Consolidate the foundation of germplasm resources to create hard-core agricultural "chips"
Our reporter Zhang Ye
Seed Industry Innovation Series Report①
Editor's comment: Seed is the "chip" of agriculture, and the seed industry is a national strategic and basic core industry.
With the development of the biotechnology industry, the competition in the field of seed industry among countries around the world has become more intense.
Under this circumstance, how should China's seed industry "strong advantages, make up for shortcomings, and break down points", and how to improve its seed source guarantee capabilities and seed industry innovation capabilities?
This newspaper has planned a series of reports, focusing on all aspects of seed industry innovation.
my country has established a crop germplasm resource protection system centered on the national long-term bank, supported by regional, professional mid-term banks, and germplasm nurseries, and supplemented by in situ conservation areas (points).
At present, the national treasury has stored 510,000 samples of different varieties and billions of precious germplasm, which can be stored for more than 50 years at minus 18 degrees Celsius.
"For some time now, all sectors of society have been worried about whether there is a "stuck neck" situation in the Chinese seed industry. We judge that the supply is guaranteed on the whole and the risks are controllable." From February 6th to 7th, the first Chinese seed industry Industry Development Forum and Seed Industry Investment and Financing Seminar were held in Beijing and Sanya, Hainan. Sun Haoqin, deputy director of the Seed Industry Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, made the above judgment in a video speech.
The seed industry is the "chip" of agriculture, and it is also a national strategic and basic core industry.
The Central Economic Work Conference at the end of 2020 made it clear that one of the key tasks in 2021 is to solve the problem of seeds and cultivated land.
It is necessary to carry out the technical research of seed source "stuck neck", and is determined to fight a turnaround in the seed industry.
Is the agricultural "chip" really "stuck"?
How to correctly understand the turnaround of the seed industry?
How to carry out accurate identification of germplasm resources to achieve effective protection and efficient use?
A reporter from Science and Technology Daily interviewed relevant agricultural seed industry experts.
Is the agricultural "chip" really "stuck"?
Is my country's seed industry really "stuck"?
Sun Haoqin said at the Seed Industry Forum: China’s crops, especially grain seeds, can be solved entirely on its own, "China’s grain is mainly grown in China"; livestock and poultry such as pigs, cattle, sheep and some characteristic aquatic sources are guaranteed to be based on domestic sources; Provenances such as poultry, aquatic products, and vegetables are imported, and some of them can be substituted.
There are currently 25 foreign seed companies in China, with a market share of only about 3%, and imported seeds account for only 0.1% of crop breeding.
3% and 0.1% seem to be insignificant. Why is there a "stuck neck"?
The reporter learned during the interview that although there is no shortage of staple food seeds in my country, most of the cash crops, especially the seeds of some high-end vegetables, rely on imports.
In some regions and some varieties, the proportion of "foreign seeds" even exceeds 80%.
For example, carrots, spinach, onions, and high-end tomatoes account for more than 90% of imported seeds; broccoli imports more than 80%; sugar beet and ryegrass seeds are more than 95% dependent...
According to industry insiders, my country's animal husbandry, aquaculture, oil, feed, vegetables, fruits and other new varieties of research and development have shown obvious shortcomings.
"I understand that the turnaround of the seed industry may mean more battles in the field of livestock and poultry seed industry and crop seeds, including high-end vegetable seeds." Director of Jiangsu Seed Industry Science and Technology Engineering Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University College of Agriculture Professor Zhang Hongsheng, head of the Seed Industry Science Department, believes.
Zhang Hongsheng believes that the turnaround of the seed industry is to solve the problem of "seed source" and the problem of technological innovation.
The seed industry is not only the source itself, but also includes related industries such as R&D and production, sales and after-sales service, as well as related to the discovery of germplasm resources, protection and innovation technology, new variety cultivation technology, seed production and processing technology, etc.
“We should focus on high-quality varieties of animal husbandry and vegetables, speed up technological innovation, and effectively solve the cultivation and development of related varieties.” Yin Chengjie, a special researcher of the Counsel’s Office of the State Council and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, suggested that China should promptly develop new seed safety Guidelines, formulate a seed industry development plan during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, incorporate the construction of a national-level breeding center into an important part of the new infrastructure during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and take the construction of breeding bases in provinces such as Hainan as a strategic basis for national food security engineering.
Germplasm resources are the foundation of agricultural breeding innovation
The winter wheat in the north has risen and jointed, the Jianghuai region has started to boot, and the southwest region is filling... Now it is a good time for wheat to grow. The executive director of the medium-term bank of crop germplasm resources in Jiangsu Province, the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences research on germplasm resources and biotechnology Researcher Yan Wei of the institute is particularly concerned about the growth of wheat this year.
