◎Reporter Ma Aiping
Smart agricultural machinery rushes around in the fields, automatically planting, fertilizing, and harvesting, but no one is seen; tap the screen with your fingertips, and you can water and fertilize the vegetables in the greenhouse after traveling; no soil, no sunlight, plant factories The vegetables in it are still growing vigorously... The fusion of technology and agriculture, depicting the most fashionable and creative modern agricultural picture.
The key to agricultural modernization is the modernization of agricultural science and technology.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the innovation of agricultural science and technology, and implemented the strategy of "holding grain in the land and in technology". A number of leading, original and iconic major scientific and technological achievements have emerged one after another. The two-line method has opened a new era of hybrid rice, artificially synthesized starch in the laboratory for the first time, "genetic scissors" have broken foreign monopoly, and plant factories have achieved important breakthroughs in "rapid breeding". my country's agricultural science and technology innovation has made historic achievements, its overall strength has entered the forefront of the world, and high-level agricultural science and technology has taken solid steps for self-reliance and self-improvement. The modernization of agricultural science and technology has become a key to ensuring food security and the supply of important agricultural products, breaking through resource and environmental constraints, and leading the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. Powerful engine.
From 2012 to 2021, my country's total grain output will increase from 610 million tons to 680 million tons, the contribution rate of improved seed production will increase from 45% to more than 50%, and the comprehensive mechanization rate of cultivation and harvesting of major crops will increase from 57% to 72%.
Major innovation achievements add "science and technology wings" to the high-quality development of agriculture and rural areas
In the past 10 years, the majority of agricultural science and technology workers have focused on the key shortcomings of agricultural science and technology, made concerted efforts and forged ahead, and major achievements in agricultural science and technology have continued to emerge.
Breeding and promoting a batch of new varieties of high-quality grain crops such as rice "Ningxiangjing 9", wheat "Luyuan 502", corn "Jingnongke 728", and independently cultivated Jinghong, Jingfen series of laying hen varieties, Jinghai A number of new breeds of livestock and poultry with high application value, such as yellow chicken and Huanong Wen's No. 1 pig, have been improved year by year.
Drought-tolerant wheat supporting water-saving cultivation technology saves about 30% of irrigation water.
The corn film drip irrigation technology and the full-film double-furrow sowing technology have achieved a 17% increase in water use efficiency, and the rice lateral deep fertilization technology has achieved a 20% increase in fertilizer use efficiency.
A large number of key high-efficiency equipment has been created, and core components such as the whole cotton picker and cotton picker have achieved technological breakthroughs, and scientific and technological support has taken solid steps to build a "national granary".
Two-line method opens a new era of hybrid rice
If the three-line hybrid rice has opened an era for China to feed itself, then the two-line hybrid rice has opened a new era of higher-yielding, higher-quality and more efficient hybrid rice for China, ensuring my country's leading position in hybrid rice technology. , and promoted the rapid development of hybrid rice in the world, and made great contributions to the development of genetics and breeding.
On January 10, 2014, the "two-line hybrid rice technology research and application" project led by Yuan Longping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, won the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
From the three-line method to the two-line method, there is only one word difference, but it has brought a leap in hybrid rice technology.
The Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center took the lead and organized the national multi-unit and multi-discipline to deal with the problems of the three-line method, such as the incompatibility of the combination, using the new material of rice photothermosensitive nuclear sterility, after more than 20 years of collaborative research, focusing on the photothermosensitive nuclear In-depth research on the mechanism of fertility conversion of sterile lines, creation of practical PTGMS lines, combination breeding technology of two-line hybrid rice, safe and efficient breeding and seed production technology, etc., and the establishment of practical PTGMS breeding. Concept, identification technology, core seed and original seed production technology; established a high-yield and stable-yield breeding, safe and high-yield seed production technology system for sterile lines; solved the technical problem of high-yield, high-quality, and early maturity of hybrid rice, and made breakthroughs in two-line hybrid japonica rice breeding and seed production technology bottleneck; 170 dual-purpose sterile lines have been bred, 528 two-line hybrid rice combinations have been formulated, and large-scale application has been realized; a relatively complete two-line hybrid rice theoretical system has been formed, and the three It is the main limiting factor of hybrid rice, which makes the utilization of rice heterosis enter a new stage, drives and promotes the research and application of two-line heterosis utilization of rapeseed, sorghum, cotton, corn, wheat and other crops in China. The development of the discipline has made a significant contribution.
