On June 5, 2024, the China Tobacco Corporation Hunan Provincial Branch conducted field evaluation for the new strain of cigar tobacco, QX208, in Guidong County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province. QX208 was developed collaboratively by the Tobacco Research Institute (TRI) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the China Tobacco Corporation Hunan Provincial Branch, the Hunan Provincial Tobacco Company Chenzhou City Branch, and the Guidong County Branch. The Party Secretary of TRI, Dingchun Yan attended the evaluation meeting, along with 20 representatives from the joint breeding units.

The Evaluation committee conducted a meticulous inspection involving on-site observation of QX208’s field performance, presentations by the project team, visual assessment of QX208 samples, and the tasting of unblended cigars made from QX208 leaves. Following thorough discussions, the committee concurred on several key points regarding QX208’s attributes. QX208 is a natural mutation of Havana2000, the primary variety of Cuban cigar tobacco, moderate resistant to black shank disease. As a cigar filler tobacco, QX208 exhibits uniform growth and genetic stability, reaching a topping height of 146.44 cm, with 25.4 harvestable leaves, a middle leaf length of 52.84 cm, and a middle leaf width of 31.83 cm. Additionally, QX208 displays immunity to TMV, moderate resistance to PVY and bacterial wilt, and resistance to CMV, black shank disease and cold stress. Its dried leaves feature rich brown with abundant oil content and a loose tissue structure, exhibiting distinctive cigar characteristics with a pronounced aroma and a robust smooth flavor.

The committee’s unanimous agreement confirmed QX208’s overall excellence, endorsing its inclusion in the raw material formulation of medium to high-end hand-rolled cigar. This marks a milestone as QX208 represents the first collaborative effort between TRI and the Hunan Provincial Tobacco Company in breeding cigar tobacco varieties. Its validation by multiple industrial companies shows promising prospects for widespread promotion and application.

In recent years, TRI has been adhering to an industrial demand-oriented approach, focusing on the independent development of cigar tobacco varieties and targeted improvement of main varieties. Presently, the institute has two newly approved cigar tobacco varieties, with five additional strains passed field evaluation. Moreover, it has established a germplasm resource platform and three mutant libraries dedicated to cigar tobacco. In the future, TRI will remain committed to a new breeding model of “industry-guided, commerce-led, and research-driven”, striving to cultivate “Chinese-style cigars” which are “easy to use” for industry, “easy to manage” for commerce, and “easy to cultivate” for farmers. (By Xingwei Zhang, zhangxingwei@caas.cn, Guoxiang Liu, liuguoxiang@caas.cn)