Yan Wei told reporters that the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have always been areas where wheat scab is prevalent and outbreaks. This disease can be called a wheat "cancer". There is no cure for it so far, and it is spreading to other wheat areas.
Therefore, finding resistance genes in the germplasm resource bank has become the hope of scientists.
"The year before last, Chinese scientists found the key gene Fhb1 in disease-resistant varieties in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, such as'Sumai 3'and'Wangshuibai', which provided a powerful weapon for defeating wheat scab." Yan Wei said.
At present, scientists have introduced Fhb1 into wheat varieties with medium and high susceptibility to head blight through molecular marker-assisted selection, and the disease resistance of these varieties can be increased by 76%.
If “seeds are the chips of agriculture”, then germplasm resources are the chips of chips. Without germplasm resources, innovation in agricultural breeding will become a source of water.
Baohua Magnolia is endangered, Chinese Allium sativum is endangered, wild soybean is endangered, rice and wheat farm varieties are hard to find... In recent years, local varieties and wild species have been squeezed, and the risk of local germplasm resource loss is increasing.
To this end, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launched the third national survey and collection of crop germplasm resources in 2015 to rescue and protect local crop germplasm resources.
Yan Wei said that scientists must race against time to save the resources of local characteristics and ensure that resources are not lost before resources disappear.
According to Yan Wei, my country has established a crop germplasm resource protection system centered on the national long-term bank, supported by regional, professional mid-term banks and germplasm nurseries, and supplemented by in situ conservation areas (points).
At present, the national treasury has stored 510,000 samples of different varieties and billions of precious germplasm, which can be stored for more than 50 years at minus 18 degrees Celsius.
The mid-term bank is responsible for the collection and protection of local germplasm resources, reproduction identification, distribution and sharing.
Taking Jiangsu Bank as an example, 53,000 copies of various germplasm resources have been collected and stored, and 57,000 copies have been distributed and shared externally. Relevant units have used these resources to cultivate more than 120 new varieties (lines), and have promoted a total of 1.03 billion mu.
Strengthen the research on the identification and evaluation of germplasm resources
Since the beginning of the 21st century, a biotechnology industry with “resources as the foundation, genes as the core, and varieties as the carrier” is gradually taking shape, and the worldwide competition for germplasm resources has become more intense.
In the sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth", germplasm resources have become the "fire of hope" for maintaining the earth's biodiversity, ensuring human food security and supporting the sustainable development of agriculture.
However, in order to make these germplasm resources a treasure for the revitalization of the agricultural seed industry, ultimately we must rely on the power of science and technology.
"For breeders, there are no bad germplasm resources." Yan Wei told reporters that most of the varieties collected in the germplasm resources bank may seem to be of poor quality, low yield, or low resistance. It is difficult to use directly, but it contains rich genetic diversity. It is necessary to mine excellent genes through genomics and phenotypic research methods, such as good-tasting rice, scab-resistant wheat, and bean-like mung bean.
Yan Wei suggested that research on the identification and evaluation of germplasm resources should be strengthened. “We are a resource-rich country but not a resource-rich country. Less than 10% of the stored resources have undergone in-depth identification and evaluation. We have a greater presence in the exploration and utilization of excellent resources than developed countries. distance".
At the same time, Yan Wei also believes that the cost of accurate identification of all 510,000 germplasm resources is too high, and it is neither necessary nor possible in the near future.
He suggested that, on the one hand, we should build core collections, replace genetic resources in genebanks with less representative core collections, carry out precise identification and genetic research, and reduce sample size; on the other hand, we should establish a national collaboration Group, division of labor and collaboration, different regions and different departments focus on the needs of the industry in the region, and carry out accurate identification and in-depth evaluation of relevant traits; at the same time, with the development of the industry and the changes in breeding goals, the traits and requirements for identification will be made accordingly Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the identification and evaluation of relevant crop traits in a planned and step-by-step manner.
In addition to continuing to conduct in-depth exploration of excellent genes for key traits of staple grain germplasm resources, the state should focus on supporting the precise identification of corn, soybeans, vegetables, flowers, and livestock and poultry germplasm resources and research on key breeding technologies and key links in the near future.
In addition, at present, the diversity of germplasm resources in my country is still not rich enough. 80% of the 510,000 crop germplasm resources are from China, while the United States has 590,000 crop germplasm resources, 80% of which are from overseas.
Relevant experts suggest that we should further open up to the outside world and purposefully introduce my country's scarce high-quality resources from diversity centers and rich areas.