Through technology transfer and cooperation, the two-line hybrid rice technology has been popularized and applied in the United States, and the yield has increased by more than 20% compared with the main local varieties.
The two-line hybrid rice provides core technical support for my country's seed industry to open up the international market and participate in the international seed industry science and technology competition.
Haploid breeding technology brings corn breeding into the era of "high-speed rail"
In September 2020, at the exhibition site of the "13th Five-Year" national key research and development plan project "Maize Heterosis Utilization Technology and Strong Hybrid Creation" located at the Dongyang Experimental Base of Shanxi Agricultural University, the reporter found that the growth of different corn fields There is a big difference, and the growth of strong dominant corn hybrids is quite gratifying.
"Modern crop breeding technology has several milestone developments. The project's many original breakthroughs in hybrid induced haploid breeding are a new milestone in corn heterosis utilization technology, which will play a major role in promoting my country's agricultural technology revolution. effect." Dai Jingrui, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of China Agricultural University, told reporters that the rapid haploid breeding technology has greatly improved the creation speed of new materials.
In the past, it took 8 generations or more of continuous selfing to breed a maize inbred line; now using this technology, a homozygous inbred line can be bred in as little as 1 year and 2 generations, which can be used for excellent The combination of hybrids has significantly improved the breeding efficiency.
Chen Shaojiang's team from the National Maize Improvement Center of China Agricultural University has carried out continuous research on maize haploid technology for more than 20 years. efficient breeding technology system.
As the "high-speed rail technology" of the modern seed industry, this technology has greatly improved the competitiveness of my country's seed industry technology.
In 2021, the research team published the latest research results in the internationally renowned journal "Journal of Plant Biotechnology" and established the tomato haploid induction system for the first time, laying the foundation for the creation of a cross-species rapid haploid breeding technology system for monocotyledonous crops. foundation.
The total synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch leads a revolutionary change in the traditional planting model
Do you have to rely on farming to satisfy your carb hobby?
How do carbon dioxide and hydrogen react together?
Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences has made important progress in artificial starch synthesis.
The researchers of the institute proposed a subversive starch preparation method, which does not rely on plant photosynthesis, and uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced by electrolysis as raw materials to successfully produce starch. It is possible to transform starch production from traditional agricultural planting mode to industrial workshop production mode, and achieve original breakthroughs.
Relevant research results were published online in the journal Science on September 24, 2021.
The research team adopted a method similar to "building blocks", in conjunction with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, using chemical catalysts to reduce high concentrations of carbon dioxide under the action of high-density hydrogen energy to carbon-one (C1) compounds, and then design and construct carbon A new polymerase, according to the principle of chemical glycan reaction to polymerize carbon one compounds into carbon three (C3) compounds, and finally through biological pathway optimization, the carbon three compounds are polymerized into carbon six (C6) compounds, and then further synthetic linear and Amylopectin (Cn compound).
"The rate of starch synthesis in this artificial pathway is 8.5 times that of corn starch, providing a new scientific basis for creating biological systems with new functions." said Cai Tao, the first author of the paper and associate researcher at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. .
Major animal and plant disease prevention and control technologies weave a "protective net" for agricultural biosecurity
In order to effectively control the H7N9 virus from the source of poultry, the team of Academician Chen Hualan of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences used a mature vaccine research and development platform to create a bivalent inactivated recombinant avian influenza virus (H5+H7) vaccine in a timely manner. The designated production enterprises of sick avian influenza vaccine have been transformed into production and application, and obtained the national first-class new veterinary drug certificate, which has greatly reduced the prevalence and spread of H7N9 virus in poultry.
