A special project for new super-yield crops, initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, has invested RMB 140 million in building a modern efficient breeding technical system, and in developing a new species breeding system and associated commercial applications. The efforts have covered major crops, including paddy rice, wheat, cotton, soybean, corn, rape, potato, peanut, and vegetables. Aiming at establishing a modern technical innovation system for breeding, the project has made meaningful contributions to raising the nation?痵 overall level for breeding major crops, and to turning out new varieties of high quality and high yields. It also provides technology support for the nation?痵 food security, and makes high quality and high yield species available to farmers, which would eventually increase their incomes. In addition, it improves farming efficiency, and promotes agricultural restructuring.
In the past 4 years of implementation, the project has produced 171 domestic or international patents grants and technology standards, in addition to 339 national protection rights for new plant species. It also mastered a range of key technologies involving hybrid and molecular breeding, and advanced the development of the nation?痵 original innovation capacity for crop breeding technologies. The project nurtured out 650 species featured with high quality and high yields, of which 262 promise major application perspectives. The improved breeds have gown over an area of 1.75 billion mu(1 mu= 0.0667 hectare), with an increased yield of 60 billion kilograms, and a direct economic return worth RMB 73.5 billion. The findings derived from the project have been granted with 14 prizes under the National S&T Progress Award and Invention Awards. The project has incubated 15 high tech breeding enterprises, and a breeding technical system in line with market needs and commercial applications. The efforts also accelerated the integration of breeding, reproduction, and diffusion, and the integration of research, production, and trade. It also works well for upgrading the breeding industry, and developing the nation?痵 S&T breeding businesses. |
