Sanya, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Topic: "Vegetable basket" and "fruit plate" to see the revitalization of the seed industry - a front-line observation from the 4 China Seed Conference

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhao Yingquan, Yu Wenjing, Luo Jiang

With the improvement of living standards, people's demand for rich, delicious and healthy fruits and vegetables is increasing.

In recent years, what are the new changes in the "vegetable basket" and "fruit plate"? What are the new developments in variety breeding? How to help the construction of an agricultural power through the development of the seed industry and meet people's "happiness on the tip of the tongue"? At the 2023 China Seed Conference and Nanfang Silicon Valley Forum being held in Sanya, Hainan, the reporter conducted an interview.

A good seed is full of technology

"More than ten years ago, I went to the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing to sell lotus fog, and people asked me what lotus fog is and how to eat it? Over the years, the lotus mist in the garden is now in short supply, and we have been constantly cultivating excellent varieties. In the Sinochem Agricultural Lotus Wu Demonstration Park located in Yazhou District, Sanya City, Xing Jun, the person in charge of Sanya Nanlu Industrial Co., Ltd., mentioned the changes and sighed deeply.

In recent years, "vegetable baskets" and "fruit plates" have rich varieties and improved quality, benefiting from the continuous acceleration of the development of the seed industry.

During the 2023 China Seed Conference, Deng Xiuxin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, introduced cell engineering breeding to solve the problem of more citrus seeds, and Xu Yong, chief scientist of the national melon industry technology system, talked about the use of molecular markers to assist in the selection of new watermelon materials that polymerize high sugar, brittle hard pulp and disease resistance... The changes brought about by technology resonate with many people.

In terms of vegetables, according to Zhang Youjun, chief scientist of the national bulk vegetable industry technology system, the coverage rate of major vegetable varieties in China's main producing areas has reached 96%, and the production coverage rate of domestic varieties is 87%. Vegetable genomics research leads the world, researchers have located and cloned important genes such as cucumber bitterness, tomato flavor, cabbage knots, lettuce knots, etc., and the support ability of vegetable breeding to the industry has been continuously enhanced.

Many seed industry experts and researchers said in their speeches at the conference that modern science and technology such as biotechnology and information technology are deeply improving the cultivation of fruits and vegetables and other varieties, which puts forward urgent requirements for accelerating the development of China, and it is necessary to promote the revitalization of the seed industry and empower a better life by accelerating key core technology research and strengthening joint research on breeding.

The seed industry led by the big food concept is expected to accelerate the run

During the meeting, experts described the reality and key points of development in the development of fruit and vegetable seed industry.

Germplasm resources are a prerequisite for breeding innovation. Zhang Youjun introduced that China has more than 4,<> vegetable germplasm resources, ranking among the best in the world, but the accurate identification and evaluation are seriously insufficient, and foreign resources and wild resources are relatively lacking.

"Varieties suitable for mechanization and facility cultivation are the focus of breeding in the future. We did a test, 32 varieties of kale, only 1 suitable for mechanized production. This is because in the past, breeding focused more on yield and resistance, and in the future, in the face of new needs, it is necessary to fully consider suitable for mechanization and facility cultivation. Zhang Youjun said.

Zhang Jinxia, president of the edible fungus branch of the China Seed Association, said that the edible fungus seed industry market especially needs authentic and stable high-quality strains. In terms of strain production, developed countries adopt independent production or authorized specialized production. Strain producers provide strains and provide guidance on cultivation techniques. China is mostly agricultural production, which needs more policy support, professional talents, professional equipment and ingenuity.

With the improvement of living standards, in addition to table grapes, wine grapes are also increasingly developed.

"Eurasian grape varieties have good overall quality and are suitable for winemaking, while East Asian populations have strong germplasm tolerance and are suitable for local cultivation. By combining the two traits through conventional cross-breeding, although the cultivated varieties have enhanced stress resistance, there is still much room for improvement in aroma and tannin traits. This problem should be solved by using modern breeding methods such as biological breeding. Fang Yulin, vice president of Northwest A&F University, said.

The revitalization of the seed industry in the "vegetable basket" and "fruit plate" is not only related to the people's livelihood, but also related to the construction of an agricultural power.

This year, China will complete the national census of agricultural germplasm resources and accelerate the construction of an accurate identification and evaluation mechanism for germplasm resources that is open and collaborative, and shared application. The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is implementing major scientific research tasks of scientific and technological innovation projects to promote the localization of high-end vegetable varieties. Consolidate the foundation for the development of the seed industry and accelerate the cultivation of breakthrough varieties... People in various fields are working hard to support the implementation of the concept of big food with diversified seed source guarantees.

Enterprises support excellence and cultivate and revitalize "leading geese"

"In the case of vegetable breeding, for example, many varieties were bred before, but not so many were actually grown." Zhang Youjun said that seed industry innovation must give full play to the main role of enterprises and aim at market demand. Through the joint efforts of the government, scientific research institutes and enterprises, we should effectively accelerate the cultivation of integrated enterprises in breeding, breeding and promotion.

At the forum, Syngenta Group China released the pre-research report of the "2023 Blue Book on the Development of Modern Industrial Chain of Agricultural Species Industry", which includes the development trends and analysis of the seed industry chain, the development trend and outlook of the global industrial chain.

"We hope to analyze the opportunities, pain points and difficulties faced by the development of the industry by adhering to the perspective of the industry; Adhere to a global vision, analyze which links and fields can learn from the experience of advanced countries and enterprises, and cooperate with each other; Adhere to the way of co-creation and sharing, solicit opinions, discuss and improve the industry, reflect the common voice of the industry, and promote the development of the industrial chain. Ying Minjie, vice president of Syngenta Group China, said.

If the enterprise is strong, the seed industry is strong. In recent years, China's seed industry enterprises have made new progress in supporting excellence. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs selected 3 advantageous enterprises from more than 270,<> crop, livestock and aquatic seed enterprises, announced the list and provided policy support, and then built a national seed industry enterprise formation that "solves problems, makes up for shortcomings and strengthens advantages".

The system and environment to encourage innovation have been comprehensively strengthened. The newly revised Seed Law has been implemented, the protection system for new plant varieties has been further improved, the special rectification of intellectual property protection in the seed industry and the year of supervision and law enforcement activities have been implemented in depth, and the clean-up of registered varieties has continued to advance... The system and environment have been continuously improved, promoting the development of the industry, and the "vegetable basket" and "fruit plate" are more colorful, constantly meeting people's yearning for a better life.