What's more, the application of the vaccine had an immediate effect in blocking human infection with the H7N9 virus.
The successful prevention and control of H7N9 influenza in my country has become a model for controlling zoonotic infectious diseases from animal sources.
Significant progress has been made in the comprehensive prevention and control of major animal and plant diseases such as Spodoptera frugiperda and African swine fever in my country.
After the outbreak of Spodoptera frugiperda and African swine fever, the Ministry of Science and Technology deployed emergency R&D projects in a timely manner through the national key R&D plan, and organized joint research.
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences grasped the information on the invasion of Spodoptera frugiperda at the first time, clarified the law of disasters, and developed a number of technologies and products for monitoring, early warning and comprehensive prevention and control, which fully supported the fight against "insects to seize food". Recommended worldwide.
For the first time in the world, the three-dimensional structure of African swine fever virus was analyzed, and the second phase of the clinical trial of the gene deletion vaccine was completed. The research of the subunit vaccine laboratory is progressing smoothly.
Chinese researchers have also established a comprehensive management technology system for the source base of wheat stripe rust with the utilization of biodiversity as the core and the goal of ecological disaster resistance, biological damage control, and chemical disaster reduction.
Smart agriculture installs an "accelerator" for agricultural modernization
With the support of the national key R&D program of the Ministry of Science and Technology "Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Equipment", my country has comprehensively promoted the innovation of key core technologies of agricultural machinery and equipment, breaking through intelligent theories and key cores such as information perception, intelligent decision-making control, precise planting, and efficient harvesting. Technology, developed intelligent agricultural machinery and equipment in the fields of intelligent heavy tractors, intelligent spraying, intelligent harvesting, fruit and vegetable tea production, livestock and poultry aquaculture, and agricultural production area processing, and promoted the scientific and technological progress and industrial development of agricultural machinery and equipment in my country.
Autonomy of key core technologies, breaking the bottleneck of complete dependence on imports and being controlled by people.
Based on the "Beidou" agricultural machinery automatic navigation and operation precision measurement and control technology system, it realizes the high-precision navigation and positioning of agricultural machinery, precise application of water and fertilizers, intelligent operation measurement and control, and remote operation and maintenance management.
The intelligent and precise production technology and system of livestock and poultry breeding realizes the physiological and ecological monitoring and growth regulation of livestock and poultry.
Intelligent agricultural machinery power equipment technology system to promote energy saving, emission reduction and green development of agricultural power equipment.
Leading the intelligentization of equipment, and built a self-developed intelligent agricultural machinery equipment technology and product system.
Intelligent grain combined harvesting technology and equipment, efficient and intelligent cotton pickers, lead the intelligent upgrade of harvesting equipment.
No-tillage precision seeding technology equipment, drone plant protection equipment, and intelligent application of fertilizers.
Fruit and vegetable multi-source information is integrated with super-large sorting equipment to realize intelligent classification.
Mechanization of weak links will make up for the "shortcomings" in the overall efficiency and overall level of agricultural production.
Special tractors for hills and mountains, paddy fields and gardening tractors provide green and efficient power for modern agricultural production.
Technological equipment such as farmland residual film cleaning, farmland laser leveling, energy-saving subsoiling, etc., help the construction of high-standard farmland.
The high-efficiency harvesting technology and equipment of feed and regional characteristic crops has solved the problems of "inorganic availability" and "inorganic easy use" in weak links of green feed and pasture, highland barley, wolfberry, jujube, rubber, and tea.
The high-speed transplanting of super rice and the high-efficiency production technology and equipment for orchards, sugar cane, rapeseed and vegetables have improved the mechanization level of the whole process.
At present, wheat is basically mechanized in the whole process, the comprehensive mechanization rate of rice and corn exceeds 80%, the informatization monitoring rate of agricultural machinery subsoiling operations exceeds 90%, and the mechanization rate of hills and mountains, agricultural product processing, and animal husbandry exceeds 35%.
