Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: scientist’s soybean research pushes agricultural frontier
Lam Hon-ming’s groundbreaking work on soybean genetics and varieties has led to cultivation in mainland China, contributing to country’s food security
When Professor Lam Hon-ming returned to Hong Kong after completing postdoctoral work in the United States in 1997, he was fixated on one question: how can science help feed the country and the world?
He found that soybeans offered part of the answer. In addition to its nutritional value, the crop can fix nitrogen levels in the soil, reducing reliance on chemical fertiliser, and some varieties can be bred to tolerate drought and salinity.
Lam went on to spend almost three decades studying soybean genetics and developing varieties suited to marginal land.
“I wanted to work in agricultural research because it is important for everyone, although relatively few people were doing it,” said Lam, the director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology.
