A seed can change a world. The development of the seed industry is directly related to the national food security and the "rice bag" and "vegetable basket" of the people. What are the "stuck neck" problems currently facing? How to win the turnaround in the seed industry?
Can my country breed "Koshihikari Rice"?
"In the past two years, everyone has eaten in restaurants or canteens. Will there be an obvious feeling-the quality of rice is much better than 5 years ago, and the flavor is basically acceptable? If this is the case, our breeders will be very happy." At the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wan Jianmin talked about the short stories around him.
In recent years, as people's demand for high-quality grains has increased, the direction of scientific research and breeding has gradually shifted from focusing on yield to focusing on both yield and quality.
Wan Jianmin said that under the guidance of the Seed Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences organized a joint research on high-quality rice varieties across the country and cultivated a large number of high-quality rice varieties. Compared with high-quality Japanese varieties, some indica rice in the south is basically comparable to Thai fragrant rice.
"In the third national high-quality rice variety appraisal activity, the new high-quality soft rice variety'Ningxiangjing 9'cultivated by our team won the gold medal for high-quality japonica rice, and its quality is basically comparable to that of Koshihikari rice in Japan. Wan Jianmin said.
He said that the cultivation of rice varieties in my country also pays attention to the needs of special groups. The new low-gluten rice variety "W088" bred by the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Nanjing Agricultural University can not only significantly reduce the absorption of protein, but also has a low glycemic index after eating. It is suitable for people with chronic kidney disease and diabetes.
Does this mean that my country is already a rice powerhouse? Wan Jianmin said that my country has made many leading achievements in the research fields of rice functional genomics and hybrid rice, but it is still far from the international advanced level in terms of the mining and utilization of germplasm resources, the application of modern breeding technology, and the selection and promotion of high-quality varieties. . Entering a new stage, in order to continue to promote the high-quality development of the seed industry, it is necessary to concentrate resources and strength to jointly tackle key problems in order to grasp the development initiative.
Where is the soy corn "short"?
The Central Economic Work Conference proposed to solve the problems of seeds and arable land. What is the status quo of the development of my country's seed industry?
Wan Jianmin said that in the face of the reality that there are more people and less land in our country, to ensure food security, efforts must be made to improve varieties to increase yields.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, my country's two major rations of rice and wheat are currently 100% self-sufficient, and the area of autonomously selected varieties of crops accounts for more than 95%. Foreign-funded enterprises account for about 3% of my country's seed market share, and imported seeds account for 0.1% of the national seed consumption.
Wan Jianmin said that in general, the safety of seeds used in agricultural production in my country is guaranteed and the risks are controllable; however, there are still many shortcomings and weaknesses in some varieties, links and fields, such as insufficient resource protection and utilization, and breeding innovations in some fields, especially There is a gap between the basic primitive innovation and the international advanced level, and the competitiveness of corn, soybeans, and individual vegetable varieties is not strong.
"my country's rice and wheat yields are in a relatively good position in the world. The rice yield per mu is about 470 kg, which is about 1.7 times the world average. However, the yield of soybeans is about 130 kg, and the yield of corn is about 420 kg. Two-thirds of the international advanced level." Wan Jianmin said.
He analyzed that in addition to arable land, water and other conditions, the reason is that, on the one hand, my country has invested more in scientific research and manpower in rice, wheat and other rations for a long time, and the input resources in soybean and corn are relatively limited. At the same time, the application of biological breeding and other technologies is still weak. Insufficient; on the other hand, corn originated in South America, my country's corn germplasm resources are not abundant, and there is a lack of good breeding materials for reorganization. In the future, efforts should be made in resource collection, scientific research strength, and technology application.
Where is the "stuck neck" technique stuck?
With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for meat, eggs, and milk increases, and the demand for high-quality grains and feed grains will increase rigidly. What problems must be solved to carry out the technical research of seed source "stuck neck"?
Wan Jianmin said that the first thing to do is to solve the problem of protection and utilization of germplasm resources.
Germplasm resources refer to carriers that carry biological genetic information and have actual or potential use value. The carrier includes seeds, plants, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits.
"The collection and protection of crop germplasm resources in my country is not far behind that of foreign countries, but there is still a big gap in the precise identification of germplasm resources, such as whether they have high-yield, high-quality and other traits." Wan Jianmin said, my country was established. It was approved by the Center for the Protection and Utilization of Crop Germplasm Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the total number of reserved resources exceeded 520,000, ranking second in the world. However, less than 15,000 have been accurately identified.
Secondly, in terms of gene mining, Chinese researchers have done some work, such as rice genome research, but in terms of research oriented to major national needs, further efforts are needed to "dig out truly useful genes". There are still relatively few breakthrough seeds created.
"This is related to the evaluation system. Those who are engaged in germplasm innovation, the results are resources rather than varieties, which cannot be directly turned into benefits. At the same time, there is no mechanism to protect the intellectual property rights of resource results." Wan Jianmin Say.
Third, the key to realizing the leap-forward development of the seed industry lies in the organizational system. my country has not yet formed a full-chain organizational system for the utilization of germplasm resources, gene mining, variety research and development, product development, and industrial application. Technical innovation also needs to be strengthened.
"The development of the seed industry can be divided into four stages. The 1.0 era is farm breeding, the 2.0 era is hybrid breeding, the 3.0 era is molecular breeding, including molecular markers, genetic modification, gene editing, etc., and the 4.0 era is'biotechnology + artificial intelligence + "Big data information technology' breeding. At present, developed countries have entered the seed industry 4.0 era, and our country is still in the 2.0 to 3.0 era." Wan Jianmin said that there is an urgent need for more input from the central government and governments at all levels to promote the realization of the seed industry leap Style development.
How to win the turnaround?
The Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is determined to fight a turnaround in the seed industry. How to achieve?
Wan Jianmin said that the key to a good turnaround is to focus on innovation in the seed industry, and to insist on scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance on the prominent position of agricultural and rural modernization. Mainly from the following four aspects:
——Start the implementation of seed source "stuck neck" technology as soon as possible, focus on breaking the bottleneck and stuck points, and form a batch of breakthrough achievements with independent intellectual property rights.
"We expect that the major scientific and technological projects of biological breeding proposed by the Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will accelerate their implementation and promote industrialization with an innovative mechanism that integrates production, education, research and application." Wan Jianmin said.
——Continue to carry out joint research on major food crops, specialty crops, and livestock and aquatic breeding, speed up the cultivation of high-yield, high-efficiency, green and high-quality, water-saving and food-saving, suitable machines and feeds, special and special new varieties to meet diversified needs.
——Improve the commercialized breeding system, promote cooperation between science and technology, promote the in-depth integration of production, education and research, and make the main body of the industry stronger and better.
——Strengthen cutting-edge public welfare research such as breeding genetic basis and molecular breeding technology, insist on respecting science, strict supervision, and orderly promote the industrial application of biological breeding.
"In the nearly 40 years I have been engaged in the seed industry, I can feel that all aspects of research and personnel have made great progress. The current state policy to support the seed industry has been clear. It requires more innovative spirit and sense of responsibility for scientific researchers and more entrepreneurs. With ambitions, we will jointly win the turnaround in the seed industry," said Wan Jianmin.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