Major basic research breakthroughs lay a solid foundation for seizing the commanding heights of world agricultural science and technology
In the past 10 years, my country's agricultural basic research has made continuous breakthroughs and important progress, and achieved a series of innovative achievements in the fields of genomics, important functional gene analysis, and major disease and pest disaster mechanisms.
In terms of basic theory, my country has pioneered the transformation of rice research from the traditional genetic map to the whole genome level, and discovered and cloned a number of new genes with important breeding value and independent intellectual property rights, such as high temperature resistance, drought resistance, high yield and disease resistance. , to break the monopoly of foreign key genes.
In terms of methods and tools, the innovation team of Lai Jinsheng of China Agricultural University developed a gene editing system that was independently mined and patented in my country.
In terms of mechanism and mechanism, the key immune proteins of plants against viruses were discovered, which provided a new strategy for efficient green prevention and control.
Zhang Youjun's team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences discovered the mechanism of "functional horizontal gene transfer between plants and animals". This is the first study to confirm the existence of functional horizontal gene transfer between plants and animals more than 100 years after the birth of modern biology.
A new strategy for rapid de novo domestication of allotetraploid wild rice opens up new breeding directions
Domesticated crops always go through thousands of years of history.
In the face of an increasingly urgent food crisis, how to quickly domesticate wild rice according to human needs?
The research team of Academician Li Jiayang from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed for the first time a new strategy for rapid de novo domestication of allotetraploid wild rice, aiming to eventually breed a new polyploid rice crop, thereby greatly improving grain yield and increasing crops Adaptation to environmental changes.
This research result was published in a long article in the international academic journal "Cell" on February 4, 2021.
In order to overcome the problem of creating new polyploid rice crops, the research team led by Academician Li Jiayang proposed for the first time a new strategy for rapid de novo domestication of allotetraploid wild rice, and divided it into four stages: the first stage, collecting and Screening of allotetraploid wild rice chassis germplasm resources with the best comprehensive traits; the second stage, the establishment of a rapid de novo domestication technology system for wild rice; the third stage, the molecular design and rapid domestication of varieties; the fourth stage, the promotion of new rice crops application.
The team overcame the technical bottleneck and successfully created various gene editing source tetraploid wild rice materials with reduced grain shattering, shorter awn length, lower plant height, longer grain length, thicker stem, and shortened heading time to varying degrees. , proving that the team's proposed strategy for rapid de novo domestication of allotetraploid wild rice is highly feasible.
This research proposes a new feasible strategy for future food crisis response, opens up a new direction of crop breeding, and is a major breakthrough in this field. The successful breeding of new tetraploid rice crops in the future is expected to contribute to the world food Production brings a disruptive revolution.
Mining of important genes enriches the "material library" of modern biological breeding
With the intensified global warming trend, high temperature stress has become one of the most important factors restricting the security of food production in the world.
According to reports, every 1°C increase in the average temperature will cause a 3%-8% reduction in the yield of grain crops such as rice, wheat, and corn.
The research team of Lin Hongxuan of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the research team of Lin Youshun of Shanghai Jiaotong University have made new breakthroughs in this field. They have successfully isolated and cloned a new gene locus for high temperature resistance in rice, TT3, and explained its regulation of high temperature resistance. new mechanism.
The related results will be published in the journal Science on June 17, 2022.
Water-saving and drought-resistant rice refers to a type of rice variety that has both the high-yield and high-quality characteristics of rice and the water-saving and drought-resistant characteristics of upland rice.
With the support of the national "863 Program" and other projects, the research team of Luo Lijun from Shanghai Agricultural Bio-Gene Center has carried out systematic research on the genetic differentiation of upland rice, the genetic and molecular mechanism of water saving and drought resistance, the cultivation of water saving and drought resistance rice varieties and supporting technologies. , excavated the rice drought resistance gene OsRINGzf1, and bred new water-saving and drought-resistant rice varieties such as "Hanyou 73", which greatly expanded the rice planting area. The project won the first prize of the 2020 National Science and Technology Progress Award.
