Seed Industry Vital to National Food Security
6 January 2020, Asia: To ensure national food security, we must boost seed industry by strengthening the protection and utilization of agricultural germplasm resources, accelerating researches on seed-related core technologies, and advancing technological breakthroughs, said Tang Renjian, Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Affairs and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, during a recent visit to the National Crop Germplasm Bank.
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Calling seeds the “chips” of agriculture, Minister Tang emphasized that we must make the best use of available funds and resources to develop the seed industry, promote innovation, maintain the competitive advantages of seeds for crops such as rice and wheat, improve the varieties of corn and soybean and the breeds of swine and dairy cattle, and guarantee the steady supply of seeds for important agricultural products.
He also called for efforts to the establishment of seed banks, the foundation of innovation in the seed industry. China’s current crop germplasm bank stores about 440,000 samples. A new crop germplasm bank capable of storing 1.5 million germplasm samples for various crops will be put into operation in 2021, giving it the highest capacity in the world.
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