China issues scientific plan to strengthen seed industry

SANYA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has released an action plan drawing on science and technology to promote the country's seed industry.

It focuses on improving seed varieties, grain yield and germplasm protection, seed-source self-sufficiency, and strengthening related theories and core technology.

The 95 scientific research teams in 11 crop science research institutes, and four institutes on livestock and poultry science under the CAAS, will strive to solve salient seed industry science and technology problems. They will also enhance the core competitiveness of the seed industry, said Zhang Hecheng with the CAAS.

In recent years, the CAAS has made significant breakthroughs in genome-wide selection, ploidy breeding, polygene polymerization, and transgene and heterosis utilization. It laid a solid foundation for future research, Zhang added.

The plan focuses on central varieties of major crops and livestock and poultry to develop the seed industry of rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, cereals, vegetables, and oilseeds, said Wan Jianmin, an academic with the CAAS.

According to the plan, China will strive to make the varieties of food crops high-yield, high-quality, and self-controllable and steadily improve the yield level and quality of major crops by 2030. It will also guarantee the absolute security of rice and wheat provision and ensure the basic self-sufficiency of corn.

The plan also demands that the main economic and horticultural crop varieties be of high quality and high yield, and the leading livestock and poultry varieties are localized by 2030.