On July 22, 2022, "Science" published a research paper led by the team of researcher Zhou Wenbin from the Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The project, which lasted for 7 years, discovered a rice high-yield gene (OsDREB1C) in rice, which can simultaneously improve photosynthesis efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency, significantly improve rice yield, and shorten the growth period.
'Gene scissors' provide new tools for biological breeding innovation
"Biotechnology that is not combined with agronomy is not real biotechnology," Professor Lai Jinsheng said with emotion.
He keenly pinpointed the direction and carried out basic research on molecular design breeding with the two main crops of corn and soybean as research objects.
Since 2010, Professor Lai Jinsheng's team has published a series of high-level papers in top international journals, continuously deepening the understanding of biological breeding.
Ten years of sharpening swords pay off ambitions, in order to no longer "stuck in the neck", and aim to win the "turn over".
On July 30, 2018, Professor Lai Jinsheng's research group made important progress in maize genomics research, and the research results were published online in "Nature Genetics". my country's maize genomics research is more confident in the world's forefront.
In 2021, two "gene scissors" independently developed by Professor Lai Jinsheng's team, Cas12i and Cas12j, will be patented, making up for my country's technological gap in the field of core gene editing tools and breaking the foreign monopoly on this technology in one fell swoop.
"Gene scissors" is an image, that is, using certain Cas proteins that can cut viral genetic material, namely CRISPR-Cas, to cut the target gene to a certain extent, so as to achieve complex and precise gene editing.
There are as many as 93 Cas proteins, and two scholars from Germany and the United States jointly won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for their discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 "gene scissors".
For a long time, the technology and original core patents in this field have been monopolized by a few western countries.
In recent years, a group of scientists in my country have worked hard to expand their horizons in the field of plant gene editing research.
Facts fully demonstrate that China is on the road to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance.
Plant Factory Breeding Accelerator Breaks the Bottleneck of Plant Anniversary Plus Generation Breeding
Can food be grown without sunlight, rain and soil?
An agricultural scientist said: "Yes, and it grows faster!" In October 2021, at the National "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" Scientific and Technological Innovation Achievement Exhibition, a glass hut with a soft red and purple light was particularly eye-catching.
This is a plant factory developed by the Plant Factory Innovation Team of the Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
On the four-layer cultivation rack, rows of rice plants are neatly tied in a special nutrient solution, and under the "touch" of colorful LED energy-saving lamps, they are struggling to joint.
The innovative team uses artificial light plant factories as a means to create a new environment-nutrition for rice in different growth stages based on detailed analysis of the biological characteristics of rice seedling stage, tillering stage, jointing stage, heading stage, flowering stage, and grain filling stage. The dynamic coordinated regulation technology has built a technical approach to greatly shorten the growth period of rice, and successfully achieved a major breakthrough in the harvest of rice in about 60 days of planting, shortening the rice growth period of more than 120 days in the traditional field environment by half, and greatly improving the efficiency of rice breeding. .
Yang Qichang, the chief scientist of the innovation team, said that this plant factory is like a rice breeding accelerator, which is expected to achieve "rapid breeding" of more than 6 crops per year, and the number of cultivation layers can even reach more than 10 layers.
In addition, the innovation team is working on the use of plant factories in accelerated wheat breeding. Currently, wheat can be transplanted from seedlings to plant factories in 34 days for booting, 39 days for heading, and 65 days for mature harvesting, which is on average 180 days in traditional field environments. The growth cycle was shortened by two-thirds.
Yang Qichang said that in the future, relying on plant factories can provide new technical paths for the additive breeding and efficient cultivation of rice and other crops.
