This photo taken on Dec. 9, 2024 shows space-bred highland forage in Cona, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Zehao)

　　LHASA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- In the world's highest plateau region, the seeds of certain high-quality pasture grasses have been sourced from a place far higher than their growing altitude -- beyond the skies.

　　It all began when Losang Norbu, an agricultural official from Cona City in the southeastern part of the Himalayan mountain range, realized that improving local herders' livestock yields required better forage, a challenge further complicated by the region's harsh climate.

　　Ranging from 2,400 to 4,400 meters in elevation, Cona features a diverse landscape, from lush forests and alpine meadows to barren hillside fields.

　　Later, a cadre sent to support Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region as part of a paired-up assistance program had an idea: why not experiment with seeds from an even higher altitude? He proposed a joint space-breeding study for saline-alkali-tolerant forage grasses in cold, arid regions.

　　“I was thrilled to learn of Cona's plan to test our space-grown seeds,“ said Guo Rui, director of Shaanxi provincial space breeding engineering technology research center. “Although space breeding is widely adopted, it had never been tried on the snowy plateau until now.“

　　Space breeding involves sending seeds into space aboard returnable satellites or spacecraft to expose them to conditions like high vacuum, microgravity and cosmic radiation, which randomly cause genetic mutations.