Breeding work for niche crops should not be neglected

How long does it take to breed a new crop variety? Older-generation breeders often tell me: ten years to breed one variety. This is no exaggeration. Even with off-season propagation in the south to add generations, traditional biological breeding techniques still require breeders to spend eight to ten years to select and breed a satisfactory variety.

For the new generation of breeders, this problem seems relatively easier. With high-tech means such as molecular biotechnology, computer technology and nanotechnology, the human and material resources and time consumed in the screening process are greatly reduced, and improving a variety or breeding a new variety in three to five years has become a reality.

However, whether it is off-season propagation in the south or biotechnology, these means of accelerating breeding speed are overwhelmingly used on crop varieties with large planting areas and high demand, such as field grain crops, oil crops and widely eaten common vegetable crops. As for “niche crops”, such as fruits, Chinese medicinal materials, regionally specific vegetables and flowers, their breeding can still only rely on traditional breeding methods, and some crops cannot carry out off-season propagation in the south at all due to limitations of growing conditions.

There was once a widely circulated rumor online that “purple sweet potatoes are genetically modified crops”. I consulted sweet potato breeders about this, and they said with considerable regret that sweet potato breeding in our country has not yet entered the gene era at all, and traditional breeding techniques are still being used. Genetic modification is too “difficult” for purple sweet potato breeding.

Many fruit tree breeders are not big experts from universities or research institutes, but ordinary farmers. They encountered difficulties in production and planting, solved those difficulties, and step by step bred many excellent varieties. We should cheer for these “local experts”, and even more so, we should change their current breeding situation. High technology and major projects must not turn a blind eye to “niche crops”.

The state is currently continuously increasing support for the seed industry, especially in enhancing the breeding innovation capacity of the national seed industry, and the strategic orientation and policy formulation are becoming increasingly clear. However, the vast majority of this scientific research investment, financial support and supportive policies are aimed at major grain crops, oil crops and common vegetables, while support for the breeding of “niche crops” is very little.

“Niche” does not mean no one eats them, and “niche” even less means they are useless. Only when the breeding of “common” and “niche” crops advances side by side can the people eat their fill and eat well.