每到夏天，大口吃著清甜的西瓜，人們總會感念“讓中國人實現(xiàn)西瓜自由”的吳明珠奶奶。

7月16日，94歲高齡的中國工程院院士吳明珠再次來到她曾經(jīng)奮斗過的新疆吐魯番市，受到當(dāng)?shù)厝罕姷臒崃覛g迎。

Wu Mingzhu, an expert on melon cultivation, received a heartwarming welcome in Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Tuesday. At 94 years old, she revisited the place of her lifelong dedication to cultivating watermelons and sweet melons, embraced by an outpouring of warmth and appreciation from the local community.

看到今年新結(jié)出的哈密瓜，吳明珠說：“又香，顏色又好看。”她還品嘗了西瓜🍉

因患有阿爾茨海默病，早已認(rèn)不得人的她，卻始終惦記著瓜。

她曾說：“我的人生就是想多結(jié)幾個瓜，把瓜的甘甜獻(xiàn)給人民。”

吳明珠出生于武漢，1953年從西南農(nóng)學(xué)院（西南大學(xué)前身之一）園藝系果蔬專業(yè)畢業(yè)，與袁隆平是同級校友。兩年后，吳明珠主動請纓到新疆維吾爾自治區(qū)工作，研究瓜種培育等工作。

在新疆的工作條件十分艱苦，但是吳明珠和同事花了3年時間，走遍當(dāng)?shù)?00多個生產(chǎn)隊，一塊瓜地一塊瓜地調(diào)查，最后整理出44個品種，為新疆瓜建立了第一份資源檔案，成為后來育種的基本材料。

Born in Wuhan, Hubei province, Wu graduated from the Department of Horticulture and Fruit Science of Southwest University in 1953. In 1955, she volunteered to research melons in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where working conditions were tough at the time. She spent three years visiting over 300 production teams throughout the region, identifying 44 melon varieties.

吳明珠多方考察，認(rèn)定吐哈盆地是培育瓜種的好地方。1956年8月，她又向組織打報告，申請調(diào)到距烏魯木齊近300公里的鄯善縣農(nóng)業(yè)技術(shù)推廣站。從此，她邁開了培育瓜種的第一步，并在這條路上一走就是50多年。

除了西北新疆，吳明珠的“種瓜”足跡還到了海南。1973年，吳明珠與隊友在海南開辟“南繁北育”基地，春天新疆可以種兩代瓜，冬天到海南可以種四代，選育瓜種的機(jī)會大大增多。

上世紀(jì)90年代，吳明珠和團(tuán)隊成功在江蘇和浙江培育出高質(zhì)量西瓜“早佳8424”，在當(dāng)時被譽為“西瓜之王”，并且逐漸將品種推廣到北方。

Wu's efforts to grow quality melons began paying off in 1973, when she set up an offseason breeding base in tropical Hainan. The island province is now developing bases that are regarded as China's Silicon Valley of seed breeding.

 

Wu shuttled between Xinjiang and Hainan annually for many years to work.

It's no exaggeration to say that about 80 percent of the watermelons and sweet melons served at people's dining tables every day are the result of painstaking efforts made by Wu and her team over more than 60 years.

70多歲時，吳明珠還在和時間賽跑。

夏秋在新疆，冬季到海南，天天在瓜地做試驗。別人眼里單調(diào)艱苦的育種工作，在她眼里是莫大的享受。

“瓜是我的生命，一天不去瓜地，我就覺得很難受，就好像母親一天看不到自己的孩子。”

如今，即使罹患阿爾茨海默病10多年，已經(jīng)認(rèn)不出子女，但一提到瓜，她的眼神立刻就亮了，還會經(jīng)常說起“要去瓜地”“瓜要授粉了”這樣的話……

Now dealing with Alzheimer's disease, Wu is often unable to recognize her former colleagues or even her family members who live by her side. But having toiled day and night cultivating new varieties since the 1950s, the memory of her melon work remains in her mind.

從風(fēng)華正茂到耄耋老人，吳明珠一輩子只為一件事。正如1999年當(dāng)選為中國工程院院士時，她作為“全國十大杰出技術(shù)人才”之一，在北京人民大會堂做的這段感人肺腑的發(fā)言所說的：