(Economic Watch) Small "seeds" become China's "top stream" experts analyze steady growth and challenges

　　China News Agency, Beijing, April 12 (Reporter Chen Su) "The seed industry has turned around" and "the revitalization of the seed industry". In recent years, seeds have been mentioned by Chinese officials many times, and they have become the "top stream" in China for a while.

Why did China propose "seed industry revitalization"?

How will this goal be achieved?

　　Song Min, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Agricultural Zoning of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told a reporter from China News Agency that agricultural production mainly depends on seeds. Seeds are the internal factors that determine crop yield. Fertilizer, soil and water are all external factors. In the end, it is determined by the internal cause of the seed.

　　"The rigid constraints on the environmental capacity of China's agricultural development are getting stronger and stronger. The area of ​​arable land is limited and the soil is degraded. The potential to increase agricultural production capacity through other means has become smaller and smaller. Statistics show that the current contribution rate of grain yield increase has reached 45%. , the fundamental way out and core to increase agricultural output in the future is seeds." Song Min said.

　　Deng Guanglian, vice president of the China Seed Association, said that the world is currently undergoing major changes unseen in a century. The new crown pneumonia epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war have brought uncertainty to global food security. In addition, China is also facing the adjustment of agricultural structure. In this context, the Chinese government is paying more and more attention to food security.

"To ensure food security, we must first rely on the seed industry. The high-level proposal of 'seed industry revitalization' is based on the consideration of national food security."

　　In 2021, China's grain output will reach a new high, and the continuous development of China's seed industry in recent years has contributed greatly.

At present, the area of ​​self-selected varieties of crops in China accounts for more than 95%, and the self-sufficiency rate of core varieties of livestock and poultry exceeds 75%.

　　China attaches great importance to the collection and preservation of germplasm resources. China is a big country in germplasm resources. At present, there are 520,000 crop germplasm resources, second only to the 550,000 copies of the United States, ranking second in the world, especially the staple food seeds are basically "China's seed", the breeding level and production level of rice and wheat are in the leading position in the world.

　　However, there are challenges behind the steady growth of China's seed industry.

　　"We must see that China's seed industry also has shortcomings. For example, the yield per unit of corn and soybeans is still lower than that of the United States, and many germplasm resources have no advantages. Germplasms such as soybeans, corn, high-end vegetables, sugar crops, and meat are still relatively low. It also relies on foreign countries." Deng Guanglian said.

　　In Song Min's view, the most prominent problem of China's seed industry is that the innovation efficiency is not high enough. Although there are many varieties of seeds, they lack the most basic, top-level, and primitive innovative varieties like hybrid rice.

　　"Currently, the development of China's seed industry is in a period of scale development, a period of low benefit growth, a period of slow social investment, a period of breakthrough development bottlenecks, a period of restructuring, differentiation and transformation, and a period of expanding opening up." Deng Guanglian said that Chinese seed companies are "small and scattered". The status quo has not changed. At present, there are more than 6,000 seed companies in China. The industry concentration is not high, and the breeding innovation ability and competitiveness are not strong. Most of them are low-level repetitions, and it is difficult to form breakthrough varieties.

　　According to statistics, among the more than 6,000 seed companies in China, only less than 100 have R&D capabilities.

　　"Solving the problem of 'stuck neck' in the seed industry is not an overnight success. To solve the problem of innovation vitality, it is necessary to establish a mechanism that is conducive to efficient innovation and mobilize more social resources to participate in it. Breeding cannot rely solely on scientific research units as before. Give full play to the role of enterprises, encourage enterprises to invest, and at the same time increase the protection of intellectual property rights, and improve the innovation vitality of the whole society." Song Min said.

　　In recent years, China has accelerated the pace of "rejuvenation of the seed industry".

In 2021, China promulgated the "Seed Industry Revitalization Action Plan", which clearly defined seed source security as a national security strategy, and proposed to comprehensively strengthen the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, vigorously promote innovation and research in the seed industry, support the development of advantageous seed industry enterprises, and improve the seed industry. The level of base construction, and severely crack down on illegal acts such as deck infringement.

In March 2022, China officially implemented the new "Seed Law". The new law cracks down on counterfeit and shoddy seeds and encourages China's seed industry to move closer to international standards and carry out high-standard innovation.

　　At the same time, China is also speeding up its layout in making seed companies bigger and stronger.

In 2017, China National Chemical Corporation officially acquired Syngenta, a multinational seed company.

Song Min said that through the acquisition, Syngenta's seed innovation achievements and advanced experience models will be localized in China, which will play an important role in improving the international competitiveness of China's seed industry.

　　Nanfan Base, known as the "Silicon Valley of China's Seed Industry", is also continuously cultivating in the field of seed industry scientific research, constantly unlocking the password for China to achieve "revitalization of the seed industry".

　　Song Min said that the unique climate and environment of Nanfan Base can improve the efficiency of seed innovation and play an important role in China's seed industry innovation. At present, 90% of China's new varieties are selected and bred in Nanfan.

In recent years, Nanfan Base has also carried out more innovations, such as the establishment of a global transfer base for the introduction of animal and plant germplasm resources in Yazhou Bay. With the help of the facilitation measures of Hainan Free Trade Port, a flow mechanism of domestic and foreign breeding materials has been formed. Enrich China's germplasm resources.

"Nanfan Base drives the gathering of breeders, scientific research institutes, enterprises and related resources, which helps to improve the innovation efficiency and level of the entire industry." (End)