Organizing and Implementing Mechanism Reform Injecting New Vitality into Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation
In the past 10 years, the reform of my country's agricultural science and technology system and mechanism has been continuously improved, the integration of production, education, research and application has been continuously deepened, innovation incentive policies have continued to be implemented, and the vitality and power of agricultural science and technology innovation have been fully stimulated.
Through the implementation of new mechanisms such as "revealing the list and taking command", ministry-province linkages, and young scientist projects, we will continue to explore a new national system in the field of agricultural science and technology.
Aiming at major technical bottlenecks and product constraints, the "revelation and leadership" mechanism is implemented to innovate regardless of one's background.
Set up a project for young scientists, encourage free exploration, and promote young scientific and technological talents to stand out.
Set up technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises projects, and select the best to support the technological innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In the direction of animal breeding, forest tree breeding, and cultivated land quality monitoring, a long-term support mechanism will be implemented.
The new mechanism of ministry-province linkage strives to solve major practical problems in regional agriculture
Agriculture has obvious regional characteristics, and it is an inevitable requirement to ensure national food security to coordinately solve major regional practical problems in agricultural production.
In line with the characteristics of the agricultural industry and the laws of scientific research, the “14th Five-Year Plan” for the national key R&D plan in the agricultural and rural areas has explored and implemented the implementation mechanism of the linkage organization between ministries and provinces.
The Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant provinces jointly demonstrate, jointly invest, and jointly promote. The central and local governments match funds on a 1:1 basis, coordinate national scientific and technological resources and superior forces, and raise major regional scientific and technological problems to the national level to solve them. Produced in the middle, and the results are tested in the production”, realizing management linkage, policy linkage, and resource linkage.
From 2021 to 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology and 28 provinces have jointly implemented 55 projects including “Technical Models and Applications for Improving the Quality and Productivity of Saline-Alkaline Lands in the Bohai Rim”, “Technical Models and Applications for Productivity Improvement of Sloping Lands in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River, and Red-yellow Soils and Low-yield Rice Fields”. The project is well received by the front-line scientific research and local governments.
In 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology and Shanxi Province will jointly implement the project of "Technical Model and Application of Organic Dry Farming, Barren Resistance, Stress Resistance, Water Saving and Efficiency Enhancement", supporting regional innovation forces and national-level advantageous units to jointly carry out key technological breakthroughs in organic dry farming. Jointly implement the innovative achievements of organic dry farming to the loess land.
The Young Scientist Program inspires young scientists to bravely venture into "no man's land"
In order to increase the training of young scientific and technological talents, the Ministry of Science and Technology has explored and implemented the mechanism of the young scientist project in the national key research and development plan, and encouraged young personnel to freely explore in the fields of gene editing and other basic sciences.
As one of the young scientists funded by the project, Zong Yuan, a post-90s professor and doctoral supervisor of the Wheat Research Center, College of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, said that the state's support and attention to young scientists made him more confident and courageous to let go and verify The assumptions in my heart and the burdens on my body also make myself more sober when facing the results.
Referring to her own understanding of the responsibilities of young scientists, Zong Yuan said: "Young scientists must dare to challenge the scientific problems and technical bottlenecks in 'no man's land', make bold innovations, play their value in a better era, and outline a better future for agricultural development. A beautiful blueprint. I hope that I can use my expertise in the field of plant genome editing to promote the early realization of plant precision design breeding and intelligent breeding, and contribute to ensuring the safety of my country's seed industry and food security."
Looking forward to the future, science and technology make agriculture "smarter" and rural areas "more convenient". A colorful picture drawn by agricultural science and technology is slowly unfolding: in the digital field of the unmanned farm, the sun rises in the morning, and the warehouse door opens automatically. The human-driven agricultural machine can analyze the growth and health status of crops in the farmland based on big data, and then automatically judge and carry out the corresponding farming, pesticide spraying, and weeding operations, and then automatically return to the parking lot after completion. The farmers can operate online and cloud computing. , Internet of Things, big data, functional agriculture, smart agriculture... waving the "wings of science and technology" and intensively cultivating the "field of hope".