounted for 30% of the total wheat flour and is showing a growing trend. However, specialized flour is not a single variety of wheat flour, but a combination of different qualities of wheat in proportion to achieve complementary advantages. Zheng Xueling introduced that improving the flour yield while ensuring the quality of specialized flour is one of the challenges in wheat processing. On the dedicated powder production line of Wudeli Flour Group Co., Ltd., "precision" and "flexibility" have become keywords. Through intelligent online powder mixing, precise matching of different base powders can be completed in 20 seconds, and real-time monitoring of flour ash content, gluten, and moisture can also be achieved. The fluctuation of product indicators in the same batch is controlled within 0.3%. During the grinding process, the grinding method and intensity can be flexibly adjusted according to the hardness of the raw materials and the size of the grains, resulting in a 4 percentage point increase in powder yield. According to our annual processing capacity of nearly 2 million tons of high-quality wheat, it is equivalent to an increase of about 80000 tons of high-quality specialized wheat, "said Dan Zhimin, the chairman of the company. In recent years, through technological innovation, the flour yield of large flour processing enterprises in China has generally increased from 68% -72% to 75% -78%, the energy consumption per ton of flour has been reduced by more than 7%, and key nutrients have been increased by more than 10%. Noodles, Mantou, bread, biscuits, pastries... The processing of wheat flour is turning from superior to green, and the quality of precision customized processing is more guaranteed, making each meal more delicious. Technology cultivates high-quality seeds - China's wheat yield has reached 1.6 times the world average level. Following the fragrance of wheat on the dining table, the focus is on the "big kitchen" of the Huang Huai Hai Plain. As the largest major wheat producing area in China, 9 out of every 10 Mantou in the country come from this land as gifts. Delicious doesn't mean good seeds. This seemingly ordinary Poaceae crop has a growth period of 220 to 270 days, from autumn planting to summer harvest, and can be described as "planted on ice and harvested on fire". In Qianhanyan Village, Zhangzhuang Town, Yinan County, Shandong Province, since the end of October last year, Liu Zengsheng, a large-scale grain grower, has been worrying a lot: he deeply plowed over 800 acres of land before sowing, mixed seeds, suppressed them once after sowing, and sprayed foliar fertilizer on weak seedlings... It was not until spring when he poured the green water and saw that the seedling situation improved that he finally felt relieved. Liu Luxiang, Chief Scientist of the National Wheat Industry Technology System, deeply understands the difficulties faced by wheat growers: winter wheat, which is not usually visible, is a "tough battle" behind consecutive bumper harvests. The variables mainly come from weather that goes against common sense: the autumn flood in 2021, rare "rotten rain" in 2023, continuous high temperature and drought in 2024, and continuous rainy weather in autumn 2025 leading to widespread late sowing... Since November last year, they have organized 11 scientific and technological teams to go deep into more than 60 key counties in 7 provinces to diagnose and prescribe solutions for overwintering seedlings. The annual growth rate of wheat consumption in China is 1.1% -1.6%. By 2030, the yield per unit area must increase by more than 10% to meet the demand. ”In Liu Luxiang's eyes, ensuring the absolute safety of wheat rations is imperative. And seeds are the key password for increasing production. Modern breeding techniques such as molecular markers and rapid breeding help to efficiently and accurately cultivate high-quality wheat with higher "reverse quotient". Fusarium head blight is known as the "cancer" of wheat. In 2024, during the period of wheat heading and flowering, there will be continuous rainy and cloudy weather. In Shijiatian Village, Weishan Town, Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province, two fields separated by a ridge, under the same medication control, one side will have a disease severity of 3-4 levels, while the other side will only have sporadic diseases, and most of the diseased ears will only have one or two spikelets affected. The famous "Yangmai 33" is planted in this field. The team innovatively uses multi gene molecular aggregation breeding technology to 'package' four genes for resistance to Fusarium head blight, one gene for resistance to powdery mildew, and one gene for high-quality flour into one seed. ”Gao Derong, the head of the Yangzhou Comprehensive Experimental Station of the National Wheat Industry Technology System and the director of the Wheat Research Laboratory at the Lixiahe Agricultural Science Research Institute in Jiangsu Province, said. In 2025, the upgraded version of the new variety "Yangmai 53" with stronger lodging resistance and better quality has also been approved by the state. Saline alkali land used to be a 'forbidden zone' for crop growth. In Huanghua City, Hebei Province, Zhang Zhiqing, the chairman of Youhe Planting Cooperative, planted the national salt alkali resistant excellent variety "Hangmai 802". The previous season's harvest surprised him greatly. "These 120 acres of wheat, without watering or relying solely on rain, achieved a yield of 496.6 kilograms per acre!" Seeking grain from marginal land has become a strategic move with great potential. In the past five years, the national wheat industry technology system has promoted wheat yield from 382.8 kilograms in 2020 to 396.0 kilograms in 2025 through integrated comprehensive technology, including variety improvement, innovation and integration of green and efficient cultivation techniques, intelligent monitoring and green prevention and control. This has effectively ensured the balance between supply and demand. This number is currently 1.6 times the world average, "said Liu Luxiang. Expanding the value of the entire industry chain - The wheat economy is flourishing in the fields of food, culture, and even industry, with increased production capacity and improved quality, supporting a resilient wheat industry chain that is flourishing in the fields of food, culture, and even industry. In the field of traditional food, with the emergence of new dietary concepts such as whole grains, low GI, and antioxidants, the edible value of wheat has been developed layer by layer. At Sichuan Aidale Food Co., Ltd., a "Chuanmai 98" series mooncake is highly favored by consumers. Its raw material comes from the functional wheat variety "Chuanmai 98" selected by the Crop Research Institute of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and its flavonoid content is 3-5 times that of ordinary flour. According to Jiang Hua, the general manager of the company, during last year's Mid Autumn Festival, the "Chuanmai 98" series of mooncakes produced over 1 million pieces, with a single product sales revenue of 10 million yuan. In addition, the high natural flavonoid content in wheat flour during the production of cookies helps to delay oil oxidation, ensuring a crispy, mellow taste and stable shelf life. In his view, functional wheat products are opening up new space for the development of the baking industry. In some northern noodle provinces, the art of Huamo, as an "edible intangible cultural heritage", has released vigorous vitality. At this year's local Spring Festival Gala in Yanjin, Henan Province, a large Chinese zodiac flower bun piece conveyed a strong New Year's flavor -8 white horses driving auspicious clouds, with lifelike details of mane and saddle, and several peonies surrounding them, with complex and lively petals, all of which were "transformed" from dough. The work is created by Zhang Wei, the fourth generation inheritor of Zhang's Huamo. Zhang Wei introduced that every step from wheat screening and drying to flour processing, as well as more than 10 kneading techniques such as rolling, kneading, twisting, and rolling, is quite meticulous. During festivals, betrothals, and birthdays, this' Chinese cake 'can bring joy and happiness, "said Zhang Wei. The energy of wheat is far more than that. The by-products generated during the processing, including active nutrients, dietary fiber, and trace elements, account for over 90% of the whole wheat grain, making it a 'nutritional treasure trove', "said Dan Zhimin. Nowadays, bran is used as feed and raw material for vinegar fermentation, wheat germ oil extracted from wheat germ is used in the fields of edible oil and cosmetics, and secondary flour is supplied to aquaculture enterprises... Beyond the staple food field, cross-border applications have doubled the value of wheat. Walking in the main grain producing areas, relying on industrial chain clustering, high-end value chain, and supply chain integration, the connotation of wheat economy is extending to a deeper level. In Yanjin, Maixiang, from the cultivation of high-quality wheat orders to the development of processing industry clusters, and then to flower buns, wheat straw paintings, dough sculptures, and wheat theme parks, a wheat plant grows a colorful industrial chain. Hou Hongtao, Director of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Yanjin County, introduced that the county's modern agricultural industrial park has gathered nearly a hundred grain and oil food processing enterprises around more than one million acres of wheat, with a total output value of 15.2 billion yuan, driving nearly 50000 farmers to increase their income. A grain of wheat, never ceasing to grow. The carbon water "universe" constructed by wheat is the soul of noodle culture and supports half of the staple food industry. At present, in the midst of the rejuvenation and rejuvenation, the story of wheat continues one after another, and the foundation of Chinese people's rice bowls will become even more solid. (New Society)